How a 24 Year Old Built a Mega Successful Amazon KDP Business

About this video

Sean analyzes an Empire Flippers listing for a KDP business built by a 24 year old, noting he himself sold his first KDP business for $820,000 on the same site. He says the listing is priced at $894,000, calculated as $23,000 average monthly profit times a 38x multiple, on $35,000 monthly revenue - a 67% profit margin. Started April 4th, 2020, so about two years and eight months old, it is in health, fitness and culinary, mainly cookbooks, with 61 books in paperback, hardback, ebook and audio, plus 10 unpublished manuscripts, ghostwriter and cover designer relationships, a Facebook account and two email lists of 1,800 plus 260 subscribers. Sean says revenue is 84% from Amazon KDP ebook and paperback and 16% from ACX, with no book accounting for more than 32% of revenue, the top books having hundreds of reviews and one a bestseller, and 90% of books written by ghostwriting companies. Recent net profit shown is $41,000 in July, another $41,000 in August, $38,000 in September and $33,000 in October. In the seller interview, the seller says he is selling to focus on a physical product business, and that his early mistake was publishing one or two books across many niches instead of focusing; Sean agrees publishers should double down on one proven niche and brand. Growth ideas discussed include translating bestsellers into Spanish then German, and building a Shopify store outside Amazon.

Key takeaways

• Empire Flippers valuation in the example: $23,000 monthly profit x 38 multiple = $894,000 listing price on $35,000 revenue
• The 61-book business earns 84% from KDP and 16% from ACX, with its top book at no more than 32% of revenue
• Focus beats shotgunning: publishing one or two books in many niches failed for the seller; doubling down on one proven niche built the brand
• 90% of the books were ghostwritten, showing the model relies on contractors for writing and cover design
• Sean argues account-ban risk is low if you follow Amazon’s rules, and suggests growth via Spanish then German translations and off-Amazon sales

Episode details: published January 30, 2023 · 19:16 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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