2025 was my first full year as a “serious” indie author. I began to publish and market my books with a plan in place in June 2024. I thought it would be fun to share how I did this year on the blog. One, for my own records, and two, since I know there is an entire indie author community out there that’s interested in this type of thing.

I mainly write Amish romance novels and novellas, which is my favorite genre to read, too! It has been a blast to write from my couch while making my own schedule. I love to write, and self-publishing books has been a good fit for me.

Click here to check out my books!

I’m going to share my numbers for the year soon, but first, I’d like to talk a little about how I write for those who might be interested.

I currently try to publish at least four books per year to stay relevant in Amazon’s algorithm. I accomplish this by aiming to write 2,000 words per day for about a month straight. If I do this four times each year, that’s four books!

I usually write in the early morning hours, and 2,000 words takes me roughly 1.5-2 hours to write since I outline my scenes beforehand. After my month of writing, I allow a month for edits and formatting. I do everything myself.

This year I’ve marketed my books mainly by offering free promotions on Amazon. That gets my work in the hands of readers, who often continue reading more of my books. I currently only sell my books on Amazon.

I’ve been happy with my book stats this year. Really, it’s exciting to know that anyone is reading my work in the first place!

I gave away 12,077 e-books this year. Which translated to:

771 paid books sales. Also as a side note, I haven’t written 40 books. This number includes my books in all forms…e-books, paperbacks, hard covers, etc.

652,513 Kindle Unlimited pages read. My books vary in size, but that’s 3,262 books with a 200 page average.

$4,588.58 in royalties. I’m happy with this number, too. Now, I do pay for advertising through Amazon, Facebook ads, and Written Word Media. I don’t know how much I spent on advertising this year off the top of my head, but I believe it was under $1,000.

I’m excited to see what this year holds, and if I’m able to continue with my writing schedule. I’m currently working on the book I hope to release in June, and it’s going a little slower than usual. Sometimes, I’m able to whip out a book really quickly. With others, writers block is a real thing!

Thanks for stopping by today, friends. If you have any questions, please just ask!

To take a look at my books, please click here. If you decide to take a gander, I hope you enjoy them!