Hi all,
I'm starting a new monthly post on Kindle Income. This is in part because I don't have enough to do in my spare time, but also to notify you all on how much I'm making on Kindle each month. This process keeps me accountable and hopefully gives you an insight into the world of Kindle Publishing.
I've separated the numbers into 3 columns - Kindle (ebooks), Createspace (paperback), ACX (audio). The numbers in black, regular font have been paid to me. The numbers in italic grey are yet to be paid, and are predictions based on the current exchange rate. Once they've been confirmed, I'll change them to black and regular. Amazon pay you 60 days after the month end, so I'm getting paid in June for the sales I made in April. Does that make sense?
Without further ado, lets have a look at the numbers so far.
| | Kindle | Createspace | ACX |
| January | - | - | - |
| February | - | - | - |
| March | £9.50 | - | - |
| April | £51.47 | - | - |
| May | £101.03 | - | - |
| June | £243.17 | - | - |
| July | £376.08 | £5.22 | - |
| August | - | - | - |
| September | - | - | - |
| October | - | - | - |
| November | - | - | - |
| December | - | - | - |
| 2015 Total | £781.25 | £5.22 | £0.00 |
| 2015 Average | £156.25 | £5.22 | £0.00 |
| | | | |
| Combined Total | £786.47 | |
I'm close to having June's payments confirmed, and they appear in my account at the end of the month, so hopefully they'll be in black soon.
Kindle
I have 24 ebooks on Amazon selling currently. I'm hoping to increase that to around 28-30 by the end of June, or the half way point!
Kindle sales have increased nicely since I've been applying the techniques I learned in my coaching sessions, especially for marketing/promoting etc.
I ran the sales numbers for June on 15th to see how I'm looking half way through the month. With direct book sales and Kindle Unlimited downloads, I've made approx £216.51 so far. If I replicate that result for the second half of the month, I'll finish on £433.02, which is very pleasing!
Createspace
I had my first 2 books out in may, for just a few days, but I managed to get my first 2 sales, which I was delighted with. I've been selling 3 paperback books for the first half of June, and I've just released my 4th and 5th book just days ago. I've made £36.59 from the 3 books so far in June, and I see no reason why I can't improve on that number having 5 books selling and another 3 on the way. If I were just to replicate my performance for the second half of June, I'd finish on £73.18, which is a lot higher than I was expecting. For anyone selling kindle books, it's a given to sell the paperback version as well. The sales are slightly lower, but the revenue and lack of costs (as you've already paid for the work) make it a no-brainer investment. I only need to sell 2-3 copies to get my money back. My best selling paperback book has sold 17 copies in June alone so far.
ACX
Following on from Createspace's easy revenue tactic, I went down the audio route as well to see how much potential is there.
I've learned that the process takes significantly longer to complete. I can get a book on Createspace within a week. It takes a month to get on on ACX. I now have 2 books selling on ACX officially, and 1 to be confirmed, and as they've only just gone live I haven't made any sales thus far.
There are 2 main options to making money on ACX. One route is the 50/50 route, the other is buying the full rights. I've tried both to see how they work out.
The marathon book is a 50/50 option which I don't even pay for. An american voice artist records and produces the book, I check it and approve it. Once Amazon approves the book (2-4 weeks), the voice artist and I make 20% on the sales each. I have no idea how many sales I'll make but I'll keep you posted.
The other option is paying the voice artist to record and produce the book. I've paid a similar price for a standard written book, which remember, I've already paid a writer for - £40-60. So, £80-£120 for both written and audio. (Createspace on the other hand costs $5 for a cover, and I choose to pay someone $5 to format it for me).
When the paid audio book starts selling I take 40% of the profit, so we'll see how it compares over time. They both have advantages.
Summary
Createspace's income combined with Kindle puts me on track for £506.20 for June. I'm hoping with further Kindle books, Createspace books, and ACX sales, I'll be able to surpass this amount, but don't get me wrong I'm delighted with this number.
It puts me right on track with my 2015 goal of earning £1,000 per month on Kindle by December. In honesty, I've worked harder, more effectively and efficiently on Kindle over the last 4 weeks than I have for the last 5 months. I believe that with my current process, I'll be close to releasing 100 books by the end of the year and earning something close to my current salary. That's the plan anyway!
Don't take my word for it, check in here and find out for yourself. I prefer to prove myself via actions and results rather than speculation, even though I can't resist cheeky predictions and bold goals!
I just want to say a special thanks to all of the amazing emails, comments and messages I've received. Kindle has taken my time away from Blogging, but I believe this time is well spent, and will eventually lead to me going alone full time, which will in turn allow me to write on here more regularly, or more likely, on my own platform!
What do you think of the new Post? - "Not another bloody Kindle post?" or "So that's what he's been up to?" or "Who are you again?"
Labels: Kindle Income, Kindle Publishing, Passive Income