
He went to Spokane and had an operation yesterday and got back yesterday as well. The bill has yet to arrive, though it sounds like Montana Healthy Kids will cover it.
So maybe I freaked out over nothing last week, I dunno. I do it a lot, and will continue to do so. Here’s some right now.
Amazon Exclusivity
Have your sales on Amazon gone to shit? Lindsay Buroker says as much on her site this week, and I can’t help but think if a mid-list author that’s making a few thousand from Amazon a month is having problems, you, someone that sells a few copies a month if that, is also feeling the pinch.
But it’s not a pinch, is it? No, that Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners Lending Library is probably making you wonder how long you can keep doing this. And is that measly amount you get from Smashwords or iTunes or B&N or whatever…is that really fucking worth it?
So go to Amazon, be their bitch, and let them take care of you. Because shit, it’s not like my exclusive Amazon titles are doing that well – some are doing worse than my non-exclusive titles.
What to do? I’d do nothing – especially no price drops – until after the holiday. I would eat a lot of bitterness until then, however (or just bitch on your blog).
Upset ESL Visitors
Since 2012 I’ve been dispensing free advice on my ESL website. Now, some people like this (the silent majority, I call them) but others do not.
And when I might suggest that many ESL teachers have no idea what they want to do with their life, or that teaching screaming 8-year-olds in China isn’t what you want to be doing when you’re 50, well stand back – no one wants to hear that shit.
Because, really – I’m a visitor and I come to your site. Actually, it’s a fucking privilege to you that I’m here at all. So act like it, pal, and fall all over yourself to please me and kiss my ass and give me what I want, for free I might add.
That’s right, I’m your site’s visitor, and what I say goes…because you know what? I’m giving you a little traffic from Google or a few dollars a month or maybe giving you that one fucking comment in a sea of nothing.
Great, good for you pal.
Politics
I put in a job application with the Montana Legislative Services division…the first time I’ve applied for a job in quite a few years.
Well, a real job. Will I get it? I dunno – I’ve spent so long working for myself now that I’m not sure I’d work well with others. I mean, I don’t like to stand around the water cooler talking, I don’t like to make 2 hours of work last 8 hours, and I don’t like to do small talk, office politics, or secret Santa. All in all, I’m a real asshole to work with.
And of course tweets like this probably wouldn’t help my chances, either:
Lead nicknames for Sen. Debby Barrett so far are The Dragon, Old Yellow, Madame Sell-Out, and the Tongue that Licks the Boot #mtpol
— Greg Strandberg (@gpstberg) November 12, 2014
Inflation
Let’s talk about prices, and how out of the roof they are. I mean, maybe you haven’t noticed, but then maybe you’re a rock that doesn’t need to eat. Because each time I go to the supermarket the prices are higher.
- Oatmeal was $4.99 now it’s $5.29
- Bacon was $4.99 now it’s $6.99
- Beef was $3.50 now it’s $4.89
Am I the only one that remembers getting a dozen eggs just a few years ago for $0.99?
Chicken is the worst. Two chicken breasts will usually run around $5 to $8 depending on where you go. When I was in China the same would cost you $2.
Don’t feed me that shit that transportation costs are rising – didn’t gas just go down?
Really, though, I think dumb fucks like myself should probably just shut the hell up and get back in their place, which can be the poverty line but better damn well not be the bread line.
Alright, I’m done.