I've posted a few times about this little adventure. I've published a grand total of 8 books now, four in a series, two in a related genre and two stand alone pieces. I have three more coming down the pipeline by year end. That exhausts all the writings from the years 2000-2026. The cupboard is empty and i'm beginning from a blank sheet of paper, but with a bit of experience. Current books at are 66,405 Kenp and 94 orders since I began this little journey in mid September. First amazon ad ran 09/21 and I got pretty immediate traction on book one and i'm seeing good read through it appears on the series. I've released the first book of the series on booksy and the fussy librarian. I'm about $75 under water advertising spend vs revenue. I believe we are going to call this a win and check the write a book box off. Been quite an adventure. I intend to keep writing and trying to keep the series alive, but doubt it will ever be financially viable. Just a great and fun retirement project.

I've been publishing books through Amazon KDP, and I wanted to share some actual numbers from my royalty dashboard.

My print publishing results so far:

• Print copies sold: 156
• Print royalties: ₹62,013.51
• USD equivalent: Approximately $648
• Average royalty per copy: Around ₹398 ($4.15)

I'm based in India, so I've included both INR and USD for comparison. The dollar amount is an approximate conversion, not the actual USD payout.

Honestly, 156 copies might not seem like a huge number, especially when you see authors talking about selling hundreds or thousands of books every month. But earning this amount in print royalties from those copies is encouraging.

A few things I've learned along the way:

• Publishing a book is only the beginning. Getting the right readers to discover it is a different challenge.
• Cover design, pricing, keywords, descriptions, and niche selection all deserve attention.
• Different books can perform very differently, even within the same catalogue.
• Sales and royalties are not the same as profit. Advertising, editing, formatting, taxes, and other expenses need to be considered.

For context, these are print royalties only, not my total KDP earnings across ebooks, print, and Kindle Unlimited. I'm sharing the results as a transparent snapshot rather than claiming this is a typical outcome.

I'm curious about other KDP authors here.

A few questions:

1. How many paperback or hardcover copies have you sold?
2. What is your average royalty per print copy?
3. Are you seeing better results from paperbacks, ebooks, or Kindle Unlimited?
4. If you're publishing from outside the US, how are you approaching marketing to US readers?

I'd love to hear your actual experiences, including the challenges. I think sharing real numbers is more useful than simply saying that KDP is profitable.

Note: Results vary by book, pricing, marketplace, and expenses. My figures are personal results, not a guarantee of future earnings.

Hey everyone,

​I wanted to share a quick reality check and some numbers from my recent promotional efforts for my crime thriller, just to see if others are experiencing this exact same disparity or if I need to tweak my strategy.

​Here is what the data looks like over the recent period:

​Free promotion: ~144 downloads in 7 days.

​Paid period (Regular price): 2 sales in 30 days.

​The moment the price tag goes back on, sales hit a brick wall. It’s the classic "Zero-Dollar Gulf"—readers will hoard free e-books without hesitation, but even a minimal price tag creates a massive psychological barrier if you don't have a huge existing brand.

​My biggest pain point right now: Review conversion.

Out of those 144 free downloads and past newsletter promo pushes (we even tried paid promo newsletters like BookRaid), the review conversion rate is virtually 0%. People grab the book, but very few leave feedback or stars on Amazon/Goodreads unless prompted heavily.

​A few questions for the community:

​How do you bridge the gap between free downloaders and actual paid readers?

​What is your actual conversion rate for getting reviews from free promo days?

​Does adding a direct, personal Call-To-Action on the very last page of the e-book actually help move the needle for Amazon reviews?

​Would love to hear your experiences, numbers, or any tough love. Cheers!

I have broadened my marketing approach and have connected with a lot of mini-influencers on Instagram… my offer is free book for an honest review, similar to an ARC (I am sending both physical and digital books).

Doing this, I have run out of my physical stock. I put in an order of 20 on 9/13 that says it will arrive between 10/23-10/27. Which is an insanely long time, but that gripe is for another day.

My question: Has anyone purchased retail copies to hold you over? Amazon states you can do this… but then in the same breath states that any actions to try and inflate one’s sales ranking—such as bulk buying of one’s own book—can lead to a ban.

Has anyone ordered retail copies? If so, how many?

my book is supposed to be released today, and I just found out it’s showing up under another author’s profile on Amazon because we have the same name

I wrote The Untamed Mind: Reflections at Seventeen, and somehow it got linked to another Karan Singh’s author page. I’ve already contacted support, but I have no idea how long this is going to take or how to get my book separated from their profile.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Do I need to create a separate Author Central profile, or does Amazon have to fix the association from their end?

I really don’t want my book launch getting messed up over this

Hi everyone! I’m a versatile artist rebuilding my book cover portfolio after losing access to my old Instagram account. I’d love to offer a free custom cover to one author whose story inspires me.

I’m especially interested in working with an author who publishes on Amazon/KDP and has an upcoming book, though you’re welcome to share your project regardless.

You’ll be involved throughout the process, with updates at four stages:

1. Rough sketch and composition
2. Line art
3. Base colours
4. Final rendering, shading, and details

To apply, please share your book’s genre, a short description, your publishing timeline, and whether you need an ebook cover or a full print wrap. An existing author or book page would also be helpful if you have one.

The selected cover will be free to use commercially for the agreed book. In return, I’m looking for permission to show the finished artwork in my portfolio and link to your book once it’s published. After we finish, I’d also appreciate an honest testimonial about your experience.

I’m comfortable working across different styles and would love to hear about your story!
Feel free to reach me at

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/illustrationsbyantina_/

Ciao a tutti. Sono iscritto su KDP da circa 6 mesi e quando mi ero iscritto mi avevano mandato il bonifico da 0,01 cent per la verifica del conto. Le royaltys mi arrivano regolamente.

Stamattina ho fatto logut da kdp. Dopo un po' ho fatto il login e mi è arrivata la mail di verifica del conto dove mi dicono che mi invieranno 0,01 cent.

Come è possibile? Il fatto che sia arrivata pochi secondi dopo il login è indicativo di qualcosa?

15k words with 4 books planned (1 full and the other halfway)

Its safest for me to wait until I have all books written before publishing the first one

My question is: readers will want to binge it if they like the first one, and they end on cliffhangers, will they abandon if the second book isnt out yet ? Or those readers will just wait for more to be out before even starting, while those who don't mind waiting wont.

I mean at some point book 1 will be alone regardless so I can just post naturally. Idk if im making much sense