All or Nothing?

Whether you're selling your books directly to readers or your eBooks are exclusive to Amazon, there's always something you can do to diversify your income.

It doesn't have to be a case of all or nothing, as we thought it was in the beginning with Lori's books.

For far too long, we were 100% reliant on the Amazon royalties for Lori's books, primarily because the books were in Kindle Unlimited (KU).

It took us a while to find our feet and start diversifying a little.

And once we did, although Amazon was still our biggest earner, we had other income streams; the main ones being:

– Ingram Spark

– Audiobooks

– Foreign Rights

And this was whilst the books were still in KU.

Now Lori's books are wide, our income streams are even more diversified:

– Direct Sales

– Amazon

– Kobo

– Barnes & Noble

– Apple Books

– Ingram Spark

– Audiobooks

– Foreign Rights

Even when we started selling the eBooks directly to readers on Lori's store, it took a few months to remember that we were leaving money on the table with the other retailers.

We were so engrained in the Amazon-exclusive mindset, that it just wasn't on our radar to take advantage of the likes of Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Apple Books.

Retailers, Amazon included, don't need to be your main income stream by any means; they can simply supplement it.

You may decide like we have, that the main income stream for your books is going to be direct sales.

Or you may want to have Amazon, or one of the other retailers as your main income stream.

What you're likely going to see is the 80/20 Rule come into play; 80% (approx) of your income is going to come from 20% (approx) of your income streams.

All that to say, wherever you're at in your journey, it doesn't have to be a case of all or nothing.

Diversifying your income streams is going to build a more sustainable, secure, long-lasting author business.

Gotta run, the kids are at daycare again today, and I've got a course to build on how to sell your books directly to your readers (join 500+ authors on the waitlist here).

To Your Success
– Matt