Why I’m Not Making Money as an Author (And What Finally Fixed It)
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
I did everything right.
I wrote the book. I edited it. I published it.
And I made… nothing.
No real sales. No consistent readers. No income.
If you’re here, you’re probably wondering the same thing I was:
Why can’t I make money as an author?
Here’s the truth most platforms don’t tell you.
The problem isn’t your book. It’s the system.
Most authors are stuck in a model that looks like this:
You only get paid when someone buys
Your book is locked behind a price
You’re competing with millions of other titles
That’s not a writing problem. That’s a distribution and monetization problem.
I was relying on sales, and that was the mistake
I priced my book at $9.99.
It felt reasonable.
But every reader had to stop and think: “Is this worth it?”
Most didn’t.
Even when I got traffic, it didn’t matter.1,000 visitors could turn into 5 or 10 sales.
That’s when it clicked:
Sales are a bottleneck.
Discoverability is broken for new authors
Platforms like Amazon and others promise reach.
But in reality:
new books get buried
algorithms favor what’s already selling
visibility goes to the top 1%
If you don’t already have an audience, you’re invisible.
I was invisible.
Then I tested something simple: free
I made my book free.
And everything changed.
More clicks
More reads
More shares
No friction. No hesitation.
$free.99 beat $9.99 instantly.
But free alone doesn’t make money
This is where most authors get stuck.
Free gets you readers. But how do you get paid?
That’s when I discovered a different model.
The shift that actually works: earn from readers, not buyers
Instead of asking: “How do I get people to buy my book?”
I started asking: “How do I get paid when people read my book?”
That’s the difference.
And that’s exactly what Faba Books is built for.
How I finally started making money with Faba Books
Faba Books flips the model.
Instead of relying on sales, you earn from readership.
Here’s how it works:
Your book is free, so more people read it
Ads are placed every few pages
You earn from engagement, not purchases
No paywall. No conversion barrier.
Introducing ePMR, Earnings Per 1000 Reads
This is what changed everything for me.
Instead of tracking sales, I track:
ePMR, how much I earn per 1,000 reads
Just like YouTube creators earn per 1,000 views, authors can now earn per 1,000 readers.
That means:
more readers = more income
growth actually scales
Real numbers changed how I saw everything
Using Faba Books’ calculator:
A 200 page book
Around 20 ad placements
Can generate:
~$294.40 ePMR
~$426.88 per month
Disclaimer, this example assumes a U.S. based book with a U.S. audience, 5,000 monthly readers, and a 29% engagement rate. Results vary, and higher engagement can increase revenue.
Why this works when everything else didn’t
Because it removes the biggest problem:
You don’t need to convince people to buy.
You just need them to read.
And reading is easy.
Buying is hard.
The difference is simple
Old model:
Get traffic
Hope for sales
Earn if they buy
Faba Books:
Get readers
Earn from engagement
Scale with attention
One is limited. The other grows.
If you’re struggling, it’s not just you
Most authors are stuck trying to win in a system that:
limits exposure
depends on conversions
and rewards only a small percentage
It’s not that your book isn’t good.
It’s that the model isn’t built for you to win. This is legit why I’m Not Making Money as an Author
What I would do differently starting today
I wouldn’t focus on selling first.
I would focus on:
getting as many readers as possible
removing friction
building an audience
Then monetizing that attention.
Why I’m Not Making Money as an Author (And What Finally Fixed It)
Making money as an author isn’t just about writing.
It’s about how your book is distributed and monetized.
If more people can read your book, more people will.
And with the right system, more readers finally means more income.
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