Independent publishing is a large and varied field: authors may publish exclusively on their own, combine independent and traditional work, or use publishing as a business alongside another career. Recent surveys show a wide spread in participation, income, backlist size, platform dependence and marketing effort. The figures below identify each survey and measurement period so that estimates, medians and comparisons are not mistaken for universal industry totals.
Contents
- Who chooses independent publishing
- Income and commercial outcomes
- Output, experience and backlists
- Platforms, formats and distribution
- The marketing workload
- Audience building and direct sales
Who chooses independent publishing
The 2024 Indie Author Survey from Written Word Media found that 76.2% of respondents identified as self-published. Another 16.0% described themselves as hybrid authors using both self-publishing and traditional publishing, while 7.8% identified as fully traditionally published. These are participation shares within that survey, not estimates of every author in the market.
The motivations were similarly diverse. Making money from a book was the primary motivation for 42.7% of respondents. Wanting a story to be told was the leading reason for 19.3%, and writing as a hobby was the primary motivation for 16.7%. A further 14.7% wanted to become a well-known author, while 6.8% selected another primary motivation. The results suggest that commercial intent is common, but it is not the only reason authors choose an independent route.
Income and commercial outcomes
The same 2024 Written Word Media survey reported a broad monthly income distribution. Forty-six percent of respondents earned $100 or less per month from writing, while 54% earned more than $100. Authors earning $251–$1,000 per month represented 17% of respondents, and those earning $2,501 to more than $20,000 per month also represented 17%. These brackets describe survey respondents and should not be read as a typical author salary or a market-wide earnings distribution.
Longer-term income measures provide a different perspective. In the Authors Guild’s 2023 summary of its author income survey, full-time self-published authors had median 2022 book income of $12,800. Their median income rose to $15,000 when all author-related activities were included. Among full-time self-published authors publishing since at least 2018, median income was $24,000 in 2022, compared with $13,700 for the same experienced group in 2018. The survey reports income for defined author groups, not a forecast for new entrants.
The Alliance of Independent Authors’ international survey focused on qualified self-publishing authors who spent more than half their working time on writing and publishing. Their median 2022 revenue was $12,749, while average income was over $80,000. In that survey, 43.8% reported revenue above $20,000 in 2022, and 28% earned at least $50,000. The large difference between average and median indicates a distribution with substantial variation rather than a single representative result.
These income figures answer different questions. The monthly brackets describe what respondents said they earned from writing in the 2024 survey. The Authors Guild figures are annual medians for full-time self-published authors, separating book income from all author-related activities. ALLi’s figures are revenue measures for an internationally surveyed group selected for its primary occupation and time commitment. Because the populations, definitions and periods differ, the numbers should be compared as context rather than combined into one industry-wide average.
Output, experience and backlists
Book count is another important dividing line. Respondents in Written Word Media’s 2024 survey had published an average of eight books. The group earning more than $20,000 per month had published an average of 61 books, while the group earning $100 or less per month had published an average of nine books. Those figures are group averages and do not establish that a particular number of books causes a particular income level.
The 2023 Written Word Media survey reported an average of 18 published books per respondent and a median of eight. The gap between the average and median reflects a smaller number of respondents with much larger backlists. Fifty-five percent of respondents had first published more than five years earlier; 28% had first published between five and ten years earlier. In addition, 83% wrote in multiple genres, showing that the surveyed indie-author population was not limited to single-genre careers.
| Measure | Result | Survey period |
|---|---|---|
| Self-published respondents | 76.2% | Written Word Media, 2024 |
| Average published books | 8 | Written Word Media, 2024 |
| Average published books | 18 | Written Word Media, 2023 |
| Median published books | 8 | Written Word Media, 2023 |
| First published more than five years earlier | 55% | Written Word Media, 2023 |
| Authors writing in multiple genres | 83% | Written Word Media, 2023 |
Platforms, formats and distribution
Amazon was named the top revenue source by 87% of respondents in Written Word Media’s 2024 survey. The prior survey comparison reported Amazon as the top revenue source for 91% of respondents. For second-highest revenue channels in 2024, Apple was selected by 13% and direct sales from author websites by 12%.
Kindle Unlimited was also widespread: 87.5% of respondents had at least one book enrolled. Dependence varied by income group. More than 75% of income came from Kindle Unlimited for 31.8% of respondents earning $5,001–$10,000 per month, 29.8% of those earning $10,001–$20,000, 25% of those earning $1,001–$2,500, and 25% of those earning more than $20,000. These percentages describe the shares within each named income group.
Audio was less universal. The Authors Guild survey reported that audiobooks had not been published by 64% of self-published authors, with the activity measured for 2022 and reported in 2023. Written Word Media’s 2023 survey found that 42% of respondents had published an audiobook, compared with 39% in its 2019 survey. The two sources use different survey populations and should be treated as separate measurements.
The marketing workload
Marketing was the hardest part of self-publishing for 78.5% of respondents in Written Word Media’s 2024 survey. Respondents reported spending an average of eight hours per week on marketing and average marketing spending of about $700 per month. Among 297 respondents who spent nothing on marketing, 91.25% were in either the $100-or-less or the $1,001–$2,500 income brackets reported by that survey.
Authors rated several marketing channels on a five-point effectiveness scale. BookBub Deals received an average rating of 3.4 out of 5. Freebooksy and Bargain Booksy together received 3.3, as did author newsletters. Lead magnets received 3.0, Facebook Ads 2.9 and Amazon Ads 2.7. These are reported perceptions or outcomes from the survey’s channel-rating question, not controlled comparisons of return on investment.
Audience building and direct sales
Email ownership varied sharply by income group in Written Word Media’s 2024 survey. An email list was reported by 96.23% of respondents earning more than $20,000 per month and by 96.08% of those earning $10,001–$20,000. The corresponding share for respondents earning $100 or less was 53.23%. The lower-income group also reported 142 free titles in the survey’s pricing results; this is a survey result for that group and does not mean every author in the bracket had that number of titles.
Websites were common before direct sales became universal. In Written Word Media’s 2023 survey, 85% of respondents had an author website. Of respondents without a website, 46% planned to have one within a year. Among respondents with websites, 27% sold directly to readers from their site. Of website owners who did not sell direct, 39% planned to offer direct sales within the next year.
Taken together, these measurements show a publishing model that combines platform distribution with gradual audience ownership. Amazon remained the leading revenue source in the 2024 survey, while author websites, email lists and direct sales appeared as important parts of the higher-income and growth-oriented picture. The results describe surveyed authors across specific periods—2024, 2023, 2022 income years and a 2019 comparison—so they are best used to understand patterns and differences, not to predict an individual author’s earnings.