Before I sat down to write this look back post, I wasn’t feeling overly confident about the year I’d had. I’d spent more than I had in prior years and it was on things I hadn’t ancitipated (namely redoing about 20 covers). Now, in the long run, that was necessary to push my author career forward, but it did kind of hurt a little.

But, as I look back now at where I started the year and where I ended, I can acknowledge that a lot of good things have come. Here’s a quick snapshot.

2020

Total Expenses: $9,454.81

Total Earnings*: $8,019.14 ($2,728 royalties)

Number of books published: 9

2021

Total Expenses: $10,184.36

Total Earnings*: $12,533.21 ($7,738 royalties)

Number of books published: 7**

* This includes both royalties and income from freelance work

** This includes 6 boxed set collections of existing series

Seeing these numbers compared to one another reminds me tha the steps I took this year were worth it. I saw an increase of $5,000 in royalty income this year (attributed mostly to transiioning my catalog wide beginning in January) and the proportion of freelance income went down. I will be doing less freelance in 2022 because I have found it leads to burn-out and less time to work on my own books. Admittedly, the freelance work I did the last two years was more of a stop-gap measure while I sorted myself out. I feel comfortable now going into 2022 to step way back.

2022 Goals

So, what do I hope to accomplish in 2022? How about a list?

• • • More consistent marketing
    • Publishing on a set schedule (February-April and August-October)
    • Improve and promote direct sales from my website
    • Making time to refill my creative well
    • Continue to learn how to market audiobooks

I hope you’ll come join me as I continue this journey.