4 Book Business Success Stories [2024]
Imagine owning a space where stories come to life and knowledge is at everyone's fingertips—a book business could be your next venture. At its core, a book business involves selling new or used books either online or in a physical store. It's a perfect way to tap into the timeless love for reading.
Starting a book business offers the opportunity to curate a selection of genres that can attract a diverse clientele. While you’ll need to manage inventory, sourcing, and marketing, the reward is a loyal customer base driven by the ever-present demand for reading material.
Setting up requires careful planning, a reliable supply chain, and an effective marketing strategy. But once established, your book business can become a cultural hub, bringing people together through the power of words. If you're passionate about literature and want to turn that passion into a career, this could be your path.
In this list, you'll find real-world book business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a book business that makes money.
1. EOFire LLC ($1.8M/year)
In 2012, John Lee Dumas, a former tank commander and real estate agent, started listening to podcasts during his long commutes. Realizing the lack of consistent, inspiring content, he decided to start his own daily podcast, Entrepreneurs On Fire. Despite having no online presence or broadcasting experience, he took the leap, hired a mentor, and launched the podcast. It quickly gained traction and led to the creation of other successful products and services, generating over $100,000 in net revenue every month.
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 5
John Lee Dumas launched Entrepreneurs On Fire, a daily podcast interviewing successful entrepreneurs, and went on to create multiple successful products and services including Podcasters' Paradise, which has consistently generated over $100,000 in net revenue every month for 89 months in a row.
2. Foreword Reviews ($1.08M/year)
Victoria Sutherland, founder of Foreword Reviews, came up with the idea for her business while working for a small press magazine. She noticed that independent publishers were not getting much coverage and saw an opportunity to provide long-form reviews for these smaller presses. With her background in advertising and a passion for books, she started Foreword Reviews to fill the gap in the market and support indie presses.
How much money it makes: $1.08M/year
How much did it cost to start: $15K
How many people on the team: 7
Foreword Reviews is a media company that started out as a magazine with a print run of 7,500 copies, serving as a brochure for publishing services including foreign rights exchange and digital content, and twenty years and some intense pivots later, it has become one of the most profitable in the book business.
3. Lit League ($36K/year)
Christina, one of the three founders of Lit League, came up with the idea after starting a book club with her daughter and seeing the positive impact it had on her and other kids. With the help of co-founder Lauren, who had experience running book clubs, they created Lit League to provide parents with the tools to run their own book clubs at home and foster a love of reading in children.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Lit League is a startup that creates book-themed activity boxes for kids ages 3-12, offering a monthly subscription or individual box options; the company has tripled its growth in one year, becoming an approved materials vendor for 11 different charter schools in two states.
4. Most Recommended Books ($12K/year)
Richard Reis, founder of Most Recommended Books (MRB), was inspired to start the business after writing a popular blog post in 2018. With the realization that he had a talent for creating content that resonated with people, Richard teamed up with his best friend, Anurag, to create MRB. The idea came to Richard after reading about how Mark Zuckerberg built various projects before Facebook, leading him to believe in the power of trying different ideas until one gains traction.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
Most Recommended Books helps you discover books recommended by the world's most influential people, with 500+ experts and 6,000+ books, and garnered 70,000 monthly visitors with the goal of reaching 100,000 to start looking at other ways of making money.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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