Revisiting My Old Amazon KDP Books to See How Much It's Making - Passive Income 2021

About this video

Sean revisits books he published in 2017-2019, after starting publishing around October 2016, to test whether self-publishing income is truly passive. Because CreateSpace only merged into KDP around November 2018, earlier data is incomplete. He says a September 2017 book still makes roughly $50-$100 a month on KDP; an April 2018 book makes roughly $70-$80 a month on KDP, mostly paperbacks, and has sold 6,985 units on ACX since May 2018. A January 2019 bundle, which he says cost about $50 to make, with no ads, has made at least $16,000 on the US KDP side and a few hundred dollars a month consistently. Other 2017 books have slowed to roughly $10-$40 a month, or only a few dollars, but still sell occasionally, with additional lifetime ACX unit sales in the thousands. One apparently dead English paperback, he says, succeeded in Spanish, making hundreds a month on KDP and becoming his best IngramSpark seller. His conclusion is that small amounts compound across a portfolio, books can succeed on a different platform or language when they fail on KDP, and SEO keywords in titles are essential for discovery — especially off Amazon.

Key takeaways

• Old books can keep earning for years with no maintenance: Sean cites 2017-2018 titles still making roughly $50-$100 a month on KDP.
• A cheap-to-make bundle can be the standout — he claims a January 2019 bundle cost about $50 and made at least $16,000 in the US.
• Performance varies by platform: a weak KDP book may sell well on ACX, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark or Findaway Voices instead.
• Translation can revive a dead title — his English flop became a Spanish earner on KDP and his best IngramSpark book.
• Passive discovery depends on SEO: without keywords in the title, books will not be found, especially outside Amazon.

Episode details: published August 23, 2021 · 12:30 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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