WHAT MONTH IS IT?
My apologies on getting this up so late. It’s now the end of May, and I feel terrible that I am so behind, but honestly, I’m only just now getting paid for March, and things have been a disaster over here, so you know what? We’re going to just accept that this is the way that things are sometimes, and run with it!
Do y’all like the format of these posts? I almost feel like I am dumping too much information that isn’t the right information, so I never really know if this is what everyone wants to see, but regardless, I’ll just keep going as I did for last year, and y’all can let me know if there’s something you want to know more about? And we can add it in for the next Stats post!
Previous Posts, if you are interested!
As always, seriously, if you are curious, just ask. Also, if any of the numbers see a little wonky or weird, this is your reminder that Amazon just guesstimates on your payout because of things like currency rates and changes, and also, the tracker will only let me show 90 days, so if the numbers from the KDP images don’t quite line up, sorry, it is what it is!
2023 Q1 Overview:
- Began posting on Pinterest (January)
- Commissioned Needed in Garoureve Audiobook (February)
- Released The Vampire in the Bookstore (March)
All in all, 2023 thus far has been a very busy year for me, and not entirely in regards to publishing. I’ve just been busy, and tired, in general. Due to my personal health, my energy just hasn’t been there, but I’ve also been busy with just regular life things. Add in me trying to figure out more platforms and working on Audiobooks, I haven’t been able to do the thing I love to do and the thing I’m best at as much as I wish, which is writing! Still, I managed to get a Novella out that I love, and hopefully set myself up for a good income summer!
NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
I’ve always said that my whole thought for my Newsletter is to be slow and steady – twice a month emails, and staying above a 50% open rate. We’re maintaining that, so you know what? I’m happy about it! That stated, I do think I should increase my number a bit more, but I would rather make certain I’m sending out important information than just fill up inboxes with random stuff just because.
That stated, the numbers do pick up in Quarter 2 (spoiler alert I guess?) Obviously because new people from my new release and people excited for fun news that came out in Quarter 2! So, yeah! Slow but steady it is!
JANUARY
I’m going to start talking BEFORE you see the numbers, because I think that’s important, to give context before you look at everything. So I want to note a few things as you start reading. The royalties I received this month were from November aka the release of Return to Garoureve, which had been up for pre-order for about six months by the time of release. It was my longest pre-order to date, which helped a lot. So, I started off January feeling on a high… which quickly crashed and burned, it seemed.
You’ll see when you see my royalty numbers for January, or better yet, see March’s spending sheet, because… yeah. It went down fast.
All in all, I booked some cover designs, did some website work, made myself a more official bitch, and I booked some editing! It was… a very business-y month.
FEBRUARY
Oh look, the month where I realized it was all about to fall apart on me because a bunch of things I was going to pay for I couldn’t pay for and some annual things popped up. You’ll also note I didn’t pay myself this month. It has… been a hot minute. That stated, it honestly should not have been this bad, and was only so bad because I’ve been waiting for my taxes to come back, and I’m still holding out way too much! The number for my Amazon Royalties is still good, because December, but umm… yeah.
MARCH
Yeah………. Yeah.
I told you guys that January and February are always historically low months, right? Well, add in a recession, a lack of a new release with no pre-order to boost and boom, and it felt like everything crashed. And unfortunately, I had money to spend. This was a real low point for me, particularly because February was ALSO a bad payout month, BUT THEN!!! THE RELEASE OF VAMPIRE BOOKSTORE, AND IT SAVED THE DAY!
But yeah. The ups and downs. This is why you save money if you can and why I never spend all of my budget.
Q1 Spending Overview
So I mean, at the end of the day, the goal is to stay Green, right? I did that, and yet, I have suffered regardless, because… I’m holding out too much for taxes. Sigh.
PRE-ORDERS
I did a pre-order for The Vampire in the Bookstore that was all of twenty days long. I had zero expectations. None. I expected nothing.
JESUS CHRIST.
Never underestimate the power of a good cover.
ROYALTIES
… My God.
You know, I knew it was bad, but until I started assembling the graphics for this post, I wasn’t really aware HOW BAD things were getting. I just… holy… how did I…
The state of my mental health is suddenly no longer so confusing upon looking at this graphic because my God was I close to a breakdown more than once.
Like I said, January and February were bad. The Vampire in the Bookstore saved it.
A full breakdown for y’all based on the books:
And by Month:
January $1,558.80 (pd end of March)
February $1,062.69 (pd end of April)
March $2,532.75 (pd end of May)
Like I said… things were getting a little rough around here.
Now, at this point, I would break down the page reads and the orders and everything else over the 90 days, but honestly, I think the images above say it all. Things were rough, I was treading water, but we made it!
I’m also going to skip the lifetime for now as well. Something about that just feels… exhausting. I’ll probably include it in the 2023 Year Wrap Up, but as I release more books, it’s just a lot of information to be breaking down for every single book.
Maybe someday I’ll get better organized with my files…
AUDIOBOOKS
And finally, audiobooks. This is the last time you’ll be seeing an Audiobook post with only One Night in Garoureve on it! The old girl has done so well, but now, it’s time for more audiobooks to join her!
*panics as I realize that this means figuring out how to share more details beyond ACX*
My total royalties for Audiobooks in Quarter 1 is $137.62. I continue to understand absolutely nothing about how ACX does payouts, but whatever! I’ve made more than I spent on the Audiobook, and that’s good enough for me! Like I’ve always said, just so long as we stay in the Green! Slow and Steady!
In Conclusion
I’ve said all of these before, but I’ll say them all again…
Every new book brings more attention to your previous books.
Your backlist will always be your saving grace but you also need to have new books coming out.
You never know which book is going to blow up.
Just keep writing.
Save more than you spend.
Save more for your taxes than you think you’ll need.
And… I think that’s about it! Because those really do sum it all up. I was drowning and a lifeboat came and pulled me up, and now we’re sailing smooth in 2023!
*avoids looking at current kdp numbers*
Okay then. Bye.