My Author Journey: Reflecting on 2025

As an author and creative, life often imitates art. What I create reflects my experiences and the challenges I face.

Big Changes in My Personal Life: 2024 vs 2025

This blog post starts on a somber note, but I promise it gets better. So, stick with me.

In 2025, I wrote less than I have in years. Many factors contributed to this decline. When art is part of who you are, you either thrive or struggle during tough times. For me, sadness can fuel my writing, but when stress and sadness collide, it’s like a creative apocalypse.

Speaking of apocalypses, have you heard this song from aespa? I’ll admit, my obsession with KPop Demon Hunters and EJAE in 2025 has broadened my music tastes. This song was written in part by EJAE.

As a mom, our family dynamics changed significantly in 2025. Both Jack and I have ADHD, which means we had to learn how to work together in new ways as he grew older. It’s been tough not to compare our experiences with what worked for my husband and me. Yet, we’re figuring it out.

I don’t often discuss politics, but this year pushed me to check the news daily. I wanted to understand how current events could impact our lives. I haven’t felt this much turmoil in our government since 2020. At least this year, I managed to curb my doom scrolling. Back in 2020, I spent my days doom scrolling and playing Animal Crossing, paralyzed by what I couldn’t control. (Stay tuned for a blog post on how I’ve halved my screen time.) In 2025, the turmoil motivated me to get our finances in order, aiming for a sense of safety and more options.

My "day job" evolved this year, resulting in less work/life balance than before. Still, I’m hopeful this will settle soon.

The most significant factor this year was a death in the family. It truly rocked us, and we’re still navigating our feelings day by day. The grief left gaping holes in our lives.

All together, the data reflects how much my creativity suffered this year. In 2024, I wrote over 185K words. In 2025, I wrote less than half that amount, around 63K.

Not only did my writing decline, but my marketing energy also took a hit. I wrote fewer newsletters and posted less on social media. Surprisingly, I managed to maintain the same number of blog posts. Before counting, I would have sworn I posted less this year.

Fiction Written in 2025

• Content for the Lily Hills Creatures series: 36,016 words

• Content for the spin-off series of LHC (not coming until around 2028 lol): 14,830 words

• Last push in completing The Courting of Kingdoms: 12,114 words

  
  

Total: 62,960 words (less than half of 2024)

Blog Posts Written in 2025

• 14 on Substack (since deleted, see why later)

• 6 on rebeccaksampson.com

• 5 on rachelhdrake.com

• 4 on rksampson.com

  
  

Total: 29 posts (flat YoY)

More on my new fiction websites later, as they are part of my 2026 goals.

Why I Unpublished Half of My Backlist in 2025

One of the biggest changes I made as an indie author in 2025 was using my "power" to unpublish four books from my catalog.

In July, I took down the Creature Cravings series. My intention is to bring them back, new and improved, starting in 2026. This was a hard decision, but one I felt I needed to make for months. I wanted to steer the series in a direction that felt right.

The books had gained loyal readers, but they were polarizing. Readers either loved or hated them. After growing my skills and analyzing reviews over the past few years, I understood why.

My books weren't meeting the expectations I shared in marketing and what was common in the genre. It’s as simple and complicated as that. While I intend to keep the unique aspects of my stories, I’m also adding more lore in this rewrite. This will serve as the backbone for the spin-off series, along with incorporating more genre expectations, like dual POV.

I’ve made great progress on the first rewrite and can’t wait to share it with the world early this year. I feel confident about how this rewrite and rebrand project is coming together.

Total Books Published

1. Saved By My Alien Husband by Rachel H. Drake

2. The Courting of Kingdoms by R. K. Sampson

3. Fate's Daughter: The Fated Tales Series Special Timeline Edition by R. K. Sampson (Kickstarter only, no longer available)

   
   

These books were primarily written in 2024 and edited in 2025. SBMAH is a standalone, while TCOK will have a sequel. Ironically, I wrote some of it in 2024. However, with what I have planned for 2026, that sequel for my fantasy brand likely won't be out until 2027.

Total Books Unpublished

1. Haunt by Rachel H. Drake

2. Only by Rachel H. Drake

3. Blaze by Rachel H. Drake

4. Bite by Rachel H. Drake

   
   

The Creature Cravings series will return as Lily Hills Creatures, starting with the new version of Haunt, now up for preorder as A Lovely Haunt.

Sales by Format and Brand YoY: Did I Meet My Goal to Increase Physical Book Sales?

In 2024, I sold 70% in paranormal/sci-fi (Rachel) vs 30% in fantasy (R.K.). However, in 2025, it was nearly even across my two brands with 44% vs 55%. Interestingly, we had 1% in nonfiction sales this year.

I don’t promote my nonfiction at all (two personal development books). While I occasionally entertain the idea of writing more life advice, it doesn’t align with my vision for my life, so I don’t plan to invest more there at this time. (As of now, we’ll see. I change my mind a lot.)

My goal to increase physical book sales (initially part of direct sales, now just "more non-ebook sales") did come true. However, I’m unsure if it will hold in 2026 since I also closed my direct store. Going from 92% digital sales in 2023 to 80% in 2025 is a significant change.

For those not in the author industry (thanks for reading!), here’s some background: An average digital sale typically brings in $2 or less per author. A physical book sale is around $4 or more. This is for independent authors without a publisher and based on my averages and those of my friends, specifically for fiction. Nonfiction often has higher margins. It may vary for other authors and is generally lower for traditionally published ones.

These numbers become even more favorable when you have a direct store. It eliminates some fees imposed by distributors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can increase your royalties by $2-10 per book, depending on your strategy and if it’s a special edition.

Increasing my physical book sales to 20% is why my earnings are flat in 2025, even though my total sales are half that of 2024.

I don’t disclose exact numbers, but half is a significant difference. Part of that is my lack of marketing, and the other is removing a chunk of my catalog from sale.

That’s compelling math and helps drive my goals for 2026.

Even Though Selling Direct is More Profitable Per Book, I Shut Down My Store

I loved learning about direct selling (selling books in my own store instead of just on retailers). It’s an art, and I see the value in other authors pursuing it. However, managing my online bookstore split too much of my attention. I wasn’t giving it the effort it needed to succeed.

Additionally, concerns over tariffs added complexity that I wasn’t ready to tackle.

I might consider trying it again in a few years when I have a larger audience. But as a fledgling author (even a few years down the line, I’m still a baby here), it took too much away from my writing and drained my mental energy. It’s just not my time.

All my former stock from the store has been moved to this blog, and you can *order my books for over 50% off while supplies last

I hope my Foreshadow Special Edition projects (a self-indulgent special edition for each book where I write behind-the-scenes essays on the making and foreshadowing of each book) will help drive value and keep my physical sales up in 2026. These special editions will be available on retailers. That edition of The Courting of Kingdoms outsold the standard edition, even at a higher price.

I also want to explain why I left Substack. It’s an amazing discovery platform, but I prefer my own websites, where "I own the land," to handle that discovery for me. I can control my websites, and building them long-term better suits my goals. Will it be slower? Maybe. But I’m okay with that.

I still plan to post notes on Substack, but I’ve returned to using my blogs (on my new fiction sites) and newsletter platform to better align with my long-term goals.

How I Increased My Audiobook Sales

This wasn’t intentional, to be honest. Increasing my audiobook sales surprised me, especially since I didn’t release any audiobooks in 2025. This change likely results from going wide with audio, adding my books to Spotify and libraries.

For now, I don’t plan to create more audiobooks. It takes a few years to recoup those costs with my current averages, even with this increase YoY.

Other random considerations: I currently have two hardbacks live. Should I delete them? Less than 1% of my sales each year are in hardcover. The two books in this format won’t receive additional hardcover releases in the series, so I’m considering removing them entirely to prevent people from buying content in sets that won’t be concluded.

My Failures, Pivots, and Successes as an Indie Author in 2025

This post is already getting long, so I’ll sum up how the year has felt, with all the data at play. Let me know if there are any topics you want me to dive deeper into.

Failures

• I wrote less than half the words I did in previous years. Personal stress impacted my writing, creating a cycle that fed into my overall mood, because writing less also caused me stress.

• I created another hardcover book, despite saying I wouldn’t. It didn’t sell enough to justify the time and energy spent. I may unpublish this hardcover in 2026 since I don’t plan to make another one for the sequel.

• I barely marketed my books due to life stressors, and it took me too long to recognize this subconscious sabotage.

• Another year in the red, where I spent more than I earned. However, I see this as a medium between failure and success. The ratio is one I’m comfortable with for now, and I have plans to improve this year. I don’t currently report sales vs. profit in these write-ups, but I may in the future.

  
  

Successes

• I’ve planned for 2026 to be the opposite of this sabotaging failure, using what I learned this year.

• I published three books, one of which had a special edition that outsold the standard edition.

• I took down four books from my backlist, trusting my gut, and feel better for it. Even with this, I made the same YoY due to a focus on physical products.

• I tried direct sales, realized it wasn’t for me, and closed shop instead of dwelling on it.

• My book expenses doubled, but for content that will pay off for years.

• I invested in commissioned art for covers and marketing. I’m just getting started and can’t wait to do more with the beautiful art I have from inkbykloe and EJ Songaling.

• I’m on a payment plan for the copyedits of my next seven books. This means I’ll finish paying off my editing before the books are out, rather than paying lump sums with each release. It helps my budget.

• I redesigned my websites and switched platforms. rachelhdrake.com and rksampson.com are now better suited to help me succeed. They cost more monthly, but will serve my goals.

  
  

Highlights of the Year

• I was featured in the Just One More Chapter book club in Central Texas with Saved By My Alien Husband. I’m so grateful to @nottybookreview for believing in my books and recommending it to the club. Thanks to the admins and leaders for approving it. Shout out to @loisjolinereads, @mama.c.reads, and @bookwraithb for being a big part of that (and for the pictures above!). I’ll never forget it.

• I loved seeing the excitement over the new Lily Hills Creatures series and how people reacted to the character art.

• I had the pleasure of beta reading 17 different books for other authors, helping nurture them toward publication!

  
  

What Am I Going to Do Now?

I enjoy creating these posts because reflecting on the data helps guide my decisions, especially as I plan for the year ahead. I make these posts not just for myself but for those curious about the creative industry. Knowledge is power.

You can't know where you are going until you know where you've been.

My Indie Author Goals for 2026

• Write between 220-260K words in fiction, more than I ever have before, through some habit changes. I want most of this to be in my books, but I’m also tracking blog post words this year.

• Publish the first three books in the revamped Lily Hills Creatures series. Join the waitlist to find out more as publication comes together.

• Create Foreshadow Special Editions for every book published, and backtrack to previous releases (one for SBMAH, one for TFTS as a redo of Fate's Daughter).

• Increase the frequency and effectiveness of my organic marketing strategies, like my blogs, newsletters, and social media postings. I want to create content that can increase my book's organic discoverability.

• Foster habits that support the identities I want to embody as a family and an author.

  
  

That’s it! It’s a lot and a little. Most of my goals this year are habit-focused to build up to those results. Do you want more posts from me on how I’m building habits? I can’t share all of them for privacy reasons, but I can share the fiction-related habits.

Bonus Goals

• Should I release new covers for the Fated Tales series and The Courting of Kingdoms, as additional character art covers? (Not to replace current covers.) I already have art commissioned, so the only cost would be the time needed for me to create and test copies. I plan to create all the Foreshadow Special Editions for the Lily Hills Creatures series myself, so this can be more practice. Fun, but not required.

• Add my audiobooks to YouTube, aiming to earn YouTube ad revenue while showcasing the physical books on that channel as well. I’m curious if audio can be a loss leader for physical books.

  
  

If I don’t reach these goals, that’s okay. I want to hit them, of course, but I believe in the slow-building strategies I’m working toward. I think I’ve set myself up better for success than ever before. I can’t wait to see how I feel in my 2026 write-up.

How did 2025 feel for you? What are your plans for the year?

I hope you enjoyed this post and all the detail involved. I’ll admit, it took me one business day to complete (across three days total), but if it’s helpful to you and me, it’s worth the time.

Happy new year.

Rebecca