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 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="(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 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="(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.
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » July’s revenue was $4,176, up from June’s $3,504. Profits were $2,405, up from June’s $1,759. Record lows continue Revenues and profits continue to be low, historically speaking. Income over the past twelve months has been $70,457, which is the lowest since $70,177
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » July’s revenue was $4,176, up from June’s $3,504. Profits were $2,405, up from June’s $1,759. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10798" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/income-report-2025-07.png" alt="" width="638" height="371" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/income-report-2025-07.png 638w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/income-report-2025-07-350x204.png 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /> Record lows continue Revenues and profits continue to be low, historically speaking. Income over the past twelve months has been $70,457, which is the lowest since $70,177 June of 2024. That doesn’t sound so bad, but profits are lower than they’ve been for a much longer time, at $34,003, the lowest since $32,213, in September 2020. The average monthly profit of $2,834 is very close to the record low of $2,684, which was also in September 2020. Book revenues over the past twelve months are $50,931, which is the lowest since August 2021, when they were $48,095. The peak was $89,630, in January 2023. Book profits over the past twelve months are $28,046, which is the lowest since November 2021, when they were $27,914. The peak was $56,519, also in January 2023. Some perspective Looking back at my old income reports provides some perspective on these low numbers. The low point of profits in September 2020 was right before I launched Mind Management. I called it “an average-ish month, historically speaking.” Here’s what my graph looked like back then. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7122" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/september-2020-income.png" alt="September 2020 Income" width="638" height="371" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/september-2020-income.png 638w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/september-2020-income-350x204.png 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /> It’s easy to forget that I then wanted what I’ve had for the past several years, and that I’m preparing a wicked brew of a book that I’m getting increasingly excited to unleash. Will the new book bring years of record income and profits as did the previous? The way things have been going in the books business this year, I fear it won’t. But it very well might. Finish What Matters progress I’m still working hard every day on Finish What Matters. The strange thing about this book is I feel as if I validated much of its contents years ago with the essays I was publishing on the podcast. Yet each time I embark upon a new chapter, I end up immersed in a weeks’ long deep-dive into a specific realm of finishing. I have nine chapters planned and am mostly satisfied with my drafts of the first three chapters. I have about 20%-depth barf drafts of the rest of the chapters, and have spent the past weeks immersed in “Hills to Die On,” a chapter all about seeking, implementing, and ignoring or vehemently resisting feedback. I chose to take on this chapter because it was the topic I felt I had explored the least in my previous writing. There really have been moments when I wasn’t sure I could pull through on this one, but I have learned a lot and I think grown a lot as a creative by exploring this topic. The main question is, Sometimes negative feedback means you should listen, other times it means you should lean in – how do you know the difference? On Fatebook at the beginning of the year, I said I was 70% sure I would finish the manuscript by the end of 2025. Fatebook doesn’t have a confidence-update feature, but I currently feel less confident about that. There are about four months left in the year. I started getting serious about writing the book about the beginning of March. So that’s seven months in, and I have three, almost four chapters. Granted, some of that early work was a matter of finding my footing in the book and sort of self-hypnotizing back into book-writing mode. And I spent maybe a month writing the 20% barf drafts of all the chapters, which will hopefully make those go more smoothly. So it seems unlikely I’ll finish five chapters, the one I’m working on, and the introduction within the next four months. Especially because I have a couple trips planned after five months firmly at home. More likely it will be about March 2026 before I have a finished manuscript. But, I would not be surprised if I’ve released a Preview Edition by the end of the year. That would hopefully provide a nice injection of cash and confidence. Re-publishing reels With all the time and energy I’ve been putting into writing, I haven’t had much left over to remain active publishing content on social media. So, I’ve been digging into the archive of video reels that I created back when I experimented with TikTok for a couple months in 2023. I had almost forgotten how much content I had created! I have at least 60 reels, and some are bangers. At the time, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels had much shorter time limits – they both allow up to three minutes. So, I’ve been scheduling roughly a reel a day on Instagram and YouTube. Actually, I initially decided I would just publish on YouTube, and decided to publish on IG as an afterthought, and good thing I did! The YouTube Shorts are performing underwhelmingly. My best reel, in drastically-edited form, about the Leonardo/Raphael dichotomy got pretty killer engagement with 64 likes from 1,000 views, but about 1,000 views is all its gotten. Meanwhile, on Instagram, that reel is approaching 200,000 views. My reel on pseudo-events has attracted over 750,000 views, on Shorts it has gotten about 400 views. So, my Instagram following has grown rapidly, from about 4,000 a couple weeks ago, to over 13,000 as I write this. Again, I’m finding I have some kind of talent for reels, which I do not have for tweets. Has this resulted in anything? Not much. I haven’t seen a noticeable uptick in book sales. For right now, I’ve put a link to download WAB free and get on the email list. That’s bringing in some new subscribers, but only a modest amount. New YouTube video: 12 Life-Changing Books You Haven’t Read As I consider what creative outlets might expand my reach in an impactful way, I’ve published another YouTube video. I noticed a pattern of authors in my genre sharing video recommendation books. I’ve read a lot of books! So this is a “low lift” way for me to create relevant content. In my video, I’ve tried to share books that genuinely have had an impact on my life, but that aren’t amongst the usual dozen-or-so books that it seems everyone recommends (many of which I haven’t found personally impactful). I’m currently keeping production as simple as possible while still decent quality. I write a script, and try to have something interesting and useful to say, with a natural delivery, and solid lighting, camera, and sound. This time around I stayed away from zooming in and out, using complex motion graphics, or stock or even custom B-roll. The impact of this video so far has been…not great! But, it’s only been out a week, and I have done nothing to promote it, aside from posting. I can cut it up into Shorts, Reels, and TikToks, and send it to my email list. I predicted on Fatebook at the beginning of the year that I was only 60% sure I’d publish at least an hour of public content on YouTube (aside from Shorts). I’m at about half an hour, so it still looks like I won’t publish that much. Amazon Ads still a struggle I’m still struggling to turn much of a profit on Amazon Ads, even after digging deep into some of the new features. My ROI this month on book ad spend was 107%, which is not bad, but not great, considering the work I’ve put in. I have some help from the API scripts I’ve created, which I can run in Postman, to help process ASINs I’m bidding on. But it’s still tough to beat the automatic campaigns. The only titles that currently stand a chance of turning a profit are HWH and ZET, but that has its ups and downs. Amazon algorithm hacking It seems no matter what I do, Amazon sales don’t budge by much. One tactic I’ve been using is watching books in my genre for pricing promotions – there have been a lot lately! If I get a chance, I send out an email alert to my readers, the thinking being that if my readers buy these books, it will signal to Amazon that those books are related. This can affect the algorithm in the more obvious ways, such as by causing my book to show up in those books’ “Customers also bought” section, but there are likely many hidden ways that influences Amazon’s recommendation engine, such as displaying my book on the order confirmation page after purchasing one of these titles, or sending recommendations through email. I can see in my Amazon Affiliates dashboard how many copies I refer for these book. Here are my results so far: The Creative Act: 42 sales generated. HTS from no visibility to page 12/25 “Also Bought” The 4-Hour Work Week: 21 sales generated. No impact. How to Be Everything: 45 sales generated. MMT from no visibility to page 2/13 Tiny Experiments & Clear Thinking: 49 sales generated each. No impact. Deep Work: 26 sales generated. No impact. Ultralearning: 56 sales generated. No impact (only been a few days) So, it seems my books are facing some fierce algorithmic headwinds. This tactic apparently works, as evinced by the impact from The Creative Act and How to Be Everything, but it blows my mind that I could generate 49 sales each of both Tiny Experiments and Clear Thinking and see no visible impact on my book’s ranking. But as I said this probably has an influence on the recommendation engine in invisible ways. For example, I have no other explanation for this spike in sales other than that it came immediately after generating those sales for Tiny Experiments and Clear Thinking. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-10792 size-medium aligncenter" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tiny-experiments-clear-thinking-350x285.png" alt="" width="350" height="285" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tiny-experiments-clear-thinking-350x285.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tiny-experiments-clear-thinking-750x611.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tiny-experiments-clear-thinking-768x626.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tiny-experiments-clear-thinking.png 1382w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> This is the only potential visible impact I’ve seen on sales related to this tactic, by the way. If this did impact it, perhaps there’s a lesson in here about generating sales for two books at the same time to which my books are related. Though, if that does work, then it seems like all these recently-generated sales of related books should create a rising algorithmic tide for my own. Well, if you squint, you could conclude it’s done just that. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10793 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdp-sales-2025-07-09-350x255.png" alt="" width="350" height="255" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdp-sales-2025-07-09-350x255.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdp-sales-2025-07-09-750x545.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdp-sales-2025-07-09-768x558.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdp-sales-2025-07-09.png 1510w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> But, you should also consider that my ad spend has fluctuated during that same period. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10795 size-medium" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/amazon-ads-2025-07-09-350x217.png" alt="" width="350" height="217" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/amazon-ads-2025-07-09-350x217.png 350w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/amazon-ads-2025-07-09-750x465.png 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/amazon-ads-2025-07-09-768x476.png 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/amazon-ads-2025-07-09.png 1416w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> Maybe I should pivot to reading tea leaves professionally. Income Book Sales Mind Management, Not Time Management $1,568 100-Word Writing Habit $125 100 Journal Prompts Workbook $47 How to Sell a Book $47 Digital Zettelkasten $785 The Heart to Start $146 How to Write a Book $44 Total Book Sales $2,762 Misc. Products 100-Word Habit Wristband $20 Total Misc. Products $20 Affiliates / Advertising Active Campaign $1,175 Alliance of Independent Authors $0 Amazon $86 Google AdSense $0 Total Affiliates $1,261 Reader Support Patreon $133 Total Reader Support $133 Services Clarity $0 Total Services $0 GROSS INCOME $4,176 Expenses General Accounting $0 Book Printing $0 Outside Contractors $0 Quickbooks $32 Shipping and Handling $49 Total General $81 Advertising Amazon $955 BookBub $0 Meta $377 Influencer Marketing $0 Product Samples $0 Total Advertising $1,332 Hosting ActiveCampaign $112 Bookfunnel $30 Drafts $2 Dropbox $10 Fathom Analtyics $15 Libsyn $5 Namecheap $17 Obsidian Publish $10 Shopify $39 Ulysses $3 WP Engine $96 X $5 Zapier $14 Total Hosting $358 TOTAL EXPENSES $1,771 NET PROFIT $2,405
Good afternoon. As I write this, Scott H. Young’s Ultralearning is only $1.99.In this case, I must disclose that Scott is a friend, and we have long Zoom conversations periodically. We have a lot of overlap in the way we think, though I am much more mystified by how to trick oneself into doing what one
Good afternoon. As I write this, Scott H. Young’s Ultralearning is only $1.99.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10790" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ultralearning-232x350.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ultralearning-232x350.jpg 232w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ultralearning-750x1133.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ultralearning-768x1160.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ultralearning.jpg 993w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />In this case, I must disclose that Scott is a friend, and we have long Zoom conversations periodically. We have a lot of overlap in the way we think, though I am much more mystified by how to trick oneself into doing what one intends, while Scott is far more interested in what is the best and most optimal way to do it. He puts that passion into Ultralearning. I’m always impressed at how thorough Scott is. He uses a lot of scientific research to back up his claims and, unlike some pop-psy trad-pub authors, he is very careful not to assert a claim unless it is robust and replicated. He combines that scientific rigor with real-world experimentation. Scott first built his audience years ago when he learned the 4-year MIT Computer Science curriculum on his own, in 1 year. It’s a fast-moving world, with execution easier than ever, but acquiring knowledge and skill not always so much. So Ultralearning is as relevant as ever. 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.
Happy Sunday! As I write this, Cal Newport’s Deep Work is only $2.99 on Amazon Kindle. This prescient classic came along just as people were starting to get an idea that digital tools and media might be making us more distracted than productive. Now “deep work” is part of the popular lexicon. I built upon Deep Work
Happy Sunday! As I write this, Cal Newport’s Deep Work is only $2.99 on Amazon Kindle. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10782" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-work-232x350.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-work-232x350.jpg 232w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-work-750x1132.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-work-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-work.jpg 994w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" /> This prescient classic came along just as people were starting to get an idea that digital tools and media might be making us more distracted than productive. Now “deep work” is part of the popular lexicon. I built upon Deep Work when developing the system I shared in Mind Management, Not Time Management. In fact, when I interviewed Newport for my podcast, he said: The thing I learned after Deep Work came out – which is not really in the book, but I think is important – is understanding that there are different flavors of deep work. Not just between different professions, but within your particular profession there could be different types of things that are deep. They feel different, and there’s different things to support them. Which directly echoed the “seven mental states” I wrote about in Mind Management. To celebrate this rare discount on Deep Work, I’ve temporarily marked Mind Management $2.99 on Kindle. (I literally just did this so it may be some hours before Amazon changes the price. I didn’t want to wast time announcing the Deep Work discount, because I suspect it won’t last even a day.) 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.
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » June’s revenue was $3,504, down from May’s $3,771. Profits were $1,759, down from May’s $2,173. 12-month profit low My profit over the past twelve months is the lowest it’s been in five years. In November 2020, it was $36,243, and this month
To listen to an audio version of this report, join the Patreon » June’s revenue was $3,504, down from May’s $3,771. Profits were $1,759, down from May’s $2,173. 12-month profit low My profit over the past twelve months is the lowest it’s been in five years. In November 2020, it was $36,243, and this month it’s $37,149. When will the bleeding stop? November 2020 was just after Mind Management, Not Time Management had debuted. That’s a comforting reminder that when I’m getting close to a major book, my revenue may tend to dip. While I’ve released plenty of shorter titles since then, and Digital Zettelkasten was the surprise hit of them all, I’m hoping that releasing my next book will return to livable profits. On one hand, of course it will. A book on finishing has a clear market, what I’ve written so far has a chance to be big, and finishing the Getting Art Done trilogy should have network effects. As I wrote about in How to Sell a Book, that one additional book would triple potential two-book paths within the series from two, to six. On the other hand, I’ll be publishing into a different market than before. Amazon and the self-help genre are getting crowded with AI slop, people are reading even less, the media environment is fragmented, and Amazon Ads are getting more expensive and more complicated. So, as much as I’d like for books like this to be the “secure” side of my barbell, the reality is there are no guarantees. Sometimes I think my business is totally failing. But I remind myself this general roller-coaster trajectory is the nature of this business. When I consider other ways I could make some quick money to keep my bank balance from dwindling, a little calculator in my mind usually goes back to “just finish the book.” The few readers who back me on Patreon help out, but I’m reconsidering that. I’m well aware it’s not a focused offering that maximizes revenue potential, but interest in it is very low – one out of a thousand email subscribers – and what interest there is seems to be more from the charitably-minded than out of interest in the bonuses. This is the crisis quirk that has always bothered me about the model. The few hours a week I spend delivering those bonuses could perhaps be better-spent elsewhere. At some point I will have to “grow up” and commit to the business of selling things, as long and arduous the vast expanses of desert I must cross to create those things. Advertising ROI re-stabilizing Things really got bad with the business at the beginning of the year when advertising ROI suddenly went sideways. That situation is improving. Advertising ROI on books was cruising at a tolerable 100% and 103% in December and January, but then in February dropped to an astounding -5%. Since then, it rebounded from 23% in March, to 340% in April. May it was 71%, and this month it was 186%. The caveat is that at the end of 2024, that ROI generated book profits with a 6-month trailing average of over $3,600. Now my 6-month trailing average is around $1,000. Admittedly that’s dragged down by a negative month in February – this month book profits were about $1,800. The rebound was in large part from drastically cutting advertising spend, but now I’m slowly building it back up. I detailed a couple months ago the many ways I discovered Amazon was sneakily draining authors’ pockets. I cut those features out of my campaigns, started experimenting with other levers I could pull, and returned to maintaining the three-campaign system that has always served me decently. I’m slowly and carefully trying to ramp ad spend back up to see if I can find a new equilibrium of spending and earning. It seems to suddenly be extraordinarily difficult to turn a profit on MMT, but ZET is performing well on relevant keywords/products, HWH ads are suddenly performing well, and HSB is showing some early signs of being able to turn a profit. Coding for the Amazon Ads API Managing my Amazon Ads well is labor-intensive and mind-numbing. I used to use a tool called Prestozon to automate the process for me, but they got purchased by Helium 10, which wrapped it into a suite of products that are probably overkill, and – last time I checked – too expensive. The process I need to follow is pretty simple in practice, so I’m taking advantage of the AI revolution by using ChatGPT to help me write scripts to make my processes go more smoothly. Right now, I’m just running the scripts through Postman. I’ve gotten only basic scripts to work in tests, and have hit a lot of snags. Maybe I can build up to a library of scripts I can manually initiate to perform my tasks. Maybe – and this is a big maybe – I can build a lightweight SaaS tool to help other authors. Thanks for having me on your podcasts Thank you to Atul Raj at The Genius Talks podcast. Income Book Sales Mind Management, Not Time Management $1,485 100-Word Writing Habit $93 100 Journal Prompts Workbook $12 How to Sell a Book $130 Digital Zettelkasten $824 The Heart to Start $182 How to Write a Book $70 Total Book Sales $2,796 Misc. Products 100-Word Habit Wristband $9 Total Misc. Products $9 Affiliates / Advertising Active Campaign $252 Alliance of Independent Authors $119 Amazon $34 Google AdSense $112 SendOwl $32 Total Affiliates $549 Reader Support Patreon $150 Total Reader Support $150 Services Clarity $0 Total Services $0 GROSS INCOME $3,504 Expenses General Accounting $325 Book Printing $0 Outside Contractors $0 Quickbooks $32 Shipping and Handling $74 Total General $431 Advertising Amazon $790 BookBub $0 Meta $189 Influencer Marketing $0 Product Samples $0 Total Advertising $979 Hosting ActiveCampaign $112 Bookfunnel $30 Drafts $2 Dropbox $10 Fathom Analtyics $15 Libsyn $5 Namecheap $0 Obsidian Publish $10 Shopify $39 Ulysses $3 WP Engine $96 Zapier $14 Total Hosting $336 TOTAL EXPENSES $1,745 NET PROFIT $1,759
Alert: Tiny Experiments and Clear Thinking on sale
Good evening! As I write this, there are a couple books my readers are sure to be interested in that are steeply discounted on Kindle. Tiny Experiments is $2.99, and Clear Thinking is $1.99. Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, is my favorite new traditionally-published self-help book in a long time. It highlights, promotes, and
Good evening! As I write this, there are a couple books my readers are sure to be interested in that are steeply discounted on Kindle. Tiny Experiments is $2.99, and Clear Thinking is $1.99. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10757" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tiny-experiments-232x350.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tiny-experiments-232x350.jpg 232w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tiny-experiments-750x1132.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tiny-experiments-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tiny-experiments.jpg 994w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" /> Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, is my favorite new traditionally-published self-help book in a long time. It highlights, promotes, and formalizes ways of thinking that will hopefully be very familiar to my readers: the “linear” world we’ve been brought up in gives us unrealistic expectations about how things are supposed to go. To follow your curiosity, you need to approach everything with an experimental mindset. Instead of planning specific actions to lead to specific outcomes, conduct tiny experiments, where your hypotheses lead to new discoveries. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10758" src="http://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clear-thinking-232x350.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="350" srcset="https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clear-thinking-232x350.jpg 232w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clear-thinking-750x1133.jpg 750w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clear-thinking-768x1160.jpg 768w, https://kadavy.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clear-thinking.jpg 993w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" /> Clear Thinking, by Shane Parrish, I haven’t gotten to check out yet, but I’m excited to grab it at only $1.99. Shane runs a great podcast called The Knowledge Project, and promotes using mental models to approach observations and problem-solving in fresh ways, from multiple angles – to ultimately have a much clearer view of reality. That’s getting more and more valuable in a fast-moving, uncertain world. Love Mondays subscribers may recognize my favorite quote from Shane: “Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide.” I have no control over the prices of these books, and they may not even be discounted anymore by the time you get this. But if they are, 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.