I have around 100 offerings in the store atm; fiction from short stories to novels, under various pennames, and and non-fiction books. And yes, I sell stuff everyday organically, however, I am nowhere near 50K.

 

The reach of platforms and the effectiveness of ads, or discounts, is a constantly changing situation. And that "20 books to 50k" was always more of a slogan to inspire writers, not an economic reality. What kind of books always mattered. Series or standalones? And what genres? I have a pen name with more than 20 books that are wide (and I advertise them) and they sell steadily, but nowhere near 50k. I have 20 books under my own name that don't reach as high as my pen name. And I experiment with ads, but other than targeted (and cheap) Bookbub ads for books that are wide, I'm not seeing inspiring returns. But you will find people who succeed with that. You'll find people who launch three books with a kickstarter and make a bundle. There are no pat answers.

 

Thanks travelinged and Kathy Dee for your reply.

It's going to be hard for a slow writer like me to produce enough books to make a profit much less break even.

For those who are just starting out, I would say that the key to profits in the fiction self-publishing game is to write a lot of books. Only those who are truly prolific will make money.

But no bitterness or envy here. I enjoy writing and will continue to do so. Just trying to figure out the path forward.

Thanks all!

 

It was never more than a general slogan to explain the creator's concept of how self publishing worked. The basis was to have a body of work that was suitable, well written enough, properly published and promoted, and the notion that enough books like that would provide a basic level of income.

These days, with everybody and his sister getting into self publishing, it's harder and harder to get seen. People are boosting ad prices up high with books that really aren't suitable to be marketed. You have people doing blank books and things like coloring books, all doing ads. And they've basically jammed up the A+ content part.

Slow writers are probably best suited to go trad. Get a few books under your belt, study query letters, see if you can get an agent. Trad pub isn't that interested in lots of books by one author, they are more interested in the types of books they can sell.

And the truth is, it's always been hard to be a selling writer. Self publishing hasn't made any of that any easier, and it's really harder in many ways. You can upload files just about anywhere, but you still have to have a viable product to make any sales, and the ability to learn and pay to market them.

 

More importantly, are you making any money after advertising and expenses?

Yes. But , as you can guess, some set number of books you write does not equate to wealth.