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Self-published authors can make between 40\% – 60\% royalties on a the retail price of a single book while traditionally published authors usually make between 10\%-12\% royalties.
A traditionally published author makes 5–20\% royalties on print books, usually 25\% on ebooks (though can be less), and 10–25\% on audiobooks.
Traditionally published authors typically get 10\% – 12\% royalties per book. If you self-publish, royalty rates are closer to 40\% – 60\% per book – but you’ll need to cover the publishing costs, too.
What kind of book sells the most?
What Genres Sell the Most Books Right Now?
- Romance – Contemporary and Historical. Romance is consistently one of the top-selling book genres and has been so for many years.
- Crime and Thriller.
- Religious and Self-help.
- Children’s Books – Humor.
- Fantasy and Sci-fi – Young Adult.
How much money does an author make per book?
If we look at the terms, conditions and ways of publications above, it’s very simple to understand how much money an author makes per book. It ranges between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent of the cost of the book and is known as royalty. This might not sound much.
How much do Barnes & Noble Authors get paid?
Barnes & Noble have an amazing policy for authors to make money. Refer to this simple chart to learn how the system works. With Barnes & Noble, an author can easily make up to $4.50 on a book that costs an average $9.99. This royalty compares well with Amazon KPP.
How much does it cost to publish a book on Amazon?
The royalty doesn’t include editing or any other charges. According to some sources, an author gets only between 45 and 48 percent of the cost of the book, after spending on editing and other essentials. Meaning, for an e-book you publish with Amazon KDP, you can expect only 45 Cents per $1 of the cost.
Amazon Kindle Desktop Publishing (KDP) paid over $249.9 million in 2019 to various authors who sell digital versions of their books for Amazon Kindle and other digital e-book devices. However, both these figures also don’t take into account the black and grey market for books.