Introducing Finish What Matters (Preview Edition)
Today, I’m making available for the first time the Preview Edition of my upcoming book, Finish What Matters. (You can start reading today.)Do you find that the more meaningful the project, the harder it is to follow through?If you start project after project, and never finish, it may not be a personality flaw or lack of discipline.
Today, I’m making available for the first time the Preview Edition of my upcoming book, Finish What Matters. (You can start reading today.) Do you find that the more meaningful the project, the harder it is to follow through? If you start project after project, and never finish, it may not be a personality flaw or lack of discipline. There are good reasons we don’t finish novels, abandon apps before shipping an alpha, or keep collecting gear without shooting a video. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10973" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup-350x263.jpg" alt="finish what matters preview mockup" width="350" height="263" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup-350x263.jpg 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup-750x563.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup-768x577.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup-1536x1154.jpg 1536w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FWM-ebook-shopify-store-mockup.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> The nature of creative work and our willingness to take risks combine with the challenges of self-motivation to make following through on our biggest dreams much harder than it needs to be. Meanwhile, the world is set up to motivate us with clear rewards for completing clear tasks – yet our creative projects don’t work that way. Having myself completed several books and shipped hundreds of podcast episodes and newsletters, I thought going into this book that I already had the answers. But this has been my own biggest learning experience yet. It has forever changed the way I approach ideas, brace for criticism, and decide which projects are worth taking on. The special Preview Edition is your chance to be one of the first to read the book, as I myself finish it in coming months, while shaping its final form as you get personalized advice, many months before the book hits shelves. Learn more and join the Preview Edition here » Here’s to finishing in 2026.
Free 100 WORDS Wristband When You Buy 100 Word Writing Habit
If you’d like to give your writing New Year’s resolution a boost, I’m offering the 100 WORDS wristband free with any order of the 100 Word Writing Habit paperback on my store. I personally wear the 100 WORDS wristband daily, and turn it right-side out once my writing is done. Oftentimes, I’ll see it still says
If you’d like to give your writing New Year’s resolution a boost, I’m offering the 100 WORDS wristband free with any order of the 100 Word Writing Habit paperback on my store. I personally wear the 100 WORDS wristband daily, and turn it right-side out once my writing is done. Oftentimes, I’ll see it still says 0 WORDS, and that reminds me to at least pick up a journal and write something. Grab the paperback and wristband in this special deal, until 2026. <img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10195" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-350x263.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="263" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-350x263.jpg 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-750x564.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-768x577.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-1536x1155.jpg 1536w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hwh-plus-wristband-2048x1540.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> Happy New Year!
In a recent Love Mondays newsletter, I wrote about the humanities as the science of being human. One reader in particular pointed out this passage: what is a life well-lived, what trade-offs should a society make, and how do you navigate consciousness and this existence of fortune, desire, suffering, and elation? And asked if I had book
In a recent Love Mondays newsletter, I wrote about the humanities as the science of being human. One reader in particular pointed out this passage: what is a life well-lived, what trade-offs should a society make, and how do you navigate consciousness and this existence of fortune, desire, suffering, and elation? And asked if I had book recommendations. I figured I might share them for all. I’ll start off by saying I could explore these questions more deeply and intentionally than I have, which was part of the motivation for writing that newsletter – perhaps to inspire myself to dig deeper. But, these are the books that have been most impactful at teaching me how to be human (along with their Amazon affiliate links), along with my imperfect off-the-cuff recollections. A tour of it all A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell is an outstanding tour of, well Western philosophers – the people who have thought hard about these questions. It’s also the best “read heavy” book. Slowly reading and understanding this added more rigor to my thinking than any book I’ve ever read. Reading a book is trying on someone’s brain and nobody is a more comfortable, yet challenging, fit than Bertrand Russell. “Navigating consciousness” Buddhism, Plain and Simple: It’s been like twenty years so I remember very little. But this highlighted how attachment is a source of suffering, and first introduced me to meditation, which I credit for curing me of what I hadn’t realized was probably clinical anxiety. How to See Yourself As You Really Are, The Dalai Lama: Again, it’s been a long time. I remember it first presenting me with the idea that there is no self. Waking Up, Sam Harris: Again, a long time. The idea I most remember is that of Dzogchen meditation, specifically how trippy it is to try to “look at yourself” with your eyes closed. “What trade-offs should a society make?” The Prince, Machiavelli: Probably a surprising pick. I really appreciate Machiavelli’s ability to tell the truth about filling a certain role at a certain time, which brings up questions about just how much violence is necessary to have peace? – his desperation and ostracization in the moment he wrote this seem to have motivated him to say what nobody else would say. I have written a summary of The Prince. Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert: An allegory about the conflict between rationality and humanity, and so well-written. The whole thing around Hippolyte’s leg and the doctor who screws it up motivated by his own career aspirations is like such an under-appreciated analogy to modern rationality. Dialogues of Plato and The Open Society and Its Enemies: Listing these together because Karl Popper’s work is so critical of Plato, who presents a pretty totalitarian view of what a society should look like (I remember very little of Plato, and assume his Republic goes into that in more depth). How much structure should be ascribed to a society, and two what extent should new ideas be allowed to freely restructure society? Sex at Dawn and Sex at Dusk: Listing these together because, hey, this is all about trade-offs. Dusk absolutely dismantles Dawn, to the point I was surprised it wasn’t a bigger deal – I came away thinking Dawn was deliberately misleading – albeit a far more-entertaining read. Dusk especially had some interesting principles about the biology behind mating behavior. Pretty obvious monogamy isn’t the natural state of things, but does that make it a bad idea? Industrial Society and Its Future (The Unabomber Manifesto): By now hopefully everyone knows Ted Kaczynski wasn’t just a lunatic. He actually had some coherent and compelling ideas about happiness and the faustian bargains we make when we adopt new technologies. I have written a summary of the Unabomber Manifesto. Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill: So long since I read this one, and I sense that through age I would scoff at its idealism at some point. But twenty years ago it seemed like a foolproof way to decide what’s good or bad. “this existence of fortune, desire, suffering, and elation” Hamlet: This is just so fucking good on so many levels and I don’t know how everyone isn’t talking about Hamlet all day, every day. It gets so deep into questions about sorrow, grief and, well, to be, or not to be and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I also swear reading it will make you a better writer. Fun to see if you can pick out words and phrases that originated in this masterpiece. I fantasize about leading a challenge of reading Hamlet over and over again for a year, with visiting lecturers. I have it on repeat, and if I wake up in the middle of the night, this is what I read to get back to sleep – in a good way. If you have trouble understanding it (which is part of the fun – READ HEAVY!), read the Wikipedia page, and watch a movie first. It’s Okay That You’re Not Okay: Everyone will experience grief at some point, and this book helped me when an abnormal blood vessel exploded in my mom’s brain and killed her. Grief does not come in “stages,” it’s an integration of a new reality. I interviewed the author, Megan Devine. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, Eugene Sledge: I put this in the “suffer porn” category. If you weirdly enjoy reading detailed accounts of just how miserable any type of experience such as war can be, this is for you. It will make you grateful for your own life. Body Keeps the Score: This is part suffer porn and part useful self help. People have their criticisms, and I don’t know what they are or care. I’ve read this twice and have found it oddly calming. Loneliness: This is from 2008, so well before loneliness became the hot topic it is today. It’s by a pioneering researcher in the field, John Cacioppo, who sadly passed away too young. Breaks down how loneliness leads to ill health and early death (irony?), and how it works in a vicious cycle of misinterpreted social cues and maladaptive social signals. One of the most-useful takeaways is that loneliness is not about a quantity of connection but quality. I spend more time alone than I have probably in my whole life, in a cabin in the mountains of a foreign land, and feel far less lonely than when I have lived in some of the biggest cities. Thinking In Bets: Surprising myself here but I have to put some kind of book about “fortune” on the list. It’s a toss-up between this and Nassim Taleb’s Incerto series, but this is a much lighter and still useful introduction to thinking and living in a world that is inherently uncertain. Also, I interviewed author Annie Duke. The Hacking of the American Mind: Gosh, I have a weird amount of science in my list about the science of being human. This is about how dopamine, which we associate with “happiness,” better described as elation is not a neurotransmitter you can keep steadily pumping through your brain at a high volume, and that serotonin, which brings contentment – a better description of true happiness – is far more sustainable. I interviewed the author, Dr. Robert Lustig. There are of course far more great books for learning how to be human, and I especially want to read more of the ancients. The Iliad and any ancient text of any religion can be enjoyable. You might be wondering, Where are all the books on Stoicism? Surely these days nobody can talk about the humanities without talking about the Stoics. Indeed, I generally agree with what I read from the Stoics, but I can’t recall ever feeling impacted by them – perhaps a matter of timing. What books have taught you to be human?
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » October’s revenue was $5,370, down from September’s $5,649. Profits were $3,595, down from September’s $4,106. Record-low income and profit Twelve-month income was a record low again this month. My income has been $58,524 over the past year. The previous low was last
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » October’s revenue was $5,370, down from September’s $5,649. Profits were $3,595, down from September’s $4,106. Record-low income and profit Twelve-month income was a record low again this month. My income has been $58,524 over the past year. The previous low was last month’s $61,970. Profit was an all-time low as well, at $27,020. The previous low was last month’s $28,278. This has been a pattern, so I won’t go too deep into it this time. Book profits low My profit on books was only $250, which isn’t a record low, but is definitely low. Five of ten months this year have been under $1,000 for book profits. I have to go back to 2020 to consistently see months under $1,000. Other than that, there has only been one month under that mark, May 2023. Of course, it’s been since 2020 since I released a major book, and I’m hoping to fix that soon. Mind Management record-low revenu Mind Management had the lowest-revenue month ever, with only $603. The other two lowest months were $709 in May and $767 in August. It did not pull the lowest profit, however. The $520 it profited after ads was about the middle of the pack for this year. It’s looking like my 80% confidence forecast that MMT’s KU term would bring in more revenue than the previous 90 days will very likely be in the incorrect direction. I ran my pricing promotion during Black Friday and didn’t really see a bump. Turn off ads (almost) After digging deep into Amazon Ads, finding ways the default settings were draining my pockets, and experimenting with vibe-coding some scripts to automate ad-management tasks, I’ve concluded Amazon Ads are just not working for me like they used to. I’ve shut off almost all of them, which won’t be reflected in my expenses until December’s report. Ad prices get crazy during the holidays anyway. So, my ads profit margin will probably be increasing. My ROI was 18% in October. Prices going up While revenue decreases, prices on many things are going up (not all reflected yet in the reports). ActiveCampaign increased their prices on me by 30%, without enough notice to do anything about it. Quickbooks increased their prices. IngramSpark changed their production prices (probably an increase for my books but haven’t checked), and have started taking a cut for wholesale network orders. Libsyn will be increasing their prices for hosting the Love Your Work archive. The only vendor who has given me a choice in the matter has been Todoist, who has basically added a pricing tier, for users who want to use their new features. Future of email and other direct marketing This month’s revenue is helped along by $3,212 in revenue from ActiveCampaign referrals. They’ve been a great partner over the years, but this revenue stream will be going away soon, too. When I referred accounts to them, it was under terms that I would receive a referral fee for the “lifetime” of said customer. But they have rescinded their end of that agreement, and will be cutting off those commissions in roughly one year, and any new commissions from my somewhat recent ActiveCampaign review will be limited to 12 months. Accounts I’ve referred to them are currently bringing them $40,000 in revenue. Add to that that they raised prices with poor communication, and I feel it’s time to move on from AC. However, I have about a year to figure out where, exactly. Probably some of my email marketing will take place on Kit, so I can take advantage of the growth network (while being careful to warm-up and quarantine these lower-quality leads). But I’m lightly exploring other options. The cost of email marketing platforms is getting out of control, especially for someone like myself who is primarily trying to keep in touch with his readers, instead of trying to maximize revenue from each contact. When you consider the availability of vibe-coding, it seems only natural that the somewhat-tech-savvy like myself might roll our own email marketing infrastructure with much cheaper tools such as Amazon SES (low per-email fee) and Sendy (one-time fee). So it may be that at the least the RSS emails that come from my blog will go through something like that. Or, the majority of my email marketing will, and tools such as Kit will be used only for the more sophisticated elements. I’m sure there are lots of things I’m not considering about how complicated this would be and what features I would miss. I hope to steadily look into what to do over the next year. As my Instagram following is growing, I’m also considering how I might keep in touch with readers through that channel and other direct ones, such as WhatsApp. I have created an Instagram Broadcast Channel, but my followers were not notified, so there aren’t many on there yet. Join here, and you’ll get a free copy of How to Write a Book. Finish What Matters alpha (Preview Edition?) I’ve found a few engaged alpha readers for my chapters of Finish What Matters (if you’d like to help, apply here). So far, the feedback is reassuring me that I am indeed writing a book. That’s helping me through my current sort of “coming up for air” period, where my forward writing progress is a bit slower, but I’m getting acquainted with what I’ve got and correcting course. I’m also making plans for a Preview Edition, which would give people early access, probably a short-term community to discuss the contents of the book, and maybe offer higher tiers with higher-touch components, such as coaching or group calls. I’m exploring on Shopify if there are any Kickstarter-like plugins that could make the sales period a bit more exciting. I’ve run some projections and it looks like I could get a nice several-thousand-dollar injection of cash that would serve as motivation to make the final push. I made about $4,200 on the Preview Edition for MMT, and that was with just one $20 tier. More reels success I continue to publish reels that are pretty successful. The latest hit is a re-publish of a YouTube video I published in 2009, on how to tie a winter scarf. The Instagram Reel has well over 8 million views. I’m still experimenting with how to turn this attention into anything useful. Time management changes To prevent myself from getting too sucked into reels and as part of an end-of-year mental house-cleaning, I’m making some changes to how I manage my time. One of my more popular reels about how the birthday paradox illustrates why there’s too much to do is helping me think about this. There have been so many little demands for my time that I’ve been piling on over the years, and each new thing is not just one more thing, but a new connection between that and every already-existing thing. This year I’ve added an hour a day of meditation. I grew a bigger beard and mustache that takes up some extra time. I’ve been growing vegetables in the garden. In my business, I’m taking on reels. Don’t forget in 2021, I also started a writing project aimed at writing a book about golf – I’ve been playing and practicing golf something like ten hours a week for four years now! Those mostly sound like nice relaxing things, but they of course interact with the less-fun stuff like continuing to deal with my chronic health issues and the extra organization and preparation it adds to anything I do. There’s also the issue that when I started writing, I didn’t have a bunch of books to try to sell and to collect sales data on. My time and attention are victims of my own mild success. Nothing has been decided fully yet, but I’m experimenting with some new creative systems, developing sloppy operating procedures to try to streamline things. I keep reconsidering these income reports, but have a hard time talking myself out of that they’re useful to create. I’m at least trying to keep them as useful as possible for myself. I have an excellent system for developing my newsletter, so I’m trying to apply the same principles to developing reels. It amounts to publishing only one reel per week, but that at least gives me a restriction, instead of feeling like I should make a reel each time I have an idea – and having a system will let me do a better job with each reel and better think through how to make making them useful for myself. This includes an Airtable with vibe-coded idea-capture shortcut on my phone. Thank you for sharing my work! Thank you to Sagar Soni for having me on the Beyond the Speech podcast. Thank you also to JJ Thelen for having me on The JJ Thelen Show podcast. Income Book Sales Mind Management, Not Time Management $603 100-Word Writing Habit $295 100 Journal Prompts Workbook $39 How to Sell a Book $77 Digital Zettelkasten $492 The Heart to Start $91 How to Write a Book $39 Total Book Sales $1,636 Misc. Products 100-Word Habit Wristband $22 Total Misc. Products $22 Affiliates / Advertising Active Campaign $3,212 Alliance of Independent Authors $206 Amazon $36 Google AdSense $121 Total Affiliates $3,575 Reader Support Patreon $137 Total Reader Support $137 Services Clarity $0 Total Services $0 GROSS INCOME $5,370 Expenses General Accounting $0 Book Printing $0 Outside Contractors $0 Quickbooks $32 Shipping and Handling $27 Total General $58 Advertising Amazon $1,132 BookBub $0 Meta $209 Google $22 Influencer Marketing $0 Product Samples $23 Total Advertising $1,386 Hosting ActiveCampaign $112 Bookfunnel $30 Drafts $2 Dropbox $10 Fathom Analtyics $15 Libsyn $5 Namecheap $0 Shopify $39 Ulysses $3 WP Engine $96 X $5 Zapier $14 Total Hosting $331 TOTAL EXPENSES $1,775 NET PROFIT $3,595
The time has come for me to move on from my email marketing platform, ActiveCampaign (after 10 years!), and the timing is good with Kit’s Black Friday deal. They’re offering 60% off for 3 months of their Creator Monthly Plan, so for up to 1,000 subscribers, you can get started for just $15.60 per month.
The time has come for me to move on from my email marketing platform, ActiveCampaign (after 10 years!), and the timing is good with Kit’s Black Friday deal. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10899" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-350x184.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="184" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-350x184.jpg 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-750x394.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-768x403.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-1536x806.jpg 1536w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/kit-logo-soft-black-on-blue-2048x1075.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> They’re offering 60% off for 3 months of their Creator Monthly Plan, so for up to 1,000 subscribers, you can get started for just $15.60 per month. All my lists together are currently above the limit for which this promotion applies, but since I’ll be slowly migrating over the next year, it works out for me – I hope it works out for you! I’ll share more details about why I’m making this switch when it’s further underway, but here are some things I really like about Kit: Robust automations Creator-focused (Founded by Nathan Barry, a pioneer in the creator space.) Bootstrap-funded (AC’s VC-funding has I think led to some issues for me) Growth/recommendation network (but monitor and warm-up those contacts!) Solid deliverability (at least as good, maybe better than AC – I’ve verified this with an independent test) Comparable affiliate program to AC’s (sign up with my link and you support my work, at no extra cost) I’ve long admired the features on Kit (formerly ConvertKit), so I’m excited to take advantage of this promotion and hope you are, too.
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » September’s revenue was $5,649, up from August’s $3,493. Profits were $4,106, up from August’s $942. A rebound…for now (but record low income and profits) A nice rebound in revenue, as I got an injection of cash for Chinese rights to Mind Management.
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » September’s revenue was $5,649, up from August’s $3,493. Profits were $4,106, up from August’s $942. A rebound…for now (but record low income and profits) A nice rebound in revenue, as I got an injection of cash for Chinese rights to Mind Management. Unfortunately, this is an anomaly and doesn’t mean revenue has rebounded sustainably. 12-month income was at a new record-low again this month. I broke a nearly seven-year-old record last month at $64,925, and this month broke it again with $61,968. 12-month profits are also at an all-time low. Last month I also broke a six-year-old record low with $29,916 profits. This month I broke it again, with $28,274. Low book income and profits My income from book sales were low, but the records broken are not as old. My 12-month revenue from books was $43,582. Last time it was that low was July of 2021, when I had made $43,066. 12-month profits from books were $21,479. Last time they were that low was also July 2021, when they were $20,383. Mind Management Simplified Chinese rights The highlight of the month was a Simplified Chinese translation deal for Mind Management. Simplified Chinese rights tend to go for quite a bit. This deal was “only” $3,000 – I could imagine having done better. Around $500 of that was taken out for tax withholding and agent fees, but I still just count the top-line revenue in these reports. Recently signed another smaller deal, and awaiting payment. Mind Management in Kindle Unlimited I started Mind Management’s first-ever Kindle Unlimited term on October 9th. So far, the results have been underwhelming. If you squint, maybe sales rank has increased since then. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10868 size-large" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-750x466.png" alt="" width="750" height="466" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-750x466.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-350x217.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-768x477.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-1536x954.png 1536w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-sales-rank-2025-09-2048x1272.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /> Page reads have begun to trickle in. The nearly 2,000 page reads (my whole book about eight times) amounts to less than $8 in royalties. I did increase the price to $9.99 for the beginning of the term, to try to increase borrows, and haven’t yet run a Kindle Countdown Deal, which I plan to do over Black Friday – maybe another right after Christmas. I was 80% sure I’d make more during the KU term than the previous 90 days, and it is looking like I’ll be 80% wrong about that! But there is time for page-reads to compound – I also didn’t consider that many will probably come in after the term ends. Design for Hackers payment! Another slight anomaly in this month’s report is the payment I received for Design for Hackers. I get a payment every six months, and this time it was $342. My previous payments have been $411 and $426. Still really cool to keep getting paid for this “technology” book (short life), I was writing exactly fifteen years ago! Finish What Matters progress I’ve now brought my fifth chapter of FWM to satisfaction. I also have an Introduction and there are four more chapters planned. Damn, writing this has been so hard, but I’ve learned so much. Sometimes I think it’s really beautiful and other times I feel like Jackson Pollock, asking, Is this a book? This week I’ve been coming up for air a bit. I printed out the intro and first four chapters and read it through a couple times. I’m about ready to start getting reactions, so if you’re interested in alpha (maybe beta) reading, fill this out. I am so good at reels I’ve been publishing on Instagram the TikTok reels I made two years ago, and have even found the time and motivation to make several new ones, and they have been kicking ass! I only wish it did anything for my business! In the past 90 days, I’ve generated nearly 4 million views. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10869 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09-162x350.jpg" alt="" width="162" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09-162x350.jpg 162w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09-750x1623.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09-768x1662.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09-710x1536.jpg 710w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/instagram-reach-2025-09.jpg 828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 162px) 100vw, 162px" /> I’m giving away WAB in my bio, and have tried attracting email sign-ups through pinned comments on viral reels, but I’m seeing almost no discernible bump in email sign-ups. Branded search (searches for my name) have gone down during that period. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10871 size-large" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09-750x362.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="362" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09-750x362.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09-350x169.jpg 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09-768x371.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09-1536x742.jpg 1536w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/branded-search-google-console-2025-09.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /> The one upside is I’ve gained about 21,000 followers. I sense some of this is fake bot traffic IG is pumping to compete over creators, but I’m definitely getting DMs from friends, acquaintances, and strangers – sometimes people I’ve heard of! My reels haven’t been directly about my books, and rarely touching on adjacent subjects. Integrating anything promotional into them is a difficult tightrope walk I definitely have not mastered. I actually suspect that they sniff out promotion of any kind and suppress it, to encourage ad purchase. It really is exciting to have people responding to my reels. It feels validating, because my lack of engagement on X and Substack both make me feel like I can’t write for shit. But, it does feel draining to work hard on reels and either have them flop, or have them do really great and do nothing for my business. Well, I have at least earned like $70 on TikTok, which I will hopefully one day receive. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10872 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-earnings-2025-09-255x350.jpeg" alt="" width="255" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-earnings-2025-09-255x350.jpeg 255w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-earnings-2025-09-750x1029.jpeg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-earnings-2025-09-768x1054.jpeg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-earnings-2025-09.jpeg 828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px" /> I’d love to drop everything and go all-in on reels, but I need to Finish What Matters, so I’m doing my best to see if I can use reels to test out ideas I’m working on for the book. While there’s no clear tangible benefit, this is the first big growth channel I’ve shown any talent in since Hacker News, circa 2010 or Medium, 2016. Seems it would be unwise to pass up the opportunity. It’s also getting me thinking about ways I can expand into wider-appeal subjects that would reach more people, and in an impactful way. Perhaps some kind of media commentary or wider self-help. Homing in on such a thing would be a bottom-up process, but I’d need to take the time and energy to make more reels to get somewhere. Thank you for having me on your podcasts! Thank you to Sagar Soni at Beyond the Speech. I think this interview turned out really well and is a nice summary of the most powerful ways to improve creative productivity. Income Book Sales Mind Management, Not Time Management $3,718 100-Word Writing Habit $344 100 Journal Prompts Workbook $12 How to Sell a Book $0 Digital Zettelkasten $516 The Heart to Start $135 How to Write a Book $29 Design for Hackers $342 Total Book Sales $5,097 Misc. Products 100-Word Habit Wristband $0 Total Misc. Products $0 Affiliates / Advertising Active Campaign $420 Alliance of Independent Authors $0 Amazon $0 Google AdSense $0 Total Affiliates $420 Reader Support Patreon $133 Total Reader Support $133 Services Clarity $0 Total Services $0 GROSS INCOME $5,649 Expenses General Accounting $0 Book Printing $0 Outside Contractors $0 Quickbooks $32 Shipping and Handling $48 Total General $79 Advertising Amazon $869 BookBub $24 Meta $217 Influencer Marketing $0 Product Samples $23 Total Advertising $1,133 Hosting ActiveCampaign $112 Bookfunnel $30 Drafts $2 Dropbox $10 Fathom Analtyics $15 Libsyn $5 Namecheap $0 Shopify $39 Ulysses $3 WP Engine $96 X $5 Zapier $14 Total Hosting $331 TOTAL EXPENSES $1,543 NET PROFIT $4,106
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » August’s revenue was $3,493, down from July’s $4,176. Profits were $942, down from July’s $2,405. All-time low yearly profit 12-month profits are at an all-time low in the nearly eight-year history of these reports. I’ve profited $29,917 in the past year. The
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » August’s revenue was $3,493, down from July’s $4,176. Profits were $942, down from July’s $2,405. All-time low yearly profit 12-month profits are at an all-time low in the nearly eight-year history of these reports. I’ve profited $29,917 in the past year. The previous low was in September 2020, of $32,213. That was just a couple months before launching Mind Management, Not Time Management, so it shouldn’t be surprising my profits are low again, as I continue to work on Finish What Matters. This, I tell myself, is life in Extremistan. Sub-$1,000 month This is the third month this year I’ve profited less than $1,000. In February I lost nearly $1,000. Before this year, the last time I profited less than $1,000 in a month was June 2020. My only other sub-$1,000 month, I lost $773 in December 2018. Ad spend not scaling The main culprit dragging down profits was increased ad spend. This was my first month spending more than $2,000 on ads since March this year. I spent only $588 in April, and have been scaling up as I’ve dug into how the Amazon Ads platform has changed, and made targeted changes to improve ROI. Thanks to a slingshot effect, April had a 340% ROI in book sales, May 71%, June 186%, July 107%, and this month I was back down to 8% – a profit of only $157 on books, after spending $2,034 on ads. Even after writing scripts to interface with the Amazon Ads API and streamline some ad-management tasks, the fact remains that most of my books can no longer turn a profit on Amazon Ads. 100-Word Writing Habit is currently easiest to sell through ads, but still it takes more spend than it makes. Mind Management crosses 50,000 sales! Amidst these dismal book-sale numbers, Mind Management, Not Time Management crossed a huge milestone: 50,000 copies sold! And so I updated the wheat-flanked words on the cover. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10830" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath-350x311.png" alt="" width="350" height="311" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath-350x311.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath.png 576w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> This breakthrough came when my India foreign-rights deal reported its sales thus far, of over 1,600 copies. I’ve made other foreign-rights deals, none of which have reported their sales yet, so the actual number is definitely higher. When I set projections in my September 2020 income report, I was 50% confident MMT would sell between 20,000 and 50,000 within the first three years. I nearly split the middle on that prediction, selling just over 36,000. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10831" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--350x213.png" alt="" width="350" height="213" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--350x213.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--750x456.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--768x467.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years-.png 1509w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> But, I didn’t make a projection for five years – that just seemed too far out. 50,000 copies is pretty amazing. If I could guarantee the same performance from Finish What Matters, surrendering any chance to sell more, I think I’d take it. I might predict about a 50% chance I’d sell 50k in five years. Kindle Unlimited term in the works I’m putting wheels in motion to add Mind Management to Kindle Unlimited for a 90-day term, pulling the ebook from other retailers. I’m surprised I’m making this move, given all I’ve sacrificed to be a “wide” author over the years. But, the performance of the book on Amazon suddenly began sucking in late 2024, and I’ve tried many things to revive it, with little success. It will be interesting to see if it leads to a noticeable algorithm boost. This seems like an appropriate time to make a prediction. If all goes well, my KU term will span the holiday season, so that increases the odds I’ll make more in that term than the previous 90 days. However, I’ve also turned off most Amazon Ads for the book, which increases the odds I’ll make less. So, I’m 80% sure MMT will make more Kindle revenue during its KU term than the previous 90 days. Now, what about major impacts? At this moment, MMT has made $669 on Kindle in the previous 90 days. What are the chances the results will be overwhelming, such as a doubling or tripling of revenue (which, in the history of the book, would look kind of normal!) I’m 10% sure MMT will make triple or more Kindle revenue during its KU term than the previous 90 days. If that happened, I’d have to give some serious thought to my status as a “wide” author, and whether or not my other ebooks should be in KU. I’ve written in these reports before about how my decision to be wide came before good direct options. Now that I sell direct, perhaps the variety of “barbell wide” I’d want to try would be ebooks in KU, with hard copies available direct. Reels Last month I wrote about how I was reluctantly re-publishing my TikTok reels from a couple years ago on YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. The YouTube Shorts are performing relatively poorly. The most popular over the past two months has a bit over 6,000 views, and most have under 1,000. The Instagram Reels are a different story. One has over one-million views, another is getting close, and even the poorly-performing ones are getting more than 2,000 views. I also managed to finally get my TikTok account accepted for the Creator Rewards program, and I’m re-posting some of my top-performing reels, and using TT as a testing ground for new reel ideas. I’ve only been in the program a few days and have earned just several dollars, but none of my reels have really taken off in there yet. On Instagram, I’ve gone from having fewer than 5,000 followers, to over 17,000. My account is reaching some interesting people – musician John Mayer, with 5.7M followers – liked one of my reels. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-10842 size-medium aligncenter" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-mayer-instagram-like-350x205.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="205" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-mayer-instagram-like-350x205.jpg 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-mayer-instagram-like-750x438.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-mayer-instagram-like-768x449.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-mayer-instagram-like.jpg 828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> To try to capture some of the attention, I placed a download link for a free copy of How to Write a Book in my IG and TT bio pages. I’ve had about 70 email sign-ups through IG, 1 of which bought a book through Shopify. I’ve had no email sign-ups through TT – with 26 landing-page views, a 0% conversion rate, versus IG’s 38%! All this reach has had no noticeable impact on my book sales, though I did notice that branded search spiked on the day that I published a reel about MMT. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-10843 size-medium aligncenter" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-branded-search-spike-2025-08-350x222.png" alt="" width="350" height="222" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-branded-search-spike-2025-08-350x222.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-branded-search-spike-2025-08-750x477.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-branded-search-spike-2025-08-768x488.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mmt-branded-search-spike-2025-08.png 1256w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> On a day with 48 impressions, I made 2 sales. Better than nothing? and maybe some of those folks are reading the sample. I’m also seeing improved ROAS on my evergreen Facebook Ads, which may be related. As I say, I’m taking on reels reluctantly because I’m skeptical of the quality of attention I receive through them, and I’m wary of being distracted from writing the book. However, it’s the highest-ceiling/lowest-barrier growth channel out there, I am apparently okay at it, and it does give me a chance to atomize some of the concepts I’m writing about and see how they resonate with people. A major and lamentable mindset shift that has enabled me to post reels this time has been in how I view commenters. I try my best to not pay attention to comments at all, and have grown callous over what anyone has to say about one of my reels. I just focus on the views generated and engagement metrics. I will sometimes look at a reel’s comments if I’m curious how the idea lands, or if it’s one designed for comment interaction, but I mostly ignore the incoming notifications. This was a hard shift to make, because I came up in Silicon Valley in the Web 2.0 era of the mid-aughts, when these technologies were all about connecting with like-minded people. But now I just have to view it as a media channel – I’m only interested in the overall vibe. Like I say, it’s a lamentable mindset shift, but it’s a huge improvement in how publishing reels affects my mental health. My top reels have hundreds of comments and it’s not even worth looking. Sure, the social media gurus would tell me responding to my comments would boost my reels in the algorithm, but I know I can use that same energy to instead make better reels, which is far more important and relevant to my core skills as a writer. New on Clarity: Reels coaching <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10844 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-reels-2025-08-265x350.jpg" alt="" width="265" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-reels-2025-08-265x350.jpg 265w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-reels-2025-08-750x990.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-reels-2025-08-768x1014.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tiktok-reels-2025-08.jpg 828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" /> I’ve added to my Clarity profile expertise in Reels. I can’t guarantee virality, but I do consistently produce reels in the tens-of-thousands on up to the millions of views. You don’t need a big budget or slick production, but even if you have something interesting to say, there are subtle psychological factors that make a big difference in reels engagement, and I consistently see reels producers missing these. If you’re interested in how to improve your reels, book a call on Clarity (or, for a video call, directly on my shop) Income Book Sales Mind Management, Not Time Management $767 100-Word Writing Habit $409 100 Journal Prompts Workbook $18 How to Sell a Book $88 Digital Zettelkasten $603 The Heart to Start $215 How to Write a Book $92 Total Book Sales $2,191 Misc. Products 100-Word Habit Wristband $6 Total Misc. Products $6 Affiliates / Advertising Active Campaign $902 Alliance of Independent Authors $164 Amazon $97 Google AdSense $0 Total Affiliates $1,163 Reader Support Patreon $133 Total Reader Support $133 Services Clarity $0 Total Services $0 GROSS INCOME $3,493 Expenses General Accounting $70 Book Printing $0 Outside Contractors $0 Quickbooks $32 Shipping and Handling $41 Total General $142 Advertising Amazon $1,805 BookBub $0 Meta $230 Influencer Marketing $0 Product Samples $0 Total Advertising $2,034 Hosting ActiveCampaign $112 Bookfunnel $30 Drafts $2 Dropbox $10 Fathom Analtyics $15 Libsyn $5 Namecheap $34 Obsidian Publish $10 Shopify $39 Ulysses $3 WP Engine $96 X $5 Zapier $14 Total Hosting $375 TOTAL EXPENSES $2,551 NET PROFIT $942
Happy Tuesday! As I write this, Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity is only $2.99 on Kindle. I haven’t read this one yet, but I’ve picked it up and am looking forward to checking it out. This part of the description has a nice punch, some of which will surely appeal to Mind Management fans: From the aggressive
Happy Tuesday! As I write this, Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity is only $2.99 on Kindle. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10835" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slow-productivity-225x350.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slow-productivity-225x350.jpg 225w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slow-productivity-750x1166.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slow-productivity-768x1194.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slow-productivity.jpg 965w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /> I haven’t read this one yet, but I’ve picked it up and am looking forward to checking it out. This part of the description has a nice punch, some of which will surely appeal to Mind Management fans: From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. I have no control over the price of this book, and it may not even be discounted anymore by the time you get this. But if it is, move fast! When my readers buy books like these, it helps signal to Amazon that readers of those books will also like my books, especially if you buy them along with mine. Pick up Slow Productivity for $2.99. While you’re at it, to celebrate 50,000 copies, Mind Management is $5.00.
I’ve once again updated the wheat-flanked words on Mind Management, Not Time Management, this time with a majorly-significant milestone: It’s now sold 50,000 copies (at least). To celebrate, I’ve temporarily marked the Kindle version down to $5.00, which is probably the weirdest price-point on the entire Kindle store right now. Sales broke through the 50k mark
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-10830 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath-350x311.png" alt="" width="350" height="311" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath-350x311.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mind-management-50k-laurel-wreath.png 576w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> I’ve once again updated the wheat-flanked words on Mind Management, Not Time Management, this time with a majorly-significant milestone: It’s now sold 50,000 copies (at least). To celebrate, I’ve temporarily marked the Kindle version down to $5.00, which is probably the weirdest price-point on the entire Kindle store right now. Sales broke through the 50k mark after I got a report from one of my foreign rights deals. I’ve made several foreign rights deals for MMT, and this is the first sales report I’ve received, so the book has no doubt sold even more copies I don’t know about. How surprising is it to sell 50,000 copies? I know almost exactly. In my September 2020 income report, I said I was 50% sure I’d sell between 20,000–50,000 within the first three years. I pretty much split the middle on that prediction. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10831" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--350x213.png" alt="" width="350" height="213" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--350x213.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--750x456.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years--768x467.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mmt-3-years-.png 1509w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> But, I didn’t make a prediction for 5 years. That just seemed crazy. Anyway, it was about a coin-toss, which in retrospect feels luckier than 50/50 to win. Who can guarantee 50k sales? No one. If you haven’t picked up Mind Management on Kindle, please grab it for 50,000-one-hundredths of a penny.
New YouTube Video: 12 Life-Changing Books You Haven’t Read
I’ve been dabbling in some YouTube lately, and my latest addition is 12 life-changing books you haven’t read. I’ve seen quite a few “life-changing” book recommendation videos on YouTube from other authors, and quite frankly I find them disappointing. Some of the books they recommend are good, but I overall get the sense they’re just
I’ve been dabbling in some YouTube lately, and my latest addition is 12 life-changing books you haven’t read. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10826" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/12-life-changing-books-you-havent-read.png" alt="" width="546" height="436" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/12-life-changing-books-you-havent-read.png 546w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/12-life-changing-books-you-havent-read-350x279.png 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px" /> I’ve seen quite a few “life-changing” book recommendation videos on YouTube from other authors, and quite frankly I find them disappointing. Some of the books they recommend are good, but I overall get the sense they’re just recommending books from their genre that are published within their cabals of publishers and/or agents, doing favors for friends, or they’re doing some clever Amazon algorithm training. Against this wiser business strategy, I tried to really think of books that have actually changed my life, and that I don’t see frequently recommended. Interestingly, I didn’t come up with very self-help-y self-help books, and some aren’t even self-help books. Nothing against self-help-y books, honestly, that’s just how it turned out. Subscribe to my YouTube Please do subscribe to my YouTube channel, as if I eventually get some momentum going over there, I probably won’t habitually notify of new videos through my blog. I could use some help training the algo because I’ve somehow amassed over 5k subscribers over the past couple decades, from creating video on a wide variety of topics. Many of those subscribers are probably disappointed each time I publish a new video and it’s not about, say, how to wash laundry in your sink. Enjoy the video.