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

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 still not sure how I feel about the new audiobook royalty changes. Technically, I don't have to enroll my titles right now. I could wait until the end of the year and make a decision later. On the other hand, if you choose to opt out completely, it appears that you'd need to remove your audiobooks from Audible altogether. Rather than making a decision based on emotion or speculation, I've decided to run a test. I enrolled five of my lower-performing audiobooks into the new program. These are titles that haven't generated a significant number of sales or listens, so I feel comfortable using them as a test group while protecting the books that are already performing well. My thinking is simple: if these audiobooks become available through the all-you-can-listen membership, they may get exposure from listeners who otherwise never would have discovered them. More listeners could potentially mean more engagement, more reviews, and hopefully more revenue. Over the next few months, I'll be tracking downloads, listens, and earnings to see what actually happens. If the results are positive, I may consider enrolling additional titles. If not, I'll be glad I tested with my underperformers first instead of risking books that are already selling. For now, I'm taking a "measure first, decide later" approach. 👉 Are any of you planning to enroll your audiobooks, opt out, or wait and see what happens?

One of the biggest mindset shifts in self-publishing is realizing that income is rarely the same every day. Some days you log in and see $100+ in royalties and feel like you're on top of the world. Other days you check your dashboard and see $15 and start wondering if your books have disappeared from Amazon. The reality? Both days are completely normal. Looking at my own dashboard, there are days where royalties spike over $100 and other days where they're significantly lower. That's why I try not to get too emotionally attached to any single day. What matters most is the overall trend and your monthly earnings. Think of self-publishing like investing. If you checked your portfolio every hour, you'd probably drive yourself crazy. The same thing happens when you obsess over daily book sales. A Few Ways to Improve Consistency: ✅ Publish More Books - The more quality books you have in the marketplace, the more opportunities you create for sales. One book can be unpredictable. Ten books can start creating stability. ✅ Build Multiple Formats - Don't rely on just ebooks. Add paperbacks, hardcovers, and audiobooks when possible. Different readers prefer different formats. ✅ Drive External Traffic - Amazon rewards authors who bring in their own readers. Social media, email lists, YouTube, blogs, and communities can all help create more consistent sales. ✅ Optimize Your Listings - Review your keywords, categories, cover design, title, subtitle, and book description regularly. Small improvements can make a big difference over time. 👉 Remember This: A slow day doesn't mean you're failing. A great day doesn't mean you've figured everything out. Success in self-publishing comes from staying in the game long enough for your catalog to grow and compound. Keep publishing. Keep improving. Keep learning. 📈 What was your biggest royalty day this month, and what was your lowest? Let's talk about the reality of the ups and downs of self-publishing.

STEAL THIS PROMPT TO CREATE YOUR IMAGE AND SHARE IT IN THE COMMENTS! Create a realistic, high-quality scene of [ATTACHED IMAGE] as a successful published author. They are sitting confidently behind a table at a book signing or author event, smiling proudly. On the table in front of them is their published book titled '[BOOK TITLE]' standing upright and clearly visible. Multiple copies of the book are neatly displayed around it. The author is holding a large Amazon royalty check in their hand showing '$[ROYALTY AMOUNT]' as the payout amount. The check should look professional and celebratory. Their facial expression shows pride, accomplishment, gratitude, and excitement after achieving success as an author. Include subtle details of success in the background such as conference attendees, bookshelves, author branding, people waiting in line, or banners celebrating the book launch. Cinematic lighting, realistic details, inspirational atmosphere, professional photography style. ----------------------------------------------------------- PS - If you noticed I changed my profile picture that is because I had our amazing community member @Cristal Vancarson give me some fresh headshots virtually. She only charges $50 for a session where you get on a zoom call and she guides you through posing for the headshots. You don't even need to leave your house or put make up on she does the work of enhancing your photos for you. If you are interested in updating your headshot checkout her work!