How My Self-Published Book Made Over $4000 In Its First Month

And how yours can too…maybe

Photo by John Jennings on Unsplash

Let me get the bad news out of the way first. Yes, it was a romance novel.

Before you click the back button out of immediate disinterest (disgust?), let me make it clear that I didn’t choose to write romance because I’m a huge fan of the genre. Romance is not my go-to when picking up fiction novels to read. I chose it because it is the most lucrative fiction genre to write in with a low barrier to entry.

And I wanted to make money.

That said, even writing in one of the most popular genres doesn’t guarantee a 4-figure month after release. I got lucky.

However, as the saying goes, luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

My Preparation: Understanding the Marketplace

My path to creating that first romance novel began when I started writing 5,000–10,000-word erotica shorts as a way to make beer money. I’d just moved to New York and fretted that I’d have to give up my drinking-in-bars habit in the face of drafts that were $7 even during happy hour reduced pricing.

While exploring various side hustles, I came across a user on Reddit in the Financial Independence subreddit. This person…