Thank you for this. I'm sorry about your cat, but grateful you were willing to be so transparent. This is one of the best ways to see the big pucture and the truth about what it looks like to be an indie author.
As you probably know, David Bowie said, “Never play to the gallery. “ I’m a self employed, independent painter and I promised myself that I would only paint what I wanted to paint and never pander to the market. It’s so wonderful that you have gotten to the stage in your career where you have set yourself up to write what only you can write from your heart.
So sorry about your cat. Clearly, he was loved. This video was so interesting. I've never made more than a few dollars from my writing, but you show what is possible with a lot of hard work, a decent size catalog, and multiple streams of income. I'm definitely starting a substack in 2025. Looking forward to more videos from you in 2025.💜💙💚👍
I'm a semi-regular viewer here. I do really like the income breakdown videos! I'm always thinking about if I were to transition away from office work, what it would look like, or what steps I would need to take to get there. For what it's worth, I mostly watched your videos in early-to-mid last year. I think your videos were promoted to me mainly based on the author experience videos. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos in 2025.
Girl, so happy the audiobook sales reflected good on your income, you deserve every bit of it, they’re so entertaining! Wonderful decision on making them❤
I found your channel and loved your down-to-earth vibe and honesty. Then I read some of your books! I did enjoy the Goblin King, but my favorite is A Witch Among Warlocks Series. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud. You are so good with dialogue. Great video and hugs for your loss 💛 We lost two senior cats over the past couple of years and man, it's hard saying goodbye.
That's so sweet! I'm partial to the Witch Among Warlocks world myself, although my favorite is the sequel trilogy with Daisy. I reread some of that to Dade aloud during the hurricane because without power, reading my Kindle aloud was about our only amusement, and we were both laughing so hard because we'd totally forgotten the story. I'm sorry about your cats too. I still have my two senior girls and I sure dote on them.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I didn't know there was a sequel trilogy, lol! Now I have to get that 🤪 Daisy deserves her own story, for sure. Yeah, we adopted a momma cat and her 4 kittens a few years ago. Our house is full now. Technically the momma cat was only 6 months old or so, a teen mom, if you will, living on the streets . . . now she's living the dream! Enjoy your grandma girls 🩷
@@crystalpackard4117 There are actually a few! Daisy's story, then Paranormal House Flippers about Harris' sister Helena, then Promised to the Demons. The vampires also have their own trilogy but the tone is quite a bit darker, especially the first book. They're all here, sort of in order. www.amazon.com/shop/thecozycreative/list/YEKA6LCC3AZ5?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d
@@crystalpackard4117 Also, aww. Our first cat we had as a couple was a stray teen mom. The kittens were adopted because we were poor and had a small place, but she was our first baby & so sweet!
Oh I love hearing about all your different income streams, and how it fluctuates every month. Seems like TH-cam payments vary WILDLY from one new TH-camr to the next! Just started my own channel last month so appreciate all your insights ✨🌿🌈
Yes, it fluctuates a LOT! I've seen other TH-camrs with even more variance if they have one video that goes super viral but doesn't really lead to long term viewers, but even so...all of these income streams go up and down a lot, luckily...not usually all at once!
1) I’m terribly sorry about your cat 1.5) thank you for doing this 2) I’m so glad you’re pretty happy about where you’re at! 3) a request for clarification: are you not planning on doing TH-cam for much longer?
Oh I am definitely continuing TH-cam! When I started I just had a two year timeline that if it wasn't going anywhere by then, I would have to bail on it because I had enough savings to do it for 2 years (ish). Since it did pretty well, the "two years" are basically reset, and if it does even 25% better this year, I'll just consider it part of my job at that point.
He was such a handsome boy. My aunt and uncle had his brother, and my parents had his sister. They all passed away within a year of each other. Happy and long lived cats, all of them!
What a great storyteller! This was just frankly an awesome story. And I am so sorry about your cat that's just heartbreaking - that you kept functioning creatively through all these things is pretty stalwart.
Luckily he'd had such a long life. Even when cats seem healthy, when the 18th birthday is approaching you know every month and year is getting precious, but...yeah. It was a rough winter early on. Thanks for your kind words.
Wonderful year wrap up! I know you've been successful. It's good to hear about the ups and downs, making the success story meaningful and doable. Thanks and see you next year!
I love listening to you, I love what you share--you're such an inspiration! I started (in semi-earnest) a youtube channel this year and I finished writing the first book in a trilogy AND I want a cozy life too!
You are a gem. thank you for sharing so much! It's amazing and so interesting and real. Love the chair too! noticed it a few months ago and wondered if the other one had finally worn out. And the last three minutes is gold. Excited for next year!
This is very inspiring. I also want to get monetised on TH-cam and start making a living from my own creative work. (I'm about a third of the way there, income wise but not making money from TH-cam). I find that selling products that I make is way better than doing services because there's more freedom in it even if you're making to market. I started getting money from online products this year and it's a great feeling when you look in your paypal and ooh, you got money. It's not enough to make a living from yet but i'm on the right track. I've been watching your videos for a while now and they are refreshingly down to earth and honest but also optimistic in a practical way. Thankyou for the transparency in the numbers.
When I set out to become an author around 2010, I took my screenplays that I wrote from early 2000s and made them into novels. I knew when I decided to pursue an author career I needed to make between 70-80k a year to be financially stable. Since that is what my father made before he passed away, I knew I'd be good making that. My goal hasn't changed. I went about this the wrong way. I should have grew my fanbase before publishing, should have got everything set up for marketing, and then published. You've got so many things that you're getting income from. That's incredible.
I'm sorry about your cat. I lost mine to kidney disease in November, after he had fought it for about five months. The vet bills were awful, but there was no way I wasn't going to do everything I could for him.
nothing hits quite like a black cat 💔 my biggest expense is usually family members who can't make rent or pay one og their bills hitting me up to "borrow", because i don't like spending money😅i don't think it's a scorpio thing, but idk glad you're getting a bit of a break this year despite the chaos -- next year will be even better! We're cheering you on!❤🔥 soon... PO Box so we send holiday cards and stocking stuffers >:D honestly, with how you talk so openly about all your ups and downs, you really helped ease a lot of anxiety. So many authortubers make it look like a smooth process, and while they mean well it does get a little discouraging😓 So you really make me feel like: even though i'm struggling with it right now, there's hope that i can make it work down the line if i'm patient 💛
Ain't it the truth. I went from this big black boy to a goofy floofy orange fellow. Icons of cat-dom both...but they could not be more different. 🤣 Luckily for me I guess, my whole family are a bunch of penny pinchers...but this seems to be a common problem. I would probably not be so open about it if I knew anyone who might ask me for money...! Aw, I was thinking about the PO Box recently and then remembered how my dang post office washed away. Since we lost four post offices in the vicinity, it's probably not the best time to ask about a PO Box at one of the Last POs Standing either, so...tbd...! I get the feeling that a lot of people who make channels (or other social media accounts) have tasted short term success and want to talk about it, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it's the people who hit quickly and recently who have the best finger on the market. But...working at it for 20 years is definitely a different matter. A few things have come easy for me for a time, but mostly...I've just had to work and plan and shift gears over and over.
Aw geez you had to go through so much this year, sorry about your cat :( that sucks. But congrats on kicking so much butt with the writing income :D As an artist I can relate to needing multiple sources of income, where It's difficult to properly keep track of everything. I'm far less put together and I don't actually tally up everything until I'm scrambling to get my taxes together, lol.
My prayers to Oskar, who is now running in green fields always bathed in sun. When i lost my little baby Doc I wept for months. Scars in my heart for her loss healed, but never faded. She will always be with me.
I still have a 17 and 15 year old, so...oof. Treasuring all the time with them. It's kind of unfortunate they're all so close in age except I wanted them to have energetic companions when they're young.
Thank you so much for an insightful wrap up! This has become my favorite channel. Question: can you maybe discuss in a future video how to handle wide distribution? Personally I'm only familiar with using Amazon and I wasn't sure it it was complicated to do it any other way
Patreon is the best, I think. TH-cam takes a bigger cut, and I also have less access to the members and less flexibility in what I can offer with Substack and TH-cam. (However, if TH-cam memberships are more convenient for anyone who happens to read this comment, don't feel bad or anything.)
I'm so sorry about your cat. Pets become family and their lives feel so short. Anyway, thanks for this video. I ingest a lot of writing/marketing/etc. content, and I really appreciate when people share the more modest numbers because I think that is the reality for a vast majority of writers. I've considered doing a youtube channel but a) I'm not sure how I feel about being on camera and b) I'm not sure if I have the time to do it consistently which is what it takes to be successful on here. I teach part-time so that is my other stream of income besides writing, but I have been looking into other streams of income just to be on the safer side. Do you do anything special to promote your books wide? I'd love to do better in this area. :) AGain, thanks for the break down!
BookBub (if you can get it) and Freebooksy promos are really good for wide, I don't do much else although of course there are other things you can do, but I'm not someone who likes to spend a ton of time marketing...
Congrats, it sounds like you have had a decent year, except for the loss of your cat. My wife and I have had six cats over our married life. It was always painful when they passed. But you are making a go of it and I wish you well. Cheers
I love your video, thank you so much. As an indie author, I have a hard time with websites pirating my books... Do you have the same issue ? If so, how do you deal with it ? Have a lovely day💐
I earn about a third less to half of what most TH-camrs, who need to live frugal, earn, and that flummoxed me a long time, because I consider my salary as comfortable, even good. Then I remember the non-wage-costs in my country, my employer has to pay for me on one hand (because my employer doesn't pay it out of the goodness of his heart, but because I am Worth the total cost to the Company, do I technically earn it, even if I don't get to keep it or even see it on my salary) on one hand and universal healthcare and insanly good public transport on the other. Like with characters in historical novels it's not enough to convert numbers, but you also have to factor in financial culture and costs
Hey Lidiya, I hope you don't mind the question, why don't you release audiobook box sets/bundles for your completed series? I've heard from other indie authors that releasing audiobooks for complete series with like 40+ hours of audio is pretty profitable
I don't own the audiobooks, Tantor does, so unfortunately I can't really control any of that. I have only paid for one audiobook myself and it was so pricey, I just haven't been able to spring for more.
European here: May I ask how how much you have to pay in taxes for your writing income?😅Here in Sweden I can only count on keeping around 50% for myself Ps: sorry for your loss
I usually factor 30%, but if I don't make much, it will be less, and it could be more if you make a lot. Of course I also have to pay for my expensive and shitty US health insurance and copays and deductibles and all of that.
Thank you for this. I'm sorry about your cat, but grateful you were willing to be so transparent. This is one of the best ways to see the big pucture and the truth about what it looks like to be an indie author.
As you probably know, David Bowie said, “Never play to the gallery. “ I’m a self employed, independent painter and I promised myself that I would only paint what I wanted to paint and never pander to the market. It’s so wonderful that you have gotten to the stage in your career where you have set yourself up to write what only you can write from your heart.
I love how transparent and realistic this was. Thank you for the information!
So sorry about your cat. Clearly, he was loved. This video was so interesting. I've never made more than a few dollars from my writing, but you show what is possible with a lot of hard work, a decent size catalog, and multiple streams of income. I'm definitely starting a substack in 2025. Looking forward to more videos from you in 2025.💜💙💚👍
I'm a semi-regular viewer here. I do really like the income breakdown videos! I'm always thinking about if I were to transition away from office work, what it would look like, or what steps I would need to take to get there. For what it's worth, I mostly watched your videos in early-to-mid last year. I think your videos were promoted to me mainly based on the author experience videos. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos in 2025.
Thank you for the realistic budget summary. I love how genuine you are!
Thank you for considering TV viewers! It's easy and and I can watch with my family. I often see the medium overlooked by a bunch of people on TH-cam.
I guess a lot of people never watch TH-cam on TV? We watch it together on TV all the time.
Girl, so happy the audiobook sales reflected good on your income, you deserve every bit of it, they’re so entertaining! Wonderful decision on making them❤
I found your channel and loved your down-to-earth vibe and honesty. Then I read some of your books! I did enjoy the Goblin King, but my favorite is A Witch Among Warlocks Series. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud. You are so good with dialogue. Great video and hugs for your loss 💛 We lost two senior cats over the past couple of years and man, it's hard saying goodbye.
That's so sweet! I'm partial to the Witch Among Warlocks world myself, although my favorite is the sequel trilogy with Daisy. I reread some of that to Dade aloud during the hurricane because without power, reading my Kindle aloud was about our only amusement, and we were both laughing so hard because we'd totally forgotten the story. I'm sorry about your cats too. I still have my two senior girls and I sure dote on them.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I didn't know there was a sequel trilogy, lol! Now I have to get that 🤪 Daisy deserves her own story, for sure. Yeah, we adopted a momma cat and her 4 kittens a few years ago. Our house is full now. Technically the momma cat was only 6 months old or so, a teen mom, if you will, living on the streets . . . now she's living the dream! Enjoy your grandma girls 🩷
@@crystalpackard4117 There are actually a few! Daisy's story, then Paranormal House Flippers about Harris' sister Helena, then Promised to the Demons. The vampires also have their own trilogy but the tone is quite a bit darker, especially the first book. They're all here, sort of in order. www.amazon.com/shop/thecozycreative/list/YEKA6LCC3AZ5?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d
@@crystalpackard4117 Also, aww. Our first cat we had as a couple was a stray teen mom. The kittens were adopted because we were poor and had a small place, but she was our first baby & so sweet!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor What?!? My TBR just got a whole lot longer, lol. Thank you !
Oh I love hearing about all your different income streams, and how it fluctuates every month. Seems like TH-cam payments vary WILDLY from one new TH-camr to the next!
Just started my own channel last month so appreciate all your insights ✨🌿🌈
Yes, it fluctuates a LOT! I've seen other TH-camrs with even more variance if they have one video that goes super viral but doesn't really lead to long term viewers, but even so...all of these income streams go up and down a lot, luckily...not usually all at once!
Aww ❤ poor Oskar. I feel you, I still remember my cat. Thanks for a detailed video, very good inside info
1) I’m terribly sorry about your cat
1.5) thank you for doing this
2) I’m so glad you’re pretty happy about where you’re at!
3) a request for clarification: are you not planning on doing TH-cam for much longer?
Oh I am definitely continuing TH-cam! When I started I just had a two year timeline that if it wasn't going anywhere by then, I would have to bail on it because I had enough savings to do it for 2 years (ish). Since it did pretty well, the "two years" are basically reset, and if it does even 25% better this year, I'll just consider it part of my job at that point.
Uploading on my birthday ☺️ yay!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy birthday!
happy birthday :)
Happy birthday 🎉
Happy birthday 🎉
Oskar was a beautiful fellow! Thanks for giving him a good life for 18 long years.
He was such a handsome boy. My aunt and uncle had his brother, and my parents had his sister. They all passed away within a year of each other. Happy and long lived cats, all of them!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Well done all around… good family effort.
I really appreciate your channel so much thank you for being so down to earth. Stay safe and be happy in the new year.
So glad to here your endeavours are working out. Always makes me smile hearing people living their dreams. Thanks for the videos.
I aspire to make the baseline writing income you do!
I mean, if you wrote 40 books to market, you probably would...but at what cost sanity
What a great storyteller! This was just frankly an awesome story. And I am so sorry about your cat that's just heartbreaking - that you kept functioning creatively through all these things is pretty stalwart.
Luckily he'd had such a long life. Even when cats seem healthy, when the 18th birthday is approaching you know every month and year is getting precious, but...yeah. It was a rough winter early on. Thanks for your kind words.
Wonderful year wrap up! I know you've been successful. It's good to hear about the ups and downs, making the success story meaningful and doable. Thanks and see you next year!
I love listening to you, I love what you share--you're such an inspiration! I started (in semi-earnest) a youtube channel this year and I finished writing the first book in a trilogy AND I want a cozy life too!
You are a gem. thank you for sharing so much! It's amazing and so interesting and real. Love the chair too! noticed it a few months ago and wondered if the other one had finally worn out. And the last three minutes is gold. Excited for next year!
This is very inspiring. I also want to get monetised on TH-cam and start making a living from my own creative work. (I'm about a third of the way there, income wise but not making money from TH-cam). I find that selling products that I make is way better than doing services because there's more freedom in it even if you're making to market. I started getting money from online products this year and it's a great feeling when you look in your paypal and ooh, you got money. It's not enough to make a living from yet but i'm on the right track. I've been watching your videos for a while now and they are refreshingly down to earth and honest but also optimistic in a practical way. Thankyou for the transparency in the numbers.
When I set out to become an author around 2010, I took my screenplays that I wrote from early 2000s and made them into novels. I knew when I decided to pursue an author career I needed to make between 70-80k a year to be financially stable. Since that is what my father made before he passed away, I knew I'd be good making that. My goal hasn't changed. I went about this the wrong way. I should have grew my fanbase before publishing, should have got everything set up for marketing, and then published. You've got so many things that you're getting income from. That's incredible.
Most people won't have 'fans' UNTIL they publish. What would they be fans of? Can you maybe explain your meaning?
So sorry for your loss. It’s tough to lose our babies.
Thanks for the video, I like these kind of topics. Look forward to the new year. Take care.
Condolences for the loss of your poor kitty 😢
I'm sorry about your cat. I lost mine to kidney disease in November, after he had fought it for about five months. The vet bills were awful, but there was no way I wasn't going to do everything I could for him.
nothing hits quite like a black cat 💔
my biggest expense is usually family members who can't make rent or pay one og their bills hitting me up to "borrow", because i don't like spending money😅i don't think it's a scorpio thing, but idk
glad you're getting a bit of a break this year despite the chaos -- next year will be even better! We're cheering you on!❤🔥
soon... PO Box so we send holiday cards and stocking stuffers >:D
honestly, with how you talk so openly about all your ups and downs, you really helped ease a lot of anxiety. So many authortubers make it look like a smooth process, and while they mean well it does get a little discouraging😓 So you really make me feel like: even though i'm struggling with it right now, there's hope that i can make it work down the line if i'm patient 💛
Ain't it the truth. I went from this big black boy to a goofy floofy orange fellow. Icons of cat-dom both...but they could not be more different. 🤣
Luckily for me I guess, my whole family are a bunch of penny pinchers...but this seems to be a common problem. I would probably not be so open about it if I knew anyone who might ask me for money...!
Aw, I was thinking about the PO Box recently and then remembered how my dang post office washed away. Since we lost four post offices in the vicinity, it's probably not the best time to ask about a PO Box at one of the Last POs Standing either, so...tbd...!
I get the feeling that a lot of people who make channels (or other social media accounts) have tasted short term success and want to talk about it, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it's the people who hit quickly and recently who have the best finger on the market. But...working at it for 20 years is definitely a different matter. A few things have come easy for me for a time, but mostly...I've just had to work and plan and shift gears over and over.
You're an inspiration! I'm glad things are going okay. You make it look easy!
Aw geez you had to go through so much this year, sorry about your cat :( that sucks. But congrats on kicking so much butt with the writing income :D As an artist I can relate to needing multiple sources of income, where It's difficult to properly keep track of everything. I'm far less put together and I don't actually tally up everything until I'm scrambling to get my taxes together, lol.
My prayers to Oskar, who is now running in green fields always bathed in sun.
When i lost my little baby Doc I wept for months. Scars in my heart for her loss healed, but never faded.
She will always be with me.
We never stop missing them, and we wouldn't want to. I still cried making this brief little tribute, but it's getting easier
looove your data videos!
Very inspiring to see your work and progress! Congrats on your success and keep it up!
I’m so sorry to hear about Oskar; what a handsome man! It’s very hard, I lost my 17 year old cat this year, too 😔
I still have a 17 and 15 year old, so...oof. Treasuring all the time with them. It's kind of unfortunate they're all so close in age except I wanted them to have energetic companions when they're young.
Thank you so much for an insightful wrap up! This has become my favorite channel. Question: can you maybe discuss in a future video how to handle wide distribution? Personally I'm only familiar with using Amazon and I wasn't sure it it was complicated to do it any other way
i'm so sorry about your cat and wish you all the best❤
I have a paid membership through Patreon - is it better for you to do that or do one through TH-cam or Substack?
Patreon is the best, I think. TH-cam takes a bigger cut, and I also have less access to the members and less flexibility in what I can offer with Substack and TH-cam.
(However, if TH-cam memberships are more convenient for anyone who happens to read this comment, don't feel bad or anything.)
Congratulations on an impressive year. Looking forward to seeing you in 2025. 🥳👍🤗💕
I'm so sorry about your cat. Pets become family and their lives feel so short. Anyway, thanks for this video. I ingest a lot of writing/marketing/etc. content, and I really appreciate when people share the more modest numbers because I think that is the reality for a vast majority of writers. I've considered doing a youtube channel but a) I'm not sure how I feel about being on camera and b) I'm not sure if I have the time to do it consistently which is what it takes to be successful on here. I teach part-time so that is my other stream of income besides writing, but I have been looking into other streams of income just to be on the safer side. Do you do anything special to promote your books wide? I'd love to do better in this area. :) AGain, thanks for the break down!
BookBub (if you can get it) and Freebooksy promos are really good for wide, I don't do much else although of course there are other things you can do, but I'm not someone who likes to spend a ton of time marketing...
Thanks for posting this video. It has inspired me deeply!
Congrats, it sounds like you have had a decent year, except for the loss of your cat. My wife and I have had six cats over our married life. It was always painful when they passed. But you are making a go of it and I wish you well. Cheers
Your Amazon landing page looks great.
Sorry about Oskar ❤
I love your video, thank you so much. As an indie author, I have a hard time with websites pirating my books... Do you have the same issue ? If so, how do you deal with it ? Have a lovely day💐
I'm sorry about your kitty :(. He seemed like a very cute guy.
Interesting video. Thanks. I've thought about starting a channel... I dont have the nerve yet.
Rest in peace, Oskar.
sorry about your kitty
I earn about a third less to half of what most TH-camrs, who need to live frugal, earn, and that flummoxed me a long time, because I consider my salary as comfortable, even good. Then I remember the non-wage-costs in my country, my employer has to pay for me on one hand (because my employer doesn't pay it out of the goodness of his heart, but because I am Worth the total cost to the Company, do I technically earn it, even if I don't get to keep it or even see it on my salary) on one hand and universal healthcare and insanly good public transport on the other. Like with characters in historical novels it's not enough to convert numbers, but you also have to factor in financial culture and costs
I sell on ebay and a couple other platforms so if you ever feel like making a video on your reselling experiences I'd be interested in that.
RIP Oskar
Hey Lidiya, I hope you don't mind the question, why don't you release audiobook box sets/bundles for your completed series? I've heard from other indie authors that releasing audiobooks for complete series with like 40+ hours of audio is pretty profitable
I don't own the audiobooks, Tantor does, so unfortunately I can't really control any of that. I have only paid for one audiobook myself and it was so pricey, I just haven't been able to spring for more.
I'm sorry about your cat.
European here: May I ask how how much you have to pay in taxes for your writing income?😅Here in Sweden I can only count on keeping around 50% for myself
Ps: sorry for your loss
I usually factor 30%, but if I don't make much, it will be less, and it could be more if you make a lot. Of course I also have to pay for my expensive and shitty US health insurance and copays and deductibles and all of that.
Rip your beautiful, big cat ❤
❤
these cats need thier own youtube and patreon. lol
Could it possibly be … 2-4 too many cats?! 🧐