By BookBaby Author Joe Yamulla

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

There are plenty of misconceptions in the publishing industry. For example, many people still believe that the only way to professionally publish a book is by signing with a big-name publishing house in New York. Obviously, that’s not the case.

Self-publishing companies like BookBaby have put the power in the hands of authors. As time goes on, more of these myths are being debunked. But misinformation still lingers, and one piece of it involves something that can be a deal-breaker for many people: money.

There is a belief that Traditionally Published Authors have a higher earning potential than self-published authors, and this simply is not true. In this post, we’ll look at the financial side of the industry and demonstrate why self-publishing is often the more profitable path. Although both independent and traditionally published authors sell books through similar (or the same) retailers, the financial models are quite different.

Different income streams for self-published authors

So, let’s address the big question: How much money do self-published authors make?

As you can imagine, there is not a concrete answer to this question. The appropriate question would be to ask, How do self-published authors make money? Furthermore, How does that compare to a traditionally published author’s means of earning income?

The fundamental difference between earnings for self-published and traditionally published authors involves something called an author advance. Traditionally published authors do not start earning royalties right away when they sell books. Instead, a publishing house negotiates an advance — a signing bonus that is paid to an author before the book is published.

An advance is paid against future royalty earnings and is based on how well the publisher thinks the book will sell. For every dollar received in an advance, a traditionally published author must earn that back from sales before receiving any royalty payments.

An author like Stephen King or Nora Roberts likely receives an advance worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. Why? Because publishing houses know that their published books will sell in bunches. But that is the exception, not the rule. Advances come in all shapes and sizes and can be as little as $500.

Whatever the case, this system primarily benefits the mega sellers. When you traditionally publish, you accept the advance in exchange for significantly lower royalty rates. Once (if) an author earns back their advance, royalties will start to funnel into their author earnings.

Self-published authors don’t receive an advance. Instead, they immediately begin to earn royalties on sales. Let’s compare royalty rates for both self- versus traditional publishing.

Print book sales

On standard distribution channels, a self-published author gets paid a 40 percent royalty rate for print.

If an author self-publishes with BookBaby, they can also sell their book on BookBaby Bookshop, where every print book sale earns a 50 percent royalty rate, no matter what. So, an indie author selling a $15 book on Bookshop will earn $7.50 for every sale. That same book sold on Amazon might bring $4 in royalty payments.

Now, let’s compare that to a traditionally published author’s print royalty rate. The Big 5 publishing houses pay 5–15 percent royalties on print books. Even at the most generous rate, a $15 book sale provides the author with roughly $1–2 in earnings, with the standard royalty rate for print being less than 10 percent.

Digital eBook sales

On Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, self-published authors can earn either 35 percent or 70 percent on eBook sales. You can learn more about the Kindle Direct Publishing royalty specifications on their site.

BookBaby customers can sell their eBooks on BookBaby Bookshop for an industry-topping 85 percent royalty rate. Regardless of platform, self-published authors earn higher eBook royalty rates than traditionally published authors, for whom a 25 percent eBook royalty rate is the standard.

Audiobook sales

Audiobook royalty rates vary depending on production processes and agreements with producers and narrators. However, self-published authors on average earn a 40 percent royalty rate on audiobook sales. Traditionally published authors on average earn 25 percent.

Audiobooks are beginning to become more accessible to self-published authors thanks to advancements in technology and artificial intelligence. Indie authors who produce an audiobook with BookBaby earn the highest royalty rate in the industry at 75 percent.

The big picture

I want to be clear that royalty rates vary depending on different retailers and processes (like using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or standard distribution channels). However, there is one underlying point that matters: the general royalty rate for traditionally published authors is lower across the board.

For that reason, self-published authors are earning more on average than their traditionally published counterparts. Today, there are more indies earning six-figures per year from book sales than those who published with any of the Big 5 publishing houses (Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster).

Licensing and distribution compared to traditional publishing

Remaining independent is not a last resort. It’s an impactful strategy that many writers are now employing because of its career-altering benefits. David Goggins is the perfect example of this.

Goggins had every publishing house and literary agent knocking at his door. But Goggins refused to allow anyone to influence his story. Having complete ownership of his content was non-negotiable and for that reason, he chose to self-publish. To date he has sold five million copies of Can’t Hurt Me and one million copies of Never Finished.

Traditional publishing houses have one primary concern: selling books. For this reason, they want you to tell the story in a way that sells, even if it does not fit your vision. Once a contract is signed, an author surrenders their creative control and rights to their intellectual property. The publisher can edit and market the book however they see fit. This turned Goggins off to traditional publishing, and it is leading a movement of others following in his footsteps.

BookBaby’s extensive services furthers careers

By working with BookBaby, an author has access to every service necessary for a professional publish. The author maintains full creative control, has access to advanced analytics, and can earn the highest royalty rates in the industry. With the tools BookBaby provides, an independent author can turn their unaltered vision into a thriving publishing business.

BookBaby’s suite of professional author services — including cover design, editing, formatting, global distribution, digital ad campaigns, and more — helps self-published authors create a product that can compete in the marketplace and be available for sale everywhere books are sold.

Advice from our publishing experts

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to publishing a book, and there are plenty of reasons to go with a traditional publisher, but one thing is clear: there are higher royalties earned through sales via self-publishing.

I’ll leave you with a piece of advice that I share with every author: believe in your story. When an author believes in their story, they can build an audience who is excited to support it, and then the sky’s the limit. By eschewing the gatekeepers of publishing, you are choosing a path that is empowering, sustainable, and profitable.

The team at BookBaby is here to support you to achieve your earning potential and turn your book into the success you dream it can be. If you think self-publishing makes sense for you, call 877-961-6878 and connect with one of our publishing specialists. We can’t wait to help you publish your book.

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This BookBaby blog article How Much Do Self-Published Authors Make? appeared first on and was stolen from BookBaby Blog .