Income Report Amazon KDP | 20 Coloring Books = How Much Money? 

I assume that's self assessment for tax? Is that as a sole trader? been trying to find solid info before I start but finding it a little difficult seems to be so little on the admin side out there. I take it creative fabrica is instead of canva and a better product?

@@Al_Does_Stuff Yes, exactly r.e. self assessment as sole trader. Perhaps I can do a video on that if that's helpful? Creative Fabrica has fonts, illustrations, templates, etc that you can use for your books. It's a bit like Canva, but more focused on being the best stock site possible for book publishing. It also allows you to download things and take them into other programs to create books (also gives copyright unlike some issues that have happened recently with Canva getting KDP books banned!)

Very good video! I don't know if you have already been asked in a comment, but I have read that Amazon will control a lot of the work done with AI, do you know how this can be managed so as not to be negatively affected?

​@@selfpublishingempire thank you for your transparency & honesty ! Health Wealth & Success to you for the rest of 2024 !

Can we get an update on the progress?

Ha! I hate those videos... "you can make $10,000 from these notebooks" :D

😂😂😂😂

Damn this is kinda depressing eh?

​@@siratlas9005it's more of a realistic what to expect if you don't do a lot of good niche research before hand and just pump out books without a good marketing strategy :)

who is Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk?

Thanks for your comment Sarah and good luck with the coloring books :). Make sure to check out some of my other videos, especially on my book launch strategy with ads. Consider adding them all to a series as well, as that'll help repeat purchase. Keep us updated!

Lets assume that you are a talented artist. Make some You Tube videos of your tattoo work. Link them to your books. Make a tattoo book too.

I subscribed when I saw the low profits, so rare to see genuine results.

Yup you’re absolutely right, as soon as i smell a lie i never go back to that channel.

Hello Maya, je suis français également. :) Je partage ton avis / I share your opinion.

Thanks Steve, much appreciated.

That has to be so discouraging! But I guess you have to take the long view and thinking you put in the work first, and then the revenue starts rolling in. Best wishes for you future coloring book empire!

That has to be so discouraging! But I guess you have to take the long view and thinking you put in the work first, and then the revenue starts rolling in. Best wishes for you future coloring book empire! It seems to me that the real key is selling them, and not so much making new ones. So, in order to make £1000 a month you need to sell 300 a month, right? If you got a national chain of craft stores to purchase 3,600 copies of Dinosaurs in Space, you’d reach your goal for the year, right?

Definitely a good strategy! I start them lower and increase them after a month but I’ve not tried extremely low before… i might have to do a case study video trying it ;-)

Too cheap of a price tells the consumer it is not a quality book.

Thanks Mariel, I do make sure that I'm not just sticking AI images in to a book, that I am adding extra like retouching, copy/etc to try and stand out :). Looking forward to watching your video now!

Thanks Shane!

My pleasure! Glad it was helpful

Thanks Nich, yeah if I get my book sales up to a level where it's bringing in a good amount regularly each month it's going to be through hard work, volume, quality, good niche research and ad strategy... all of which I'll share my results with you along the way to see what's worked and what hasn't! It's definitely not a get rich quick side hustle, but it can be a lot of fun and give SOME extra money on the side.

@@selfpublishingempire Thank you. I'll keep watching your updates and all the best in the success of your business.

I see these videos EVERYWHERE and it's just not the case.

Cheers Marc and thanks for sharing your experience too. I'm definitely seeing improvements as my books and marketing are both improving... but like you say, you need to treat it as a longer term building (ie a business), rather than a get rich quick scheme! My most recent income report shows more success.

Agreed. When I do my August review and end of 2023 review we will see how more books, and better books, have continued the build

Thanks :). I think if you get lucky and/or get a book to rank well in a profitable niche there's potental to make good money, but it'll take a good amount of ad spend along the way.

@selfpublishingempire one thing I'd like to do (as would many people) is get the colouring book rights to an I.P like Spongebob or Scooby Doo.

@@toxicGumballz If you know anyone, let me know :D

@@toxicGumballz I used to work in entertainment licensing. I think your chances are slim to none. First off, the licensor will only license a set amount of categories. (eg activity books) per licensed property, and will 100% require you to follow their 'style bibles', which means def no AI, and definitely the employment of a professional artist who understands licenced property guidelines. Every single image will have to be approved by the licensor (via their agent), which can take ages, and almost ALWAYS requires some kind of amendments (ie more money to spend for you). And then you have the financial aspect of the deal. ALL licensed property owners will require you to enter a guaranteed royalty agreement. This is where you will guarantee a minimum amount of royalties the property owner will earn over the license agreement (typically 2/3 yrs). Not only that, you will have to pay a large percentage of that guarantee royalty up front. This causes a big issue for small operators, as they will often agree to a HIGH ROYALTY, and OVER ESTIMATE the earnings. and then end up paying a HUGE advance on that guarantee, and NEVER actually make it back. PLUS under contract, you are obliged to pay the licensor the minimum of the TOTAL royalties you guaranteed in your agreement. And to top all this off, if you make one tiny mistake, and do not follow their license guidelines, they will terminate your license (after all they have a very profitable brand to protect). If after all that you are interested, then the licensing agent for Scooby Doo is www.warnerbros.com/company/divisions/consumer-products and you can find the licensing agents for many other characters at www.licenseglobal.com/

@@RJMCTVNice breakdown of the facts. Cheers.

Thank you, and you!

Thanks Beth, and you too!

Thanks Tom!

Thanks and welcome aboard!

Ah thank you so much for the support :), I love watching your videos and learn from them as well!

@@selfpublishingempire 😊

Thanks Catherine. I have had a couple of books perform a bit better than these - and some others perform worse! But I hope the honest overview helps :)

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you

I appreciate that! Thank you :)

Cheers Gareth. If you're doing a different area you might find success a little quicker. With my books it tends to be the more difficult they are to make, the better they sell (likely because of less competition). Good luck :)

Thank you! I have had other books that have performed better since then, so make sure to check those videos out :)

Much appreciated! Thank you for sharing :). Please check out my recent one now I've reached 100 books as well.

You're welcome!

Thank you 🙏

Thank you! They've already started rising which is promising :). My August report shows that a little bit, but like you say it's about not giving up and keeping going!

Thanks for the sub!

Glad it was helpful!

If I wasn't creating my covers and intreriors myself (ie no additional hard costs), I'd be losing money on the books too! I'm hoping that volume and a bigger back catalogue will help in the future.

Thank you, good luck on your journey too and I'll have a video coming out soon showing the SUCCESS of a coloring book :)

I've had some books perform better with one evening making £2k in a single month in a seasonal niche - so it is possible, but this is definitely a more realistic view :)

100% agree with you Liz. AI is a dirty word within the adult colouring niche. Not all of my books are AI generated (most of the colouring books are, but not all), and the ones that are AI generated I retouch to remove imperfections and then edit them further to make good pages... but I know a lot of the reason is the ethical side as well, which can be a grey area. I'm all about innovation and advances in productivity, but I'm also a believer of people getting paid for their work and IP, so hopefully with more consideration going into AI we will see new legislations in place to help artists choose whether or not their work can be utilised for AI and hopefully get the artists paid as well.

And I'll check out your video Liz :) Thanks for commenting!

Those channels are good for inspiration, but dangerous because they set false and unrealistic expectations. KDP is a slog, but it can be fruitful, and when you find a book that starts to sell it feels amazing. Keep chipping away, that's how I started!

Glad it was useful!

Thank you, and thank you so much for the donation 🥳

I appreciate that! Thank you :)

You’re welcome, thanks for stopping by!

Check out my Amazon Ads playlist, which should answer any questions you have!

@@selfpublishingempire OH, thanks , I'll do

Thanks, I might have to go back and make a new book with better designs!

Thanks for checking out the channel :), and agreed! I try to see it as a business and in the grand scheme of things, I'm still towards the beginning.

@@selfpublishingempire you are doing a great job with taking action....keep it up and you will eventually find what works.