Author Topic: My Story as a Seller of Books  (Read 23551 times)

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #30 on: February 05, 2017, 11:17:35 pm »
Just thought I would leave this here for whoever may see fit to watch it, which I would strongly recommend:


Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #31 on: February 08, 2017, 12:30:05 am »
Post 4: GCR You Bastard

You were right. I did not like what you had to say. I actually took a bit of offence. I half-expected pats on the back left, right, and center, then you came and did exactly not that. But you were right. I am humbled. I got ahead of myself and just all round cocky. All I could see was the money. It was no good.
Then you came along and pissed all over my world. Thank you. I needed that. You made me realise that I was doing it all wrong and for all the wrong reasons. You made me realise that if I am going to do this, then I should do it right. Instead of churning out garbage on an as regular schedule as possible, I should rather take a step back and reassess. I should take pride in my product. I should take pride in my writing. Quality over quantity.
So I have canned the idea of releasing a novella every month and just focus on the short stories. They will also not be weekly, but bi-weekly. That will give me two weeks to write a 3000-5000 word story and then some. I can focus on it for two weeks and make it as good as possible. I will continue releasing these short stories until they have a strong following, no matter how long it takes, and then look into selling them instead of giving them away for free.
I will not write anything else until I got the short story thing on firm ground. It will have my undivided attention.
I have been doing it like that for two days now and I have to say, I actually enjoy the writing more. I am not even thinking about the money. Just focusing on making it the best it can be and it feels as good as f...

Photo: Workstation has been upgraded a bit. The screen is just on lend though. I have to give it back once the person who lent it to me needs it again.

dividendtycoon

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #32 on: February 08, 2017, 08:19:15 am »
Post 4: GCR You Bastard

You were right. I did not like what you had to say. I actually took a bit of offence. I half-expected pats on the back left, right, and center, then you came and did exactly not that. But you were right. I am humbled. I got ahead of myself and just all round cocky. All I could see was the money. It was no good.
Then you came along and pissed all over my world. Thank you. I needed that. You made me realise that I was doing it all wrong and for all the wrong reasons. You made me realise that if I am going to do this, then I should do it right. Instead of churning out garbage on an as regular schedule as possible, I should rather take a step back and reassess. I should take pride in my product. I should take pride in my writing. Quality over quantity.
So I have canned the idea of releasing a novella every month and just focus on the short stories. They will also not be weekly, but bi-weekly. That will give me two weeks to write a 3000-5000 word story and then some. I can focus on it for two weeks and make it as good as possible. I will continue releasing these short stories until they have a strong following, no matter how long it takes, and then look into selling them instead of giving them away for free.
I will not write anything else until I got the short story thing on firm ground. It will have my undivided attention.
I have been doing it like that for two days now and I have to say, I actually enjoy the writing more. I am not even thinking about the money. Just focusing on making it the best it can be and it feels as good as f...

Photo: Workstation has been upgraded a bit. The screen is just on lend though. I have to give it back once the person who lent it to me needs it again.

Would agree that you need to do something you enjoy, or can add value, if you do it well the money will follow, even though it may take years.

Have you considered starting a blog?, you could write short stories there, or review others etc. If your blog takes off you could even potentially monetize that, but it would also be a vehicle which you could use to sell books through (have an Amazon store on your blog for example). Blogs are also good for marketing via twitter etc.

From my experience, it can be enjoyable, I started my Dividend Tycoon blog (knowing nothing about websites etc) with the intention of perhaps making some money down the line, but quickly realised it not worth focusing on that as you first need to write good content. It has been a year and I do not make any money out of it, but it has helped in other ways such as clarifying my investment process and thoughts. I do almost no marketing and site is fairly basic, but think that if I keep doing it and enjoy it, something good will flow from it, although most likely not financially. I prefer to make my money from shares, mostly long term, but a little trading too, so making money from the blog is not necessary or a priority. However, in your case where this is where your talents and enjoyment are, and given you are driven to do a lot of marketing etc, I think it could potentially be a good platform for you.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck.


gcr

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #33 on: February 08, 2017, 11:13:22 am »
Fawkes85 - your welcome ;D
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

jaDEB

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #34 on: February 09, 2017, 08:39:29 am »
Sorry, sorry, only saw your post now. Please accept my apologies. If u know me it was tong and cheek, I did say @ss. Please put your link back.

My daughter is writing a book ( think it is her 2nd - nice Dad you are), and she is putting it on twitter, per chapter. I read it as she tweets it. She also works in marketing, online / magazine stuff, and is also studying online thingy, about twitter / facebook, about online communication with clients.

Her book is called Alone with Wolves. https://wykms.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/alone-with-wolves-chapter-1-part-2/

Once again, sometimes I joke not thinking ... my apologies.
jaDEB

If it scares you, it's a sign you need to do it

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #35 on: February 09, 2017, 01:05:21 pm »
Sorry, sorry, only saw your post now. Please accept my apologies. If u know me it was tong and cheek, I did say @ss. Please put your link back.

My daughter is writing a book ( think it is her 2nd - nice Dad you are), and she is putting it on twitter, per chapter. I read it as she tweets it. She also works in marketing, online / magazine stuff, and is also studying online thingy, about twitter / facebook, about online communication with clients.

Her book is called Alone with Wolves. https://wykms.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/alone-with-wolves-chapter-1-part-2/

Once again, sometimes I joke not thinking ... my apologies.

No worries jaDEB. I did not take any offense. But considering that topic of the book I decided to keep the link deleted. I know it is not for all people and not all people will feel comfortable with me posting such things on here. Anyway, I am going to unpublish that book anyway. It tried to take a shortcut and I ended up publishing a book of poor quality. I am starting afresh and I am going to do it right this time round. Still going to stick to the genre but I am going to write it myself instead of wanting to take shortcuts and having other people write it for me. Here's to wishing me luck.

Mr_Dividend

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #36 on: February 21, 2017, 03:01:17 pm »
*********insert update here*****************

 :)

gcr

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #37 on: February 21, 2017, 08:44:15 pm »
*********insert update here*****************

 :)
F85 - I think you should do updates periodically.
The advantages are that you have a narrow and a world view - but you don't know how close it is to reality.
I for one would like to see you succeed in your endeavours as this represents your hearts desire, and sure as hell beats mundane activities for sustain yourself.
So post and those who wish to see you succeed will also counter post (hopefully) with rational, objective observations based on their life experiences and knowledge of what life can throw at you.
Some of us on this forum have been involved in many spheres of life/business/endeavours so suss their views out and learn about life's knocks and how to restart your passion
Never be discouraged as you will regret it for the rest of your life
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #38 on: February 26, 2017, 02:37:42 am »
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

I am still doing it. Which is why I haven't been posting here. Been giving it all my attention. After GCR's fist full of reality, I went back to the drawing board. Like I said, I think, quality over quantity. So spent the last 4 weeks writing, rewriting, editing, and rewriting again a 5000-word short story. About 6 hours ago, I scrapped the whole thing and started over. Spent those 6 hours writing about 250 words. MUCH better than the crap I wasted the last 4 weeks of my life writing. But yeah, progress is slow. Another reason I haven't been posting here. Just not much to report on.

But I am still doing it. No matter what, this is happening. I will report back as soon as I have news.

And thanks for the encouragement! Truly appreciate it.

I have also been learning French, Korean, and the guitar. Have to keep the mind busy all the smart people say.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2017, 02:47:05 am by Fawkes85 »

gcr

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #39 on: February 26, 2017, 04:02:14 pm »
Hope you didn't full scrap your 5000 word short story - put it in a library and revisit again at some future stage.
Good to see your resolve to write
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #40 on: February 28, 2017, 05:14:48 pm »
Post 5: I have gone and done it.

I pressed it. I pressed publish. It is the greatest moment of both relieve and dread I have ever experienced in my short life. See, the last time I pressed that button I did not really care. It wasn't my story. I just bought it and claimed it as mine. I knew it would fail. It was complete and utter garbage. I just wanted to make a quick buck and be on my merry way. This time it is my story. For realsies. I scrapped the last one because I was play-play writing, you know, just for the fun of it, and I started finding my groove. I just kept on writing, a short story, and for the first time, I was actually happy with something I wrote. So if it isn't received well, it is going to be quite a knock. I don't know how much better I can do.

But it will be received well. Cause that s**t is lit.

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2017, 02:32:14 pm »
So been writing out and experimenting with different kinds of blurbs for my short. I think I have finally found one that works. I tried to write it as more of a business pitch than a book description. Since there are quite a few business minded people on here, I thought I would post it and get your opinions on it. Here it is:

The erotica, it is minimal. Sorry. But let me try and intrigue you anyway. Erotica or no, I can still make it worth the 5 minutes you will spend reading my short. Just give me 5 seconds of your time, and let me show you what I can do with that. If you like what you see, we can talk. Here goes:

I like things short and sweet,
Rough and tough, just as life.
And much like mad Macbeth,
I often wonder whether this is
A dagger I see in front of me.

Don’t mind the dagger. It’s a metaphor. But that is what I can do with 31 words. Imagine what I can do with 864. And it doesn’t cost you a cent. Only your time.

*Clenches ass in anticipation of GCR bringing the hammer of truth*

gcr

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #42 on: March 05, 2017, 11:03:00 pm »
Fawkes85 - you can stop clenching - hold fire I will respond to you in the next day or two - been very wrapped up in Hobby X since Wednesday here in Joburg :LHST:
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Mr_Dividend

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #43 on: April 06, 2017, 04:36:37 pm »
Glad you keeping at it Fawkes - that's some pretty decent writing right there.

Fawkes85

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Re: My Story as a Seller of Books
« Reply #44 on: April 09, 2017, 10:11:05 pm »
Post 5: Jeremy is gone, I'm now working with PewDiePie

You are indeed correct, Mr_Dividend, that is decent writing, but I was employing it in the wrong way. But anyway, hi, how have you all been? It's been a while. I apologize for that. But I had to do some soul searching. For the 3 months I was trying to be a full-time writer (and the years I was trying to do it part-time), all I could think about was the end of the journey and not the journey itself. I couldn't say that I had any true passion for it. So, I stopped. I refused to write another word as long as I did not have that warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside. So that's what I did, nothing. For a whole month. Just pure, unadulterated soul searching.

What did I find? Well, I'm sure you have figured out YouTube. But how? In short, because of a dog licking its non-existent family jewels. You'll be surprised where you might find your 'lightbulb moment' as Oprah used to put it. But yeah, I have started a YouTube channel called 'My Shorts Are Lit.' With it, I plan to release animation/word-arty shorts. The whole thing is one HUGE experiment and I have no idea how people will receive it. Sound will play a very minimal role in my videos. So to be honest, I do not see this going huge, but I do see it working with a considerable amount of people. I do also not expect to make a lot of money from YouTube itself. If the YouTubers with millions of subscribers are worried about their YouTube income because of YouTube demonetizing so many videos and AdBlockers and and and...

But that is okay. I don't really care. I had so much fun making the first 3 videos that, at the least, I have gained a hobby. And if I do manage to find some modicum of fame, I can then release an ebook and venture into merchandising or something like that. The business has scalability. That's neither here nor there, though, because that is a long ass way down the road. I'll deal with it when I get there.

I will leave a link below if any of you want to go have a look. Don't worry, you don't have to like, comment, or subscribe ;) The 3 videos I have done so far are promo videos announcing the arrival of my channel. It's meant to create some hype and curiosity. In 3 days it has gotten me 9 subscribers (well, 8. 1 of em is a friend who knows I'm doing this) and 93 video views. As fellow entrepreneurs, go have a look and tell me what you think of my campaign, down below in the comments :D Sorry, couldn't help myself.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jbxLz3SmtA90zuLR-9LHQ