Four years in the self-published marketplace

Today, I realized that I have been in the self-publishing marketplace for four years (well, almost four years). My first ebook, Pizza Boxes on the Floor, went live on Smashwords on October 15, 2011. And my first dubious erotica self-published offering, CBM1LA (yes, that is code because I do not share my erotica pen-names with the public), went live on Smashwords on October 30, 2011.

Now, I had been thinking about self-publishing for a long time before I went the self-published route.

I started writing for profit in 1984 when I realized at a truck stop that someone had to be getting paid for writing dubious erotica. (I had written some extremely bad science fiction and fantasy stories in high school--based on The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy and The Hobbit.) And my first check for dubious erotica was cashed in 1985, a whooping twenty-five dollars.

The first time that I considered going the self-published route was when a traditional occult publisher rejected one of my ideas, stating that my potential market for the idea was only a hundred people. At that point, self-publishing meant shelling out money to have a print shop (or vanity publisher) run off a hundred or more physical copies of your book---books that you then sold and shipped out of your basement. Working in food service, I never could scrape together the bank roll to make the initial investment.

The self-publishing market changed drastically on November 19, 2007 when Amazon released its first Kindle. While there were ebooks before this point (pdfs are ebooks), it was the creation of ereaders that made the current self-publishing environment viable. Smashwords, which went live on May 6, 2008, is a success because of ereaders. Without ereaders, the current self-publishing market would not exist.

Now, I will admit that I was a late adopter of the ebook market (late as in I missed the initial gold rush). When I became unemployed in October 2004, I tried to make a go at it as a full-time professional writer....but that was a complete failure.

There were (and are still) problems with the print market. For instance, the pay rate for short dubious erotic stories was twenty-five dollars in 2004---the same amount that was being paid in 1985. And acceptance and rejection letters were a long time coming. I once got paid two and a half years later for one story that got accepted---the first indication that the story had actually been accepted. Most of the time, one had (and probably still has) no clue if something was rejected or not (maybe a tenth of the erotic magazines send out rejection letters).

When the new ebook market started, I was in community college, and pretty much missed the news. It was only when I started to get ready to graduate that thoughts of getting back officially into writing occurred. Not that I ever really left writing, at that point I was writing for pay-by-the-view sites (most of which are now dead). Reading various blogs and websites, I became aware of the new marketplace.

Now, my decision to enter the new ebook market happened in December 2009. It just took me awhile to actually enter once I had made the decision. The article collection Pizza Boxes on the Floor, was from the onset of me deciding to write a monthly column for Hearthstone Community Church, meant for republishing in the ebook market. I didn't actually put the ebook of the 2010 HCC newsletter articles together until October 2011.

Of course, I also decided to put up one of my dubious erotic short stories up. It was a test. In the first quarter, I made a whooping ten dollars from that single story. And since then, I have collected some loot every quarter from that story.

Please note that the erotic ebook market has suffered several setbacks since then. Apple has removed almost all of my dubious stock, as has Kobo and several others. And let's not talk about the antics of Amazon.

But the decision to go self-published, despite the potholes that have developed in the market, still looks like a good decision. Even in a non-working quarter (I had mental health and personal issues), I make as much as I would have in a hard-working quarter in the print market.

Rite of the Magical Images of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year

My latest unsuitable for the traditional print market ebook is the Rite of the Magical Images of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. It is a ritual that I created and performed at the June 2013 Hearthstone Community Church Open Full Moon ritual. It is available on Amazon. (As well as Smashwords, and (probably--I haven't checked yet) Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, Oyster, and a couple other outlets which names escape my memory at the moment.)

Red Letter Day Fall Semester 2008

Today was that marvelous day of the semester when I learned whether my sacrifices for the semester were going to pay off or not. This year, not only have I neglected my business (something that you can do when you are self-employed), skipped an issue of writing for the student newspaper of the Community College of Denver (technically, I am independent contractor, so that is also self-employment), I also blew off National Novel Writing Month; I have also ignored friends and delayed meeting new applicants for the lodge. But today was the red letter day...the day when I learned that barring serious accident (like death or complete paralysis) I am going to pass all of my classes with a C or better.

In previous semesters, I learned my fate much earlier, but the standards of the University of Colorado at Denver are higher than the Community College of Denver's. It is always nice to have the burden of having to ace one's finals off one's mind. I just need to do a good job on them, don't have to get a perfect score (though a perfect score would really help in two of my classes).

So it is official: I am actually going to pass my first semester at the University of Colorado at Denver.

I guess it is time to think about getting back to attempting to write for money...

The Joys of Tax Season 2

But no matter how much I dislike doing my taxes, I know some people who feel even worse about doing them.

For instance, there is a friend of mine who worked for a call center, and at tax time discovered that he had been listed as an independent contractor. He asked his brother for tax help, not knowing that I also had to fill out self-employment paperwork. In my case, I was expecting to have to send in self-employment tax; it caught him by surprise.

The person that I know that hates tax time the most is my wife (by common law; the day after I get my Ph.D., we will go to the altar). She loathes tax time. She hates taking inventory (something I do not have to do as a writer unless I do a self-published project), and she is not very good with numbers.

Quite honestly, she might be the cause for the stereotype that artists are not good with numbers. And trying to convince her to keep up with her business paperwork is like trying to pull a rotten tooth out of a T-Rex. Her year end paperwork wouldn’t be so bad if she made an attempt to keep some rudimentary paperwork.

I learned to do paperwork when I was managing a restaurant for the Renzios brothers. Daily paperwork was a necessary part of the manager’s job. Switching to being a freelance writer, the habit of daily paperwork followed me from that job. It is of a different kind, but I try to make sure that it is done when it needs to be done.

When does paperwork need to be done? Simple, while the events (income, expenses, submissions, rejections) are still fresh in your mind. Any time that you put off paperwork that you are going to need later more than a week, you are going to be in big trouble.

The wife does paperwork four times a year--always when some tax work (state and/or federal) is done. And it is always a nightmare. If I didn’t already do paperwork and bookkeeping on a regular basis, watching the problems that she creates for herself would convince me that paperwork needs to be done on a regular basis.

Fortunately, I do not need to learn this lesson; unfortunately she still needs to learn it. Maybe this year, she will; but I doubt it.

The Joys of Tax Season

So it is that time of year again. The seasons of terror and confusion as the dark rider comes and pillages our bank accounts. Yeah, that is right, it is tax season. The season when I remember that nothing can be simple.

As a self-employed freelance writer, and a college student, I would like to say that I understand the process of filling out my tax forms. But honestly, I don't. I spent a couple of hours on it last night, and I am still not sure if I filled out the forms correctly.

I am not sure if there is anyone outside of the paid tax professionals who understand the system. I am betting there isn't. Last night, I spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out whether or not my college grant was taxable income or not. And how does the IRS know what you spent the money on (in my case, it was tuition, books and fees), which seems to be the determining mark of whether it is tax-free or not.

And don't get me started about interest vs. dividends. I think I technically had both. If not, then there is a mistake on my forms.

I am not sure how many mistakes I made on my tax forms. Ultimately, I am not worried. I did not claim all my business expenses; so if I missed something, I should still be ok. Besides, I am a small fish--I did not earn that much.

But given the fact that I am already scheduled this year to make more money than last year, I am not looking forward to filing next year. I wonder if my economics professor will consider giving me a discount (he does tax preparation). If not, can I get a simpler tax code?

First week of the semester down

It is no surprise, at least to me, that I have been relatively inactive this past week. After all, it is the first week of the new semester.

True to form, I started the semester behind--"Here read all this; none of the other professors ever assign homework." Besides my other homework, I have to do two hours of reading everyday to keep caught up.

Not that I am complaining. It may sound like it, but honestly, I am not. I really do love college.

It is just that I am supposed to be also trying to grow my own business at the same time. And sometimes, college ends up taking top priority and that is that.

So due to the time crunch, some things have been backburned. Such as the redesign of the lodge's webpage, and a couple of major writing projects.

But on the bright note, within a couple of weeks, I will be caught up--I hope.

First day of the semester

Well, today is the first day of the new college semester. This semester I am taking Pyschology 101, World History 111, Humanities 121 (looks like we are focused on the Ancient Greeks), and Masterpieces of Literature 2.

Due to the Humanities and Lit class being done by someone that believes that you will learn more from reading the writings than being exposed to a canned answer, I have a lot of reading to do. Eight novel length books in fact (four per class); actually there is nine books altogether, but I am not counting Voltaire (I have already read that one before--Voltaire is a great writer).

And yes, I am walking into these two classes with my eyes wide open; I had this professor last semester. Barely made an A in the class, the essays gave me more grief than the reading.

So for the next week or so, I will be reading two textbooks (or at least part of them) and two novels until I am ahead of the reading. Due to this, my writing is going to be on the backburner for a few days.

But that is why I am self-employed while in college; I have the option of shuffling the work around my school. How many people can say that? Not many.

Short term vs long term goals

Occasionally, I notice that I am out of step with the rest of the world. Whether it is a result of my viewing the world differently or just not giving two hoots, I am not sure.

For instance, one of my friends has given up completely on Helium. He also refuses to join any write-to-paid site that pays as low as Helium does. Or that remind him of Helium.

I understand his distaste of Helium and if I didn't take the long view, I would probably share it.

But I don't. I think it is because I have the option of taking the long view of the potential of Helium and its effect on my bottom line.

Yes, Helium is low paying for the most part. After all, it is royalty based (ad revenue share). But that is only the short view.

Let's say that I write an article that earns ten cents a month on Helium. Ten cents a month will not make a dent in my bills. Yet over the course of a year, that will be an additional dollar and twenty cents of income in my pocket. Mulitply that amount by a dozen articles and it becomes fourteen dollars.

It does not sound like a lot. But that is exactly how the best writers on Helium are approaching Helium--by writing a lot of articles in the right categories (some subjects pay better than others there).

At the moment, I have fifty articles on Helium. That is earning me twenty-five dollars a year. It is not a lot of money, but then again it is only fifty articles. Several of them I should not have bothered writing--they had a really short shelf life.

That is one thing that you do not want to write on Helium is an article with a short shelf life. One wants to aim for subject matter that a lot of people are interested in which has a long shelf life. Ideally, one should aim for articles that will still be useful (making revenue) twenty years from now.

That same ten cents a month article if it has a shelf life of twenty years will net you twenty-four dollars. And do not worry about inflation--ad revenue shares are based on advertising rates; as they go up, so will your share.

Now, I do know why my friend has a hard time taking the long view of that site and all others that are built around the same premise. He has been unemployed for awhile and is desperately looking for a way to make up for lost income.

I understand his needs. It is just that I chose to take the long view when faced with the same problem. After almost a year of unemployment, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to go to college. Basically, I am living off of student loans and what little I make as a writer.

And for me, anything that brings in a tickle of money is a good thing. Especially things that I can do around my school schedule.

After all, I am playing the long game. If I build up enough stock, the tickle will become a river.

It is the same game when one is working on a novel or any other project. You do a lot of work upfront in hopes of cashing in later. It is not quick or easy. Yet it is the way that all people who make their living from royalties started out.

To see my Helium profile, click here.

Where does it become self-employment?

Continuing on the same track as yesterday's vent, I think that one of the reasons that people do not respect the schedules of writers is the simple fact that they do not consider them to be actually working.

Sometimes this is just because people do not know how hard working a writer actually is. They think that we only write when the mood stucks us, and that the muse takes care of it all. They forget about the chores of revising, market research and getting the muse to show up in the first place.

(There is language I would like to use about that last part, but young impressible minds might be present. For that matter, old impressible minds might be present, not to mention those who would instantly condemn me for using such language. I am not sure what the muse might think about it--I have never asked her--and it is not like she doesn't already know my opinion.)

The perfect illustration of how hard the average person thinks writing is lies in the party trick of announcing that you are a writer. Note the comments you get, the average person thinks being a writer is glamourous. It is glamourous provided that you consider hanging out at home with your cats, cursing the gods for making you a writer, and staring at a blank page glamourous. Personally, I don't. I consider grave diggers to have more glamour in their existence than the typical writer.

Oh yes, there are writers who go to parties, rub elbows with the Dali Lama, and have security guards. The closest thing I have to a security guard is the neighbor's dog. Bottom line is that I am not J. K. Rowling, or any of the other writers that the patrons of the shopping mall can name off the type of their head.

(I dare the gods to give me that type of fame--I promise to use it wisely and only say nice things about the state of the United States government or whatever the pet peeve of the day is.)

Plus there is always someone at the party who will walk up to you and offer to share a great book idea with you if you give them fifty percent of the proceeds. Obvivously, this is someone who does not realize that writing is hard work (having the idea is the easy part) and believes all writers are loaded. Fortunately, most people seem to realize that writers live off of ramen noodles which unfortunately illustrates my next point.

People don't seriously think that you are working unless you are making money. And a lot of money. By IRS standards, I am self-employed. To everyone else, my income is too low to consider me anything other than an unemployed college student. My work schedule is spent goofing off and avoiding real work as far as they are concerned.

Take my wife for instance (I call her my wife due to common law and the fact that I won't put up with this from anyone else--ahh, isn't love grand), today there was that conversation that ran along the lines that she was making $400 a month (working twenty hours a week) while she was in college the first time. Therefore she doesn't consider me gainfully employed until I hit that mark.

It makes me wonder if she would hold that stand if she knew that I was considering becoming an adult webmaster. The pay is better than I make as a writer. And they do seem to get invited to better parties. But would she be willing to call that gainful employment no matter how much money I was making? I doubt it.

In the end, I guess all that a writer can do is continue to grind one's teeth. That and stand on a corner begging people to buy your books. As for the respecting of one's work schedule, I suggest insanity--after all, it does seem to work for the bums downtown.

Respect my work schedule

One of the problems with being a writer, especially a freelancer, is the general lack of respect for my work schedule that is exhibited by others.

Now some of my schedule problems this semester were of my own creation, and were the result of me planning based on best case scenario. For instance, when picking my classes this semester I scheduled an hour and forty-five minutes between two classes (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Originally, I planned on doing some writing between these two classes.

Three things has changed this plan.

The first of which was that the Auraria campus library in an effort to crack down in the homeless camping out in the library is requiring that you reserve a computer in advance. All public libraries (Auraria is a Federal library) in Denver are doing this. Given the fact that the class I am getting out of is Martin (Marty) Sabo's Microeconomics, it is occasionally difficult to figure out when I am leaving class. And considering that you are only allowed to use the computers for one hour--well, it is just easier to do other things during that time period.

(*The phone rings, and Morgan ends up walking outside to look at something*--an illustration of what he is talking about today as you will see.)

So I have chosen to do the occasional bit of homework, and errands during this little slot of time. The errands tie into the second thing that happened. Toni, my wife (common law), decided that she was going to go back to college. She is aiming for a Masters in Spanish to suppliment her skills as an art teacher. Due to this, she is swamped with homework, and many of the errands which were normally ran on the weekend are now being done during the week. This second part ties into the gist of today's blog--just wait.

And the third thing that happened is that one of my class mates from the philosophy class is also free during this hour and a half. Somehow, we have became friends, and generally agreed to set aside any thought of homework and other matters unless they are urgent. A lot of our discussions end up being about philosophy and reading, so it ties into school and my writing. I am willing to pay the opportunity cost of a Helium article a week to chat with someone.

At least, it was a mutual agreement to divert this time into friendly discussion. And so, we end up back at the second thing. Thanks to Toni being back in school, I have ended up running a lot of errands that should being done on the weekend. *sigh* I have lost track of the number of bank runs that I ended up doing for her.

The sad part is that it started before the semester did. And it illustrates completely my gripe of the day (too bad it happens so often that it is a common gripe among writers), the general lack of respect that people have for the work schedules of writers.

At the root of it, I think that people consider freelance writers to be unemployed. While I am beginning to make a steady tickle of nickels and dimes, it is not large enourgh to convince Toni that I am working. Occasionally, I whine that I could be making thirty thousand a year and she would still consider me unemployed. I firmly suspect that unless the job involve being on someone else's payroll and working in an office downtown that she will consider me unemployed.

It is a sore point for me. Especially when I have penciled in a day of writing, and it ends up being wasted on errands that I can run because I am "unemployed." Even when she is home, she just generally presumes that I am doing nothing. If she was home right now, despite the fact that I am typing at the computer, she would have no problem with interrupting me.

I am not allowed to do this when she is throwing pottery (a part time business she does), nor can I bug her when she is doing homework or paying bills; her concentration is sacred, mine is not.

And it is not just her.

Today is a prime illustration of this. Yesterday, one of Toni's friends called to ask if he could borrow the trailer that we have. I said that he could borrow it if he helped me unload the stuff that was being stored in the back of it (primarily ceiling board for the studio's ceiling). I wanted to do it this weekend, instead I end up doing it today. There was no asking me if it was good timing for me or not. Fortunately, I didn't have any hot projects, or overdue homework to hack out. But it distrubs me. Especially because he is also self-employed (locksmith, mechanic and general handyman).

What makes his profession rate higher in the scheme of things? What makes his schedule more important than mine?

I don't know. It irks me.

And other writers that I have talked to are also irked by things like this.

I have no solutions for the problem. I know that someday it will become a major issue for me.

In my case, I know that the emotional side of the problem comes from my childhood. My mother used to consider her schedule and needs more important than anything that I needed to do. A large part of my bad grades in High School can be contributed to the fact that babysitting my brothers and sisters were more important than me doing homework or showing up to my first class on time. I am programmed to put everyone else's need before my own.

But it is not right that I do so. Nor is it right that others expect me to do so either. Yet it happens all the time.

I beg all of you to respect the work schedules of writers. Especially mine. If you need me to change my schedule--ask, don't impose.