Questions (and answers) on book sales

When someone buys one of your books on Amazon, what happens next? When will you get paid? Here's a selection of questions (and answers!) I'm often asked about book sales...

(While my experience with KDP, other self publishing companies will have similar, although possibly slightly different, setups)

When will I get paid?

Royalties for book sales for a particular month are paid two months later, at the end of the month. For example, my royalties from books sold in February was paid at the end of April.

How much will I get paid?

Some people mistakenly believe that just because a book is ￡10 on Amazon for example, I receive the entire ￡10 - this is not the case.

Each time a book is sold, Amazon deduct their printing costs, plus their fees, and you get paid the rest.

It can vary depending on the price you set (and KDP has a royalty calculator on their website that you can use) - however for my books I usually receive around ￡3 for every book sold.

Do I need to include them in my business/self employed accounts, tax returns, etc.?

Yes! Income from book sales is the same as any other self employed income. Although if in doubt, as with all things, speak to a financial advisor.

Payments can be made into your personal bank account, however do keep a record (along with any self employed income) for reporting in your tax return.

I'm struggling financially - will releasing a book be a quick fix?

No! Despite what the various YouTube and TikTok videos promise, writing and self publishing a book is certainly not a way to "get rich quick".

A lot of sales reports they present are fake, they never show you their own books, and probably make their money doing the YouTube videos (which often promote bad practices) rather than from creating books.

I would discourage creating "low content" books or "journals" that a lot of the videos encourage - paper quality is not great for these, they don't show up in search results on Amazon, and you can buy better quality notebooks from Poundland!

Can I donate book royalties to charity?

You can do whatever you like with income from your book sales!

However I advise promoting your book as raising money for charities - or creating a book just for this purpose. It's difficult for members of the public to verify this, KDP accounts are for individuals (rather then organisations), royalties for book sales are paid together with any other books you have on KDP (rather then seperately for each book), and people may believe the entire book price is going towards the charity.

A friend says they have brought my book, but it's not showing up in my sales report!

There's a number of possible reasons for this...

• It takes a few days from a book being ordered, to it being printed and sent out (the book sale will appear in your report after this happens).
• Just because someone says they have brought a book, doesn't necessarily mean they actually have! They may be trying to be polite, got your book confused with someone else's, etc.
• While I have no official confirmation, it's my understanding if a book sells particularly well, KDP will print extra copies when a book is ordered, and send these out (e.g. you may have had a number of book sales previously, and one or two of these are extra copies being printed for future orders).

Nobody's buying my book!

First of all, don't panic. Remember you are competing against thousands (and possibly millions) of other books on Amazon, so marketing your book is an ongoing process.

I find there is quiet periods where I hardly sell any books, and busy periods where I sell a good number.

Some books will also sell better then others.

Remember, writing and releasing a book should not be done to "get rich quick".

Can I see who has brought my book?

This is a question I'm asked not only from people wanting to self publish their own books, but also from people purchasing my books.

The answer is no, you can't see this information.

All you see is which books you have sold, the Amazon marketplace (i.e. Amazon UK, US, Canada, etc.), which format (e.g. Kindle or paperback), and royalties from that book.

You can't see any personal information, names, e-mail addresses, etc. for people who buy your book - and as far as Amazon's KDP is concerned (and I agree with them), you don't need to see this info.

Remember Stephen King doesn't see who buys his books on Amazon either!

Someone has left a bad review for my book, should I respond?

No. While it's usually good business practice to respond to negative reviews - remember Amazon isn't your platform, and it's not your store the book is being sold in.

It's also against Amazon's terms and conditions for authors to leave a response to a review.

Bad reviews will happen to EVERY author at one point or another.

Sometimes you can use a bad review to your advantage (e.g. a beginners book that says it's "too basic").

It's very rare you can get negative reviews removed - although you may have a case if it's a duplicate review, about the ordering process, etc. - however chances of getting the review removed are extremely slim.

Can I encourage people to leave a review for my book?

By all means do this - however remember that providing an incentive for leaving a good review for your book (e.g. a gift, free item, etc.) is against terms and conditions - and not very ethical either!

Can I buy copies of my own book?

You can order author copies of your book from your KDP dashboard, at cost price, plus postage.

You can give these away, sell at local events, etc.

Will I make lots of money selling books? Can I give up my day job?

No! Absolutely not!

Even well-known authors who have their books published mainstream rarely make enough from their book sales that they can exclusively live on that income.

Ignore the YouTube videos that promise otherwise.

Got an idea for a book? Whether it's an idea, something you are currently working on, or you have just released your book, I offer a range of help and support.

Including my book on writing/self publishing (only ￡10 for the paperback edition), or my ￡99 power hour where you can ask me anything about writing/releasing a book.

Contact me to arrange a time to talk, or check out my range of help and support at: booksandnetworking.co.uk/writing?