How He Makes Multiple Five Figures/Mo with Amazon KDP and TikTok Shop

About this video

This is a recording of Sean’s publishing success interview series for his Royalty Hero program, interviewing Jonathan, whom Sean introduces as making around $23,000 a month and now a coach in the program. Jonathan says he started as a guitar teacher, moved into high-ticket sales, and began publishing while selling a publishing program at Publishing.com to test whether it worked. He claims he now makes $12,000 to $18,000 a month from KDP and Audible while spending about $4,000 a month on ads, and has had TikTok Shop months as big as $49,000 GMV with about $5,000 to $6,000 profit, with TikTok virality also driving Amazon sales. His first book was his bestseller but took about a year to take off, earning, he claims, about $8 in its first month and roughly $1,000 to $1,500 profit a month for six or seven months before a viral TikTok lifted it. He has five books total — three high-content, one journal, and one gift book — and describes creating the bestseller primarily with AI, then heavy editing, proofreading and humanization, taking about three weeks total, with ratings he claims of 4.5 on Amazon and 4.8 on TikTok Shop. For TikTok Shop he advises starting with a first month of 100% organic posting to find a working angle, only moving a book over once it already makes $1,500 to $2,000 in royalties a month on profitable ads, and negotiating affiliate commissions and retainers carefully. He also warns about cash flow because KDP pays about two months later, and says his long-term goal is a $5 million exit by building a brand beyond books.

Key takeaways

• Jonathan claims TikTok, not Amazon alone, turned a modestly profitable first book into his bestseller after a viral video
• He recommends proving a book on KDP first — at least $1,500 to $2,000 a month in royalties on profitable ads — before moving it to TikTok Shop
• Start TikTok Shop with a month of organic posting to find a converting angle before recruiting affiliates or running ads
• His workflow is AI draft plus heavy human editing, proofreading and humanization, not publishing raw AI output
• Watch cash flow when scaling: KDP royalties arrive about two months later while ad, book and shipping costs are paid upfront

Episode details: published January 23, 2026 · 55:49 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.

← Previous: If You’re Doing This, NO ONE Will Buy Your Book (Amazon KDP) · Next: How I Made Millions with a One-Person Business on Amazon Using AI →

All Sean Dollwet videos · Sean Dollwet profile · Sean Dollwet on YouTube