Selling My First 100 Books on Amazon KDP: the good, the bad, & the ugly!

You may be thinking —100 books, big deal!

There’s absolutely truth to that. To make a good profit on Amazon KDP, I would need to sell 100 books in a week or even a day! Which I haven’t done (yet!). I hit publish on my first book at the end of November 2023. It took 5 months to sell 100 children’s books on Amazon KDP.

So why am I posting something that doesn’t really seem like an accomplishment? Let’s dive in.

The Good

1. Self-publishing authors, let’s celebrate small wins!

There’s enough negativity in the world, that when you hit a milestone you’ve had your eye on —take a moment and pat yourself on the back! That’s what this is. Then, keep going.

2. Hours melt because I love what I do

The day goes by quickly because when I write and illustrate I enter into my flow and I even forget to eat. So it’s important for me to “make it.” And that will be different for everyone profit-wise. How much is enough for you to consider self-publishing as a worthwhile endeavour? For me, I need to see growth. I’ve also committed 1 year to self-publishing and I’ll reassess at that point. At this point, my sales are increasing and my head is full of ideas.

3. 100 sales shows me what people are buying

The more sales, the more trends I see. My first book continues to be the driver, making up 90% of sales. So this tells me that I found a niche and I could build on this book with a series, a complimentary activity book, and/or a different story in the same niche.

4. Making money...

And future passive income. My kids were home for a week-long break from school and I was surprised to see that during that week I sold 10 books. But the BEST part was that I didn’t have to do a thing. Amazon/IngramSpark print and distribute the books, and my royalties increase. It’s a kick-back moment. But this is not to say that self-publishing is an easy or even a passive gig. I’m working all the time on new content.

5. Seeing my stories go into the world

The best feeling is hearing a child or adult say how much they enjoyed reading my story(ies).

The Bad (just part of the job)

1. Somedays, I’m banging my head against the wall...

To figure out the technical aspects of writing, illustrating and publishing a book on Amazon KDP and IngramSpark. Figuring out colour profiles, margins, bleed, exporting, etc.

I’m working on a long post that dives into my process. Stay tuned.

2. The sweat

Hours and hours of writing, illustrating, publishing, and promoting —is all on me! This is tough. Especially on days where you don’t make a sale. This is why it’s got to be something you love, not just something you do, or it may drive you crazy. I dream of having an assistant one day… far-fetched, but hey! A girl can dream.

3. Royalties are minimal

I make a few dollars per book. I’m not sure how Amazon and IngramSpark compare to other publishers, but this is the reality of the gig. So selling a lot of books is a must.

The Ugly (lessons learned)

1. My early book profits were sucked up by Amazon ads

My profits were minimal because I was trying to establish my books via ads on Amazon. Ads are NOT a set-it-and-forget-it. They are something that must be monitored 2-3x a week, which is my least favourite part of indie-publishing. But lesson learned, if I want to make a profit I have to keep an eye on my ad campaigns so that I spend my ad money wisely.

I find this blogger helpful. Plus, he’s got a free course about setting up your Amazon ad campaigns. And I decided to pay for his database that makes ad campaign creation easy-peasy. At the time of writing, it was a 1x fee.

I don’t receive any commission for promoting his work.

2. Reloading books to Amazon and IngramSpark

Who wants to re-do things? Not me. But this has been the case with all my books. I found writing or illustrating errors AFTER the proof stage, even after sales. I try to get it done and move on. Also remembering that as a self-publisher nothing will be perfect. There’s an element of accepting, even appreciating, the flaws —and there’s a chance you’re the only one who sees the imperfections. Learn from it, move forward.

I totally relate to this guy.

Let me know —what are you wins and your frustrations with being a self-publisher? Or, if you’re considering self-publishing, did I scare you? If writing and/or illustrating is a passion for you, I definitely say go for it, and surround yourself with people who support you!

Cheers,

Steph Rose