62 | Why Your Book Sales Drop After the Holidays And What Christian Authors Can Do About It

Your book sales were great during the holidays—and then January hit and everything stopped. Now you're panicking, wondering if you did something wrong or if this is a sign you should quit.

Take a breath. This post-holiday sales slump happens to almost every author, and once you understand why, you can stop spiraling and start planning strategically.

In this episode, I'm breaking down:

• The four real reasons your book sales tank after the holidays (hint: it's not you)
• What January sales do NOT mean about your books, your business, or your calling
• The biggest mistakes Christian authors make during sales slumps—and how to avoid them
• Six practical strategies to use this season wisely instead of just surviving it
• How to tell the difference between a seasonal dip and a real problem that needs addressing
• The faith perspective that will help you stop white-knuckling results and start trusting the process

If you're staring at your dashboard right now feeling discouraged, this episode will help you understand what's actually happening, protect your peace, and make wise decisions that won't hurt your business in February.

This episode is for you if:

• Your holiday sales were strong but January tanked
• You're tempted to slash prices or make desperate decisions
• You're wondering if God is closing doors through your sales numbers
• You need practical wisdom (not just "pray harder") for navigating slow seasons

The harvest isn't measured in a single month. Let's talk about how to stay steady, stay faithful, and actually use this season to your advantage.

👉 Listen now to uncover the secret to becoming an anointed scribe!

Transcript

Your book sales were doing great during the holidays, maybe even really great.

You were feeling good, feeling momentum, thinking, okay, I'm finally figuring this out.

And then the new year hit and everything just stopped.

Now you're checking your dashboard 17 times a day, wondering what went wrong?

Did the algorithm change overnight? Did readers suddenly forget about you? Did you lose all your momentum?

Is this a sign that you should quit? That maybe you are not cut out for this after all?

Take a breath, friend, because here's what you need to know today.

What's happening to you is happening to almost every author right now.

This post holiday sales slump. It's predictable.

It's normal. And once you understand exactly why it happens, you can stop spiraling and start planning. Instead,

today, I'm going to walk you through the real reasons your sales tank after the holidays. What it actually means, and more importantly, what it doesn't mean.

And the specific things you can do about it that don't involve panicking,

slashing your prices to 99 cents, or making desperate decisions you'll regret next month.

So if this is you today, get comfortable, friend. Maybe grab a pen and a notebook, because I think you are going to find today's episode really valuable.

This is the Anointed Scribe Podcast.

I'm Urcelia Teixeira, ex real estate agent turned award winning Christian fiction authority.

When I wrote my first novel on a bucket list whim, I had no idea it would spark a spiritual journey that would redefine my calling. But you know what, friend?

Self publishing wasn't easy. I got caught in the hustle, chasing rankings and sales while desperately trying to stay rooted in Christ.

Now, by God's grace, I'm building my author business his way. And now he's called me to help you do the same, saying,

welcome to the Anointed Scribe podcast, where faith meets business for Christian writers. Let's write, publish, and grow our author business God's way. Are you ready? Well then, let's get started.

Hey, it's your author friend, Urcelia. And welcome to this week's episode of Anointed Scribe,

the podcast where Christian authors learn to build their business God's way, not the world's way.

If you're new here and only now discovering the show, welcome. I'm so glad you found us.

Anointed Scribe is where we get real about the practical stuff, the faith stuff, and everything in between.

No fluff, no hype, just honest conversations about what it really takes to build a sustainable author career or while staying faithful to your calling.

Now, let's Dive into today's topic because I have a feeling some of you really need to hear this.

If you're looking at your January sales right now and feeling absolutely sick to your stomach, I promise you, you're not the only one.

If you had a decent November and December,

maybe even a really good November and December, and now it feels like you fell off a cliff. That's not just you, friend.

And if you're sitting there wondering whether you did something wrong or if this is a sign that you should quit, or if God is closing doors, I need you to take a deep breath because we need to talk about the January sales cliff.

It's a real thing.

Today I'm going to explain exactly why this happens every single year. What it means and what it doesn't mean, and what you can actually do about it instead of just panicking and checking your dashboard to 47 times a day.

Because here's the thing. I really need you to hear this.

January is predictably terrible for book sales. Full stop. Like across the board, industry wide. It's not just you. It's not just indie authors. It's not just Christian fiction or Christian nonfiction.

January sales tank.

Once you understand why, you can stop spiraling and start planning instead.

So let's get into it first. Let's just name what's happening. You're not imagining it. Like I said, you're not making it up.

Industry wide, January book sales drop 30 to 50% compared to December.

For indie authors, it can feel even more dramatic because we don't have the buffer of bookstore orders or publisher marketing budgets propping us up. Right?

There are four main reasons this happens, and I call them the four Horsemen of the January Apocalypse.

Dramatic, I know.

But if you've been watching your sales this month, you'll understand why I call it this.

So here they are.

First,

reader budgets are completely tapped out.

Think about it. December spending hangovers hit hard. In January,

credit card bills come due. People spend all their money on gifts for everyone else. Which means there's nothing left for themselves. Right?

New Year equals tight budgets, paying off debt, trying to be responsible with money. And for Christian readers specifically, a lot of them gave extra generously at year end.

Tithes, offers,

charity donations, gifts to missionaries.

These are all beautiful and biblical. But it also means by January they have nothing left to spend.

Second, the New Year's resolution collapse.

Readers start January with these big ambitious goals. To read more this year,

to finish their to be read pile.

To stop buying books they never read.

So what do they do?

They check out library books. They dig into the stack of unused books on their Kindle and they feel very virtuous about not buying any more books because they're sticking to their New Year's resolutions.

Now, by week two or three,

those resolutions are already crumbling.

We all know this.

But the thing is that the buying freeze is still in effect and they're trying to finish what they already have before they let themselves buy anything new.

Third is the holiday hangover effect.

People are emotionally exhausted from the holidays. They're back to routine, back to work after time off, back to real life. Right?

Less reading time, less head space for fiction,

less motivation for anything really, including reading post. Holiday blues are real and they affect buyer behavior.

Fourth algorithm shifts. This one's more technical, but it matters. Retailers like Amazon had holiday algorithms running in November and December,

pushing gift worthy books, promoting holiday shopping, big name authors, all of that.

In January it's back to normal. Which means your visibility drops. Plus your also bought get diluted from all those holiday gift purchases where people were buying for others, not themselves.

And ad costs often stay high while your conversion rates tank. It's a perfect storm.

Now here's what I want you to hear and I really mean this.

This sales slump is not God closing doors.

This is not a sign you're on the wrong path.

This is retail economics meeting human behavior.

January sales slumps happen to traditionally published authors, to best sellers, to everyone.

It's a season,

not a verdict.

Because when sales tank, our brains go to really dark places, don't they? We start spinning stories.

So let me tell you what that post holiday sales do not mean.

It doesn't mean your books are bad.

The same books that sold in December are the exact same books you have in January.

Your writing didn't suddenly get worse on January 1st.

It doesn't mean you're failing. You're experiencing normal market seasonality. That's it.

It doesn't mean you should panic and drop everything to 99 cents and we'll talk about strategy in a minute. But desperation discounting seldom fixes this.

It doesn't mean God is telling you to quit either. And listen, I know we do this. I've done this.

We spiritualize market conditions.

We interpret every sales dip as either spiritual warfare or divine redirection.

But friends, sometimes it's just January.

It doesn't mean your December success was a fluke.

December actually proved people want your books. January proves people are broke and tired.

Neither of those things is about you.

Here's the spiritual trap I see Christian authors fall into And I'm speaking from experience here because I have absolutely done this myself.

We interpret every sales dip as some kind of spiritual message,

like God is trying to tell us something through our sales dashboard, right?

Sometimes he is,

sometimes he's not.

Sometimes it's just January.

Don't make a permanent decision based on a temporary season, friend.

Your job is to not do something stupid while you wait. And you don't have to get all depressed about it or doubt your calling either.

Stand firm and keep your eyes on Jesus.

Okay, so if we're not supposed to panic or get depressed, what are we supposed to do? Right?

First, before we talk tactics, we need to talk about the mindset shift, because this matters too much to ignore.

Number one, expect it. Put January slumps in your annual plan.

Write it down. January is recovery month, not growth month.

When you expect it, it doesn't crush you.

Number two, use it strategically. This is usually the perfect time for things that don't require sales momentum.

We'll get into specifics in a minute because there are ways to use this to your advantage.

Number three,

protect your peace.

Stop checking your dashboard 47 times a day. It's going to be rough. You already know that. Checking it constantly doesn't change it. It just makes you more miserable.

And this is where we practice, and I mean really practice, the difference between faith and control.

Faith says,

I did my work, I trust the process,

I trust God, I don't need to white knuckle the results.

Control says, I have to fix this right now. I have to fire up more ads or everything falls apart.

One of those is from Godfriend, the other is from fear.

Learn to tell the difference.

So let's talk about what not to do in January. Because this is where people make mistakes they regret in February.

Don't slash your prices in a panic.

Running a 99 cent sale in January when everyone's broke seldom recoups in February.

You are just training readers to wait for deep discounts. So don't do that.

Don't stop your successful ads either. If something was working in December,

give it through at least mid January before you kill it.

Sometimes ads need time to recover after the holidays.

Don't launch a new book, at least not early in the month, unless you already had it planned and you've built momentum.

January launches are tough. Really tough.

Wait for February or March if you can.

Don't make big business decisions. This is not the month to decide whether to quit, rebrand, fire your cover designer, or burn it all down.

Wait until February when you have more data and less panic.

Don't compare yourself to outliers either. Someone's always having a great January.

They the exception to the rule.

You seeing their highlight reel, not their full picture. So stop comparing.

Alright, here's what you can do. Real practical actions that will actually help first,

shift to back end marketing, not front end sales.

Instead of trying to force sales that aren't happening, focus on building your email list.

Ad costs might actually be lower right now because competition drops, so use that to grow your list with reader magnets, not direct sales sales.

Focus on engagement over transactions.

Nurture your existing readers. Build relationships. This pays off later.

Second,

invest in infrastructure.

You know all that stuff you've been meaning to do but never have time for?

Do it now.

This is the time. Update the back matter in your older books. Fix that broken series link you've been ignoring.

Set up that newsletter sequence you've been avoiding.

Organize your BookBub profile, your Amazon author page, your Goodreads profile. Why now?

Because you have time and mental space you won't have in March when things pick up again.

Third, create for future launches.

Write the next book.

Draft your marketing materials for spring.

Plan your Q2 releases. Build your asset library. Things like graphics and swipe copy reader testimonials. All of that. The payoff? You're investing in future revenue instead of chasing current revenue that isn't there.

Fourth, tend your reader relationships.

Send a genuine newsletter. Not a sales pitch, an actual newsletter.

Engage on social media without selling anything.

Host a Facebook Live or a reader Q and A just to connect.

Thank your ARC team, your supporters, your faithful readers, and here's the Christian author advantage we have. We are supposed to be about relationships. Anyway. This is literally what we called to do, so lean into it.

January is a great month for that.

Fifth, strategic discounting. If you do it now, I said don't panic discount. But if you're going to discount strategically, here's how you do it.

Consider a 99 cent book one to grow series. Read through, but make sure you have a clear Funnel to books 2 and 3.

Use it for list building, not just immediate sales.

Time it for late January when budgets start loosening up a little. And please don't discount your newest release.

Protect your launch momentum.

Sixth.

The stewardship perspective this is the monthly financial review most authors skip,

but January is actually perfect for it. Review your previous year's number with gratitude, not just disappointment.

Calculate your actual ROI on ads, promos, tools. Cut what's not working.

You now have a full year of data.

Invest more in what is working even if January is slow, this is stewardship. This is wise business.

This is what you should be doing anyway.

Now here's what experienced authors know that newer authors don't. A little golden nugget here.

January sales don't predict February sales.

February sales don't predict March.

You need three to six months of data to see real trends.

January is one data point.

Don't build a theology around one data point.

In Scripture, farmers don't freak out in winter. They know spring is coming.

They prepare. They rest. They plan.

They don't dig up the seeds every day to check if they are growing.

January is winter. Act like it. Spring is coming.

Now let's talk real for a second. Sometimes January isn't just a seasonal slump.

Sometimes it reveals actual problems you need to address.

If your December was also terrible, January isn't your problem, friend. Visibility is your problem.

If you're running the same ads with the same budget but get drastically different results,

you need to test new creative.

If this is your third January in a row, watching sales die completely, you might need to adjust your business model for seasonality. Maybe you need a different income stream in Q1.

Maybe you need a bigger financial buffer. But something needs to change.

And if January makes you realize you genuinely can't sustain this financially,

that's information worth having. That's not failure. That's clarity.

So ask yourself honestly, is this a January problem or is this a year round problem that January is just exposing?

Be honest. Because if it's the latter, you need strategy, not just survival.

And here's the faith piece of this God doesn't waste our wilderness seasons.

Sometimes January is when we get clear on what needs to change.

Sometimes it's when we learn to trust him, when we can't see results.

Sometimes it's both.

Stay open to what God's teaching you, but don't confuse panic with prophecy.

And here's the good news. And I promise there is good news.

February is almost always better than January.

Not December level better, but better.

March is usually stronger.

By April and May you're back in growth mode.

And here's what to watch out for.

Valentine's Day gives romance a bump if that's your genre.

Tax refunds start hitting mid February through March and people start spending them.

Spring reading season kicks in.

Easter book buying picks up for Christian genres and just general market recovery as people adjust to their new budgets.

Once you've survived a few January slumps, you learn to plan for them. You build a financial buffer in Q4 to carry you through Q1,

you schedule writing heavy months for January and February. You stop being surprised and start being strategic. It's pattern. Learn the pattern.

So friend, if you're in the January sales cliff right now, here's what I want you to remember.

This is temporary. This is predictable. This is survivable.

Your December sales prove people want your books.

January proves people are human and broke and tired.

Here's your action step for this week.

Pick one thing from today's episode, just one, and do it. Maybe it's giving yourself permission to stop checking your sales 17 times a day. Maybe it's updating your back matter.

Maybe it's sending a genuine newsletter to your readers.

Maybe it's just taking a deep breath and remembering that spring is coming.

You didn't come this far to quit in January, friend.

The harvest isn't measured in a single month.

Stay steady,

stay faithful, keep writing,

keep praying. And please do yourself one favour and stop comparing your sales to someone else's.

God doesn't duplicate assignments,

so keep your focus on your own friend. Before you go, I want to tell you about something I've been working on that I'm really excited about.

If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know I talk a lot about building your author business God's Way.

But here's what I've noticed. A lot of Christian authors are doing all the right things.

They're writing the books, running the ads, building the list. But they're still stuck,

still burnt out,

still feeling like they're hustling hard but not getting the breakthrough they've been praying for.

And the problem isn't your work ethic. That's not your books. That's not even your marketing.

The problem is you are trying to build a business the world's way while hoping God will bless it. And friend, that's exhausting. I know because I did it for years.

That's why I created The Revive to Thrive Way™, a transformational program specifically for Christian authors who are tired of the hustle and ready to build their business with God,

not just for Him.

This isn't another course teaching you tactics and strategies you've already tried.

This is about three fundamental spirit LED shifts that change everything.

How you show up, how you make decisions, and how you build sustainable growth that actually honors God and protects your calling.

The Revive to Thrive Way™ is the exact way God showed me the that took me from burnt out and struggling to anointed and flourishing.

Inside the program, you'll get the exact framework I used,

including video training practical workbooks and the three shifts that will completely transform how you approach your author business.

Now here's the thing. Doors are opening very soon and I'm offering special launch pricing that I honestly won't break the piggy bank.

But you need to be on the wait list to get that special pricing and make sure you don't miss it when the doors open.

I promise you this program will set the course for your best year yet.

Not because you'll hustle harder,

but because you'll finally be building in alignment with how God designed you to grow.

So if you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start seeing real breakthrough,

head over to anointedscribe.com/ReviveToThrive and get on the waitlist right now. That's anointedscribe.com/RevivetoThrive I'll put the link in the show notes so you can click straight through.

I cannot wait to see what God does in your business when you make these shifts, friend.

Because for such a time as this,

you have been called to thrive as God's anointed scribe.

I'll see you next week.