Can Self-Publishing Be Profitable?

Short answer: Yes. Long answer below.

If you ask 100 indie authors this question, you'll get 100 different answers. There will be a common theme though: consistently publishing multiple titles will work wonders for your income. With that said, many of our authors have made 6-figures from their book sales and generated much more through the leads their books brought in. Whatever your definition of success, at Raab & Co., we set up our writers for success in ways that transcend immediate financial gain (though we can help position you for that, too).

Read on to learn more about how self-publishing can be profitable in ways you might not expect.

How Much do Self-Published Authors Make?

Since money is on everyone's mind first, let's start there.

If you go the traditional publisher route, you'll earn a 10% royalty rate off your list price. Sure, a traditional publisher foots the cost of production, but you lose creative control. And then you have to pay back that advance in lost royalties. Yikes.

Alternatively, if you self-publish, you do have to front production costs, but you’ll make up to a 60% royalty rate. Like most things when it comes to business ownership, the greater the risk often yields the greatest reward. Your best chance to maximize profit potential is owning the publishing process from end to end.

If your target retail price is $19.95, your net profit per book could be $11.97 (at 60%). That means even if you sell a modest seven books per day, you will net a $2500.00 monthly income.

So how much do self-published authors make? A lot depends on your title but use the equation below to get an idea.

In other words, (P-for your books selling price) x (60%) x (S-for daily sales) x 30 days/mo = Monthly Income.

Because self-publishing is so fast, you can multiply these income streams by publishing multiple books. Play around with different numbers to reach your target income.

Imagine having a book related to the holiday season, a book for the tax season, and a book for spring break. You can take advantage of different sales cycles all year long with multiple books. In other words, whatever you calculated for your monthly revenue for one book, multiply that by three or four (the average number of books most new authors publish per year). Keep writing. Keep selling. And enjoy multiple income streams. Raab & Co. will work around the clock to help you churn out books non-stop.

Curious about where to begin? Check out an article we produced that shows you how to leverage your social media presence to activate your target audience.

How Self-Publishing Grows Your Business

Now that we've touched on how to make money self-publishing let's dig into the not-so-obvious ways that self-publishing can be profitable.

We live at a turning point in the publishing industry. Advances in technology have democratized the book publishing process. CEOs, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and people on many other career paths now have the ability to see their dream of a book become a reality without having to go through the painstaking, long, and disheartening process of looking for agents and working with traditional publishers

What if there was a benefit for your business besides a publishing deal and big bucks? You don't just have to make money writing for your book to be a success.

For instance, what would happen if you offered your print book or ebook (audiobooks work, too) for free or reduced cost to build authority, goodwill, and trust?

There's a growing trend disrupting tired old business ownership and growth tactics. Highly valuable, informative, and engaging books (especially given away for free) are a great way for you to allow your market to know you. Without having to pitch, sell, or close a deal, your profits will eventually soar as your prospects reach out to you. If your product or service is a high-ticket item, the cost of producing and giving away your book will probably pale in comparison to how much business it will bring you. Make it part of your marketing line item and enjoy the new stream of incoming leads.

Here's one way to position your amazing book idea to generate leads:

Leverage the web to your advantage. Do a little keyword research and see where your business, book, and market needs intersect. Build a long-form landing page that is keyword rich with plenty of helpful information for your audience. Organic search (yes, we're talking about SEO) can help you keep marketing costs down (compared to PPC).

All your audience has to do is give you their contact information, including name, website, job position, and email. In exchange, they get your amazing paperback book that allows them to bond with your organization from the safety of their home or office. No sales calls are needed. Your customers will come to you.

If you create a book to grow your audience, profits aren't necessarily immediate because you're not directly selling. But you are building awareness and enthusiasm for your brand. Word of mouth will work to your advantage. Your new fans will often leave rave book reviews. And your business will be more profitable in the long run because of an owned audience that loves you—all thanks to a free book.

How Raab & Co. Can Help

The Oxford dictionary defines profitable in two ways. The first definition is the obvious one as having a financial gain. The other definition defines profitable as "beneficial or useful." With self-publishing, you can enjoy profitability on two fronts, all depending on what your temperature is for gratification: instant or delayed.

If you want us to help you make money on Amazon Kindle direct publishing (KDP), we can make it happen. KDP is an excellent way for new authors to see their print book distributed on-demand without pre-publishing in bulk. We also work with IngramSpark if you’re looking for a more global reach with your book launch.

Placing immediate revenue goals aside, how might your book become beneficial or useful to your organization, your speaking career, or your market's needs? While the information age saturates all corners of the globe with media built on binary code, your book idea in print with a princely sale price of zero dollars will be a welcomed surprise to most. Eventually, the scales will tip in your favor as this subtle demand-generation tactic produces quality leads long before they formally begin their buyer's journey.

Raab & Co. is here to listen and offer you a complimentary 45-minute consultation. Try getting a traditional publishing company on the phone at all, let alone for 45 minutes. We care about our clients, and you'll feel the difference from our first call.

We’re looking forward to discussing how you and your business could profit from self-publishing in the short term and for years to come.

Let's make it happen!