How Many KDP Books to Make Money

About this video

Dale argues the question of how many KDP books it takes to make money depends on how you define making money; he sets the benchmark for this video at consistently driving $1,000 in profits per month. One book can do it, but for a new author that requires heavy marketing. His method is to work backwards using Amazon Best Sellers Rank (ABSR) as proof of concept: check the product details of comparable books, use the free DS Amazon Quick View extension for a snapshot, and use the Kindlepreneur calculator to estimate sales at a given rank. He contrasts a governmental accounting category whose top book had an overall ABSR around 165,000 and sold roughly less than one book a day — at $2.99 retail and about $2 profit per sale that is about $60 per month, so duplicating it would take 17 books to reach $1,000 — with psychological fiction, whose top spot had an ABSR of 5 and would require an estimated 3,950 sales per day amid stiff competition. The goal is a category with a balance of demand and supply, and never an unrelated low-competition category, which can confuse Amazon’s algorithms and risk account action. At $2 profit per sale, $1,000 a month needs 500 sales, about 17 a day. He adds that publishing one title in ebook, paperback, hardcover and audiobook multiplies chances: four versions selling once a day each at $2 profit would be about $240 per month per title, so four to five such titles could hit the benchmark. Supporting tactics include a professional cover, edited description, three categories, backend keywords, an email list, author collaborations via StoryOrigin or BookFunnel, and visibility through a website, social media and podcasts.

Key takeaways

• Dale defines ‘making money’ for this video as consistently driving $1,000 in profits per month, and says to work backwards from your own goal
• Use Amazon Best Sellers Rank on comparable books plus the Kindlepreneur calculator to estimate how many sales a rank requires
• Look for categories balancing demand and supply; his governmental accounting example earned only about $60 per month per title, while psychological fiction’s top rank needed an estimated 3,950 sales per day
• At about $2 profit on a $2.99 ebook, reaching $1,000 a month takes 500 sales, or about 17 sales per day for one book
• Publishing in ebook, paperback, hardcover and audiobook can multiply income per title — four versions at one sale a day each and $2 profit would be about $240 per month

Episode details: published May 30, 2024 · 13:00 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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