Happy costumes and free candy day, folks! In lieu of candy*, I’m still giving away free e-copies of my paranormal fantasy novel, Restless Spirits. This Halloween promotion ends at 11:59 PM PST tonight, so get it while it’s still free.
*Only on the Internet, not at my door, because I do not want my house to get TP’d.
This is also the last Wednesday of the month, and hence, OPEN PIMP THREAD. Have something to promote? Tell my readers about it in the comments.
And to help celebrate the holiday, here are some relevant links.
I’ve been dithering back and forth on this decision, but I think it’s time to pick one, stick with it, and make it official: for the first time since 2006, I’ll be bowing out of NaNoWriMo this year.
It’s a tough decision, because I always look forward to ‘WriMo. It’s my second favorite thing about November (the first being my mom’s pumpkin roll). I’ve already got an outline ready, and up until recently I had been planning to spend November turning it into a rough draft.
But then all of that job business happened, and I’m still scrambling to catch up from the six weeks of having no time to edit Dominion. I actually think I’m on track to finish this round of edits by the end of October, but I’m going to want to let it sit for a week or two and then give it one more read-through before unleashing it on the public. And there is also a lot of promotional work to be done between now and when I finally release it in December.
Also, I know from plenty of past experience that no matter how good my intentions of picking back up and working on other projects after I’m finished with NaNoWriMo, it won’t happen. Come December I’d be too worn out from chasing that 50,000 word count, and it would be closer to February before I found the energy to start writing and editing again. I think it’s best this time around if I just stick with the momentum I’ve currently got going and keep moving forward at a pace that will get writing done consistently without wearing me out and requiring long breaks.
What’s also helping my decision is the fact that my local ‘WriMo group’s weekend write-ins are getting moved this year from my neighborhood library to one clear across town–actually, in a neighboring town–which is farther than I want to have to drive. There’ll be some weeknight write-ins a bit closer to home, but week nights aren’t very convenient for me, either. So I’m taking the new write-in schedule as confirmation that I’m not meant to do ‘WriMo this year. Which, I’m a little sad about, because I love our local ‘WriMo group, and I’ll miss hanging out with them this year. But I’m well past the point where I need ‘WriMo to help me get books written. At any rate, I’ll be cheering from the sidelines, and good luck and many happy returns to all of this years’ brave word warriors.
I will, however, be participating in Jeremy Bates’ Halloween Blog Hop in the run up to Halloween this year. This is my first blog hop, so that’s a little exciting. If you’d like to join me, head over to Jeremy’s blog for details and to sign up, and then come back here during the final days of October to tell us all about your favorite scary or paranormal book.
Firstly: I redid my main website, and my blog is now my homepage–you can go right to it at jeanmariebauhaus.com and BAM! Blog. If you’re on Livejournal, hopefully you’re actually able to read this and I set all of that up correctly.
Secondly: I started that podcast. The first episode is over here. It’s not too long, so you should listen to it and give me feedback. Or ask me some self-publishing or writing questions that I can answer in a future episode.
Thirdly: I had my first Book Wrangler consultation client today, and I think it went well, and will lead to more work, so YAY!
Fourthly: Peanut butter sure is delicious.
Fifthly: Seriously, you guys, every time I consider doing Paleo and I almost manage to convince myself that I could live without cheese, I remember that peanut butter’s not allowed and I’m like, “NOPE!”
Sixthly: I’m going to start a new Tumblr for random stuff like the above, and for re-blogging all of the geeky fandom stuff I’m always liking over there, and it will be the new Marzipan Pie Plate Bingo. I’ll let y’all know once I get around to that. No, wait–here it is!
So, what I said last week about developing a whole new slate of freelance self-publishing services… introducing The Book Wrangler, which launched today. And if you sign up to my mailing list (either here or there), you’ll not only be served up with free self-publishing and writing advice and self-pubbing news and resources, but you’ll also get my free e-booklet, But I Want To Be a Real Author!, which collects the series of posts I did here last spring about my decision to self-publish, and how to self-publish, and how it’s working for me. It’s all purtied up in PDF form and also in .Epub (Kindle) and .Mobi (pretty much all other e-readers).
And as you guys know, I need the work, so if you could help spread the word, I would be much obliged.
And! I’m about to add a podcast to that site. That is, if I don’t psych myself out. As a matter of fact, that’s what the subject of the first episode will be — learning to not psych myself out or let timidity get in the way of creating. I’m going to go record it after lunch as part of this whole new “Just goferit!” philosophy that I’m trying. I’ve been debating doing either a Youtube vlog or a podcast, and I’ve come down on the side of podcast, since that has fewer fiddly bits and I don’t have to worry about how my hair looks.
My new day job and I parted ways on Friday. Suffice to say that it just wasn’t a good fit. What it comes down to is that I should have known better than to accept a job at a salary that was far less than what I needed to support my family on the assumption that I could just keep on freelancing on nights and weekends, no problem, because, HUGE PROBLEM! As it turns out, I totally do not have the stamina to work two jobs. I was exhausted and miserable, and my husband was miserable from hardly ever seeing me, and I was starting to get sick, and I wasn’t making any progress on my book, and when I asked why I was doing this to myself, neither of us could come up with a good answer. So we sat back down and did the math and weighed the pros and cons, and decided that we’d be better off if I returned to freelancing full-time and putting the focus back on our business.
Of course, we have some trepidation. A steady paycheck, even one that’s too small, provides a measure of reassurance that you don’t get with freelancing. But I’m optimistic. I’ve got a new business plan in place, which is not something I’ve had before; up until now I’ve been making it up as I go. That new plan includes a new marketing/promotion/finding clients plan, and it also includes a whole new slate of self-publishing-related services, including coaching and consulting for new and wannabe indie authors who need to be shown the ropes or require hand-holding. I’m still working out the details, but I’m ready to start lining up clients, so if you are or know anyone who might be interested in that, feel free to drop me a line here or private message me on Facebook.
The day job itself wasn’t a total loss, and I don’t regret the experience. It taught me a lot — not only about WordPress development, but also about myself. I know now that I’m really not cut out for the type of job where you only do one thing all day long, no matter how much I like doing that thing in smaller doses. As much as I get weary of having too many irons in the fire, I do tend to thrive in the sort of job that requires me to wear a lot of different hats. Also, my wiring is just not compatible with a rigid, 8 to 5 work schedule. I knew that already, but I guess I needed the reminder. At any rate, the last six weeks have provided the kick in the pants I needed to shake me out of my rut and motivate me to make my business work. And I’m more motivated now than I’ve ever been, willing to step as far outside of my comfort zone as I need to in order to keep this going. Also, I finally have a vision for my business, for what I want it to become in the next five years, with measurable goals along the way.
I’m more excited than I’ve been in a very long time, and I’m ready to get to work.
