Monthly Recap: December 2025

TRANSPARENCYMONTHLY RECAP

1/1/20264 min read

December is always a down month, because I don't really do in person events during it now. It's my time to recharge a bit. That said, it wasn't a bad month. It was my best month ever for Amazon shirts I am pretty sure. And online book sales were up from last year. Happy with that. 

Income (Book Sales):

Total: $161.06

Income (Other):

Total: $261.84

Income (BBI):

Total: $5.00

Expenses:

  • License: $13.14

  • P.O. Box 1-Year: $188.00

  • Monthly Taxes: $76.29

Total: $277.43

Monthly total made:

  • Income: $422.90 ($978.94 last month)

  • Expenses: $277.43

  • Net Income: $145.47

Yearly Gross Total Made:

  • $17,580.60

If you would like to leave a comment on this blog, a version of it has been posted on my Patreon and my Subreddit.

Ok so it was, yet again, a pretty standard month, so the only thing of note I will report on this month is my newsletter. I am just going to copy this from the last two months, because it is exactly the same situation:

I keep losing subscribers to my newsletter. It's not super dramatic numbers, but basically every month for the past few months for every 3-5 subscribers I gain through signups on my website, I end up losing 4-6. I honestly don't know what's going on. Am I annoying folks? Is Mailerlite being better at delivery hitting folks who hadn't been hit in the past from the newsletter builder I was a part of, who only signed up for freebies? Am I just dogshit at this? Who knows. I'm keeping an eye on it, but I need to be more proactive on building it.

Social Media Growth:
Podcasts:

  • Podcast Downloads (Monthly): 75 (-156)

  • Podcast Downloads (Since April 2022): 4944

BBI Social Media Growth:

  • Instagram: 125 (+0)

  • Bluesky: 5 (+0)

  • Threads: 27 (+0)

Here's what I am thinking I will do:

  • Keep working on Blackwater Requiem.

  • I will work on both new CCC zines, and Coins for the Dead.

  • I will plan out my social media strategy with Schedchie.

Here is what I planned to get done this month (copy/pasted from last months recap), with its status:

  • I will finalize my Data Dashboard. (Done!)

  • Keep working on Blackwater Requiem. (Done!)

  • I will work on both new CCC zines. (Done!)

  • I will plan out my social media strategy with Schedchie, and build out my BBI social media accounts. (Partial. Socials for BBI are built out, but I haven't worked out my overarching strategy).

  • All my annual recap blog posts. (Done!)

I got a lot done! Here is a list:

  • Made a video ad for BBI. I think its funny.

  • Tided and organized my office.

  • Set up my socials for BBI.

  • Sorted through all my notes on my phone.

  • Sorted out my itch.io.

  • Made a BBI bundle on itch.

  • Handled back end stuff for the CCC zines.

  • Handled some annual tax/license type things.

  • Updated my patreon video and intro.

  • Scripted and made a sample Jubal County short vid. 

  • Made printable character sheets for CCC.

  • Made a monthly dashboard.

  • Appeared on This Week In Indies on GoIndieNow, twice!

  • Contacted a potential reviewer.

  • Did my big expense report.

  • Met virtually with Ben, twice. 

  • Sorted my email inboxes.

  • Wrote my end of the year blog posts.

  • Did inventory.

  • Worked on my Square, and set up some new discounts and such.

  • An episode of Page Numbers came out.

  • Emailed a potential con.

  • Worked on a zine, Coins for the Dead. 

Alright, alright, alright! Another month in the books, so let's get to recapping!

December is always kinda a crap month for building momentum, but all things considered I am happy with the month.

This month will be the first month where I track all my monthly expenses as well. Instead of fixed monthly expenses, I will be showing the expenses as they hit. For example, you will see 188 bucks this month went to my P.O. box. so you will see my net income now, which I know some folks have been asking for. 

I'm also broadly tracking my income into two new primary categories: Book Income and Other Income. Also, excitingly (for me at least) I came up with a couple of new items to track, that I will be in these reports. I will post them here in the first section for now.

  • Word Count: Exactly how many words of prose I wrote that month.

  • Hours Writing: How many hours I spent writing.

  • Hours Working: How many hours I spent working, that wasn't writing. 

I am also going to be tracking my zine/BBI income and socials in their own categories now. Anywho:

  • Word Count: 12,017

  • Hours Writing: 14

  • Hours Working: 42.5

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