Estimate book profit before you publish.
See royalty-based monthly and yearly profit for your book, test pricing and sales scenarios, and check whether a book idea looks financially viable — before you commit to it.
Free to use · No signup · Built for indie authors and small publishers
Three scenarios
per month · — per year
per month · — per year
per month · — per year
Scenarios scale estimated monthly sales down for "cautious" and up for "optimistic," keeping royalty per sale and costs fixed. They're a planning range, not a forecast.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your royalty per sale — from the royalty calculator, or your own number.
- Enter estimated monthly sales per book and how many books are in your catalogue.
- Optionally add monthly ad spend and a one-time production cost.
- Read the realistic projection, then compare it against the cautious and optimistic scenarios.
How the estimate works
Monthly revenue is royalty per sale multiplied by monthly sales per book multiplied by catalogue size. Monthly profit subtracts ad spend from that figure. Yearly profit multiplies monthly profit by twelve and subtracts your one-time production cost.
The cautious and optimistic scenarios scale your monthly sales estimate down and up respectively, while holding royalty per sale and costs steady — a simple way to see how sensitive your numbers are to sales volume before you commit a budget.
Profit projection FAQ
What is the difference between revenue and royalty?
Revenue is the full amount a customer pays. Royalty is what you're paid after the platform's cut and, for print books, print cost. This tool starts from royalty, since that's the number that actually reaches you.
Why is my break-even estimate blank?
Break-even only calculates when you've entered a one-time production cost and your monthly profit is positive. If ad spend exceeds monthly revenue, break-even isn't shown.
Should I trust the optimistic scenario for planning?
Treat the realistic scenario as your planning baseline, and the optimistic and cautious scenarios as bookends for best- and worst-case thinking — not as numbers to budget against directly.