Why Most Authors Don’t Make Money Selling Ebooks on Amazon

The Harsh Truth

Take it from me. Six years ago I spent a summer writing an eBook on photographing Yosemite. Yes, I thought that publishing an ebook on Amazon would earn some passive income. YouTubers were then crowing about all the money they had made.

But nobody bought my labor of love. It was a bitter pill to swallow, having had three print books previously published by legitimate presses. Some screen grabs from the book are included here.

I did have a wonderful time taking numerous trips to Yosemite while working on the eBook. While camping at Yosemite I marveled as I stalked the right light, made campfires at night and slept in my Tepui tent on the rooftop of my car. Yosemite never ceases to make me believe there has to be a higher power out there that created so much beauty. When the light strikes in its a special way at day’s end onto granite walls and waterfalls glisten, Yosemite becomes my cathedral.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most authors don’t make meaningful money selling ebooks on Amazon. While success stories grab headlines, they’re the exception, not the rule. Amazon makes a lot of money charging authors to promote their books as these eager writers pay for a better ranking on Amazon’s site.

You can buy my book here . If you make a an annual donation, I’ll even send you a copy for free!

Let’s face it. The Ebook market is oversaturated. Unless you’re writing in a niche with limited competition or have a strong existing audience, your book is likely to get lost in the crowd. Even excellent books can languish in obscurity without the right visibility. Like mine. LOL

Also, even if somebody did purchase my book my profit would be quite small as it’s a large file filled with lots of photos. The large download deceases my earnings. Jimmy Chin, the legendary photographer of climbers even gave me permission to use his images without paying a license fee. Perhaps he knew the book wouldn’t sell?

Sadly, nobody seems to want to pay for content these days, when so much is available for free online. For instance look at this newsletter. I’ve only received contributions from three readers. For that I’m incredibly grateful but the lack of other donations doesn’t help to pay my bills. ( hint, hint, hint, hint! )

OK I just went to to Chat GPT to get some stats on eBook sales. Here they are:

One of the biggest challenges for authors is the race to the bottom in pricing. Many ebooks are priced at $0.99 or even offered for free to attract readers. While this strategy can boost downloads, it doesn’t lead to substantial income.

Amazon’s royalty structure doesn’t help:

• For books priced between $0.99 and $2.98, authors earn just 35% royalties.

• For books priced $2.99–$9.99, authors earn 70% royalties—but higher prices often deter buyers in a market saturated with cheap options.

For a $0.99 book, you’re earning about $0.35 per sale. To make $1,000, you’d need to sell nearly 3,000 copies—an uphill battle for most indie authors.

The payout per page read program for Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited is typically around $0.0045. For a 300-page book, that’s about $1.35—if the reader finishes the entire book. If they abandon it halfway, you earn even less.

-Chat GPT

---

Have you had experience publishing an eBook? Share it here…

---

---

Would you like me to include specific examples or success stories for context?