Things were just slow this month, and I have no idea why. Not only were my eBook sales way down but the writing work I get from other people was also reduced substantially. So I had very little to write for other people and therefore not much money coming in. So what did I do? I just wrote more - 169,244 words to be exact.
This month I finished two books, one a fictional novel set in Hong Kong in the 1970s and the other a non-fiction book about SEO. The former was just finished a couple days ago and needs some editing work, while the later went on sale a few days ago.
So I took what could have been a nerve-wracking month and turned it into something quite productive, and I think lucrative long-term. Both of those books will make me money for months if not years to come. When I look back on this blog post in the future I think I’ll be thankful I didn’t have much work and therefore so much free time to make these wondrous books.
Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get into the details of the month.
This month I finished two books, one a fictional novel set in Hong Kong in the 1970s and the other a non-fiction book about SEO. The former was just finished a couple days ago and needs some editing work, while the later went on sale a few days ago.
So I took what could have been a nerve-wracking month and turned it into something quite productive, and I think lucrative long-term. Both of those books will make me money for months if not years to come. When I look back on this blog post in the future I think I’ll be thankful I didn’t have much work and therefore so much free time to make these wondrous books.
Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get into the details of the month.
Sci-Fi Novel
I'm sure the cover will be better The month started off with a very strange job proposition. It was titled simply ‘write my story’ and the employer only specified they wanted a sci-fi novel about a colony of dogs and a colony of humans. I thought it sounded interesting and so we went with it. Over a period of two weeks I pounded out about 33,000 words for this guy, and that’s what made me most of my money for November.
Last I heard he’s still shopping around for a cover, and I hope he gets one soon and figures out how to upload books on Amazon. Once that occurs I’ll be sure to put that link here so interested readers can check it out.
Last I heard he’s still shopping around for a cover, and I hope he gets one soon and figures out how to upload books on Amazon. Once that occurs I’ll be sure to put that link here so interested readers can check it out.
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is short for National Write a Novel Month and this one treated me very well. I’d never participated in NaNo before and thought it a little silly when I first heard about it. After all, I type nearly 3 times as many words each month as it takes to win this things, which is 50,000 words. In the end I managed to complete my 1,667 words each day and then some, coming out at around 75,000 words for the month.
I kept this on the homepage all month to drum up interest for the novel
Never did hear back from the Amazon Kindle Serials program, so it looks like I’ll be putting this novel out myself on Tuesday, December 17. Releasing it on that day will get me anyone shopping for books for the holidays, but more importantly, I should still be on the ‘Hot New Releases’ lists come January when everyone’s test driving their new Kindles.
This was my NaNo stats page
Another SEO Book
Would 'now' be better? I now have 2 SEO eBooks published and I expect this latest one to do quite well. I can’t tell you how nervous I was to put this book out there with the cover that I had. Someone in the comments of my post on the controversial cover really hit home, and that’s that I had the idea at about 4 AM when a bout of inspiration hit me.
I didn’t want to turn that away so I published the book with the cover I’d originally wanted. And lo and behold, I wasn’t crucified, burned at the stake, or the victim of a sales stoppage on my other titles. In fact, I managed to sell a few copies and get into the #21 to #40 rank for SEO eBooks on Amazon, right where I want to be to gain exposure and visibility for my eBook.
I didn’t want to turn that away so I published the book with the cover I’d originally wanted. And lo and behold, I wasn’t crucified, burned at the stake, or the victim of a sales stoppage on my other titles. In fact, I managed to sell a few copies and get into the #21 to #40 rank for SEO eBooks on Amazon, right where I want to be to gain exposure and visibility for my eBook.
My Other Writing Work
I had a measly 8 projects this month to work on for other people. To give you an idea of how small that is I had 30 in October. And there was very little interesting about any of those jobs.
One consisted of writing an article about dating Asian women and another was a press release for some kind of new weight loss extract, and the harm it can do. I did some moving company content for an old employer and some editing work on a thesis for someone.
One consisted of writing an article about dating Asian women and another was a press release for some kind of new weight loss extract, and the harm it can do. I did some moving company content for an old employer and some editing work on a thesis for someone.
Just Plain Slow!
And really, that’s about it! Thank goodness I’m making some money on my eBooks or I’d be looking for some kind of minimum wage service industry job. But I can tell you, if things continue on into December the same way they went in November than I just might well be forced to do that.
Those are the perils a freelance writer faces, and they create in you a hunger. That scarcity of work was the only reason I was able to push myself so hard this month working for myself. Will it pay off? We’ll see.
Those are the perils a freelance writer faces, and they create in you a hunger. That scarcity of work was the only reason I was able to push myself so hard this month working for myself. Will it pay off? We’ll see.
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