Notice Me: Phase 2

Last week I moved on to another area of my writing career--Medium. This is still a relatively new addition to my portfolio, so I wasn't expected a lot to change with this situation. I didn't write any new pieces to promote, so I selected a few previously published works to promote online. I did manage to get more eyes on my articles, poems, and stories. I promoted four pieces and received six views--and sadly, that's a significant increase from me doing absolutely no promotion. Out of those six views, I only received four reads (and I think it goes without saying, no earnings from the partner program). What's the difference and how does Medium distinguish the two? I don't know. A read could be time spent on the page. A read could mean scrolling all the way to the bottom of the article. It's not clear to me how they determine whether a piece has been read or not.

Another key piece of data that I don't have access to was insights into the type of person looking at my work. On my article details pages, there is a place for these insights, but Medium has declared that my readers' interests can't be determined until I get more views. I do get traffic sources of clicks, but without getting more insight into the readers that browse my work for free, how can I start to create a picture of those who pay for a subscription and would be interested in my work?

I also know because none of my pieces have been published into or curated for a Medium publication, it doesn't get a lot of views without taking the time to promote it. It doesn't end up in the daily emails Medium sends out, and the stats page has informed me on every piece that:

"Our curators were not able to review this story for distribution in topics due to high volume."

Which I interpret to mean "Get a truckload of reviews, then we'll take a look." Not really beneficial when I haven't cracked 35 views a month yet. But this doesn't phase me. I'm going to keep my work here, add more work, and try to craft the right pieces I can submit to the publications I've technically already signed up for, but have yet to submit. 

Now I'm off to the last task of the month--getting new patrons on Patreon. This will be the biggest challenge out of the three, but I'll figure it out.

Making Progress and Moving Forward

Just to see what kind of time commitment I would be making, I decided to start building a new version of TSW on Wix using a blog template. It seems that it would go smoothly, considering I was able to design the homepage and upload a single post in about fifteen minutes.

The biggest issue I see for doing this is moving all of my old posts onto the new blog. There's something like 1700 right now, and Wix doesn't do any sort of automatic importing from Blogger. Of course I wouldn't want to transfer every post, because a few are paid posts and since I'm not benefiting from them anymore, they don't need to make the move. They just need to stay here in perpetuity.

The other thing I've been exploring this week is publications on Medium. Apparently, that is how writers get so many views and have a better chance of getting those important money-making views. I have applied to join one, but I'm still thinking about what my first article submission would be. I've got some ideas, but nothing written yet. That's what I will be working on the rest of the week.

The Daunting Blank Page

I don't know how many times I will say this, but I feel like it's time to say it again: nonfiction is not my favorite. I love to read it, sure, but writing it is a whole other game. I have some ideas, now I just need to put in a lot of effort into achieving the standard I need to reach. That's not easy. I'm trying to look towards inspiring articles and reading articles that in my mind are absolutely perfect, but I think that only makes me see the path as a lot longer than it should be.

Still, I carry on. I'm working on two nonfiction articles at the moment, one of which will partially be up soon because I'm going to try out Medium's series feature, which will allow me to add to an article, sort of like threads on Twitter. I think. I'll have to try out the feature to see what I'm really getting into.

Since I'm working so hard to produce nonfiction, of course my mind is making great strides in the fiction category. While welcome, it's almost to the point where it is getting in the way. Don't worry--all that means is the next project coming out will arrive that much faster.

Changing Directions

The work load from daily freelance jobs has not changed much over the week, however, I have been looking into a number of new writing opportunities. Only one of them seems to be a possibility right now, but it could be a great one-time gig that gives me something amazing for my portfolio. Let's hope I get it.

I have been trying to come up with articles on my own that I can sell to various outlets, but whenever I match a great idea to a publication where I would love to see my byline, I start researching only to find a very similar article already published by them. Then it's back to the writer's equivalent of a drawing board.

Speaking of drawing, I finally had the time to draw another comic this weekend. After months of not touching a sketchpad or pen, I was definitely out of practice, so I will not be posting my efforts until I can redraw it two or three times to get it right.

The novel is still going well. I'm not quite half done, but I'm very close to the halfway point. I'm hoping Camp Nanowrimo can get me over the edge. As far as the marketing goes, I'm a little behind on that stuff, but I'm hoping to catch up this week while I'm waiting for all that sweet sweet freelance work to come rolling in (I'm not holding my breath on that one).

Taxes, Payments and Everything I Don't Want to Deal With

Taxes are frustrating. Not necessarily having to pay them, but forgetting to submit a new W-9 every time I change my address (which is a lot). But the clever people at the website I rely on for a majority of my income decided not to remind me to change my W-9 until last week. That's all well and good. I'll send you a new one. However, because I was such a bad little writer my payments are being suspended until they receive it. Um... this W-9 is for last year's earnings, not this year. Why suspend 2013 payment? Really. Luckily it's happening during the 10 days I don't have to see bills in my mailbox, but still... it's really annoying when this could have been taken care of months ago.

I don't know what is up with Triond either. This is the place that many of my articles are published, but for now I'm suspending submitting any articles to the website, as well as any promotion I was doing. The reason? A significant drop of earnings (the dreaded CPM) and no explanation. I didn't become aware of it until this last week when I finally published two articles that got hundreds of hits without much promotion and noticed that I didn't start making a penny until the hit count was over 125. Now, six months ago I would have earned a penny starting at 15 hits.

I know we're simply talking pennies here, and I'm not making much more than $0.50 a month, but for the last two months my normal amount of hits hasn't even reached the $0.50 payout. I'm not even sure that anyone got paid in January, though because I didn't meet the payout requirements I knew I wouldn't get paid. The problem I have is that there is no explanation from the management of the site. In the help section, these questions are being asked by others, but either being ignored or deleted.

If the CPM doesn't at least raise back up to where it was before, I may have no other choice than to move my articles, stories and poetry somewhere else. And now that will be much more difficult because they have the dreaded "previously published" label which many other sites similar to the way Triond works will not take them. So, the new article listed at the bottom is officially my last submission to Triond until things look better or I find a site that will give me the the CPM price they promise.

New Articles:
Why Branding is an Investment and Not an Expense

Reflection and Encouragement

I think today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well as the inauguration, is a great time for reflection. That reflection can be personal, regional or a reflection on our country as a whole. I hope others are enjoying this day as much as I am. Although I didn't stop working, I did have the television on. For a news junkie like me, this wall-to-wall coverage was a pleasant distraction during my breaks from work. However, it is a little frustrating when I tried to get others to see that this was interesting and important and they didn't think so. Oh well. I know history in the making when I see it. :)

Encouragement was also part of this day. When you're little, you have no idea how your life will turn out. To know that there's always a chance for success makes you want to push away all of your fears and dive head first into the unknown. While tomorrow I may feel different, today I have that surge of confidence everyone should have when they see happy events like this.



New Articles: 
Finding Your Mentor
Tips on Being a Good Mentor 

Half the Battle

Oh writing, you are a dear friend. I've taken refuge in my writing over the past few days. I think I've finally gotten over the guilt of not getting paid for every word I want to write down. I'm sure these hours of crafting words into something more will pay off someday. I just can't let myself be burdened by the worry of not getting paid for all the of the hard work that I do. This business is a work hard upfront, get the payoff later type business. I've known that since I was eleven and wrote my first novel. I think I just need a little reminder every once in awhile about it. Even if the writing never pays off, it was free entertainment!

Neurotically Scheduling Again

Well, it's that time--I'm moving (again). Technically, my parents are moving and dragging me along with them since I'm still not at a place where I can go exactly where I want to go. I think the total of moves in the past ten years now adds up to 13, when we move in a couple weeks. This time, moving isn't such a big deal. Ninety percent of my belongings are still in boxes from the last move, so it's really only a matter of hauling the computer and my clothes down a few blocks to the new place. That's when the fun really begins. I'm planning on unpacking everything and selling it all to raise money for my own move. At garage sale prices, I know it won't be enough, but it will at least be a start.

The whole chaos of a move means I have to very careful about my schedule and very diligent about getting the things done that I need to get done. I can't let people distract me, especially since this last week was not a good week to be a freelance writer. Articles were slim to nil, and so far today the trend is staying that way. I'm keeping busy with a number of job proposals and other non-paying work, but it stills nags at the back of my mind when work disappears like this. You would think I would be used to it by now. I hope it isn't like my Twitter comment yesterday--the harder I work, the more it seems that my goals are moving away from my grasp. You know... the whole carrot/stick image. It's Monday so I'm still working with a positive attitude, but it's going to be a daunting task just to keep that one up throughout the week.

New Articles:
Learning About Nuclear Waste Disposal

A Modest Milestone

I've manage to achieve a new badge at Triond: I have officially published 200 pieces of media. It's mostly articles, but there are also a few pictures sprinkled in that number. Now all I have to do is work on my page view badge... only 11,822 impressions left (as of writing this) to get to the next badge. That one might take awhile.

I'm hoping to reach a few more writing milestones by the end of the year. My bucket list (yes, I have one) does include getting 10 pieces published by 30. I have just under two years to get seven more pieces into some type of publication. Payment-schmayment. I'll take free publicity at this point. But this feels like my year, so I'll keep plugging away. I hope you all are doing the same!

New Articles:
Essential Hydraulic Power Supplies
Women's Leather Handbags Buying Guide

The Tough Writing Gigs

Writing for a living is a tough gig -- I don't think I will get any arguments with that. And like all other professions, there are just some things that annoy the working writer to no end. I happened to run into some of my biggest annoyances all at once this week. Anyone who has written online for money can probably relate. So here's just a taste of the long list of things that annoy my professional self:

Purposely adding grammatical errors: If you want something written by a professional, why do you insist that I maintain a certain amount of grammatical errors? Working too much on this type of work can get writers into bad habits they have a hard time breaking.

Writing About... Shady Topics: I get it. You want to sell your products online and make a profit just like anyone else. When that product is illegal or misleading, it's another issue entirely. When I see a legal notice blocking your website, I'm just going to back away and say, "No, thank you."

Tell me my work isn't good -- then not telling me why: Did I misuse a colon? Was it a misspelling of your company's name? Do you just not like me and/or my writing style? If you don't tell me what I did wrong, I can't improve your article and my writing skills.

I try not to whine, but I'm putting these annoyances out there so that maybe I can reverse some type of Internet writing karma. Better instructions and better communication between client and writers can make us all work harder and more efficiently.

New Articles:
Key Terms for Capital Costs

Making Significant Changes

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I'm not just in one of my wanderlust moods anymore -- I'm serious about getting somewhere in life. This is the time for me. I need to stop worrying about how others are doing when they have their own problems to deal with. Instead, I'm going to be inventive and get out of my increasingly co-dependent cycles (I'm sure there's more than one floating around here...). I'm a writer; I imagine the wildest, craziest things everyday. I should be able to imagine a life for myself that I want, when I want, where I want and make the first step to get to it. Now I just need that ever-elusive plan of action.

So, beyond my wild dreaming, I have been working on some short stories that are a little more down-to-earth, though one does seem to have a bit of a sci-fi element... that is, if you don't think that the main character is just crazy. I'm still not sure myself. I guess I'll find out in draft #2.

New Articles:
Magnet Wire Guide

Short Story Mania

Well... maybe the title to the post is a little exaggerated. I have three stories I'm working on right now. Two have been written for some time and just need cleaned up a bit. The third one is brand new... and definitely will need a few rewrites before the December submission deadline. I don't want to give anything away just yet, but lets just say you'll need a CB handle to read this one.

New Articles:
Types of Women's Formal Wear
Nursing Training and Education

Battles Scars in the Writing World

I have a few new battle scars to add to my career. I received a few rejection letters this week (even two on the same day!), but don't worry -- I'm not letting it get me. Why? It took about 20 rejections per each acceptance I've had over my career. I only received 3 "not for us" letters last week. I have plenty more wiggle room before it starts to worry me. So today I'm spending a little time to pick up my work, dust it off and send it right back out.

The only part of this whole experience that is strange is that I receive rejections much quicker now. When I first started, it took two months or more (even with online submissions). Now it takes less than two weeks. I guess I should be glad. It's better than sitting around for six months waiting to send it out somewhere else if it's not accepted.

New Articles:
Key Terms for The Wholesale Clothing Industry

The Return to Short Stories

After my spring foray into the world of poetry, I decided that this summer I would work on those pesky short stories that have been tugging at my imagination. I thought I could put it off for a little while longer, but with the early sunrises, late sunsets and pretty much no other plans for the summer, what better time to get to it? I'm starting slow by reworking two existing short stories into something readable (and submittable). After those are completed, I may dig deep down into my ideas boxes (the first one picture below -- this one's so full I had to start another one!) and pull a gem out.

The schedule for June is tightly packed with draft deadlines and revisions. It seems like a lot of work compared to what I did in May, but I can't wait to get started. In fact, I think I feel the need to get a little head start tonight. We'll see what happens. Everything in good time, as someone really smart said.

New Articles:
Key Terms for Biotechnology Consultants
The Swing of Things 
Choosing Temporary Medical Insurance 
Debit Cards: The Terms You Need to Know

A Subtle Shift

My extended swim in poetry is officially on hiatus since my last submission this weekend. It is now time to focus on a nonfiction project that I have outlined. Next step: the seemingly endless research and gathering of information. It may seem like a lot of work to others, but for me research is a lot of fun. I could spend hours in a public or university library reading everything I can get my hands on about a particular subject. There's something exciting in discovering information, even though most of it has been sitting there for the better part of the last century.

New Articles:
Key Terms for Shelf Corporations

A Little More Prep

I have one more major poetry submission that I'm working on right now. It's a chapbook contest and the one that I wanted to select pieces from the already semi-established Personas manuscript. I've also been working on one or two new poems to add to this. As always, it's a slow, thoughtful process needed to finally release work out into the world. This time, it's definitely ready to go.

New Articles:
Key Terms for Customs Brokers
Publicly-traded Companies Glossary 
Key Terms for Hose Fittings
Options for Telecommunications Education and Training 
Types of Call Center Equipment and Supplies 

Busy Bee

Over the weekend I submitted a few more poems, letting my babies out into the world. I also acquired a few new babies of the plant kind. I started a container garden on the back deck to see if 1) I could actually grow something and 2) so I could have a little more knowledge and control over the types of foods I eat. We'll see what happens with these later in the summer.

On the work front, I finally have a few new leads for work. I'll find out soon whether I get to add some new jobs to my daily to-do list. I'm cautiously excited about these since they would add something to the resume. I also feel guilty about spending more money than I intended to this weekend, so a new source of income would be welcome. 

Getting Ready for a Great Week

This week is Submission Week in my world. I finally have enough (good) work to submit to various journals, magazines and contests. So far my list includes two chapbook submissions, two online journals and a newsletter. It's all poetry at the moment because I find it the quickest to choose a home for. Publications that accept fiction are a little more tricky--sometimes you think your work could be an exact fit for them, sometimes they vary so wildly you aren't sure. More research must be done before I get back into the short story game.


New Articles:
Key Terms for B2b E-commerce
Relief Valves Glossary
Key Terms for Channel Marketing
Dracula in Perspective
Resources for Interior Design Information
Wine Import and Export Glossary 

Poetic Confessions #3: Songs in the Key of Poetry

At fifteen, my brother went from a basketball-loving dude to a guitar guy. Naturally, being his ever-present admiring little sister, I jumped on the bandwagon. He learned quickly, and soon he had dreams of fame and fortune. But being the smart cookie he was, he knew that most of the money came from songwriting. He started to pen a few early gems, but I didn't think they were great. So I jumped in and started writing songs for him. Needless to say, they weren't that successful. Most of them he wouldn't even attempt, saying they were too much like poetry, not enough like songs. He was right. Here's the evidence:

 

Carved in Stone

Love is in the Air

Love (is Like)

Not Who We Are

Stardust

Venus

First of all, I need to say that even if you don't click on the links, the titles are pretty pathetic in their own right. What does an 11 year old girl know about love? I guess the real question is have I learned about love since then? —probably not as much as one would think I have.

He did, however, attempt to write the music for Venus. It was the song I was most proud of and one that I really thought could work with a variety of different genres. My dreams of fame died when my brother joined a band and the lead singer was female. My song got thrown out of the window because the lyrics were for a guy and really couldn't be changed. Oh well. I still have hope maybe someday I'll see a royalty check for a Billboard #1.

New Articles:
Key Terms for Biotechnology Contract Research

Strange Days Indeed

Today has just been an off day. Don't know why it started like that, but it keeps going on. Work is slim pickin' at the end of the month, but for some reason I didn't think the end of the month was here yet. It definitely is! So I split my work time this morning between hunting new projects and genealogy. Genealogy got interesting and eventually crushed the new project hunting. I was sick all last week and managed to get my daily tasks done, but now that I'm better, I guess I just needed a little break.

But tomorrow is another day, and of course I still have all afternoon and evening to do something productive. I just hope the whole week isn't off because of this! I don't like living in these temporary alternate universes of time-sucking doldrums. Or something like that. :)

Poem of the Day: No

New Articles:
Types and Styles of Dance Floors
Understanding HMO Insurance Plans
Drafting Stool Glossary