Hi, I’m an indie author.
It’s a labor of love. Most of the time, I feel like I’m writing for myself. Most of the time, I’m just scraping by with my day job. Making a living from writing fiction has been a pipe dream, but one I refuse to give up on.
Way back in 2011, I published my first book, Voodoo Dues. Shortly after, I released the next book in the trilogy, Vampire Blues. I was well on my way to finishing the third, Black Magic, when my mom died. That just killed my desire to write, or really, to do anything other than slog through a life that wasn’t as bright without her in it.
Over the years, I would get the bug again and decide to write something. That got me a bunch of abandoned WiPs and not much else.
I can’t fully explain it, but suddenly, in the fall of 2024, my desire to write fiction came roaring back. It started with Molly and the Reaper. Then I decided to revamp Voodoo Dues, fixing things that had always bugged me and adding scenes I’d wished I’d included the first time around.
The wild part? It didn’t stop. I’m an ADHD girlie, mostly the attention-deficit part. The kind that gets lost in daydreams or stares into space, and also the kind that struggles to maintain focus. How I’ve managed this output? That’s probably a conversation for a psychologist. But over the last eight months, I’ve finished my drawer WiPs, revamped two novellas, and written a couple of books from scratch.
That brings us to the release of Hacked by the Beast. I’m really proud of this one. Honestly, I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, even though I was initially afraid it was too nerdy, that people wouldn’t get it.
I was wrong.
I released Hacked by the Beast on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Here’s how it went:
Day 1: 1 unit sold, 491 KU pages read. (I’ll take it!)
- Best Sellers Rank: #982,513 in Kindle Store
- #1,564 in Demons & Devils Paranormal Romance
- #4,040 in Paranormal Demons & Devils Romance
- #8,488 in Paranormal Fantasy Books
I was really excited about breaking 10K in Romantic Fantasy. That felt huge to me.
Day 2: 3 units sold, 1,032 KU pages read
- Best Sellers Rank: #134,778
- #150 in Demons & Devils Paranormal Romance
- #1,009 in Paranormal Demons & Devils Romance
- #1,875 in Paranormal Fantasy
Day two absolutely blew my mind.
Day 3: 2 units sold, 1,496 KU pages read
- Best Sellers Rank: #63,946
- #79 in Demons & Devils Paranormal Romance
- #478 in Paranormal Demons & Devils Romance
- #1,051 in Paranormal Fantasy
That’s when I knew something was really happening. I even had a co-worker tell me a friend mentioned getting Hacked recommended on her Kindle. The algorithm was starting to notice.
Day 4: 2 units sold, 2,968 KU pages read
Day 5: 1 unit sold, 1,577 KU pages read
Day 6: 1 unit sold, 2,065 KU pages read
Day 7: 2 units sold, 1,066 KU pages read
My numbers have fluctuated since, but I’m still holding respectable rankings.
If you’re curious, this is where my KDP dashboard sits at the moment, noon-ish on 6-24-25:
The wildest part? That sales this small, (single digits!) were enough to push me into the Top 100 of a category, even a niche one. To be honest, I don’t claim to fully understand how it all works. (Not only am I ADHD, but I have dyscalculia, so numbers and I have always had a complicated relationship!)
But here’s what I do know: every sale, every page read, every review matters. They stack. And even small wins can build momentum you didn’t see coming.
So if you’re out there wondering whether it’s worth it, whether the work will ever pay off, I want to say this: I’m still on the journey, still figuring it out. But this week showed me that small steps do add up, and that persistence really does matter.