Making more money using Kindle Direct Publishing?

1. 73

   clivewilliamsposted 5 years ago

   Do you make more money on self publishing on kindle than hubpages? how much do you make?

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2. 95

   EricFarmer8xposted 5 years ago

   I considered it but then I remembered I don't how to write a book. I was thinking of throwing something together and publishing it as a joke. I might still do it anyway. Just to see if at least one person buys it.
   
   I am curious if anybody has some serious earnings to report.

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   1. 73

      clivewilliamsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      You can only fail when you fail to try. Go for it.

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      Isivwe Muoboposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I have over 40 books on Kindle, but don't make much.
      
      There are tips to making money on kindle and you'd have to apply these or your books would get buried under the thousands of other books that get published daily.

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3. 91

   Natalie Frankposted 5 years ago

   I know Glenn has some children's books he's published on Kindle so he might be a good one to ask.

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      clivewilliamsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      ok cool

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4. 93

   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Some authors do quite well with self-publishing. Create Space is popular with information to help you get it done.

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   1. 73

      clivewilliamsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I have a few books not doing so well

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5. 97

   eugbugposted 5 years ago

   I was thinking of lumping some HubPages articles together and publishing them as a miscellany. As far as I know, there's no issue publishing the same content on both HubPages and Kindle.

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      Isivwe Muoboposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Books on Kindle have to be 100% unique or they likely will get rejected.
      
      You can however, publish the same book on another platform (so long as it's in an eBook format and not an article) if your book isn't enrolled in the Amazon Select programme.

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6. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 5 years ago

   I make about the same on each but they are completely different types of writing and earning.  Books without a clear identity and market do not sell at all.

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      EricFarmer8xposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      What kind of books do you publish if you don't mind me asking?

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         psycheskinnerposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Fantasy fiction, mainly.

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7. 91

   Urbane Chaosposted 5 years ago

   I have three books through Createspace/KDP. 
   
   The first one, "The Birth of Poteau" has sold well over 5,000 copies.  It's a local niche book about the area's history.  It was published in 2012 and I still average selling around 20-30 books a month.  Profit on each book is $16 online, and $34 with hard copies.  It took about two years to pay off the initial fees (securing historic documents, copyright rights, maps, etc).  Now, $10 and $20, respectively, of each sale goes back into our non-profit endeavors.
   
   The second one, "The LeFlore County Adventure Guide" is another area book, but it's promoted across Oklahoma.  It has sold around 3,000 copies and was published in 2013.  It's nearing its life expectancy though (information is out-dated) so sales are dropping off.  I'll sell one or two on average every couple months.  In the next couple years, I'll re-release an updated version.  Profits range from $9 to $17.
   
   The third one, "Stories of the Mountain Gateway" is about eastern Oklahoma history, legends, and other weird things.  It was published in 2017.  Over 4,000 copies of that one has been sold so far.  On average, I sell around 30 books a month.  Profits are smaller, but it ranges from $6 to $14.
   
   With Stories of the Mountain Gateway, most of the stories compiled are also on Hubpages.  I do not allow full previews of the book since Google will pick it up as duplicate content. I also attributed and thanked Hubpages (and staff) in the book, just because I think it is the right thing to do.
   
   Now to compare...
   
   I have also had two books published through the University of Oklahoma Press: Oklahoma Traveler and Stories from the Oklahoma Traveler.  Both released about the same time, 2003 and 2004.  From the publishing company, I only received 9% royalties ($1.80 per book), they held the publishing rights and limited copyright rights, and marketing and distribution were limited.  I had an offer from Arcadia Publishing as well, but it was much the same, with only 6% royalties. I had both books pulled and had to fight to get back my publishing and copyright rights back.  In the agreement, I had to wait 15 years before I could republish those books, so that's what I've been in the process of doing.
   
   I refuse to go with another house-publisher; with most things, POD is now the way to go.  (I also run things through RedBubble and Patreon).
   
   The success of the books have been mainly due to them being more niche books containing information not easily found.  This makes marketing easier.  Marketing has been done through social media, forums, websites, and blogs, as well as paid advertising, free publicity, and partnerships with places such as the state parks and tourism centers.
   
   I make significantly more through the books and freelance than I do on Hubpages. 
   
   My basic business model with regards to HubPages is essentially thus: I'm hired to write freelance articles for various places, usually 1,000 to 4,000 words, generally around $.14 cents a word. I try to retain copyrights and publishing rights (with a six-month delay).  If I am able to keep the rights, or if the article is rejected for some reason, I publish it to HubPages.  From there, I'll re-use the article in different areas, such as print media, in lectures, video, or compile the articles into a print-only book.
   
   For me, I'm able to make a living doing this and it leaves me a lot of "extra" time to run a non-profit as well. Just have to set a game plan, find multiple streams of income, and follow through. I hope this helps.

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8. 73

   clivewilliamsposted 5 years ago

   Thanks for that detailed input. I wish you well waith all your future books

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9. 83

   LoisRyan1965posted 5 years ago

   I too am considering using Kindle Publishing if HubPages doesn't work out.  Most of my aticles are on the Home Remedies field and can be combined into an e-book.  I am giving HP the chance.  By the time I finished posting my last articles, if I am making a decent income with HP, say $600 a month, I will probably continue writing for this site.  It might take me a while for this-I  have between 600 and 1200 hubs to work on.

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   1. 73

      clivewilliamsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Thats wonderful..you are doing well here. I think your eBooks will do great too.

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10. 84

    psycheskinnerposted 5 years ago

    Createspace no longer exists, now KDP Print is the only option.

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11. 97

    Glenn Stokposted 5 years ago

    Clive, I just noticed this thread with your question.
    
    I have five paperback and Kindle books published using Lulu and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP used to be Create Space).
    
    To answer your original question comparing KDP to HubPages — based on my experience I find that writing articles online has become a decent small business for my retirement, but I make very little money from my books.
    
    I recently added two children’s books on KDP and have yet to see any sales. It’s not easy. But that doesn’t mean that others can’t do well.
    
    I believe in order to make money selling books, one needs to be a well-known author. It also helps to have a book about a unique subject that fills a special niche that others will want to promote.
    
    We have more options to get readers with online content, such as using SEO techniques, proper APA style for titles and citations, and displaying Expertise Authority and Trust (EAT) in our bio — according to Google’s guidelines.
    
    Make Google happy and your articles get a good ranking. But there is no easy way to get books displayed to more people. I think another issue is that people need to pay for books, but reading online is free when ads are used for monetization. So we get more potential readers with online content. That’s how I see it.
    
    I wrote a couple of hubs explaining the details of self-publishing with KDP that you can find in the spotlight on my profile page.

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    1. 73

       clivewilliamsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       I see, I have a few books on KDP....but only made a few dollars.

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