Steve Higgs
According to Book Report, my top-line sales income from last year was $1,724,509.13. Except it wasn’t. The $1.7 million is the bulk of it, but audiobook sales, global paperback sales through IngramSpark, KDP All-Star bonuses, and other income streams all add to make the number roughly $2 million for 2023.
My top-line income from 2023 before adding in the earnings from other revenue streams.
Why am I showing you this? Is it because I feel a need to brag? Is my ego such that I need people to gawp at me in wonder?
No. It’s because, very simply, you can do this too.
Now, you just had one of two reactions to that statement. You either leaned in because you want to see what secrets I will reveal, or you rolled your eyes and dismissed the suggestion as just plain ridiculous. I suppose there could be a third reaction where you hoped it could be true but assumed some kind of special circumstances are required for it to happen.
And that takes me nicely to the first big point: the importance of belief.
Whether you believe you can or believe you cannot, you will probably be right.
I published my first book in June 2017. It sold no copies and made no money, but I knew I could achieve a sensible income because other people were doing it. In author groups on social media, they talked about and even showed their sales figures.
It was possible, and with that in mind, I set out to be successful.
Which leads me neatly to point 2.
Your success cannot be measured by anyone other than you. For some, simply finishing the manuscript they have slaved over for years and pressing the button to publish it will be success enough. For others, the aim might be to supplant the wage from their day job. You get to decide what your goal is, and no one else should have an opinion.
What does it take?
Well, it takes hard work and probably some sacrifice. On my journey, I stopped going out, got up early to write almost every day, and went to bed late most nights after studying an element of the business. I called it “the grind” and recognized that it came from my utter determination to succeed.
If you speak to other authors making a career in this indie industry, I believe you will find their stories are much the same.
There is a lot to learn, and while many of the tasks can be outsourced, at the start of your career, you probably don’t have the income to justify the outlay, and that’s a good thing. You want to learn marketing, website construction, how to build your newsletter subscription list, and many more alien tasks. Only by doing so will you have the knowledge to control your subcontractors when you outsource your work.
It will take time, so allow yourself the months or years required to find your way up the mountain. It will be worth it, but never doubt your ability to get there.
Still not convinced?
Being successful as an indie author really comes down to just two things: writing books people want to read and marketing them effectively so those readers will know to make that purchase. Over time, your back list will build; every author recalls staring forlornly at the one lonely title on their KDP bookshelf. Only if you stop writing will it remain alone.
It took me five years to write my first book. Five months to write the next. I now have more than one hundred titles published, but I can name a dozen indies making more money with a fraction of that number. Some only publish a book a year.
My final point is the biggest: although I loathe to admit it, there is nothing special about me. I left school at seventeen with no education and joined the British Army. I could easily have found myself collecting shopping trolleys in a supermarket carpark. When I started to write the stories in my head, I did so with a book that taught me how to use grammar.
So believe me, if you want to be successful, if you want to make money, the pathway to do so is well trodden. All you have to do is follow where others have gone.
I wish you all the luck in the world.
Steve Higgs