Monthly Recap: January 2026

It was a good month for sales, obviously buoyed by Fan Expo Nola, where I essentially sold out. Beyond that I broke 100 bucks in online sales, which is good. Shirts were down, audiobooks were up, but mostly it was about par for the course. Now though, as you can see below, I have been tracking my expenses. Even then it would have been a good month...except I did a massive book order, to the tune of 310 copies. I made just short of 2k at Nola, and then came home and ordered just short of 2k in books. Womp! So I would up in the hole this month, but this is enough inventory to carry me through a good number of cons, so I will make it back pretty quickly.  

Income (Book Sales):

• $0.00 - Website Book Sales

• $125.51 - Online Book Sales/KENP

• $3.44 - Book Sales - Ingram

• $1560.00 - In Person Book Sales

• $38.51 - Audiobooks  

• $0.00 - Consignment

Total: $1,727.46

Income (Other):

• $48.58 - Patreon

• $0.00 - Appearance

• $6.42 - Amazon Affiliate Income

• $10.29 - Amazon Shirts

• $4.00 - TeePublic Shirts/Merch

• $11.07 - Freelance

Total: $80.36

Income (BBI):

• $428.00 - In Person

• $5.00 - Tabletop Games on Itch.io

• $0.00 - Website Sales

Total: $428.00

Expenses:

• Bookfunnel: $20.00

• Schedchie: $9.32

• License:$140.00

• Book Order: $1,988.70 (310 books)

• Monthly Taxes: $76.29

• Mulitverse Sponsorship: $300.00

Total: $2,608.02

Monthly total made:

• Income: $2,235.82 ($422.90 last month)

• Expenses: $2,608.02

• Net Income: -$372.20

Yearly Gross Total Made:

• $2,235.82

Yearly Net Total Made:

• -$372.20

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 swapped hosts to EmailOctopus, and if you want to know about that, just check the last blog post on here. Beyond that I am most excited by the fact that my Patreon ticked up by 2 paid members! Fuck yeah!

Social Media Growth:

• Facebook Page Follows: 1071 (-3) 

• Instagram: 830 (+9)

• Facebook Fan Group: 349 (+5)

• Youtube: 147 subscribers (+1)

• Email List: 580 subscribers (+0)

• Discord Server: 74 (-1)

• Threads: 265 (+3)

• Bluesky: 204 (-2)

• Patrons: 23 paid/40 free (+2/+2)

• r/Talesbybob: 22 (+1)

• Total: 3542 (+13)

Podcasts:

• Podcast Downloads (Monthly): 404 (+329)

• Podcast Downloads (Since April 2022): 5,348

BBI Social Media Growth:

• Instagram: 127 (+2)

• 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

• I will publish 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:

• Keep working on Blackwater Requiem. (Yep!)

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

• I will plan out my social media strategy with Schedchie. (Not really)

I got a lot done! Here is a list:

• Did a big book order.

• Received said order, signed them all, sorted them.

• Took a meeting with a potential client

• Started work on a bunch of social media images

• Discussed and agreed on my upcoming sponsorship at Multiverse.

• Swapped my newsletter host to EmailOctopus.

• Made a newsletter template and email images.

• Sent monthly newsletter.

• Did a blog showing the break down of how that newsletter went.

• Updated my Dot card.

• Revamped my website a bit.

• Got all my business licenses.

• Did some banking stuff.

• Recorded a voiceover for a podcast.

• Applied for a con.

• Reviewed a chapter for another author.

• Reviewed several chapters for another author.

• Updated my website again.

• Handled scads of emails. 

• Made new book inserts for my booth.

• Worked on a zine, Coins for the Dead. 

Alright, alright, alright! First recap of the year! And it was a pretty good month! I had one event, Fan Expo Nola (which was great), and got a good chunk of words written. I did a much better job about keeping more of the focus on writing, and it paid off. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked on the business side perhaps, but I wrote 30/31 days, even when I went on vacation or off in Nola.

I also finished writing my latest zine, Coins for the Dead. It will come out next month, once I do a few more final passes over it. I didn't get as much on the marketing front done as I would have liked (got some neat plans on that front), but honestly, between writing and marketing, I would rather hit my writing goals.

Quick summary:

• Word Count: 21,554

• Hours Writing: 20.65

• Hours Working: 18.25