Smutlancer Monthly Income and Revenue Report: November 2020
November was a good month in terms of income, revenue, and my smutlancing life. As we’re barreling towards the end of 2020 (which makes me think both, “Oh thank fucking gawd!” and “HOW?!”), a lot of plans are being made for what 2021 will look like. That’s reflected in my expenses more than anything, but there are plenty of plans that don’t involve spending (yet). Let’s jump into because there’s a lot here.
November 2020 Income
*A change I’ve made to this income report is to remove (or not include) income I’m not personally putting in my bank account even if I earned it. This includes income for Smutlancers and Obscene Ideas, Those numbers will be tracked further down in the revenue stream report. We do not pay ourselves, instead we bank that income to pay Smutlancers and Obscene Ideas expenses. I want this list to be the actual income I receive. That may show a dip in my overall income but it will be a more accurate total, as well.
November income is primarily based on work completed in October. I bill clients on the last day of every month, and they have 10 days to pay. Affiliate sales tend to pay quarterly, but some pay monthly. I break down my freelance writing between vanilla and sex content because I want to show what’s possible in either category.
Note: For those who are curious, the “Sex/Adult Content” line links to a post that outlines what kind of freelance writing work I do for 2020.
- Freelance Writing
- Vanilla Content: $590.00
- Sex/Adult Content: $5125.00
- Affiliate Sales: $127.92
- Podcast Sponsorship: $200.00
- Sponsored Blog Posts: $125.00
- Website Sponsorship: —
- Banner Ads: —
- Book Sales: $21.49
- Patreon: $818.82
- Consulting: —
- Donations: $375.00
- Bonus (from client): —
- Product Sales: $1006.74
- AdSense: $117.95
Total Income: $8,507.92 (up $1,315,10 from October)
November 2020 Expenses
*The change made to income will also apply to expenses. Some expenses are paid from Smutlancers and Obscene Ideas income and do not hit my personal bank account. From now on those numbers will no longer be included. If I report on both income and expenses by revenue stream in the future, they will be included at that time.
Some expenses are monthly, some quarterly, and some annual. I pay taxes monthly under my current business structure.
- Web Hosting: $67.67
- Domain Renewals: —
- Podcast Hosting: $32.00
- Buffer: $99.00
- InLinkz: $2.99
- Taxes: $1000.00
- Payment Fees (PayPal, Stripe): $321.57
- Shipping/Postage: $182.35
- Tech Support: $68.97
- DepositPhotos (stock photo): $29.00
- MailerLite (email newsletter): $15.00
- Adobe Premiere Pro: $21.00
- Closed Captions (YouTube Videos): $96.80
- Business Internet: $215.68
- ShipStation: $14.00
- Printed Materials: $67.98
- Website Enhancements: $109.30
- Shipping Label Printer: $192.58
- Cricut and supplies: $219.98
Total Expenses: $2,755.87 (up $748.52 from October)
November 2020 Net Income: $5,752.05 (↑ $566.58 from October)
November was a better month for income than I anticipated, for which I’m very thankful. Expenses went up because I took advantage of all the Black Friday sales for a few supplies and new equipment for John Brownstone’s shop (The Kinkery).
Now, let’s look at all the revenue streams again, and yes, there will be another pie chart for those who geek out on that stuff like I do.
November Revenue Streams
This is only the second month of doing this, so I’m still figuring out how best to share these numbers. I break these down by all the ways I earn money as a Smutlancer (so vanilla income is not included). No expenses will be included, so these are gross totals. Be aware that the numbers will not add up cleanly to the lists above because I’m including income from revenue streams that I no longer count as “income” since it doesn’t touch my bank account.
Kayla Lords, Sex Writer
This is fairly simple. Most of the income I make as “Kayla Lords” that’s not part of a separate brand is my writing as well as income made from my personal site (KaylaLords.com).
Freelance sex writing: $5,125.00
Sponsored blog posts: $125.00
Self-published erotica: $6.52
Total: $5256.52
Loving BDSM
As Loving BDSM, we generate income in multiple ways: Patreon, affiliate sales, podcast sponsorship, and more. This section may change from month to month based on available revenue opportunities. November was a great month, though we know it won’t always be this way. After TWO YEARS, we finally received our first Adsense payment from our YouTube channel. Why so long? Two things: a still-growing audience and nearly every video is demonetized to some degree.
Patreon: $818.82
Affiliate sales: $127.92
Workbook sales: $14.97
Adsense: $117.95
Podcast sponsorship: $200
Donations: $375
Total: $1,654.68
The Kinkery
The Kinkery is John Brownstone’s new shop for his BDSM products. I’m the marketing and shipping departments and benefit directly from any sales his store makes. That’s why his income counts as “my” income because really it’s our income under our business set-up. We had a great November and can’t wait to see what happens in the future as we expand the products offered on the site.
Product sales: $1,006.72
Smutlancers
Molly and I technically “split” this income. If we chose to pay ourselves, we would each receive half after all fees and expenses. Currently, the only income the Smutlancers produces is from our Patreon community. We hold onto that money to pay our contributors and pay Obscene Ideas expenses. Eventually, we hope Obscene Ideas will make enough money to cover its own expenses. In the past, I took this total and split it in half (including half the fees) to account for it in my income/expenses report.
Patreon: $215.00
Obscene Ideas
Obscene Ideas launched in October. We believe that sales will pick up once we have more products available.
Again, Molly and I technically “split” this income and would pay ourselves half after fees and expenses if we actually paid ourselves. But we don’t.
31 Days of Erotic Fiction: $26.25
Total: $26.25
Total November 2020 Revenue: $8,159.19
When I look at the October numbers and compare to November, both Loving BDSM and the Kinkery saw a significant increase of revenue share, while “Kayla Lords” income reduced by 10 percent. That’s the kind of movement I hope to see in the future, though I expect the numbers to fluctuate just like freelance income can.
