Self-published Books & Authors Sales Statistics [2022]

30-34% of all ebooks sold are self-published
300 million self-published books are sold each year
$1.25 billion worth of self-published books are sold each year
Amazon pays $250 million in royalties to self-published authors each year
Only 1% of audiobooks on Audible are self-published
67% of top-rated, self-published books are written by women compared to just 39% of books that are traditionally published
The global publishing market is expected to grow at 1% CAGR per year, whereas the self-publishing market is expected to grow at 17%
The number of self-published books has increased 264% in the last five years

The market for self-published books

Self-publishing platforms pay up to 70% of each book sold to authors
Self-published authors do not receive an advance and have to put up the costs of publishing and advertising themselves
Independent authors who sell their books on their own website receive up to 96%
The average self-published book sells 250 copies
The average self-published author makes $1,000 per year from their books
33% of self-published authors make less than $500 per year
90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies
20% of self-published authors report making no income from their books
More than 1,000 self-published authors made $100,000 last year from Amazon
Of authors who have published their first book in the last 10 years:
- 1,200 traditionally published authors have earned $25,000+ a year
- 1,600 self-published authors have earned $25,000+ a year

When selling an ebook on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing an author licences the right to sell an ebook to Amazon
This means Amazon and only Amazon has the right to sell the digital version of the book
An author cannot sell the ebook version of their book elsewhere — not even on their own website
The only way to do so is to cancel the contract by written notice
The book can be sold in other formats (e.g. print or audio) in other places