A Breakdown of My 2018 Income as a Writer, Podcaster, Speaker, and Classically Millennial Many-Jobs-Haver

Previously: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.

Quick stats:

• In 2018 I made 5.8% more money than I made in 2017 — so, not a lot more, but it’s still nice to see an upswing, no matter how small.
• My blog brought in 36.6% more money than it did in the previous year. Yay!
• My podcast brought in 175.5% more money than it did in the previous year (i.e. almost triple), because we put a lot more work and time into running our Patreon and building our audience.
• My highest-grossing months were December, November, and March.
• My lowest-grossing months were September, October, and February.

By percentage of my total income, my most lucrative income streams were:

1. My blog (34.2%)
2. Dayjob (28.3%)
3. Other writing (17.8%)
4. Podcast (8.5%)
5. Consulting (5.6%)

Other sources, in descending order: miscellaneous (mostly government tax credits), sex work (selling nudes/videos/cam shows, demoing at sex ed workshops), speaking/teaching gigs, music.

My top 5 most lucrative sources of blog-related income (by % of total blog income):

1. Sponsored posts (48.2%)
2. Ads — including banner ads, text links, and event sponsorships (30.7%)
3. Peepshow Toys affiliate program (4.6%)
4. SheVibe affiliate program (4.5%)
5. PinkCherry affiliate program (4.1%)

Other sources, in descending order: Tantus affiliate program, EdenFantasys affiliate program, Smitten Kitten affiliate program, Come As You Are affiliate program, reader donations, eBay affiliate program.

Writing I did for other publications/people, and how much of my “other writing” income they made up:

• Highest payment for a single assignment: $1,293 ($1,000 USD)
• Print outlets I wrote for: Herizons (3.8%), the Walrus (18.9%)
• Online outlets I wrote for: Cosmopolitan (3.9%), the Walrus again, the Bucket (22.2%)
• Blogs and shops I wrote for: Ignite (9.6%), Andrew Blake (2.2%), GirlsReact (7.8%), RateDesi (8.4%)
• Other writing I did: just one major ghostwriting client (11.7%)
• (The remaining ~11.5% came from payments I received in January for stuff I’d written in 2017, incase you were wondering)