He Makes a Full Time Income Selling Public Domain Books on Amazon KDP

About this video

Sean interviews his student Alex, who says he has been publishing seriously for about two years after first uploading in 2017 and quitting. Alex says he is at $4,300 revenue so far this month, had a peak month close to $9,000 in Q4, and is reinvesting in new launches so profit is limited — estimating $2,000-$3,000 profit if he stopped launching. His current focus is all high-content public domain books: taking the original work word-for-word, then differentiating it with editing, a twist/commentary and illustrations, often using AI to help edit. He says one recent public domain book cost $200 for the cover (everything else done himself), is priced at $21, earns about an $8 royalty on the hardcover at around 6,000 BSR, with the paperback around 30,000 BSR and a $7-$8 royalty, and has 31 reviews versus a top competitor with almost 8,000 reviews at 1,000 BSR. He projects a little over $7,000 this month, $10,000 next month and $20,000 in Q4 as his own goals. His main lessons are keyword research and a premium cover — his covers are outsourced via 99designs by sending designers bestseller links to make a similar-but-better version — and to abandon books that suck rather than catching a falling knife.

Key takeaways

• Public domain strategy as described: keep the original work in the book, then differentiate with editing, a twist or commentary, and illustrations; Alex says this can cost about as much as a coloring book
• Alex attributes most selling to the cover: he outsources on 99designs (paying $200 for his bestseller cover), sends designers links to top sellers, and aims for similar but better
• Premium pricing over race-to-the-bottom: Alex raised his bestseller to $21 and reports about $8 royalty on the hardcover, which he says outsells the paperback as a more premium/collector product
• Earnings are Alex’s claims: $4,300 revenue so far that month, close to $9,000 peak Q4 month, with a self-estimated $2,000-$3,000 profit if launches stopped; $7,000+ / $10,000 / $20,000 figures are his projections, not verified results
• Advice for beginners from Alex: skip low- and medium-content, save for one high-content book, learn keyword research first, and move on quickly from a failing book instead of spending a year fixing it

Episode details: published October 18, 2024 · 43:19 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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