Like with most things this past six months, I’ve been behind schedule in doing this little review. Luckily, I’ve been prompted by seeing several End-of-Year reviews posted by other friends who are writers. So here we are. Without getting into specific dollars and cents, it’s time to check in on how I’m doing on the business side of things.
Bottom line, after having a pretty major life roll in 2024 (a term I’ll assume is self-explanatory), I’ve gone from being lowish 5-figure author the past few years to a middle-high 4-figure author this year. By this I am including both revenue and expenses. Again, I’ll not get into specific numbers because there’s damage to be had in that direction (both ways!). But as a generic statement, my expense ratio (expense/revenue) was higher this year, both because I invested in a bit more infrastructure and because my revenue dropped with my life-roll driven reduction in activity.
Aside: That’s how things work as an Independently published writer. Reduce your effort, then (within a time constant) you reduce your revenue. At least, that’s how it works for me.
Expenses and Profitability
I want to start with expenses because I see so many folks on the various social media platforms I scan posting their revenue side only. This is really annoying to me. Other writers don’t really need to see your raw revenue numbers all by themselves. Heck, I don’t think they need to see your raw numbers at all. in fact, I think you can scar brand new writers by doing so. If you’re going to talk about running a business, I want to hear you talk about something beyond raw revenue. It’s only fair to say—within reason—what cash flow you’re spending while getting that cash flow in.
Again, I’m not doing specifics, but I want to be sure to acknowledge that there are investments to be made. To be direct, the fact is that I really, really need to be making even more of them than I have to date.
Anyway, as I calculate my raw operating expenses (things like printing, promotions, advertising, and infrastructure), as a percentage of my revenues over the past few years, they have been roughly:
2022 – 18%
2023 – 26%
2024 – 45%
I’ll note that I’m not counting some other expenses because those are somewhat discretionary.
So the bottom line is that while my production effort fell in the last half of the year, it was still a profitable year. And I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to have a less-than-stellar performance for a little while. The best news is that things are stabilizing (not totally stabilized, but stabilizing), and I look forward to a mostly robust 2025.
On Being Wide
To be honest, the main thing I personally look at with my own numbers is not really revenue and expenses—though operationally, those are obviously important. What I really care about is the source of those revenues. I want to be “Wide.” Meaning that while I love every distributor, I don’t want to be beholden to any single one of them.
To give you an idea, here are tiny pie charts that describe 2022 and 2023 when it comes to revenue sources:
If you squint really hard you might find it interesting that Amazon, while registering high, has never been my top source of revenue. In both 2022 and 2023, it was Barnes & Noble. 2023 saw me add Google Play at a low level. But the bottom line is that this chart lets you see how I’m running my business, and fits well enough with the concept of being Wide.
I’m sure I could do better, though, and my goals for next year include expanding my distribution channels.
So, given that background let’s look at 2024, shall we?
Surprise, Amazon is still not #1. In fact, while still significant, it dropped to #4 overall. Overall, revenue from Amazon did really fall a bit, which is (I’m sure) almost completely because of a general lack of aggressiveness on my part. Instead, given things, I had time to focus on short stories and Kickstarter. Not surprisingly, those two rose toward the top. I’ve also had a solid year with Kobo (and their promotions). Barnes & Noble, once #1, is now down below even D2D (which is where I reach Apple and iBooks from).
Summary
Bottom line, for several reasons, 2024 did indeed suck. I’m happy to be putting it behind me. But in the big picture, I’m still quite happy with my results. I have several sources of revenue, and despite difficulties, all of them are still working. I’ve got a good foundation. I see no reason why, in 2025, I can’t once again be a lowish 5-figure writer and a not unreasonable chance that I could do better.
I’m looking forward to it.
I have plans, anyway.
Lots, and lots of plans. [grin]