Read Time: 2 Minutes

 A few years ago, I could tell you everything about my wife's author business numbers:

→ Page reads
→ Rankings
→ Ad Spend
→ Daily Sales 
→ Daily Page Reads
→ Click-through rates
→ Conversion Rates
→ Cost-Per-Click (down to the penny)

But if you'd asked me a simple question — "What do you actually need to make per month from these books to be happy?" — I'd have stared at you blankly.

I had no idea.

I was "optimising and scaling" without knowing what I was "optimising and scaling" toward.

And I don't think I was alone.

I've spoken to hundreds of authors over the years. Most can recite their numbers from memory, too.

But almost none have defined what "enough" actually looks like for them.

Your "Enough Number" is sometimes known as your "Freedom Number" — the monthly income you need to live the life you want.

Without one, every result feels like it's not enough.

$2,000 months feel disappointing when you're vaguely aiming for "more".

But $2,000 months feel incredible when you know that's exactly what you need to quit your day job, or pay for childcare, or prove to yourself this is real.

Your Freedom Number changes everything. 

With a few weeks left of 2025, most authors are planning for next year with vague goals such as:

→ Write faster
→ Publish more
→ Master another ad platform
→ Scale, scale, scale

But before any of that, there's a question worth asking first:

What's your Freedom Number?

Not a fantasy number. Not what would be nice. The actual monthly income you need to live the life you want from writing.

Once you know that, you can work backward.

If you need $3,000 a month and your average book earns $2.50 profit per sale, you need 1,200 sales. That's 40 sales a day. What does it take to generate 40 sales a day? What's your read-through? What can you spend on ads and still hit that number?

Suddenly you're not guessing. You're building.

Most authors spend years throwing tactics at the wall, hoping something sticks.

The ones who win? They start with their Freedom Number and build the map.

2026 doesn't need to be another year of "trying stuff."

It can be the year you finally build something that works.

But only if you know what "works" actually means for you.

So here's my question to you that I'd encourage you to think about as we head towards the holidays:

Do you know your Freedom Number? 

If not, that's ok. You can figure it out. But when you do know it, running your author business becomes much simpler.

That's all for today. 

Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt