Luck is nice, being willing to tirelessly grind is better.
Since I started my publishing journey over three years ago in 2023, I’ve managed to stay in the green every year. Not only that, but I increased my income in each subsequent year. It’s not necessarily because I’m “one of the lucky ones” but that is a factor, albeit, a smaller one than many successful authors would have us think.
If you’re wondering how I’ve managed to operate at a profit, I’ll absolutely get to that. But let’s start with the numbers.
Timeline:
January 1st – June 30th 2026. Six months, planned properly and approached with intention, can yield a solid amount of revenue. A Kickstarter and a long awaited book release helps, as you’ll see.
Ad Spend:
About $200, little effect though it had. I blossomed about 350 followers on IG during my Kickstarter, and I’ve seen a steady increase in that department since I began my author insta back in 2022. While having that boost of followers for the Kickstarter may have helped, the vast majority of my campaign funding (over 50K out of 59K) was pledged from their internal system. I think at this point, Meta feeds you mostly bots when you use IG ads, so there’s that.
Bottomline, my puny ad spend didn’t do much.
Books Sold:
▶️2,509 ebooks
▶️1,265 print books
🎉Grand Total = 3,774 books 🎉
Now, that’s the most books I’ve sold in a year and the year isn’t over yet. I suspect I’ll cross the 5k mark by Dec. 31st, and while that isn’t close to the numbers you’ll see from the bigger indie names, I’m happy to see that 50% of my sales have been physical books. That shows a highly engaged fanbase that I’m absolutely proud of.
It also indicates a sincere lack of ebook ad spend on my part. Would that I could crack that code!
KENP:
📚1,445,033!!!
Wowza. That’s an average of 240,000+ each month. That’s roughly 215 books being actively read every month. Having an epic fantasy series with large books and a bit of traction goes a long way with page reads. I suspect when the dramatized audiobook drops later this year from Kokoro, that’ll offer another large boost as big books in big series do well there, too.
A note before we get into royalties–since I know that’s one every aspiring author wants to hear. See, we geek folk with our sick addiction to gleaming blades, twisted creatures, and the occasional lightning bolt flying out of one’s eyes, truly only want one thing: the ability to be a geek all the time.
That’s what making enough money being a geek equates to. More geekiness more of the time. A simple calculation that drives us. “How can I get paid to geek? How can geeking make me more geek time? What job will allow me to geek with other geeks, all the geeking damn day?”
And so on. I get it. I want it too. Even with the numbers below, I’m not ready to leave the day job as I’m insane and like working 70 hours a week. That’s not an exaggeration, either. I’ve been working 60-70 hours/week for the past ten months. It ain’t pretty, but it’s paying off.
But am I leaving my full-time day job? No, see there’s this little thing called overhead…
Anyway, I also don’t love the feast and famine feeling that comes with being a full-time author who isn’t an international sensation.
I digress. Here’s some inspiration for those who want to geek more!
Royalties:
KDP: $12,825
IngramSpark: $403
💰Total = $13,228
Other Revenue:
Kickstarter: $59,291
Short Story: $720
Direct Sales: $2,500+
💰Total = $62,511
💰Six-Month Revenue = $75,739
Does this mean I’ll make $150k by year’s end? If I had to guess, not even close. I don’t have a plan to make that happen, and the Kickstarter carried the bulk of my years’ earnings, though I suspect when the dust settles I’ll only pocket 35% of that total; the rest will go to production, fulfillment, etc.
But do I hope to hit six-figures gross for the first time ever? Absolutely.
I suspect people want to know how I got here.
You’ve heard the classics. Write a good book, don’t treat readers or reviewers badly, and for the love of all things holy, hire a good editor and think hard about your cover.
Think long and hard. In fact, become a bit of an art aficionado. It’ll take you farther than you think.
And that dovetails nicely into my personal hot takes on what helps you be successful.
#1 – Research. Do it for everything. Ask your beta readers what other authors your book is like. If they can’t say or won’t say, you might want to rewrite it. Any good book should evoke some name drop comparisons. Once you have those, study them. If you’re self-publishing, study successful authors and see what they’re doing. They’ve done the research for you by researching others before them, and you should do so now. And on down the line.
Do your research. Don’t walk in blind to this business and then gripe that the world isn’t giving you all you deserve. It’s luck, but it’s also a metric ton of hours spent researching.
#2 – Network. Everything I have, I owe to an influencer friend who liked my vibe and took a chance on my book, or a fellow author I met at a con who gave me a whirl because I made them laugh.
No matter how much this industry changes–and it will make your eyes blur with how fast it sometimes changes–one thing remains a constant. Networking, or as I like to call it, “making friends,” never gets old. Because the right person at the right time is how most of us have gotten the majority of jobs in our life.
Network. Go to cons. Meet people. We’re a friendly bunch…usually.
I’ll leave you with this: while trad and indie are different beasts in nuanced ways, the line between them is fast-fading. More and more, these worlds are weaving together.
More and more, a rising tide raises all ships.
So find someone out there to buoy. Build some good karma. An industry where being a good person can get you places is an industry I’m happy to stay in.
More to come.
About the Author
Michael Michel lives in Bend, Oregon with the love of his life and their two children. When he isn’t obsessively writing, editing, or doing publishing work, he can be found exercising, coaching leaders in the corporate world, and dancing his butt off at amazing festivals like Burning Man. His favorite shows are Dark, The Wire, Arcane, and Norsemen. He loves nature and deep conversations. Few things bring him more joy than a couple of hours playing table tennis.
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