Year-End Review: How Did My Self-Publishing Efforts Pan Out?
Taking an inventory of this year for myself and things I have learned about self-publishing in 2023
Good Morning!
There are two parts to my year-end review email today.
First, I will share what has happened with my self-publishing efforts for 2023.
In the second part, I will share trends in self-publishing.
I hope to be transparent and helpful as we get ready for 2024. After all, self-publishing isn’t always easy, and it’s always important to reflect on the year that has happened.
So, let’s dive in!
Year-End Review for J.R. Heimbigner
I am going to look at a few things in this year-end review. First, I will look at the number of books published this year. Then, we will look at book orders. Lastly, we will review the income from said orders.
Book published in 2023. This year, I published three new books, a low-content journal, and adapted a Kindle book to paperback. This isn’t too bad, though I hoped to publish two more books this year, but that won’t happen with two weeks left.
Book orders in 2023. In 2022, I had 5,055 orders. To date, I have had 3,969 orders this year with a grand total lifetime amount of 12,015 orders. In 2023, I lost momentum in book sales, even after publishing three more books.
Income from Royalties 2023. My lifetime earnings aren’t very high at $1,905.03. Yes, I have 12K in orders, but much of that has been part of free promos to capture readers, which has not translated into more sales. I’ve only made $522.74 in sales, and while I have had consistent sales, I had two months of barely any.
These are the honest facts about my self-publishing side hustle. However, I have learned a few things this year that I have yet to implement to publish, sell, and make more.
Capturing readers. Until this year, I haven’t worked to capture readers who have read my books. Yes, I have email CTAs in my books, but I have failed for years to capitalize on keeping them on those lists.
Book Promotion. For all but two books, I have struggled with book promotion. This is in part due to trying a lot of different things and in part due to failing to do things that I know work.
Pricing. Most of my books had been priced very low previously. Honestly, I didn’t believe anyone would buy them at higher prices. This is part of why my income is meager vs the number of books sold.
Going forward, I intend to change my self-publishing efforts based on the lessons I have learned. First, I will be educating myself. Then, it will be with changing the story of my side hustle.
It will start with educating myself on how to capture email from my books, promote them better, and price them higher. These are the most evident things.
However, I will also spend more time on my self-publishing side hustle as a business instead of a hobby. I must treat it like work to earn more and create better systems and momentum.
And, of course, I will share everything I learn and how it is going right here on my Substack Newsletter.
2023 Trends in Self-Publishing
Everything I have been reading over the last few days repeatedly says the same thing. The trends are evident for 2023:
Ebooks reign supreme, but audiobook sales are growing rapidly. This was the fastest-growing area for self-publishing authors and where people saw the most earnings. Likewise, podcasting is emerging as an essential part for authors, too.
Non-fiction books are outselling fiction books. And Inspiration and religious books are leading the way. And oddly enough, political books are the next best genre for books.
Author platforms matter more than ever before. This makes sense if tons of self-published books are coming out every year. And with ChatGPT and other AI platforms assisting authors, I think people want to know who they are reading.
These trends seem to line up with the things I am learning. People want multiple formats and want to know the author they are purchasing from, so promoting the book and ourselves is crucial!
2023 was good, but 2024 will be better.
If anything else, I believe that this last year was a good growth time for self-publishing. However, it is only the beginning as we go into 2024, and we could see some great things happen next year.
I encourage you to share your experience with self-publishing in 2023 and any lessons you have learned!
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. He has self-published 9 books and has some great resources. Check his book on using Substack to write books:
P.S. There may be sales or affiliate links in this post. So, I might get a little kickback if you purchase anything. Thank you in advance!
Here are the references for some of the trend topics discussed:
https://publishingstate.com/future-of-self-publishing/2023/
https://www.readersmagnet.com/self-publishing-in-2023/
https://wordsrated.com/self-published-book-sales-statistics/
I didn't self-publish anything in 2023, but my self publishing income is still pretty high. I want to publish at least 2-3 books next year for my Minimalist Hustler audience.
Thanks for sharing your experience and being honest about how the self-publishing biz works.