Say you have finally finished the last chapter of your book you’ve worked so hard over the years to complete. Now it’s time to put on the marketer or salesman hat to consider how many books need to be sold par year to make a decent living For our purposes let’s consider $80,000 per year to be a comfortable salary.
First, we need to consider the royalty rates. On Amazon Kindle, the royalty rate is 70% for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. For books priced outside this range, the royalty rate is 35%. Since your book is priced at $15, you’d be looking at the 35% royalty rate.
For audiobooks, the royalty rate on Audible (an Amazon company) can range from 25% to 40%, depending on whether you’ve chosen to distribute exclusively with them or not. Let’s assume you’ve chosen exclusive distribution for simplicity, so you’re getting a 40% royalty rate.
Now, let’s calculate how many books you’d need to sell to make $80,000 a year:
For Kindle eBooks: $15 (price of your book) * 35% (royalty rate) = $5.25 (your earnings per book) $80,000 (your target) / $5.25 (your earnings per book) = approximately 15,238 books
For Audiobooks: Assuming the price is also $15, $15 (price of your book) * 40% (royalty rate) = $6 (your earnings per book) $80,000 (your target) / $6 (your earnings per book) = approximately 13,333 books
Keep in mind that these are rough estimates and actual numbers can vary based on various factors such as taxes, additional fees, and changes in royalty rates. Also, it’s important to note that achieving these sales numbers requires a solid marketing strategy, high-quality content, and a good understanding of your target audience.
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