I don't make much money off my writing anymore, though when all is said and done I've made 6 figures off of it over the years. My motivation is not money. I just enjoy writing and would do it full time if it paid well. I was at a point in my writing career where I might have been able to sustain it by quitting my day job as a dentist, but I had too much debt at the time to make the gamble, and now the income I make as a dentist is way too good to give up. So I write in my spare time.

I stopped publishing for about 7 years after my series I published with Shadow Mt underperformed severely, but I kept writing on my own for myself. Now I've gone back to self-publish the remainder of the series. Currently, a small publishing house based in Utah is republishing a series I once self-published. Not sure how sales are going with it at the moment because, frankly, I don't really care. I write for me. If people like it, great. If not, I will keep writing anyway.

Fortunately most of my stuff has gotten pretty solid reviews but it's never progressed beyond just me publishing stuff with and without a publisher. I've never had an agent and never had anyone ask me about the rights to my stuff.