Monthly Recap: December And Year End 2024

TRANSPARENCYMONTHLY RECAPMILESTONE

1/1/20253 min read

First, I'll go over the December numbers. Then, down below I'll hit the yearly numbers!

December!

Sales! They were kinda shit haha. This was my worst month since June of 2023. It would have been a nudge better if I hadn't donated the sales from my one in person event of the month, but it's for a good cause so I don't begrudge it in the least. I also closed down my Tales by Bob Itch, in favor of the Bearded Bard Inkworks Itch. The two bright spots were:

  • Amazon Shirts: For whatever reason my Crane Wife t-shirt is selling really well still. I think this is my best month for Amazon shirts ever.

  • Online Book Sales: I expected that I might have a slight uptick from last month, or at least remain flat. But this was a good month! And surprisingly a ton of the sales came after christmas. Not sure what that's about, but I'll take it!

Socials! Good month! The biggest bit is I broke 1k follows on Facebook! I had set a soft goal of 'wouldn't it be nice if I hit that before 2025' and folks came through! Other than that it was business as usual. Threads is stagnating a bit, but Bluesky is doing better, which is reflective of how much time I spend on each of them. I just don't really like Threads to be honest, and if it didn't just integrate with Instagram I would drop it altogether. Also I uploaded some in person signups to my Newsletter.

Social media Growth:

Podcasts:

  • Podcast Downloads (Monthly): 189 (+81)

  • Podcast Downloads (Lifetime): 3246

Income:

  • 0.00 - Education

  • 106.99 - Amazon Merch.

  • 6.25 - TeePublic.

  • 0.00 - Itchio.

  • 6.83 - Drivethrurpg.

  • 29.98 - Patreon

  • 189.32 - Book sales/KENP

  • 0.00 - In person book sales

  • 2.09 - Amazon Affiliate Income

  • 0.00 - Random

Fixed Expenses:

  • 62.06 - Website hosting, podcast hosting, vectorstock subscription

Monthly total made:

  • $279.40 (1,090.71 last month)

  • Decrease of: 825.71


Year End!

It makes a difference when you can see a years worth at once!

Sales! First things first, I beat last year by almost 2 grand! Everytime I hit a big goal I always expect the next time I get close to hitting that goal a second time, I end up falling short. So to actually have a second 10k year, but to grow it?! I'm stoked as hell.

Here are my takeaways:

  • Online sales dropped by close to 2.5k dollars. But that makes sense, as I didn't have any fiction releases come out this year, while I had a few come out in 2023. Next year I am hopeful I get back to near where I was in this catagory.

  • In person sales went up. I did more, better events, and did pretty good at most of them. This made up, plus some, what I lost in online sales. Next year I am doing fewer events (that's the plan) but I hope to do better at said events. So we shall see, but I would love it if I hit the same 8.5k next year. But fewer events...we'll see.

  • I got paid a good chunk for teaching, over a grand. I hope I keep that rolling right along, but to do that I am going to have to find new ground. The same places won't keep hiring me forever, as they will want new content from new folks.

  • I am loving the direction that my Patreon is heading. I really hope I can reach my goal of earning enough on there to cover my monthly fixed expenses in 2025, but my more realistic goal is to hit 20 paid members I think.

Socials! All in all just a good year of steady growth. Nothing wild. I don't really have anything to say here...just gonna keep on keeping on I suppose.

Social media Growth:

  • TBB Facebook Follows: 905 to 1024

  • TBB Insta: 589 to 703

  • TBB Fan Group: 272 to 310

  • YouTube: 97 to 128 subscribers

  • Email list: 622 to 743 subscribers

  • Discord Server: 36 to 57

  • Threads: (Aug) 177 to 218

  • Bluesky: (Nov) 90 to 128

  • Patrons: 9 to 15

  • Total: 2521 to 3188

  • Amazon Follows: 265 to 330


Income:

  • Education - 450.00 to 1250.00

  • Amazon Merch - 475.54 to 586.73

  • TeePublic - 231.75 to 83.00

  • Itchio - 68.52 to 75.81

  • Drivethrurpg - 31.00 to 29.92

  • Patreon - 149.65 to 285.88

  • Book sales/KENP - 4347.42 to 1783.36

  • In person book sales - 4892.68 to 8555.65

  • Amazon Affiliate Income - 80.55 to 44.90

  • Yearly daily average: 28.63 to 34.03

  • Yearly monthly average: 871.76 to 1027.02

  • Yearly total made: 10,461.07 to 12,385.42, an increase of: $1,924.35!

  • Career toal made: 31,048.71

If you are wondering about my expenses for the year, they will be covered in a seperate post that will follow this one.