The time between September and October marks another year since I became indie published and this time around I’m celebrating nine years. Here I am again to talk about my experiences with an aim to reflect while also doing my best to pass on something useful. Has much changed since my post about celebrating eight years? I would say yes, big-time and I can imagine things might also be a little different when I celebrate ten years so let us dive in.

Best Sales Year Yet

Without placing too much pressure on anyone or myself, I’ve always carried the philosophy that your current year should strive to be your very best or at least you should be aiming for it. The bar might constantly be moving while sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t, so as year eight closes, I can proudly say things have never been better. The foundations for my successes this year were laid by the previous ones. And probably more importantly, my journey is defined by the fact I’ve kept moving forward and have been fortunate enough to do so. There are so many reasons out of our control as to why we may slow down or not be able to give writing our full attention and I have made great efforts to not let any of them get in the way. One of my lesser known talents if I have any, is to adapt to my current circumstances and find a way forward.

Now there are so many different ways to measure success in publishing but to keep it simple, I can proudly say that this calendar year (2025) is my very best ever in terms of total books sold. My current contender for very best sales year is 2021 and that philosophy of striving for the very best each year might be great in theory and it is a great thing to aim for but in reality, it has taken me some time to reach where I am now. As I say for the one hundredth time, good things do take time.

This graph displays the numbers which include paid and free units – both have been paramount to my wider success in finding readers and there has always been debate about the effectiveness of free units but because I have a backlist, most of my other books come in to play when I run a free promo meaning they drive paid sales alongside that freebie. These days, I can pay off advertising for a free promo this way.

Ratings and Reviews are also another great way to measure success and my very first book Open Evening recently reached 350 Amazon ratings which suggests reader interest over the long term and successful marketing efforts. My guide book was seemingly stuck on 60 ratings for a while now and this year that number finally moved up. These statistics speak for themselves but everything else circulating them also matters.

My Patreon currently has the most subscribers it has ever had and posts like this always premiere there first. There are also plenty of other exclusives on my Patreon that are not available anywhere else. Check it out here – membership starts at just $1 a month.

Everything Else Has Driven This Year to Good Things

To me, writing is quite a broad thing. From books to plays to even posts like this, my writing efforts take many forms and while releasing books grants me the title of indie author, everything else I do in writing is still writing. These days my efforts towards releasing new books through self publishing might have slowed but I am still writing or creating a lot. From Patreon and blogging to even video content and of course indie book reviews – I cannot overlook everything that surrounds my indie author career because it really has mattered in recent times. This year I have written two plays with one currently in production and set for the stage in early 2026 and the other some time after. My pace hasn’t slowed down even if I’m not writing books as much. I’ve also been editing my sci-fi family saga epic which I intend to query again soon. There’s also another guide book that has been sitting on the backburner for a while and next year might be the time to put that out into the world.

Success can be many different things and while sales are my best ever, the stuff classed as ‘everything else’ has driven this year to being great. My social media following has never been higher and also sits in line with that original philosophy of striving for the very best.

While its nice to semi-boast about this, the biggest boast for me is the fact I enjoy the challenges that everything else in writing presents me. If you can continue to find something positive from your writing endeavours after a long time, then to me you are doing very well. Me, I’ve continually explored new things within the umbrella of writing and enjoy new challenges and going to new places with it.

Embracing Other Writers Has Helped Over Time

Many of you reading this are writers or creatives and I’m proud of the fact that many of my readers are writers. I’m also proud to be a writer who reads voraciously and today it is a part of my wider process to function. Reviewing books from fellow indie authors has opened doors and has brought me closer to some fantastic works and people – many have read and reviewed my work or simply follow me on social media. The long game in connecting with others in a positive way really does lead to so many opportunities. From what began for me in 2018 as a handful of indie book reviews is now a fully fledged pledge to support writers every year. It gives me motivation to write and of course put together a stack of different content ideas such as video reviews which has helped me branch out to newer audiences. All of this is simply driven by my love for reading – not bad for a solitary task that is so much more beneath the surface and I have so many fellow writers to thank.

To Try New Things is To Find New Results

I’ve tried a fair amount of newer things in the last year or so. Firstly, I took the plunge into creating a lot more video content which also centred around those indie book reviews. This eventually got me noticed by an international flash fiction writing competition who invited me to be a professional judge which subsequently exposed me to some incredible writing and even money. That money has helped pay for some book promotion advertising where I even ran a free promo for my guide book for the very first time. To be paid by the industry is an incredible thing and something that took a body of work to use as a sort of proof that I am trustworthy.

Running a free promo for my guide book has helped move more digital copies while it also got me noticed by BookBub who then featured it via another free promo which moved some really good numbers. This indie author stuff is becoming more of a business every year and these types of opportunities are becoming more frequent.

A New Release After Time Away

The difference between the past few years and this year is pretty simple – I released a new book which has helped me find new readers and give older readers something new. The release of Last Outlaw was rather successful with 20 written reviews coming in quick after release and over 100 copies sold within that first year since launch. This time around I had a lot more experience and resources to help that launch rejuvenate my already established back list while doing my best to find new readers. One of the strongest factors for success was the amount of early reviews I managed to find by reaching out to the plethora of contacts I’ve made over the year- to those who did help me with Last Outlaw, thank you.

The Outlook is Good

Like every year since Open Evening was released, I am going to keep writing and keep doing everything else that surrounds it. From Patreon content to book reviews to social media and of course fiction – all of this stuff I consider a success because I approached it gradually and pieced it together over time. This all began with that first book which enabled me to find readers and writers to connect with. Not bad for a story inspired by my formative years and influenced by the many films, tv shows, books and games I enjoyed throughout my life. These days I fondly look back on those first steps into publishing that I made and they eventually formed into something much bigger.

Above all of this sits the very important concept of enjoyment and positivity because after all these years, this journey brings me both along with challenges that keep me interested enough to keep chipping away at them. Whether or not we actually succeed sometimes doesn’t really matter, but the lessons learned and the connections made along the way, they do matter to me.

Here’s to many more years spent writing and doing everything else that surrounds it. Thanks for reading!