Hey Folks,
An odd start to the morning. I opened my email to find one person had unsubscribed. In the very next email, the subscriber (a regular donor) wrote “Man, The last two issues are worth an extra $ or so! Thanks.”
So I emailed him back to say thanks and ask him what I had done right. (grin)
I wish I had the kind of attitude that would enable me to email the one who unsubscribed and ask her what I did wrong.
When I look up her subscriber account later and see the reason, I hope it’s simply “no longer interested” for whatever reason. “Spam” is the worst (and untrue) and “I receive too many emails” is almost as bad.
If you find this Journal useful, entertaining or educational but something about it annoys you to no end, please email me to let me know that.
I can change anything except the appeal for donations and the display of numbers. But then, both of those come at the end of the email, long after all the important, meaty stuff is over.
One reader of my Pro Writers blog over on my author site a long while back wrote that having the “tags” in the sidebar bugged her. She said she never used them.
So I moved them to the widget across the bottom of the page. They’re still available there if a reader wants to click on a particular type of topic (for example, if you want to see everything I’ve written about Cycling) but they aren’t so in-your-face up alongside the post.
Of course, everyone is different. The reader who unsubbed might simply not care for any of it. But if she’s a writer who enjoys learning, she’s cutting off a rare, valid (if not valuable, to her) resource.
Then again, she might even still be around. Maybe she chose to switch to taking the Journal via RSS instead of email. Or maybe she’d rather check in manually from time to time.
When I do have an unsub, I don’t get all anguished over it. I just kind’a wish I knew.
Quote of the day, which I believe is from the television series Outlander:
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.” (Thanks, Sam T.)
Puts me in mind of a great attitude for a writer. When you finish one, start another.
Today I received my Reedsy newsletter, the topic of which was “[Full-time indie author part 3]: The power of series & universes.” I can’t refer you to a link (the author didn’t list one), but he did list the first two in the series, which you can find at
Part I: How to find your niche.
and
Part II: Researching and “rapid-releasing” in your niche.
The author also writes “there’s a great video on YouTube of a talk by Michael Anderle at the 20BooksVegas conference that offers some fantastic tips on series writing, and dissects the whole universe philosophy. Here’s the link.
Wow. While adding a new post to my author website, I found out WordPress has just made posting a lot more difficult.
Their most recent (suppository) update includes “blocks.” To get back to some semblance of what you’re used to seeing, in the upper right corner of the screen when you go to add a new post, click the Document tab. (It defaults to Blocks.)
I have no idea why every new Business Major who comes down the pike feels the necessity to reinvent a perfectly round, smooth-rolling wheel. Except maybe to justify their salary. Sigh.
Not a big writing day today. The story continues to flow, but there are rocks and many rapids in the stream.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Some Numbers on Income” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/some-numbers-on-income/.
See “Ten Tips on Pace & Structure of a Thriller” at http://jordandane.com/for-writers/ten-tips/. I don’t agree with everything Ms. Dane has to say, but these are some valid tips.
Via Linda Maye Adams’ newsletter, see “Christmas at the White House” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM4T4dDOtng. Enjoy the decorations and your beautiful, gracious First Lady.
Finally, if you’re of a mind, see the very humorous “Christmas PC is Outta Control!” at https://www.leelofland.com/christmas-pc-is-outta-control/. I personally love it when a guy rants with his tongue firmly lodged in his cheek.
Fiction Words: 1826
Nonfiction Words: 740 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 2566
Writing of Dread (novel, tentative title)
Day 10… 2798 words. Total words to date…… 30745
Day 11… 1738 words. Total words to date…… 32483
Day 12… 1054 words. Total words to date…… 33537
Day 13… 1411 words. Total words to date…… 34948
Day 14… 1056 words. Total words to date…… 36004
Day 15… 2160 words. Total words to date…… 38164
Day 16… 3684 words. Total words to date…… 41848
Day 17… 3558 words. Total words to date…… 45406
Day 18… 1826 words. Total words to date…… 47232
Total fiction words for the month……… 13695
Total fiction words for the year………… 472378
Total nonfiction words for the month… 4290
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 175976
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 648104
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 9
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 35
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31
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