Here’s a number that’ll either inspire you or make you want to take up woodworking instead: authors earning over $20,000 per month have published an average of 61 books.
Sixty-one books! That’s not a typo, and it’s not an accident.
Meanwhile, most aspiring authors are still polishing their first manuscript, convinced that if they just get it perfect enough, it’ll be the one that changes everything. They’re operating under what I call the “lottery ticket mentality”–the belief that one perfect book will solve all their problems.
Well, let me share some hard truths about why that approach will keep you broke, and how understanding the prolificacy premium might be the most important business lesson you’ll ever learn as an indie author.
The Math That Changes Everything
Let’s start with the brutal reality: in today’s market, a single book–no matter how good–is almost invisible. Amazon adds thousands of new titles every single day. Your one perfect book is a fart in a hurricane.
But here’s where the math gets interesting. It’s not just that more books equal more sales. It’s that each new book you publish increases the sales potential of every book you’ve already written.
This is called the “sell-through effect,” and it’s the secret sauce that separates successful bootstrap authors from struggling ones.
When a reader discovers your latest release and loves it, they don’t just buy that book. They often go back and purchase your entire backlist. One $4.99 sale becomes three $4.99 sales, or five, or ten.
Your tenth book doesn’t just earn royalties on its own sales–it drives additional sales for books one through nine. Your catalog starts working as a team instead of individual players trying to make it alone.
Why Most Authors Get This Wrong
The problem is that most writers think like artists instead of business owners. They pour everything into creating one “masterpiece” and then wonder why the world doesn’t beat a path to their door.
This is commonly seen: authors who spend three years perfecting their debut novel, then launch it with great expectations, only to sell maybe fifty copies to friends and family. Discouraged, they either quit or spend another three years on book two.
Compare that to the bootstrap authors who are growing a business and actually making money. They publish a good-enough book at least every six months, learn from reader feedback, and apply those lessons to the next book. By the time the perfectionist has finished polishing their second novel, the prolific author has published their eighth.
Guess who’s making more money?
The Compound Effect in Action
Let me paint you a picture of how this actually works using realistic bootstrap numbers:
Year 1: Publish 2 books, each selling 20 copies per month
- Monthly income: $280 (2 books × 20 sales × $7 profit after Amazon’s cut)
Year 2: Publish 2 more books (4 total), backlist effect kicks in
- Monthly income: $560 (4 books × 30 sales each due to cross-promotion)
Year 3: Publish 2 more books (6 total), compounding accelerates
- Monthly income: $1,050 (6 books × 35 sales each)
Year 4: Publish 2 more books (8 total), reaching critical mass
- Monthly income: $1,600 (8 books × 40 sales each)
Year 5: Publish 2 more books (10 total), compound effect in full swing
- Monthly income: $2,250 (10 books × 45 sales each)
Notice what’s happening here? By Year 5, each individual book is selling more copies than it would have in Year 1, even though nothing else changed. The difference is that readers discovering book 10 are buying books 1-9 as well.
The Bootstrap Catalog Strategy
So how do you build a catalog when you’re doing everything yourself and operating on sweat equity rather than venture capital?
- Focus on consistency over perfection. A good book published beats a perfect book sitting on your hard drive. You can always improve with the next one.
- Develop repeatable systems. Use the same AI prompts for cover creation, the same Jutoh templates for formatting, the same social media posting schedule. Systems let you publish faster without sacrificing quality.
- Write in series when possible. Readers who love book one in a series are almost guaranteed to buy book two. Series also justify the time investment in world-building and character development.
- Cross-promote within your books. Include previews of other books, author notes about your catalog, and clear calls-to-action that guide readers to your other work.
- Price strategically across your catalog. Maybe book one of a series is $2.99 to hook readers, while subsequent books are $4.99 to maximize profit from engaged fans. Test different prices!
The Time Investment Reality
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Chet, I’m already working my ass off on one book. How am I supposed to write sixty-one?”
Fair question. But here’s what I’ve learned from my own bootstrap journey: the time investment per book actually decreases as you get more prolific.
Your first book might take 500 hours because you’re learning everything–how to self-edit, how to create covers with AI, how to format with Jutoh, how to market on social media. But by book five, you’ve got systems in place. Book ten might only take 200 hours because you know exactly what you’re doing.
Plus, each book teaches you something that makes the next book better and faster to produce. You learn what readers in your genre want, which cover styles convert, what price points work, which marketing approaches actually drive sales.
It’s like any other skill–the learning curve is steep at first, then it levels out and you can produce quality work much more efficiently.
The Genre Focus Advantage
Here’s another lesson from those $20,000-per-month authors: most of them don’t write all over the map. They find a genre they enjoy and readers love, then they mine that vein consistently.
This isn’t about limiting your creativity–it’s about building a brand readers can trust. When someone loves your historical mysteries, they want more historical mysteries, not a sudden pivot to romance or sci-fi.
For my Lost Pages series, I’m sticking with historical literary and cultural archaeology–exploring the untold stories behind famous writers, famous (and infamous) people, and their often mysterious or fascinating circumstances. Each book builds on the brand while standing alone as a complete story.
This focus also makes each book easier to write because you’re building on established research, character types, and storytelling approaches rather than starting from scratch every time.
The Marketing Multiplication Effect
Here’s something most authors don’t consider: marketing ten books isn’t ten times harder than marketing one book–it’s actually easier in many ways.
When you run an Amazon ad for your latest release, you’re not just marketing that book. You’re marketing your entire catalog to people who might become lifetime readers.
When someone reviews your newest book positively, they often mention your other works. When a book blogger features you, they typically discuss your body of work, not just one title.
Your author platform–your website, email list, social media presence–becomes exponentially more valuable when it’s driving sales across multiple books instead of just one.
The Quality vs. Quantity Balance
Now, I’m not suggesting you churn out garbage just to hit some arbitrary number. Quality still matters enormously. But here’s what I’ve learned: “good enough and published” beats “perfect and sitting on your computer” every single time.
Readers are surprisingly forgiving of minor flaws if the story is engaging and the writing is solid. They’re much less forgiving of having to wait three years between books from an author they love.
The key is finding your minimum viable quality level–the point where your work is professional, engaging, and worthy of your readers’ time and money, even if it’s not absolutely perfect.
For me, that means thorough self-editing, AI-generated covers that look professional, clean formatting with Jutoh, and strategic pricing. I’m not trying to compete with Stephen King on literary merit–I’m trying to build a sustainable business publishing books that readers genuinely enjoy.
The Long-Term Vision
At 77, chasing a bestseller dream before I turn 80, I can’t afford to spend five years perfecting one book. I need to build a catalog that works as a system, with each book supporting and amplifying the others.
My goal is ten Lost Pages books by age 78–that means four more before my birthday on January 13, 2026! That’s aggressive but achievable with the systems I’ve developed and the collaborative approach Claude and I have refined.
Will each book be perfect? Probably not. Will the catalog as a whole be compelling enough to generate real income and maybe even hit some bestseller lists? That’s the plan. And if that plan doesn’t work, I’ll try something else because I’m determined to finally make a success of my life-long writing career and to leave a legacy of decent books as well as CasaDay Press, my small publishing house. for my sons and grandchildren to build–if they so choose, of course.
What This Means for Your Strategy
So how do you apply the prolificacy premium to your own bootstrap publishing journey?
- Set a realistic publishing schedule. Whether it’s two books per year or six, consistency matters more than speed.
- Focus on building systems. Every hour you spend creating repeatable processes saves you multiple hours on future books.
- Think catalog, not individual books. Each book should serve the larger goal of building a sustainable, profitable body of work.
- Track the compound effect. Monitor not just individual book sales but total monthly income across your entire catalog.
- Stay patient but persistent. The compound effect takes time to kick in, but when it does, the results can be dramatic.
The Bottom Line
The authors making real money aren’t necessarily the best writers–they’re the most prolific professional writers. They understand that in a marketplace flooded with content, consistency and volume create the foundation for everything else.
Your first book won’t make you rich. Neither will your fifth. But your fifteenth book, supported by fourteen others and marketed to an audience you’ve spent years building? That book has a real shot at changing your life.
The prolificacy premium isn’t about sacrificing quality for quantity. It’s about finding the sweet spot where good enough meets sustainable productivity, then riding that compound effect as far as it’ll take you.
In a future post, I’ll break down the specific systems that make rapid, consistent publishing possible for bootstrap authors–including the AI tools, software, and workflows that I’m using to create professional-quality books without hiring a team.
Want to follow along as I document my own time investments, learning curves, and (hopefully) eventual wins in this crazy bestseller quest? Subscribe to my notification email list for real-time updates on whether an old dog can indeed learn some very profitable new tricks.