Let's Polish These Turds! #1

I'm always thinking about why I'm still doing what I do with completing surveys, writing internet content, commenting on forums for pay, etc. Why do I do that rather than go get an easy paycheck for some work for someone else?

Because what I do means I don't answer to anyone but myself. That's entirely the reason why I do it. These are real struggles that and I have to work my way through, with each scenario, each and every day. I have a compulsion and a passion that I need to follow. 

When I think about how this could help other people, it's not something I would go around preaching, not without starting with:

• Adjusting To Uncertainty
• Becoming A Hardened Debater
• Be More Than Willing To Be A Hobo

The latter hasn't happened yet. It could have though. 

Were I in that situation and had the technical problems I'm having now, It would have tested me far more than how I'm being tested now. 

"The WriteNow Experiment: Introduction"

Just so you know that the WriteNow Experiment was something that I used to do with some of my internet writing, when I had a wild hair up my ass and wanted to write on impulse. And lately when I was thinking about the clean slate, I decided that since I had already self-published an eBook that I can start writing another one using live posts. 

This post in particular is appropriate because it's the first one of the day, filters everything I'm thinking about at the moment and would make the perfect introduction to that book. (The WriteNow Experiment: Introduction)

"Busting My Balls For A Dollar A Day"

I've been trying to put my work from home writing schedule together by just doing it, which takes me through the real-time process of what it's like to know what it's like. This is that experience through Bubblews, which is pretty disheartening. (Busting My Balls For A Dollar A Day)

"Reviewing My Self-Publishing Experience"

In trying to get back to where I was at in December, I figured I would review the beginning of my journey into self-publishing. This is where I got over the hump that I was afraid to get over for about a year.  But the final push was worth it. That was then and this is now! (Reviewing My Self-Publishing Experience)

"Why Do Something If It Doesn't Make You any Money?"

I'm always walking a fine line (sometimes no line) between the personal and the business end of any of these things. Today, this is more of a personal thing where I'm constantly being asked to produce results as the other person sees it. Then, I'm constantly having to explain to them how all of these things work and why results can't be produced when they want them. I swear to fucking god, the struggle between who run's who's life around here is a daily battle (Why Do Something If It Doesn't Make You any Money?)

"What Were My eBook Marketing Challenges?"

I was going through some of my older posts; one of the problems I've had with Bubblews is that they select only up to 100 posts to review and then, unless you have the links for the others, you won't find them. So, this is where I stepped back in time to see where I was at with marketing my first eBook (I'm such a slut) and give my hindsight review. (What Were My eBook Marketing Challenges?)

"Caught In A Web Of Paytrayl"

A combination of things happened to me recently that made it pretty clear that, while PayPal is pretty easy compared to other ways of having and distributing money, it's still a pain in the bitch when you still have to resort to old school ways of depositing when dealing with cash. The main problem here though is also that a lot of people still refuse to use PayPal to get shit done. So, it's still not very easy for merchants. (Caught In A Web Of Paytrayl)

"Prioritizing A Sure Thing"

As I say at the beginning in the intro of this series, as a freelancer, I have to prioritize certain things in order for me to make some money immediately. Currently, it's something that might pay me before the end of the week if I really bust my nuts to get it done. In the end, is it a sure thing? This is all about taking chances, unfortunately, a new way of me hoping I can get something done! (Prioritizing A Sure Thing)

Well. I'm not sure what to call this little series here but hopefully I'll be able to do more of them by the bulk. Leave some feedback here (as you won't be able to on Bubblews unless you have an account... wouldn't recommend getting one though) and let me know if I've gone far enough or not with some of these things or if you can relate to any of them? I don't think I've established the writing from home for pay crowd just yet.

But in any case, read and share these posts if you can, on your blogs or wherever so that I get a little money in my pocket, for drugs and booze. 

#TheWriteNowExperiment: Introduction

I like this picture. It's Old Bookshop - Cuidad Vieja - Montev and a morgueFile free photo by Alvimann. The English version of the yellow book in this image is available through Amazon for cheap!

Impulsive writing isn't natural. It can't be because it's hard to maintain without going through some hurdles such as caffeine or throwing the distractions out of the room. What's on my mind right now? How can I form that into an idea you too can use? I have to stick to it, give it more than just surface attention to turn it into something. So, welcome to the first idea I had when I sat down to write this thing. (Bubblews)

#Bubblews Can't Be Bothered.

I woke up this morning thinking about how I'm going to tackle today's writing activities. It's part of my daily routine along with questioning whether Bubblews is worth writing on anymore or not. I'm leaning more towards not since I haven't seen any changes in the amount of earnings from any of my posts. 

In actuality I really don't see anything because there's no way to check the analytics on the site for views or anything. We're pretty much writing blind, which is a break big change from where it used to be. It might be something they'll put up in the future but that's doubtful.

It's doubtful because there's no indication, like before, that they're at least moving through a phase toward improvement for the users of their service. Basically, they're simply improving things for themselves, which they're free to do as it's their company after all. But they've already erased pending redemption amounts along with the disputes to basically start over. 

The admins posted about this and stated that they did it because there had been too much fraudulent activity. The fact is that they couldn't be bothered to investigate legitimate claims versus illegitimate ones and give out what was owed, which is where the core of the problem is. It's part of our nature to let go of things when we can't hold onto them anymore. Did we really expect them to act any differently?

Those who were writing on the site bought it for a while though because that's how they were pitching themselves to social media, to people who were writing on their services. Now, there's no hint of that with their new approach to their business model. They've become just like any other content creation platform, only just a bit worse.

As a content creation platform, they were at a good point back before late 2014 when they extended the time it would take to get paid up to two months. On top of that, they placed limits to redeem once a month. Again, this is putting them on the same level as other services which pay out monthly. Problem is that at this point, the users of the site have to do more hurdles than before to make it worth while. 

Why I'm Bidding On @Freelancer For #Writing and #Graphics Projects

Hmmm. Due to the fact that I need money for this weekend, I went to Freelancer to check the boards for some bids to bid on because I've gotten work from there before. All of the projects I've ever bid on through that service are related to some kind of writing project. But today, I muster up some confidence and checked on photo editing and graphic design. And in one particular bid, I even started working on some of the images they posted that they wanted editing on and detailed to the client that I was already working on it.

The problem is however, that I can only bid on the project and hope that they read and respond to my request there because I need reviews on my profile to even directly send them a message and I don't have those reviews yet.

A few days ago though, I created a service to rough draft and write fiction for anyone who's looking for it. Because I want to indulge in creative writing to see if I can sell people on the idea. It's part of the process where I force myself into that market and with cool illustrations, I don't know why anyone wouldn't be down with that?

I guess fiction is looked at as something that isn't worth spending money on if it isn't well-written. That's pretty fair to say. But they're probably in the same boat where spending a little more than a dollar is too much of a risk. I know I can't do it right now. I'll go hit up the free book downloads myself, so it's totally understandable.

Yes. This is more of a personal post than something that's going to help you out. If it makes up for it, at least you can kind of see yourself trying to get a gig from that site. No?

It's because I'm stuck in this project that's just soooo boring, that I can't see myself doing anything else like, having the energy to write a book or write anything on other sites. Not even blogging. Also the money sucks!

Trying To Get Charged Up

Hmmm. This morning I read a post by a fellow blogger that paralleled what I was thinking as I was acting on the thought of motivating myself to tap into my creative impulse. I left the following comment on the Google+ community post:

When the show I had last night was finished, I had this feeling that I had overcome another obstacle. Which meant that sleeping was not an option as I stayed up practically all morning, thinking about what I was going to do to make some income. So I started sharing the link to my self-published eBook in social media. Because right now it's the ONLY thing that's going to bring me immediate income throughout the week. 

That's basically similar to what you've talked about in this post. I was feeling it too. And rather than sit around trying to get motivated, I try to act as quickly as possible so as to make sure the anxiety doesn't reach that action fast enough to be the reason I do it. I try to head it off at "the pass." 

So, since last night, I'm still at it, hoping that this interaction will keep me ahead of the curve, all very aware that I'm sleep deprived and "ghost" like.

For instance, I re-enabled my Fiverr account to get some orders for stories. Problem with that however, is that It's going to take fourteen days from the confirmation of the placed order before I can withdraw that money. I have no choice but to stick with the eBook I already have published.
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I'm also thinking that I'm going to have to force myself to write even more stories to sell asap and hit the internet as well as doors in my neighborhood to make some sales. It's going to be super hard and I can't let up.

Also, who knows what other ideas I'll come up with on the way? Maybe pawn something? Ugh! Suddenly. All of this seems so boring!

Getting Around The Publisher

Last year I wanted to publish my eBook of fiction. I put it off because I didn't know enough about the process of what I was getting into. I mean everything, more specifically, about the formatting.

Because when I first went to Amazon's CreateSpace, I was somewhat confused with how to create the contents and the chapters. So last week, I finally decided it was time to get to it and over an exhaustive two-day period I finally got it. From the formatting to converting into a EPUB file.

As of this writing, this is what my stats look like:

Since this blog is about uphill battles, let me tell you a little bit about this one... in a later post. Right now however, I want to give you the details on what I did past the formatting and creating of the file.

Not only did I get around the formatting tools but the publisher too. Because I wanted to find the best way to set up a cart through my blog without coming across as fraudulent or risky, which plays a big part in why people don't buy (my) eBooks.

PayHip

Yeah, these guys are not getting as much attention as they deserve. Look. I didn't already know that they were trustworthy because I take risks that I don't expect others to take. That's kind of the reason why these things are an uphill battle for me, but most of them haven't failed me so much as I failed them. 

But I looked up PayHip because they do real-time payments to your PayPal account while taking 5% from each sale. This is separate from what PayPal takes, which I had to ask about to know what I'd make back. And you know what? It fucking works! 

Basically they provide the platform to track the downloads with a PayPal cart set up on check out. You upload your eBooks with cover image and they provide the button, stuff like that. 

Your Own Marketing

Now, this is the catch but by design it all makes sense. They don't have a library to browse through the selections. But they do have:

• Affiliate Features
• Social Network Features
• Author Invites

Affiliate Features

These are set up to where you can put the email address of a person who will share out your book for you and a percentage of the sales is set by the author to give to that person. 

Social Network Features

Not only through email but obviously the social network thing is set up. You'll be promoting all the time. 

Author Invites

You can also invite an author to the network as it grabs the contact list from all popular email accounts plus through Facebook. 

I've been checking around other social networks and they don't seem to have too much on them. Like a Google+ page is one follower, they have use of one #PayHip tag in the same network. They've only been around for two years but this thing definitely works.

Also Buy My eBook and enjoy some very interesting, illustrated and highly entertaining stories, 99% independent at a low cost. And if you've got some eBooks you'd like to sell, consider these guys! 

The Harsh Reality Of Selling Online

I just started marketing my ebook this week and it's an exhausting process to follow up with people who say one thing and yet do something else entirely. What people won't tell you is that they don't trust something like a service that they have to willingly give a payment to. I could pitch it as much as possible but you practically have to walk them through the process or again, follow up with them and then walk them through the process. Then, you have to assure them that everything went well. It's a frustrating process because it puts the seller in a situation of sharing the anxieties (sometimes deep seeded) of others. It's certainly disheartening, couldn't all of this be easily resolved by just submitting and taking a chance? (Don't You Trust PayPal?)

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