Self-publishing statistics at a glance
Self-publishing is no longer a side channel in book publishing. The numbers in the Bowker report show a market defined by scale, platform concentration, and a sharp split between print and ebook volume (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Fast facts:
- 1,677,781 self-published ISBNs were reported in the U.S. in 2018, up from 1,192,345 in 2017 and 461,438 in 2013 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Self-publishing grew 40.71% year over year from 2017 to 2018 and 263.60% from 2013 to 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Print accounted for the bulk of that total, with 1,547,341 self-published print books in 2018 versus 10,565 self-published ebooks (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Bowker said the industry was dominated by three service providers that together accounted for over 92% of all self-published print and ebook titles in 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Bowker also said ebooks represented almost 8% of all self-published titles in 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Table of contents
- The headline growth story
- Print vs ebook self-publishing statistics
- Major platform and provider share
- What Amazon KDP signals about the market
- What author survey data adds
- How to read these statistics
The headline growth story
The clearest trend in the dataset is growth. Bowker reported 1,677,781 self-published ISBNs in 2018, which was a major jump from 1,192,345 in 2017 and more than triple the 461,438 reported in 2013 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
That means the market was not just expanding; it was accelerating. The reported 40.71% year-over-year increase from 2017 to 2018 is especially striking because it came after years of already elevated output (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Key takeaways from the growth numbers
- The 2018 total was 263.60% above 2013 levels (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- The 2017 to 2018 gain was 485,436 additional self-published ISBNs, using the two reported totals (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Bowker?s wording makes one point clear: ISBN-based self-publishing volume was already large, and the 2018 result pushed it into a much larger scale band (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Why the scale matters
For readers comparing self-publishing statistics with older assumptions about the book market, the gap is important. A total of 1.67 million self-published ISBNs in one year is not a niche figure. It implies a broad production base, a large number of authors entering the channel, and a distribution ecosystem built to handle substantial throughput (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Print vs ebook self-publishing statistics
The dataset also shows that self-publishing is overwhelmingly print-led. In 2018, Bowker reported 1,547,341 self-published print books and only 10,565 self-published ebooks (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
That split is easy to miss if you only look at overall self-publishing growth. The market can be growing quickly while still being heavily weighted toward one format.
| Format | 2013 | 2017 | 2018 | Change from 2017 to 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-published titles overall | 461,438 | 1,192,345 | 1,677,781 | 40.71% growth |
| Self-published print books | 305,160 | 1,060,821 | 1,547,341 | 45.86% growth |
| Self-published ebooks | 16,627 | 10,304 | 10,565 | 2.53% growth |
The table makes the pattern obvious. Print grew far faster than ebooks in absolute volume, and the ebook line barely moved from 2017 to 2018 by comparison (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
The print signal
Bowker said self-published print books were up 45.86% from 2017 to 2018 and 407.06% from 2013 to 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019). That is a much steeper rise than the ebook category.
The print-heavy profile suggests several practical takeaways:
- Self-publishing is not limited to digital-first authors.
- Physical books remain central to the self-publishing economy.
- The infrastructure behind print-on-demand and distributed print fulfillment is a core part of the market?s growth story.
The ebook signal
The ebook figures are still meaningful, but they tell a different story. Bowker reported 10,565 self-published ebooks in 2018, slightly above 10,304 in 2017, but below 16,627 in 2013 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
Bowker said self-published ebooks grew only 2.53% year over year from 2017 to 2018 and fell 36.46% from 2013 to 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
That combination is notable because it suggests the ebook channel was stable in the short term but weaker over the longer period covered by the report.
Major platform and provider share
One of the most important self-publishing statistics in the dataset is the concentration of output among a small number of providers. Bowker said the industry was dominated by three service providers that together accounted for over 92% of all self-published print and ebook titles in 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
That is a very high concentration level. It means the market?s total output is large, but the production rails are comparatively narrow.
Provider output in 2018
| Provider | 2018 self-published titles | Notable change from 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| CreateSpace / Independently Published | 1,416,384 | 52.41% growth |
| Smashwords | 71,969 | -3.12% |
| Lulu Press | 67,477 | 0.12% growth |
| Blurb | 19,098 | -7.54% |
| Christian Faith Publishing | 3,142 | 65.37% growth |
| BookBaby | 2,839 | 20.76% growth |
| Balboa Press | 2,657 | 75.26% growth |
| Independent Publisher (Bar Code Graphics) | 2,632 | not reported in dataset |
| iUniverse | 2,456 | not reported in dataset |
| Page Publishing | 2,087 | -46.36% |
This table is useful because it shows both scale and direction. CreateSpace / Independently Published was far ahead of the rest, and several smaller providers still showed strong year-over-year movement (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
What concentration means in practice
A market where a few service providers account for most titles has a different shape than a fragmented one. Based on the Bowker data, the main implications are:
- New authors are likely entering through a small number of major routes.
- Platform rules, format support, and distribution terms can influence a large share of total output.
- A single provider?s operational changes can affect a meaningful slice of self-published volume.
Bowker?s figures make that concentration measurable rather than theoretical (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
What Amazon KDP signals about the market
The Amazon KDP facts in the dataset help explain why self-publishing remains attractive to many authors. Amazon KDP says the service is free to use and that authors can earn up to 70% royalties on ebook sales and up to 60% royalties on print book sales (Amazon KDP earn page).
Those royalty ceilings matter because they frame the self-publishing value proposition in simple terms: lower barriers to entry and direct control over pricing and format choices.
A few practical KDP indicators
- Amazon KDP says each ebook has two royalty options: 70% and 35% (Amazon KDP earn page).
- Amazon KDP says print books can be published in paperback and hardcover formats (Amazon KDP earn page).
- Amazon KDP says paperback and hardcover books are printed on demand without upfront costs or inventory (Amazon KDP earn page).
- Amazon KDP says the KDP Select Global Fund is announced monthly (Amazon KDP earn page).
- Amazon KDP says Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotion are the two exclusive KDP Select promotional tools (Amazon KDP earn page).
The promotion tools are especially relevant because they show that the self-publishing model is not just about uploading a file. It is also about discoverability, pricing strategy, and ongoing merchandising.
The earnings example tells a lot
Amazon KDP?s sample earnings example is also useful as a market signal. In that example, Amazon KDP uses a $2.99 ebook list price, a $9.99 paperback list price, a $1.79 ebook royalty, and a $1.99 paperback royalty (Amazon KDP earn page).
It also notes a 2 MB ebook file with a $0.30 delivery cost and a 250-page paperback with a $4.00 printing cost using black-and-white ink and regular trim size (Amazon KDP earn page).
Those examples are not market-wide averages, but they do show the basic economics an author might compare when deciding between ebook and print formats.
Why KDP matters in context
The Authors Guild survey data below reinforces KDP?s importance. If a large number of self-published authors are already using Amazon platforms, then KDP?s model is not only one option among many; it is one of the main operating environments in the category (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
What author survey data adds
The Authors Guild survey gives the dataset a different perspective: not output volume, but author behavior and platform use. The survey found that 76% of self-published authors surveyed used Amazon platforms, and KDP had the largest author participation share among self-publishing platforms in the sample (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
That is important because it shows the platform side of self-publishing is not evenly distributed either.
Survey-driven takeaways
- The sample included a mix of publishing paths: nearly half of surveyed authors were traditionally published, while only 25% had representation (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
- Hybrid authors and purely self-published authors each made up just over one-quarter of the sample (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
- Over 70% of surveyed authors had been publishing for 5+ years (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
- Published authors spent 25% of their author-related work time on marketing (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
The marketing figure is particularly revealing. Self-publishing is not just a production activity; it also requires ongoing audience work, and the survey suggests that takes a material share of an author?s time.
Platform distribution details
The survey?s platform chart is another strong indicator of concentration. The Authors Guild said self-published authors were distributed across platform-share chart values including 30.6%, 37.2%, 12.6%, 16.4%, 12.3%, 3.5%, 3.1%, 2.9%, 1.8%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.4%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 0.1%, 0.0%, and 0.0% across the values shown on the report page (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
The same chart showed KDP at 11.8%, CreateSpace at 8.3%, and Barnes & Noble Press at 10.5% in the displayed distribution (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
The exact chart structure in the source matters less than the directional point: the self-publishing ecosystem is not uniform, and Amazon-related platforms remain central.
How to read these statistics
The strongest way to interpret this dataset is to separate three layers of self-publishing statistics:
- Total output growth: Bowker shows very large year-over-year and multi-year expansion in self-published ISBNs (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Format mix: print dominates volume, while ebooks make up a much smaller slice and grew far more slowly in the reported period (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- Platform concentration: a small number of providers account for most titles, and Amazon-related tools are highly visible in author behavior data (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019; Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
A quick reading guide for writers and publishers
- If you care about market size, the headline is the 1,677,781 total in 2018 (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- If you care about format economics, the most important split is 1,547,341 print books versus 10,565 ebooks (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- If you care about channel risk, the concentration figure of over 92% across three providers is the key warning sign (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
- If you care about author behavior, the survey?s 76% Amazon-platform use figure is the clearest platform clue (Authors Guild U.S. Published Author Income survey).
The cleanest signal in the data
The most useful self-publishing statistic in the dataset is not a single number. It is the combination of large total output, print-heavy volume, and concentrated distribution. Those three facts together describe a market that is broad in participation but narrow in infrastructure (Bowker Self-Publishing Report 2019).
That combination helps explain why self-publishing continues to attract authors: the entry point is accessible, the format mix is flexible, and the platforms are established enough to support mass-scale publication.