Self-publishing statistics for 2024

If, like me, you're an #indieauthor, you'll be interested to know how the publishing industry and readers generally, are reacting to us. This article includes data from several current sources. The good news? Self-publishing is on the increase and generating more income than our colleagues in the traditional market (on average). Quoted widely, the report from The Alliance of Independent Authors , accrues data from a range of sources to compile its findings. Here's a bullet pointed summary: Average incomes of self-published authors are rising. There was a 53% increase from 2022. The average that year for #indieauthors was US$12,749. The average for authors with third-party publishers was US$8,600. Younger authors are making self-publishing their first choice: ‘Less than half of authors under 45 years old would prefer to have their next book traditionally published.’ (Source: Author’s Guild, 2023) Self-published authors make up over 50% of Kindle’s Top 400 Books for 2023 (Source: K-Lytics, 2024) More than 2,000 self-published authors have surpassed $100,000 in royalties. (Source: Amazon, 2022) Self-publishing has a reverse gender pay gap, LGBTQIA+ authors earn more than heterosexuals. Gen Z maintains strong and regular reading habits with nearly 40% reading daily or a few days each week, and 55% still reading once a week or more. 79% say they are looking for better diversity in the stories they read. ‘More than four out of five (83%) Gen Z readers (aged 18 - 25) (are) turning to online sources like webnovels, e-books, and webcomics for diverse stories.’ (Source: Wattpad, 2023) Research from Nielsen BookData highlights that it is print books that Gen Z favour, accounting for 80% of purchases from November 2021 to 2022. Libraries are also reporting an uptick in Gen Z users who favour their quiet over noisy coffee shops. In the UK in-person visits are up 71%.’ (Source: Guardian, 9th Feb 2024) Success for #indieauthors , according to Written Word Media, meant generating a minimum of EIGHT books before you could begin to see success. Their December 2023 survey showed these authors spent an average of 15 hours per week writing. 27% sold their books from their own websites, the rest from BookFunnel (40%), Shopify (25%), PayHip and WooCommerce (20%). Kingston University surveyed 800 self-published authors, they were asked if they would recommend the experience to other writers. 86% said they would, 14% said maybe and under 1% said no. 58% said they liked retaining control over their material, 50% wanted higher royalties and 42% had chosen self-publishing after hearing good things about it #IndieAuthors have increased their use of Kindle Unlimited. Whilst Amazon has reduced the payments, the use has doubled from KU's introduction in 2014 (ten years ago). Alex Newton, from K-Lytics, found that KU drives the sales of eBooks quite considerably. In terms of genres on KU, the most popular is Romance (58%), followed by Suspense/Crime/Thriller (16%). Speculative fiction only accrued 1%. The best markets, according to Draft2Digital, are USA (58%), Canada (9%), Australia (7%), Germany (6%) and Great Britain (5%) Kindlepreneur surveyed 876 authors who were selling direct and found that 40% had only been doing so for under a year. 1-2 years = 22%, 3-4 years = 14% and over 5 years = 22%. Two factors emerged from this survey: 44% had written 10+ books (and therefore had a body of work that readers could engage in) and the successful author had an email reader list of 15,000+ which generated over $6,000 in revenue Successful self-published authors don’t have ‘agreeable’ personalities! (Source: Kingston University, 2023) According to Bookstats, which collects online sales data in real time from Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble across the print book, e-book, and digital audiobook formats, self-published authors captured 51% of overall e-book unit sales last year and more than 34% of e-book retail revenue, compared to 31% in 2021. Those numbers translate into e-book sales of $874 million in 2022 for self-published authors. Three "takeaways" from this data: You only have to look at the breadth and diversity of speculative fiction to see the impact of self-publishing. Its characters, settings, themes and topic are significantly wider than (say) fifteen years ago, thanks to the work of neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ authors. Self-publishing brings freedom and readers now look to this market to provide it. (It might be argued the traditional market is so risk-averse, unwilling to challenge certain cultures, they still do not engage). The self-published author must be an entrepreneur. Apart from needing a creative mind, they need a business head. It means curating and analysing sales data to identify commercial strategies. It involves exploring a range of marketing options - and not being afraid to promote their work. Not always easy for those authors who see themselves as introverts. To achieve success as a self-published author takes time. This data suggests an author needs a solid body of work (between 8 - 10 books) before they can consider themselves established. I've read the same from authors who fit this category. It takes years. Success is unlikely to happen overnight so be patient. I hope you find these post helpful. If you share it, please credit me. To respond you can find me on Threads https://www.threads.net/@philparkerfantasyauthor or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philparkerfantasywriter or on Twitter https://x.com/PhilSpeculates My own books are here .