Business Decisions & Writing Update (Patreon)

I'm nearly done with Stars Awoken. I've literally got the last chapter to do and that's mostly just writing in information about Mikito's Class change and John's level increases. And making sure I set up the next book properly and end this one.

All that is being hampered by the fact that I have strep throat. Have had it for 2 weeks and only got a diagnosis yesterday. So... yay me?

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Recently, there's been some drama about Amazon again. In this case, some authors lost their books as Amazon delisted their books. There was a significant amount of complaining and anger, mostly because of the loss revenue. 

It sucks. I was lucky enough not to get caught up in it, and it is a pain. 

But... one of the things I've learnt from owning my own biz is that bad things happen. Suppliers let you down. Websites don't work the way they are meant to. People don't pay you for work you've done (and does THAT suck when you work in a b2b environment and have tens of thousands of dollars not paid).  Crap happens, and unlike when you work for others, you generally don't have much in terms of resolution. 

Don't get me wrong, I understand that working for others you can get fired. Or the company you work for can go bankrupt. Or shut down. But, in general, you can rely on a steady paycheck (especially if you're in a salaried position).  

Working for yourself (and that's what writing full-time is), is a bit more precarious. It's why you need to have a backup fund to deal with expenses if things don't go well or you don't get paid. Why it's worthwhile considering multiple sources of income.

It's why Patreon, while not a huge money maker is important. Because it's steady(ish) income that isn't directly related to Amazon. 

It's why I have begun to go wide with  my audiobooks (Books 1 - 3 of the Adventures on Brad are now making their way onto non-Audible platforms for sale). If that goes well, I hope to move more wide and stop relying on the entire Amazon ecosystem as much.

It's why AoB is wide and available on other platforms. And why that series will continue to see me writing on it. Because even if I don't make as much from it by not being in KU, I can slowly build up my audience outside of Amazon. If something goes bad there, I can at least still have a career.

In time, I expect I'll see to slowly expand my career outside of Amazon even more. 

While it's nice to get all the Kindle Unlimited money, relying on a single point of failure is a bad idea. Even if I am (hugely) reliant on them right now, I'm still planning on slowly expanding. Such that, at least, I will be able to pay my basic bills without relying on Amazon.

But... that's my decision. That's the nice thing about being a business owner / self-employed. You are only responsible for yourself.