How Much Money I Made My First Year As An Indie Author

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Atlas Sea
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🌼 A B O U T M E 🌼
My name is Rachel Terry and I write Young Adult and Adult Fantasy, and Adult Historical Mystery. I grew up in a small town where nothing much ever happened, dreaming of grand adventures and far-away places, which I found between the pages of books. When not writing, I can be found reading, making KZbin videos, gaming with friends, or indulging in my love of history and the weather.
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[@woodystefeneylee7290]

TikTok is a good place to do promotion and sales for your book!

[@McRaeAZ]

Great video Rachel - just keep growing. If you were to set up as any brick and mortar business it can take 2-3 years to turn a profit. Ideally you invest in your early days to reap the dividends down the road, I have even heard of authors saying "No one turns a profit until their 20th book" so just keep on creating you will get there if you do not quit.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Yes, not giving up is the most important part. The hardest part I find is wanting this to be your career, but not making enough money yet to make that possible, so in the meantime, you make money doing something you don't enjoy. But it will not always be that way.

[@authorkiterafrey]

Some authors will have a short period of time in which they set their pre-order to $0 and promo that on TikTok, I see it often in scrolls. During that time I see their ranks good up. I don't doubt they use that to increase their pre-order counts, but unless it is a series you wanna hook someone on book one of, that isn't a benefit over getting money.

[@AnggiSahamCantik]

Thank you for sharing your story. Keep going in your journey!

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Thank you!

[@nataliemoon1512]

What I noticed in indie authors do not support each other in a way that they could. FOR EXAMPLE, if there was an organized support group, Indie authors could request the books of their fellow indie's AT THEIR LIBRARIES and this would help to a degree boost sales even if they themselves can't afford to support other authors. It does seem like many authors are just in it for themselves and some get lucky. A support system for everyone with the same dream is something that could change things for everyone. But authors don't connect in that way.

[@EstelleVandeVelde]

There's a discord group in which some indie authors I know are getting organised in such a way ;) We did have an excel document with all our books, and each of us requested said books in our local library. So that's indeed something that's being done, just not globally. I think we're about 56 authors in this group.

[@nataliemoon1512]

@@EstelleVandeVelde That's good. Where can authors find such a group. There should be a fb page or something so more can hear about such things. It is hard to get these things organized.

[@JamesLiv17]

There are hundreds of these groups on Reddit, discord and facebook

[@elasticharmony]

I want to read your work ,I've signed up for your newsletter and am anticipating reading your story. My view on the economy of literature is first if you go to a sales school they will say "you can sell" anything; so the hardships of writing etc make no sense to me. And I noticed that all the self publishing writers are smiling whereas any of the others are not. Lastly the current culture has a big problem because why do not the billionaires contribute to any of the arts? There is not a single prize or grant offered today of any size except government created by taxes?? You look wonderful and good luck

[@authorkiterafrey]

Canva 100% has a discount for being pro Annual. I keep swearing I'll do it. I've been swearing for 4 years because I use it for 3 channels across all platforms, books, and gig work I do. I keep forgetting until I don't have enough without dipping into savings 😅

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

I finally caved and did it!

[@authorkiterafrey]

@@RachelTerryAuthor It'll be like a little mental weight off your shoulders to not think about it for 12 months

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

@@authorkiterafrey For sure!

[@keeganmaddock9411]

As someone who's looking at stepping in as an indie author, I'd wanted to write a book just to prove I could. I have friends, family, and others who've been interested in seeing what I could do. That's not to say I will stop at one novel. I think it's just been a passion of mine for two decades, starting out as a poet. This seems a bit more challenging but I have stories to tell and even if I made no money I suspect there is a sense of accomplishment that comes with it. That being said, I'm hearing plenty on the costs of everything and it's quite a daunting process. Don't give up on your dream. Thank you for helping us to understand the process.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@s.n.rabble8324]

I would love a review of Publish and Thrive. I've been following Sarra Cannon/Heart Breathings for years and her course is on my radar if I ever finally finish writing a book, but it's a substantial upfront cost and I'd be curious to hear some thorough feedback from an alumni. Would that be a video you'd be interested in making?

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

This is a great idea! I'd love to be able to make one, but honestly, I've only completed about 30% of the course. Much of it I already knew, and so I skipped those parts. But this is something I'd like to be able to make, especially if it would help others. Finding the time right now to make any videos isn't easy.

[@bradybunch84a]

Thanks for making this video. WOW pretty discouraging if you are an author. I am a reader and sure am glad of you authors. Thanks go out to the authors. .

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

It is kind of discouraging sometimes, though the mos discouraging thing for me is seeing debut authors get seemingly instant success, when I'm on my third book and still in the hole lol But, I'm not going to stop writing and putting books out there, regardless.

[@austinauthor846]

Your video was a gold mine when it comes to this side of an indie author career. I was taking notes on everything you broke down. I really appreciate how transparent you are, and you voiced what I've long suspected of success bias when it comes to indie authorship. I read in a follow up to a comment here that your book cover artist Rena, and I think her work is really beautiful on your cover. As a cover artist and professional illustrator myself I'm glad you provided that as I seek to live the double life of setting up my book cover artist site and my author site (will thankfully save me expenses on that as well!). I look forward to hearing more of your experience, and I'm very optimistic you'll only continue building your audience! :D

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Thank you! I'm glad so many people are finding this video helpful. Even suspecting that this kind of experience is more common than we think, I still compare myself to other authors who seem to have overnight success.

[@tiarabrown1605]

Hi! Thank you so much for the video. I am also an indie author and I relate to this so much. My first book came out last year and I had/still have a very similar experience.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

You're welcome! We're not alone in this!

[@RANTSRUS]

Keep up the good fight. First year is always going to be the hardest. It'll soon turn around for ya. By the way you have an amazing book cover. Whoever did it, did a great job. Definitely going to order a copy of your book.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Thank you! If you mean The Phoenix's cover, it was done by Rena from by Covers by Violet (violet book design on Instagram).

[@RANTSRUS]

@@RachelTerryAuthor Its a beautiful cover. I'll definitely check out Covers by Violet. Cause when I saw that book just on video, it caught my attention immediately.

[@Mongoly8]

Thanks for the transparency. I'm currently writing my first book and hope to self publish. Thinking ahead this transparency helps me be able to budget for what I need to set aside to make this dream a reality. Sorry if I missed it in the video but did you hire an editor?

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

No, I didn't. I worked with an editor at my old job.

[@stevenboers5119]

You have a lot of great advice here. And I think you have a great attitude about your author journey so far. I'm hoping for some measure of long-term success as an author myself. Good luck!

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Thank you! I wish you luck on your writing journey!

[@ryanwrites]

Thanks for being transparent. I know other indie authors who have had a similar experience as you, and then other authors who did really well right out of the gate. Super frustrating.

[@Techno-Tanuki]

My hope. If I have to self-publish. Is that I can at least make back the production costs. Thankfully, I married a formatter and type setter who wants to help me if I end up going the self route. I lack money. I can’t up front foot a publishing bill myself. But damn does the market currently seem horrible for us writers.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Yeah, it can be rough. None of my books have made back their production cost yet, but sooner or later, they will.

[@boringoddmanreads6321]

When you gave the first number, I was like, that's pretty good for just basically 5 months of sales for two books. Then you said how much you spent. OUCH! I appreciate these types of videos that show the reality, even if it is disappointing. I have seen other stories that are similar to yours, even by authors that have more books out than you, so you are not alone. Have you checked out 20 books to 50k? It's a strategy for independent authors to reach five-figure monthly income. I obviously haven't done it as I have no books, but you might find it helpful.

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Haha, yeah, I was feeling pleasantly surprised by the first number until I looked at the expenses and went "OH! Oh, no..." I have heard of 20 books to 50k, though I haven't really looked into it much. I definitely have that many books planned; I just hope it doesn't take a decade to get there. But for now, I'm hoping to see improvement from one year to the next, so we'll see.

[@authorliannejames]

When you sell your books in person, can you talk about where you sell them?

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Mainly, farmers' markets. Last year, I was invited to a few signings and an author panel, so that's where those in-person sales came from. Also, if you know a friend or family member who wants to buy a copy, they can buy from you directly instead of Amazon.

[@madebymalayka]

Yay for indie transparency! 🫶🏽 It takes a lot to be so open, especially with numbers, and I really appreciate it! 🥹 I'll be self-publishing two books next Fall - One of them will be free, so the ROI will likely leave me in the red for sure 😂 It's good to know what I'm getting myself into, so thank you!

[@RachelTerryAuthor]

Congrats! I wish you luck on your author journey and hope everything goes well for you! I see so many authors who seem to have "made it" on the outside looking in, but I tell myself I don't know how much money they may have spent in advertising or anything else. It's tough out there, but we get to tell the stories we want and that is so valuable.

[@madebymalayka]

@@RachelTerryAuthor I totally agree, and thank you!! 🥰