Why Every Reader—and Every Strategy—Matters
Too many people assume authors make a fortune (or at least a pretty penny) every time someone buys their book. If only!
The reality is, for indie authors, publishing is both a passion and a business investment. While it offers full creative control and higher royalty percentages than traditional publishing, the margins are still thin—and the costs are real.
Let’s take a look at what really happens behind the scenes.
eBooks
When an eBook sells for $5.99, the indie author earns about $3.70 from Amazon.com after distribution fees. Basically you collect 70% of royalties IF your book is priced no less than 2.99 and no higher than 9.99 USD.
That’s before factoring in editing, design, marketing, or launch costs—meaning those few dollars per sale represent only a fraction of what went into creating it.
Paperbacks
For a paperback priced at $15.99, the author takes home roughly $6.70 per sale.
Between printing costs and Amazon’s share, profit margins are slimmer than most readers imagine.
Payments usually arrive around 60 days after month-end, creating a delayed income cycle that’s difficult to depend on as a main source of revenue.
Kindle Unlimited Reads
Supposedly, every full read in Kindle Unlimited earns an indie author around $1. I say supposedly because frankly, that depends on your book’s length. I haven’t confirmed if this is the case, but years ago I learned that an author’s ebook in KU paid an author enrolled in it the equivalent of half a cent per page read.
It adds up slowly, and if you’re a novelist with many lengthy books that sell in high volume, you can make some serious scratch, but each reader still makes a difference.
Production Costs Add Up Fast
Before earning a single sale, indie authors often invest hundreds (or thousands) upfront:
- Cover design: $35–$400 (however, higher end designers don’t charge this low)
- eBook formatting: $60–$300
- Paperback formatting: $100–$400 (I do ebook and paperback formatting in Vellum for around $250, depending on how many images and footnotes you included)
- Advertising & marketing: unpredictable, but often more than the book earns early on.
That’s why every purchase, review, and recommendation matters—it helps authors get more visibility for their books, which can lead to more sales, which in turn, eventually helps their investment and fund the next book.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks are their own ecosystem altogether.
At $19.99 on ACX (non-exclusive, 25% royalty), an author might earn about $5 per sale. ACX’s exclusivity model provides 40% royalty per sale, but this prevents you from being able to sell it anywhere else on the internet besides Audible, Amazon and Apple.
Read more here about whether you should go exclusive or non-exclusive with your audiobooks.
To add to this, each royalty model, whether 25% or 40% depends on the price the listener paid for it. If they already have the ebook, Amazon/Audible tends to enrol the book into Whispersync, which offers the reader a heavily discounted version of the audiobook.
Let’s say your ebook is 19.99, and ACX, who prices audiobooks based on their length, publishes your audiobook for a similar price or even more (like $24.99), they may offer it for as little as 7.49 as a Whispersync deal. Then, your 25% or 40% royalty is based on the 7.49 price, which is just 2.99 if your book is exclusive to ACX.
If a listener is using their monthly $14.95 Audible credit to buy your book, your royalty is based on that price, not whatever higher price your audiobook may cost non-Audible members.
Plus, Audible actively encourages customers to return those books “if you didn’t like it”, and they refund it from the author’s royalties.
So keep all this in mind when deciding on whether to hire a narrator for your audiobook who isn’t willing to do royalty-share with you as they may charge anywhere from as low as $1,400 to as high as $3,000 upfront, depending on your book’s length. See my rates here.
That means it often takes 400–800 sales just to break even.
Read more of my articles for considerations before producing an audiobook for your masterpiece.
What About Computer Generated Voices?
The prices for hiring profession narrators are one of the reasons authors are tempted by AI-generated narration, which has exploded in visibility recently as a quick, inexpensive option. I explained in my article “Expert Warning: How Using AI Narrators Could Backfire for Authors”, what looks like a shortcut can actually become a setback.
AI narration is improving, but it still can’t match a human narrator’s tone, nuance, and emotional depth—and listeners notice. A robotic voice can cheapen your brand and hurt sales across all formats. While it may save money upfront, poor listener engagement and weaker reviews can cost far more in the long run.
Oh, and Amazon LIMITS how high of a price an author can set for the virtual voice version of your audiobooks. As of writing this, I have anecdotal evidence and feedback from voracious audiobook listeners that many people prefer human narration. So that’s less interest in your cheaper-made virtual voiced book, and a lower price point, meaning the sales will still be lower than royalties on higher-priced audiobooks.
For authors serious about building credibility and lasting impact, human narration remains the wiser investment.
The Bigger Picture: Building Beyond Book Sales
This is exactly why I help authors think bigger than royalties. If you’re thinking of writing a best-selling novel to fund your retirement, you may want to produce quite a few more books in a series first, and learn some marketing.
If you’re a non-fiction author, which is more in my wheelhouse, your own book can be the best lead-generator for your coaching or service business.
As an author coach, ghostwriter, and strategist, I help people not just publish books—but use those books as launchpads to grow their influence, attract opportunities, and create income streams that go far beyond Amazon payouts.
Your book can open doors to speaking engagements, coaching clients, online courses, and partnerships—if it’s positioned strategically.
That’s where real thought leadership begins.
Why Every Reader Still Matters
Every purchase, every review, every page read still makes a tangible difference—it’s a vote of confidence that keeps an indie author’s work sustainable.
But long-term success comes from pairing your message with a clear strategy for visibility and impact.
If you’re ready to write and publish a book that builds your credibility and your business, let’s talk about how to make that happen.
Ready to build your platform as a thought leader?
Book a Discovery Call with Me ?
