Make a Living as a Self-Published Author

Most self-published authors sell fewer than a dozen copies. Almost all of them to people they know. Not because the book is bad. Because writing it was only half the job, and nobody told them about the other half.

Richard Lowe left a six-figure corporate career at 53 and spent the next three years publishing and ghostwriting over 113 books. He built a catalog that generates income across multiple formats and platforms, landed ghostwriting and coaching clients through a blog he started with no audience, and figured out through trial and expensive failure what actually works in self-publishing and what is an elaborate waste of time.

This is the book he wished had existed when he started.

Make a Living as a Self-Published Author is not a book about how to write. It is a book about how to build a publishing business. The difference matters. It covers market research before you write a single word, the metadata and category decisions that determine whether Amazon shows your book to anyone, cover design that works at thumbnail size, descriptions that convert browsers into buyers, platform building that generates real leads, the legal basics that most authors ignore until something bites them, and the business structure that turns sporadic royalty checks into predictable income.

It also covers artificial intelligence honestly. What AI does well in a writing workflow, where it fails, why full AI-generated manuscripts produce crap, and how to use it as a digital assistant without letting it replace the thing that makes readers come back for the next book: your voice, your experience, your specific way of seeing things.

The 2026 edition includes a new chapter on AI, updated guidance on wide distribution and direct-to-reader platforms, and the hard-won perspective of someone who has been doing this for nearly a decade. The fundamentals have not changed. The tools are better. The opportunities are bigger than they were in 2017.

There has never been a better time to be a self-published author. This book tells you how to take advantage of it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Verified Purchase
Make a Living as a Professional Self-Published Author is a great book for those getting started with self-publishing. One thing that I love about it is that the author is encouraging, but at the same time gives a realistic idea of what it really takes to succeed as an author. I’ve read some other books on self-publishing that make it sound like all you have to do is write the book, publish it, and then go on vacation while you watch the money roll in. While I wish it worked that way, it simply doesn’t. That’s the bad news. The good news is that success as a self-published author is possible and this book shows you how to lay the foundation for that success. Another thing that I love about this book is that the author has published more than 50 books, and knows what he’s talking about. If you want to lay a solid foundation for a successful career as a self-published author, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of this book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Davina Rush
I first discovered this book on Audible and over the course of a year I have listened to it several times. I finally decided that I had to have the hard copy as well, so that I can highlight all of the wonderful nuggets of helpful info. Brilliant! I highly recommend this book and feel that it should be in every serious writer’s personal library.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Book Lover
I enjoy Richard’s no nonsense honest approach to the business of self publishing. You can tell right away that he speaks from experience in what he shares, and does not skim over the fact that it takes real work to make a living as a self publisher, as well as the potential rewards of following the indie author path!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Francine Brevetti
There’s a lot more to publishing a book than writing it and slapping a cover on it, says Richard Lowe Jr. in this excellent book. How to choose your themes of interest, how to organize your day, how to publish and market and so many other helpful pointers make this a treasure trove of wisdom for writers. The end of each chapter includes a succinct summary, each chapter is studded with helpful links to other resources. But the best part is the tone of the book which is no-nonsense but encouraging, the message being: you can totally do this.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jean Wise
What a neat practical reference for the self published author. With tips ranging from basic (and yes he does start with the basics) to legal tips to publishing overview and reminders, this book is a keeper. I think I will use his book as a planning guide for my next book to be sure I have all the steps in order, then as a quick check when I am ready to publish to be sure I have completed all the details. The book is easy to read and encouraging, full of tips and reminders. I knew most of the basic info but as the book continued learned a new trick or two.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Joey
This is a great book, very informative about getting started as a self-published author. Starting from scratch and as the title says, laying the foundation. My only critique and reasoning for giving it four stars is that it focuses more on non-fiction than fiction. For example, Lowe talks about releasing a lot of books in a short space of time, aiming for lower word count rather than full length novel, and in the world of fiction writing that just isn’t an attainable goal. Otherwise the book is very helpful, packed with links and ideas that can help you get started on the journey. The advice is spot on, and the book is easy to read and flip through at a later date when you want a refresher course on a particular subject. It’s well researched and spells things out for you in an easy to read manner. For that reason, I recommend it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mrs G
This is a fairly lengthy tome and there are many references to other works, both by the author and various experts in this field. The information is helpful and written by a successful author in many writing genres, so his words of wisdom come from experience, and highlights many of the pitfalls a writer can encounter along the path to publication and beyond. All in all, a good guide for newcomers.

Questions

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To make a living as a self-published author, you must create a steady, consistent income. While getting an occasional book that sells very well or even becomes a bestseller is very fulfilling, it’s much more important to produce books that sell moderately well week after week over a long period of time.

The difficulty is not creating a single book that sells well. With some hard work, a strong focus, some significant promotion, and a little bit of luck you can make it sell very well for a short time. My first bestseller, Focus on LinkedIn, did exceptionally well. Because I had gotten many reviews and promoted heavily using a service, I sold a thousand copies within a single day. Building on that success, I quickly submitted the book to BookBub, was accepted, and sold another five thousand copies. Unfortunately, the book tanked after that, and I could never rebuild that success with that title. Sure, the book sells well when priced at ninety-nine cents and blasted to a targeted email list of 440,000 addresses. However, when priced at a more respectable $4.99, sales dropped until the book sold just a few copies a week.

That experience is not unique among self-published authors. A friend of mine published a coloring book, which she promoted heavily at a highly reduced price. She sold over two thousand copies in a few days. However, when the book was priced to where she could make a decent royalty, sales dropped and never recovered.

Selling a few hundred or a few thousand copies in a brief time feels very good. But you can’t run a business that way. Spikes and valleys in your income make it hard to predict how much you’re going to make from day to day, week to week, month to month. Unpredictable income makes it hard to pay predictable bills such as rent, credit cards, car payments, and utilities. Your focus should be on creating a writing and publishing business that produces a stream of income that is predictable and relatively secure.

Two important points to consider: one or two books can go up and down in sales rapidly and sometimes unpredictably. The more books you publish, the more this tendency evens out. And as I’ve stressed several times in this book, your focus should be on producing quality books as fast as possible.

There are also opportunities for income from sources other than just royalties. Ghostwriting, book coaching, speaking, workshops, email list monetization, consulting. Each income stream reinforces the others and smooths the unpredictability that single-title publishing creates.

Write as many books as fast as you can. Regardless of whether you write fiction or nonfiction, illustrate children’s books, publish coloring or puzzle books, or produce comic books, to create reliable income you need to focus on quantity. Quantity is more important than quality, and quality is more important than length.

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