Victorine Writes: Most Self-Published Books Don't Sell

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Most Self-Published Books Don't Sell

11 comments:

BriandAndersonbooksDecember 29, 2013 at 6:39 AM
Great post and thank you for the mention on your list. I would also add that The Godling Chronicles at this time is at a low point before a new release. Book Four alone sold more than 8000 copies its first month and climbed into the 100's on the amazon charts. And since Aug. 2012 the series as a whole has sold more than 150,000 copies. And there are many other indies like me.
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ShuggieDecember 29, 2013 at 10:14 AM
Obviously if your book is ranked 13,161st then there are, by definition, 13,160 other books doing at least as well. Many (possibly most) are self-published. So yes, clearly, thousands of self-published authors are selling 10+ books a day.

However how many are below that? As of today Amazon.co.uk* is selling 2,442,631 ebooks, 1,024,675 of which are fiction. So statistically those 13,161 that are selling 10+ a day are a drop in the ocean and the statement "Most self-published books only sell a handful" is true.

Not that that's not a reason to try. The odds are certainly better than the lottery and if you have any kind of talent, work ethic and self-promotional ability you can improve your chances hugely.

However if you're going to "look at the numbers" then look at the numbers as a whole. 13,161 is a lot, but it's a tiny fraction of 1million+.

(*.com navigates differently and I haven't figured out how to get the same info)

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VictorineDecember 29, 2013 at 11:47 AM
Shuggie - Yes, it is true that "most" self-published books don't sell a lot. It's also true that "most" traditionally published books don't sell through their advance, don't earn enough for the author to quit their day job, and don't stay on the book shelves for more than a few months. I'm not arguing that the statement isn't true. I'm arguing that it implies something that isn't true. It implies that only a handful of indie authors are selling well. It implies that you won't be one of them if you self-publish. It is deceptive, and it irks me. That is all. :)
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Julia KentDecember 29, 2013 at 12:49 PM
Thanks for mentioning Random Acts of Crazy! This whole "self-published books don't sell" meme makes me laugh and laugh whenever I get my direct deposit from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple, etc. every month. Um, OK, then…I guess I earn play money? Quit my job because of imaginary payments? LOL

You're absolutely right that readers want to read books that meet their expectations -- and many self-publishers have the privilege of being discovered by readers who are thrilled to find books that resonate. That's what readers want, period -- whether the book is traditionally published or self-published. It's all about the audience. People who claim self-published books don't sell aren't paying attention. Maybe posts like this one will help.
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MVDecember 30, 2013 at 8:07 AM
Thank you so much for posting this! I was getting upset about all the negative news about self-publishing.
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MikeAngelGumshoeDecember 30, 2013 at 11:51 AM
Thanks Victorine for this article. I may be banned from Kboards (twice at least) but I still use a proxy and follow posts there. Betsy thinks I'm "disruptive" and my "tone" isn't right. I'm practicing my tone on long winter evenings in the shower, thinking of all the snarky females on Kboards who don't get banned. Tough stuff. I do admire your writing and your persona. Mike Angel aka David H Fears
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Libbie HawkerDecember 30, 2013 at 12:46 PM
Haters gonna hate. Doesn't change the fact that I make money from my SP books. :D
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AnonymousDecember 30, 2013 at 6:12 PM
This is "the long tail" in action. To quote from the ol' Wikipedia:

"As a rule of thumb, for such population distributions the majority of occurrences (more than half, and where the Pareto principle applies, 80%) are accounted for by the first 20% of items in the distribution. What is unusual about a long-tailed distribution is that the most frequently occurring 20% of items represent less than 50% of occurrences; or in other words, the least frequently occurring 80% of items are more important as a proportion of the total population."
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DaveDecember 30, 2013 at 8:27 PM
So basically, if you can outsell roughly 98.7% of the competition, you can do very well on Amazon.

It's certainly possible for self-published authors to make lots of money on Amazon, but it's damn hard for anyone to achieve those sales numbers consistently no matter who you are or how you're published.

If your target, let's say 10 copies a day, requires being inside the top 1.5%, then it's likely the goal isn't sustainable unless you're relying on something more than chance or standard distribution. Nobody just happens to outsell the average by that great a margin. It's very hard to do.
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VictorineDecember 30, 2013 at 8:33 PM
The only authors that have ever had sustained sales over the years are the authors who write a lot, publish a lot, and give readers what they want. (Think popular genre fiction authors.) Self-published authors that are doing this, are making huge mounds of cash.

Selling tons of books has never been an easy feat. I'm not trying to say it's easy. But doable? Heck yes. Lots of authors are selling well. And self-publishing earns you way more than signing with a publishing house.

Check out this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/12/30/top-five-ebook-publishers-in-2013/
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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Most Self-Published Books Don't Sell

11 comments:

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