This last year was a challenge on the writing front. No joke! But I weathered it and by the end of the year things were picking up and starting to return to normal.
Lets talk the numbers (income from my books)
My gross income from 2023 to 2024 went from a four digit income to five digit with a 566% increase. When I did my 2024 taxes I didn’t pay much attention to this as I was still looking at my high expenses which were still wiping out my checkbook.
None of this would have been possible without the Madame Chalamet series. Thank you, readers!
From 2024 to 2025 my gross income had a 43% increase. While this seems a modest number this income growth means I am very close to covering all my business expenses (editing, cover design, advertising, software, etc…).
You’ll notice I didn’t post income numbers. I won’t be doing that as it lends itself to comparisons with other authors and can set unrealistic individual goals. My 2026 goal is to work towards a 50% increase from 2025. To achieve this, I need to write more books, AND advertise.
Stumbling with my 2025 book and writing projects
My latest Magical Realism book, Breathings of the Moon released in March. It just didn’t connect with readers and that deeply saddened me. It made me so sad that I stopped writing for a few months. I kept trying to go back to stories in progress but I couldn’t bring myself to focus on them. This wasn’t helped by having long term guests in my house or the worsening political environment in my country.
After my guests left, to return to the writing saddle, I decided to focus on smaller projects that I could achieve. This turned into working on a new series: the Morpheus Society casebook files which features Elinor Chalamet’s apprentice, Twyla Andricksson.
The series is a natural jump-off after the Madame Chalamet books. It is being planned for six stories and once done, will be put into a Kindle Unlimited bundled collection. Two of those stories are now available, and the third will be coming out in March 2026.
New book cover art
Sitting on my computer was new art work I had commissioned for my College Fae series. I knew I wanted to change from the photograph collage artwork (NOT AI, it used real models) for several reasons:
1.) The black woman who was featured on the original covers had been used on several other fantasy books, especially paranormal series. My covers weren’t as unique anymore.
2.) These coming-of-age YA books needed covers that better reflected the genre. Most books in this genre are illustrated.
Working with an artist on Fiverr, new covers were designed and I released them late in December. This is the last update I’ll do this series as I’m not planning on writing YA books in the future.
Because I wasn’t writing but wanted to be productive, I worked with an artist on the development of a character that I will feature on a new series (FUTURE PROJECT). This series is about two years into the future but I wanted to get it set up so I can have inspiration.
I decided to go again with an illustrated cover as this fits the current cozy mystery genre, and I wanted characters that looked unique to MY books.
Writing projects now underway
My plan is to complete at least four of the six Morpheus Society books in 2026. Crimson Sword 3 should be coming out in March 2026, and if things continue as planned, Jinxed Jewel 4 should release in the summer of 2026.
What I didn’t get done in 2025 was completing my Viola Perigon series. I worked with two different editors trying to get the second half of the book pounded out and it simply didn’t gel. The first half is intriguing but the second half needs something. Needs some magic.
This was supremely frustrating for a variety of reasons. But sometimes you can lead the horse to water but can’t make it drink. I set this series aside and focused on Twyla’s stories.
Now that I’m feeling more comfortable with hitting my writing targets, I’ve decided to take a writer’s retreat in April so I can tackle the issues Viola has. I’ll be developing the hero, and building the overall myth-arc for the four books. The book and print book covers are all ready. I just need to WRITE!
My plan is for the first book in the series to release in the fall of 2026. Fingers crossed!
Wasting time and money with assistants
As a self-published author I have to wear many hats so it can get rather overwhelming. Many other indie authors hire assistants to look after their social media, website, newsletter or marketing, and I thought why not try this?
I’ve tried to find someone several times to help me and it was an absolute FAIL for me EVERY TIME.
One very popular PR lady dumped me as a client. I don’t think she liked being called out on her baloney as she offered a very pretty business plan but with no actual tasks to achieve those lofty goals. She’s fine for romance writers but wasn’t for me (obviously she thought so too!).
Another marketing person took my money and never gave me anything. Honestly I should have filed it as fraud with my credit card company but at the time this was happening, my eldest son moved back home temporarily and everything was in upheaval.
I’ve learned my lesson. This option isn’t for me. I have more marketing and writing knowledge than anyone who I’ve hired.
Advertising my books: what worked, what didn’t
Now that my Madame Chalamet was proving a hit with a consistent number of readers going through the entire series, I decided to reach out to two separate groups to manage a Facebook ad campaign. ANOTHER COSTLY FAILURE!
Well, to be exact, it was “okay” but it certainly wasn’t a success as my checkbook showed every month. I was paying a monthly fee for the Facebook management as well as covering the advertising costs.
While the Facebook ads did help the Amazon ads (complicated symbiotic relationship), I just didn’t like any of these ads (if my Facebook ad manager is reading this, I really liked YOU but the ads were just not performing to warrant the cost). An example of one of their ads.
In December, 2025, I turned off their Facebook ads. I started them again in January 2026 with new ads managed by me and spouse. It is too soon to see how well my ads will do, but so far the click-through percentage is already higher (12-20% CTR) compared to the ones I commissioned (11% or lower).
An example of one of the ads I designed:
If you are just starting out as an author I do NOT recommend running ads until you have a series that is successful. I ran a LOT of ads in the previous years and ONLY after I had a consistent buy through on my series did I finally start making the money to pay for these ads. You MUST have buy-through on a series as usually the first book is discounted to attract readers. This means you won’t be able to recoup your costs (called ROI or return of investment).
Taking back the ads and the newsletter proved to me that it works best when I am in charge. I have decades of experience in graphic design, writing, and marketing. While advertising on Facebook is new to me, I took a course and have put those ideas to work when designing this new ad campaign.
I know my books and I know why they appeal to readers. That is something a generalist doesn’t understand.
Newsletter improvements was a big win
After working with a newsletter assistant in 2023, I decided that I needed to take it back and do it myself. I did receive some (limited) guidance from the popular PR lady (who dumped me as a client). I redesigned the newsletter after receiving some from other writers and I really like the new design and how it is laid out.
Sign up to my newsletter here.
Email marketing and reaching fans through my newsletter is my number one method of contacting readers. in reviewing what happened last year, I’m happy to report that my open rate increased when I took back the newsletter and redesigned.
Anything above a 20% open rate is considered successful; and 40% and higher the industry considers a major success. My newsletter open rate averages around 57.76% which is up from 2024’s 43.49%.
My 2026 plans
After the slump in 2025, I’m ready to get back to getting books published!
I’m looking into audio books for Madame Chalamet. This is a HUGE expense and I need to do more research before I take the leap into this. While it would open a new audience for me, it would also be costly as I refuse to use AI voices that rob narrators of their livelihood.
I hope to get four of the six Morpheus books published. So far this is on track with book 3, the Crimson Sword, slated for a March 2026 release.
I’d like to see the first Viola Perigon book, Countess of Shadows, come out in the fall. But I will only release the first book if I have the second book half written. This series is a big project with big themes and I want it to be done right!
What I haven’t decided yet is if I’m going to do another four fairytale stories and put the six of them into a Kindle Unlimited set? These aren’t big sellers but when I’m in the mood, they are easy to write. I also think they are gentle, comfy reads when things look very bleak in real life. If you are fans of these stories let me know of your interest in that project.
Thank you, readers! As always, I wouldn’t be able to do this without you!
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