Break-even is the point of balance between making a profit or a loss. It’s the point where you’ve earned enough to pay back your investments and cover your fixed costs, and you’re on the cusp of (hopefully) making an actual profit.

I broke even on Wage Slave Rebellion last month.

I could tell you the exact day, though I’d have to separate out the costs I’ve already paid on Action Politics, which would be a pain. The particulars are, to be honest, not important.

What’s important is that in two months, I earned enough to pay back the editing, illustration, and formatting costs for a full-length novel which I can now—thanks to the power of the internet and the long tail—earn money on forever. With negligible fixed costs and low overhead, 95%+ of what I earn from WSR from now on will go straight into my pocket, to buy sandwiches and keep a roof over my head and let me keep writing. It’s an asset I can earn on for years to come.

I don’t say this to brag. I say it to thank you, and to make a point.

This is why I decided to self-publish. Had I published traditionally, my book would be an asset for someone else to make money on, while they threw me a pittance and told me to get back to work. Instead it’s just me, you, and whatever intermediaries I choose to let in on the process.

The risk I took in paying the production costs up front has turned out to be a good one, rather than letting someone else take the risk and reap the rewards. And now my story continues to be mine, rather than some publisher’s for my lifetime + 70 years.

(Yes, that’s how long publishers own the rights to most of your favorite novels. Crazy, isn’t it? But luckily, not for me.)

It’s a brave new world. The old models are breaking down. That’s horrifying for some, but from where I’m sitting, it’s a great time to be writing.