it is hard to believe that we have reached the end of 2020 and 2021 is just a few hours away (heck for some of you reading this, it’s probably after midnight already).
It’s no surprise to many that 2020 overall was not a great year. While my family was lucky enough to only be touched a little by COVID (medically and financially), that doesn’t mean this year was easy.
I’ve talked about it in other posts but I went into 2020 without a budget or a real sense of how much I was spending on publishing until April 2020 when I realized I was digging myself deeper into a hole. I was able to mostly dig myself out and I am positioned to see profit (I hope) in 2021.
(Below are charts for my Amazon royalties for 2019 vs. 2020. I may have still had a loss but overall, it was definitely a LOT better)
How am i going to do that? I am coming into 2021 with a solid budget of what I can spend each month (and on what). I’m tracking my recurring expenses and marketing and other production costs like editing and cover design. I’m working with a fabulous designer to get covers done for all of my planned series so I won’t have that expense beyond mid-year. And as I’m planning to spend most of 2021 writing for 2022 release and beyond I will have a lower editing expedniture. And best of all, I am learning to format my own books so that will save me in the long run, too.
What else do I have to look forward to in the new year if I’m not releasing new works until 2022? Boxed Set Collections. Beginning in early January, I will be releasing boxed sets of my existing series. I am also in the process of getting audiobooks done for the rest of the Margot Quade series as well as Seasons of Magic. Moving forward, I intend to use earned royalties from my books to cover production for audio. This means until I have enough saved up for a particular book, it will only initially be available in e-book and print. I would love to be in a place to release all three at once but I’m not there yet.
The other big change that’s coming is I am taking most of my existing catalog and putting it wide again. This means that between now and mid-March, my books will be coming out of the Kindle Unlimited program and will become available for purchase on Barnes & Noble, Appple Books, Google Play Books, Kobo and through library services!
I hope you all have a fantastic new Year’s Eve! Stay safe and see you on the other side. 🎉
