Amazon have announced that 15 of the top 100 bestselling Kindle books in the UK last year were self-published. Nick Spalding dominated the chart, with the number one spot taken by his Love… From Both Sides, and Love… And Sleepless Nights taking third place. Southampton-based Spalding was signed by Hodder & Staughton last October and told Amazon:
“2012 couldn’t have been better for me – it’s been quite amazing. I keep peeking nervously round every corner expecting to see something awful coming my way. Self-publishing on the KDP platform was the best decision I’ve made as a writer. It got my books into the hands of readers who now love them, made me enough money to gold plate at least one toilet seat.”
A power law curve
Golden loo seats aside, it’s interesting that Amazon are releasing figures for how much their top authors are making from self-publishing. Since the launch of Amazon.co.uk’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform, Amazon says 12 authors sold more than 100,000 copies. Fifty authors earnt more than £50,000 from their self-published books, 11 of whom earnt more than £100,000 (not including royalties from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library).
Given there are thousands of self-published authors on the Kindle, this does emphasise that self-publishing is just as much of a power law venture as any other, with the majority of the earnings going to a minority of authors.
But I’m more interested to know how many authors earnt £17,784 or more — the annual income for someone living in London, working a 40 hour week at the living wage of £8.55 — than how many authors are raking it in. (I’ve asked Amazon, and we’ll see if they reply.) Whilst it’s a much more modest sum, it’s a decent income for an author and would allowing many to write full-time.
If you consider a power law curve, those at the ‘head’ are pulling in the big bucks and they are in the minority just the same in self-publishing as they are in any other field of endeavour. The ‘long tail’ are earning virtually nothing and account for the majority of books in the system.
The interesting stuff really happens at the base of the long tail, at the rat’s arse, where a large-ish group of authors are earning enough to live on, but not enough to warrant a mention in a press release. If what you want is to earn a living from self-publishing, the rat’s arse is your target destination. Luck may take you up to the head of the curve, but you can be a happy storyteller earning a decent wage without having to climb up that steep slope to the top.
I'll update this post with more info if Amazon get back to me.
