Self-Publishing Income Report for October 2020 and What I've Learned

About this video

Sean’s October income report, after pausing YouTube for two to three months to focus on publishing. He says he had hovered around $20,000 a month from May to September (May about $21,000, June almost $20,000, July $18,000, August about $21,000, September $20,000) while publishing only one to two books a month, which he attributes to building a brand with high-quality books that do not die off from bad reviews. For October he reports, as his claims: KDP $9,830; ACX about $1,634 from a personal account plus a much larger LLC-account month driven by about $9,000 from four Spanish audiobooks that suddenly exploded after months of modest sales — which he theorises was Audible promoting to its Spanish market; Draft2Digital $688; Google Play $546; IngramSpark about $1,600-$1,700 across US, UK, Australian and Global Connect sales; Findaway Voices $33.03; and affiliate commissions totalling $64.09. He puts total income at $30,278, expenses at $5,698, and profit at $24,579. He warns ACX had not paid him and others for September and was investigating, so October ACX income was not guaranteed, despite him saying he only distributes the free US/UK promo codes and does not use fraudulent free-trial tactics. He says he reinvests in real estate/land, stocks and the publishing business, and is focusing on brand quality, better ghostwriters, more launch reviews, and a blog driving 100-200 organic visits a day.

Key takeaways

• Sean claims October income of $30,278 and profit of $24,579 after $5,698 in expenses, across KDP, ACX and several aggregators
• He attributes steady ~$20k months to a high-quality branded backlist rather than publishing volume — only one to two new books a month
• Spanish translations of his top English books drove an unexpected ACX surge, which he says accounted for about $9,000 in October
• Platform risk is real: he says ACX withheld September payments while investigating, even though he says he used no fraudulent tactics
• Diversifying across KDP, ACX, Draft2Digital, Google Play, IngramSpark and Findaway Voices spreads income but some channels were declining with competition

Episode details: published November 12, 2020 · 17:24 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: My Real Beginner Stock Portfolio in 2020 · Next: Self-Publishing Income Report for November 2020 - Q4 Boost or the New Normal?? →

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