October Review: Stats, Earnings, Conclusions

Blocking bots, read ratios, audience building

Screengrab by author

I published 46 stories in October, having upped my publishing schedule to see how it affected my results. I didn’t think my earnings were reflecting the extra work, so I reduced my publishing frequency from twice daily to once daily for the final week of October.

Then, last night there was a surge in reads on my one boosted story, which made the month’s returns look healthier for all that work. This was my boost!

Meet The Ravenmaster At The Tower of London

The average amount earned per story published in October was $10.70. If I didn’t have this one boost, that average would have been a lot lower.

Did blocking the bots work?

I’ve been frustrated about the level of bot activity in my comments. So I started blocking and reporting some of the most obvious bots yesterday. Then a weird thing happened overnight.

This morning my boosted Raven article had made an extra $40. I have no idea if the two things are related. I don’t feel I…