I like to be transparent about my earnings because I want you to see that creating an additional income stream is possible—even if you have a busy life. I still work a full-time job. I'm also a mom to a young child, and like many of you, I have a lot competing for my time. That's why I love self-publishing. Once a book is created, it can continue working for you long after you've finished writing it. 📚 Paperback & Ebook Results - Lifetime Royalties: $68,057.75 🎧 Audiobook Results - Audible doesn't make it easy to calculate lifetime earnings because I'd have to download and total every royalty statement individually. However, based on my historical average royalty earnings per sale under the previous royalty model, I've had nearly 17,000 audiobook sales/downloads, which puts my estimated audiobook royalties at roughly $60,000+. 💵 Combined Estimated Lifetime Earnings - Books (Paperback + Ebook): $68,057 - Audiobooks (Estimated): $60,000+ - Total: Over $128,000 in approximately 3 years Is that enough to replace my day job today? No. But has it helped create more financial freedom, additional income, and opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise? Absolutely. The biggest mistake I see people make is waiting for the "perfect" time to start. Every month you delay publishing is another month your future books aren't out there working for you. Imagine where you could be 1 year from now if you started today. What Book Earnings Milestone (PER MONTH) Do You Want to Hit?

I'm excited to announce that our May Leaderboard Winner is @Lara Knutzen 🏆 Not only has Lara been consistently showing up, but she has also been adding tremendous value to this community. In fact, Lara isn't just the winner for May—she currently holds the title of the most active member in the history of this community! 👏 To recognize her contributions, I've decided to create a special reward this month. Lara will receive a one-week pinned post where she can showcase and promote her audiobook-focused community. 👉 🎧 FRIENDS OF AUDIOBOOKS I love supporting members who are actively building something and giving back to others. 👉 I also want to give a special shoutout to all of our Level 6 members. Reaching Level 6 takes dedication, consistency, and a willingness to engage with and support others. Your contributions help make this community what it is. ❤️ Because of that, I'm excited to announce a new Level 6 unlock! ⭐ Level 6 Reward: A FREE 24-hour pinned post in the community. OTHER LEVEL 6 MEMBERS - @Gemma Coles - Gemma launched her book AI for Busy Professionals on Amazon not too long ago, I highly recommend you go and check it out and also jump in and join her skool community Smart Skills Academy @Sybil Hall - Sybil is also a best selling author but also sells products on Amazon FBA if you want to seek her excellent knowledge make sure you find her at Income without Burnout @Jeff Baer - Jeff is not an author but has a really great software solution to build out bio pages for your social media and create custom QR codes to have readers go from your book to your community or somewhere else. Check it out at Bio Builders

One of the biggest mistakes new self-publishers make is selecting their book categories without doing any research. Many authors assume categories don't matter, but your category selection can directly impact your visibility, rankings, and even your chances of becoming an Amazon Best Seller. Here's why: 👉 Some categories are extremely competitive and require hundreds (or even thousands) of sales to reach the #1 spot. Where others are much less competitive and may only require a handful of sales to earn Best Seller status. This is where category research becomes important. Tools like Publisher Rocket allow you to research categories before publishing so you can better understand: - How competitive a category is - How many sales are needed to rank - Which categories may be a better fit for your book - Opportunities that other authors are overlooking When I publish a book, I don't just ask, "What category fits my book?" I also ask:👉 "What category gives this book the best opportunity to succeed?" A strategic category choice can help you gain visibility faster, earn that Best Seller badge, and create more social proof for your book. Inside my Publishing Playbooks, I included a list of 100 Amazon book categories that can be easier to earn Best Seller status in compared to many of the highly competitive categories authors commonly choose. If you'd like access to that resource (along with other publishing guides and templates), you can find it inside the Publishing Playbooks for just $27. 👇 Have you ever researched your categories before publishing, or did you just pick the first ones that seemed relevant? Let me know below!

Hey @Krista Brea! I know that you highly recommend Publisher Rocket. I haven’t purchased it yet because I already use Helium 10, but I think I finally hit the point where I need it. 😂 I immediately need to research categories for books, and that’s one area where Helium 10 just does not go deep enough for what I’m trying to do for myself and my VIPs. Especially with how important categories and discoverability are becoming on Amazon. Do you happen to have a referral link with a discount code before I grab it? 👀

Here in the US we are celebrating Memorial Day - thankfully where I am north of Chicago we are having beautiful weather and I am planning to do some more clean up around my house today and playing with my son outside. He has been asking me all winter to do WATER BALLOONS. Now, would finally be a good day for that! 🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS - I am in process of putting together the JUNE calendar, but I just wanted to give a heads up on May 27th, for my premium and VIP members, I will be holding a live book formatting workshop. You can check that on the calendar here. I will also be traveling✈️ to Rome 🇮🇹 for the first time ever. In fact, it's my first trip to Europe, and I will be solo traveling. I will be away June 4th through June 12th. I will have my laptop with me and be able to pop on and engage in the community occasionally, but I will not be doing any live events during that time frame. Hope everyone has a wonderful start to their week.