PublisherRevenue Guide

The business behind
independent publishing.

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Calculator / Sell & retain

The second month matters, too.

Follow an opening group of subscribers over time. See how acquisition and churn interact before treating recurring revenue as a settled result.

A white calculator on a light surface.
Reference photograph: a calculator, not a publisher’s financial records. Annie Spratt / Unsplash ↗
Illustrative inputs / USD · Edit to explore · No inputs sent or stored

Your assumptions

01 / Set the inputs
Try a scenario:
People eligible for your initial offer.
An assumption, not a benchmark.
Same price for all modeled members.
Applied to members billed at the start of each month.
Added after billing; first charged next month.
Platform and payment fees in this simplified model.
Include support, production and valued labor.
Between 1 and 24.

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How to read this result

Opening members = floor(audience × initial conversion). Each month starts by billing existing members. Churned members = rounded(starting members × churn rate). New members join after billing and are first billed the following month.

Monthly contribution = billed revenue − revenue-based fees − entered monthly costs. This model has one monthly price, a fixed monthly acquisition count and no annual plans, failed payments, refunds or reacquisition.

The eligible audience is used only for initial conversion. Later new-member inputs are independent assumptions; they are not capped by or deducted from that audience.

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The research behind the workings

Keep the context close.

A clearer view of the business

The Revenue Letter.

One useful model. One question worth asking.
A considered note for independent publishers.