Here we are again. Another new year.I know, we're a few weeks in already, but I had to give it time to settle in. Plus we've been cold and snowy and I haven't been the most motivated person ever.
Even though I'm not a fan of resolutions, per se, January is exciting in the way that a new school year was always exciting (except now that I'm grown I can buy new school supplies whenever I please).
New beginnings. New plans. All that.
Main plans this year are for the business, of course. (The other kind fluctuate and, since they generally involve other people, I don't share as much of them here).
2025 was a landmark year, though. For the first time, I matched my old law firm salary with book sales. That total doesn't count what went back out in expenses: ads, conferences, apps, supplies, etc., but even so, my long-range goal when I started self-publishing was to make as much money from the squirrelly contents of my brain as I did when sitting and mindlessly typing for lawners. And I've done it.
Next year (this year) will be expanding the empire. I've acquired an agent to help me with foreign rights / translations, because I don't have the bandwidth to deal with that and if she can sell tehm, she's welcome to her 15%. It's money from something I've already made.
I'm also trying to sell audio rights to the Tudor books. I sold audio rights to Tantor Audio for the first Ava & Claire trilogy and they're coming out December-February. I'd love to get proper British accents for the Tudor books - and to not be personally involved in the editing and mastering process. Doing the Christmas novella as an audio reminded me just how much I don't love that process.
One of my goals for this year is to get my books into more libraries. Amazon KDP has now permitted authors with ebooks in Kindle Unlimited to also offer their ebooks to libraries, and I've always had my print books (paperbacks) available for order. Now I'll be able to offer audio, as well, and the very next project up is to start rendering the Tudor books into large print. Libraries love large print, and as a person with Very Bad Vision myself, if I can't have it in digital format, I'd love a large print.
I haven't made a financial goal for this year. This year it's really about expanding what I already have into new and different places, and growth takes time and doesn't always bring in results right away. But like the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next-best time is today. I'm using the same theory with my business.
What about you? Are you a library person? What are your feelings about audiobooks and large print? Worthwhile? Would you ask your library to order them?
1 comment:
Love my local libraries and appreciate large print. Large print makes it easier to read while I ride the bike at the gym, and when I can't sleep in the middle of the night. I have vision in only one eye, so that may factor into my love.
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