Today I think I have to spend some time tweaking ads.
My landing pages were viewed about a hundred times in February (“Landing Page” is the proper term for a page that you find by following an ad), but resulted in potentially one sale. That’s not a great number of sales… I think the goal is to be closer to 10% (or ten sales), which would be incredible, really. I need to find a way to sell at least a few dozen books a month (ideally a few hundred, but I’ll settle for a hundred as a starting point!). Something that generates at least enough money to pay for the ads that generated the sales would be enormous, and a huge financial strain off my mind.
Money is always on my mind these days. Wish it weren’t.
Which reminds me, gotta go write a Patreon post… okay, done. There’s a weird thing where I don’t mind maintaining my Patreon account, but by the same token it doesn’t make a lot of money so it doesn’t really matter if I do? But still. Important to me at this point.
Anyway, I should go do more advertising stuff (groan), so that I can write more on the novel (yay!).
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Weird Traffic Numbers
I think I mentioned that I’m running some new ads. They’re low-key things, of course, because my budget is slightly lower than “shoe-string” and just barely above “non-existent.” But that’s okay! It is still directing traffic to my website at a higher level than I had before I ran the ad.
Very few of those are converting into sales… gotta work on that part… but getting eyeballs on my work is still a big, positive step. And I am starting to finally see significantly more traffic from nations that speak the language my book is written in! Which isn’t to say people who can’t speak English aren’t welcome… heck, with modern translation software, give’er. But I suspect that wasn’t why I was getting so many visits.
Anyway, February has been a pretty dismal month, for the most part. A few bright points, a few more book sales, but too few, for sure. But! I did manage to write another chapter and a half for the book! Gotta pick up that pace, though… those are rookie numbers, and I can’t afford to keep outputting rookie numbers!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
New Therapist?
Today I’m having a quick 15 minute interview with a potential new therapist.
Long-time readers may remember that I had a therapist a few years back. Darrel, as memory serves. Nice guy. I had to stop seeing him when the money dried up, but it was otherwise a very positive experience.
I’m curious to see how this meeting will go. Cautiously optimistic, even. I could really use somebody to talk about my life to that might help give me structure and a framework to work with… maybe that’s setting my sights too high? I dunno. I guess we’ll find out!
Wish me luck!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Some Nice Encouragement
Yesterday I had a dental appointment that went quite well.
Not great, mind you. I might have to get one of my wisdom teeth out this year. Maybe both if I can afford it… we’ll have to see. So that part wasn’t great.
But as the dental assistant was cleaning my teeth (still a super weird feeling) they asked about what I do for work. I, of course, mentioned that I am a writer, and they seemed really interested (which, I know… part of the job, I get it). When I left I gave them one of my business cards and mentioned that they can find all my work on Amazon.
I’m curious if they’ll actually buy one of my books. They joked that I’d have to sign it next time I go, which I thought was very sweet. But it was a nice feeling to have people be like “You’re a writer!? Wow!”
I don’t get that very often. I get a lot of bills, a lot of looking at the slow trickle of book sales, but not that many “That’s so cool…” responses from people. It’s definitely not why I do this, but it feels nice to get a little encouragement from unexpected sources.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Canadian Content
Today I’m writing an ad for Canadian science fiction readers.
Historically, my ads have been broadly targeted, aimed at people who like sci-fi and who read English. Very little more specific than that.
There’s a little bit of creative work involved, but mostly it’s more technical stuff. Part of which is an excuse to continue struggling with DaVinci Resolve, which I want to learn at some point.
So that’s my day today. Whee.
Ah well. It’s gotta get done, and there has been a small impact from my previous efforts to make ads. And although I learn slowly, I do learn. So there’s at least an upside.
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
A Good Therapist
A few years ago I started, and then stopped, seeing a therapist. He was nice enough, and I think we made some limited headway together, but I couldn’t afford to continue working with him.
Like, literally couldn’t afford. Therapists are expensive, yo.
But today I’m looking for a new one. Not that my finances are any better (quite the opposite, in fact), but I do have a health spending account through my work that should help offset the worst of the cost.
I hope.
So I am looking again. I’m not sure how one finds a therapist these days… I Googled it because of course I did, but whether that’s the right way or not, I couldn’t say.
Come to think of it, this will be my fourth therapist. I saw one when I was in university, and then a few years after moving to Kitchener I had a few visits with one. That was pre-pandemic… long time back. That one was easy… I walked into a therapy centre nearby and asked to speak with somebody.
Anyway, fingers crossed I can find a good therapist. My head could definitely use the help.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
A Tough Row to Hoe
This week has started on a hard note, but that’s okay. Just because things are hard doesn’t mean they aren’t worth doing.
I will say that Penny Arcade, one of the few online webcomics I still read, recently posted about how awful and stupid AI for writing is. That was refreshing to read. I know it’s a parasocial relationship and all, but I’m 98% sure that Jerry and I would get along really well. He seems like a good guy. Quirky sense of humour, granted, but it has served him exceptionally well. And, last I heard, he’s thinking about writing a Battletech Novel… and I am definitely doing that. So we might share that rarified air before too long!
Spoilers: it will be years, at the rate that Battletech gets published. But that’s okay! It’s about putting one foot in front of the other.
Anyway, I have to spend more time tweaking my ads today (yay…), so that’s my writing work for the day, but then I think I can get back to writing. Like, actual writing. Putting one word after another until a story emerges.
Basically magic.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
New Month
I can hardly believe we’re almost a week into February already. Don’t get me wrong, January took a year to finish. It was a SLOW month, lots of miserable work I don’t enjoy, for sure. Plus the world being on fire and everything being awful, you know.
I certainly hope it a few decades we can all look back on these years as “the bad old days.” I hope things get better. There’s good news out there, for sure, but it’s tricky to find sometimes.
Anyway, my new advertising efforts haven’t paid off yet (they have cost me, for sure, but that’s a different issues), but today I’m spending more time working on those. Which is fine. It has to get done. Finances are tighter than usual due to the additional ad expenses, but hopefully that will get under control by the end of this month.
And I’d like to have the next novel at least half done. I think that’s reasonable. It’s probably not… but I’m going to try anyways! Nobody ever said I was reasonable.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Split Focus
As is the case for so many people these days, I am working multiple jobs.
I am working multiple jobs at my multiple jobs. Trying to do a bit of everything so that I can afford to do little things like… you know… eat. And sleep with a roof over my head. Luxuries like that.
The main trouble with this is that it makes it very difficult to get better at any one thing if I’m constantly pulled in nine directions. I get better slowly at each of them, sure, but that’s not really all that useful if I want to make a living by writing. I have to get better at writing faster.
All this to say that today I have to do some commission painting for a client while working on my Meta ads for my books while then writing scripts for a podcast. None of those are working on my novel… at least none of them are directly working on my novel, and that’s kinda what I want to do.
Maybe I’ll just throw caution to the wind for one day and write a few chapters instead of sleeping. That might be a thing I could do.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
All The Little Things
The last week and a half… say two weeks… has been a hundred little things. Getting the short story polished and available for free for anyone who signs up for my newsletter (thank you!), but then setting up new ads, and then new tracking metrics for those ads, and then paying for new services to let me track the new metrics for the new ads…
Sigh
I know I talk a lot about how I want to be a writer, but all of this other stuff that I’m doing to try and encourage and allow me to do that… I’m not a fan. I don’t want to be an ad guy! But I do want people to find and buy my books, and in 2026 that doesn’t just magically happen on its own. It’s a lot of hard, slow, methodical work. And that’s fine, I don’t mind hard, slow, methodical work… I wouldn’t be a writer if I wanted things to be done quickly. NOTHING is done quickly in writing. But gosh is it ever a slog sometimes.
Ah well. It’s done for now. I can go back to writing the next Caitlyn Morcos novel! Woo! I’m having a lot of fun mulling over the particulars of what it means to be an interplanetary marshal in a future where things like ICE don’t exist any more, but they did exist in the distant past. How would that change the shape of future interplanetary organizations? How would it change the people who are attracted to, and excel at, those kinds of jobs?
It’s a lot to chew, and I love doing it as I throw starships and pirates and explosions at Morcos. She’s a tough woman, she can handle it… probably…
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
Short Story Done!
Okay, I think the short story I submitted to my editor in early January is done… just gotta convert it to a PDF (should be easy enough), and then set up all the software necessary to distribute it for free for people who sign up for my newsletter!
Feels good to have one thing sorta checked off my list.
Next up is to figure out the Meta Ads, because they’re not really working. At all. I mean, they’re sorta working, people are going to my website, but nobody has bought a book yet and that’s kinda the thing. Even if a few people buy the book it would be worth it to continue… on the other hand, it’s only been a week, so might be a bit early yet. Gosh, I hate figuring out ad stuff… ah well. It won’t do itself.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Doin' Something
Well, the new ad is doin’ something.
Not selling my books (yet), sadly. But it does seem to be directing people to the website, and that’s not nothing. Now I just have to get them from seeing my work to buying my work, and I’m off to the races.
Small, iterative steps. Nothing has to be perfect, but everything needs to be improved as you go. I’m okay with that… I’m a big fan of creating a thing, and then improving the thing I have created. I think that’s kinda how you get better at anything… first make something, then worry about making it better.
Anyway. It’s nice to see the uptick in traffic from countries that speak and read English! Here’s hoping I land a few sales before long!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
New Ad Running
I’ve mentioned that I’m not crazy about all the advertising work involved in my work. I see it as a necessary evil, but still necessary, so I do it, but it’s not my favourite part.
I know authors that love the advertising part. And I can kinda get it… with careful management it can be a “Numbers Go Up” sorta rush when things work out. I certainly enjoy people being able to find (and read) my books, so more ways to make that happen aren’t a bad thing. I just wish it wasn’t needed… that I could focus on creating, rather than trying to figure out ways to get people to buy my books so I don’t starve to death.
But, regardless, I did recently finish a very simple little ad for Facebook/Meta, and it went live a few days ago. Thankfully it’s not costing me a fortune, but it also hasn’t gotten me any results yet… but again, that’s not unexpected. I am undoubtedly going to have to massage and tweak the ad over the next couple weeks to get it to a point that maybe it occasionally makes me a tiny amount of money. And I accept that, I get it, I just wish I didn’t have to, ya know?
Ah well. It is what it is. At least with it done I can focus on writing for at least a few days before I have to do more ad work!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and heatlhy!
Space Opera
I’ll be completely honest, I don’t know where the “Opera” from “Space Opera” originates from. One assumes it is from the musical form of theatre, with its grandiose plots and extravagant sets, but that’s a suspicion. They might both stem from a common meaning for the term? Or perhaps early science fiction, through radio dramas, was more inclined towards musicality? Unlikely, but not impossible.
I could probably Wikipedia this issue, but I don’t really care that much. Space Opera is Space Opera, regardless of why the origins of the term exist. I’ll probably look it up later when I’m not working, just because I ten towards infinite curiousity. But no reason to now.
I mention it only because as much as I love epic Space Opera, and for clarity I really really do, I don’t think I’ve ever written one. I’ve written a bunch of space adventures (Tintian, The Hunt for the Wind’s Howling Rage), I’ve definitely written a space western (Caitlyn Morcos), and some quasi-military sci-fi (Starconvoy EH-76), and one YA-adjacent space adventure (The Queen of the A.I.s)… but no real Space Opera. Not in the Brin or Pournelle style, at least. Definitely not in the Asimov style.
I think that’s okay. Space Opera like that tend to be bigger in scope than the stories I want to tell. I like telling stories that are zoomed in, with relatable and interesting characters, rather than sweeping galactic epics. I’m not really interested in the decisions of kings or empresses in so much as I like focusing on the movement of lieutenants or workers. Those are the stories that interest me.
Maybe it’s because I have never aspired to be an emperor. Sounds like a lot of work, and I doubt the payoff is worth it.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
More Advertising Woes
I’m trying to diversify my advertising… right now I’m doing almost exclusively Amazon Ads, which is fine and mostly semi-successful (but not successful by any extent of the imagination). A colleague has been experimenting with Facebook ads and has had a lot better success than I’ve had, so I’m going to try it out.
I suspect in the near term it will be more expenses, but I’ve gotta figure out ways to get my ads to be cost-neutral. They don’t even need to make money, they just need to stop costing so much money.
One step at a time.
Anyway, that involves me figuring out more about Davinci Resolve, which I was trying to learn anyway, so I’m going to spend some time doing that (between writing short stories and additional chapters in my book). Because, obviously, I need MORE things to do. Obviously.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Short Story Finished!
Okay, first draft of the short story I’ll be offering to anyone who wants to join my email newsletter is done! Phew!
I’m going to sit on it for a day or two, and then read over it again for the 2nd draft. Then that goes off to my editor for a quick coat of polish (it’s only 7,000 words as this point, which admittedly is a little longer than I’d love, but I think it’s a natural fit at this point), and then I just have to plug it into my newletter software!
A lot of work for that little story. I hope people like it! I’m not 100% on the ending right now, but that’s the thing about short stories… you just don’t have the room to fully develop everything I want to develop. I think the ending is good, but it’s also a little abrupt. Who knows, maybe it will change a little before I’m finished!
But I’m not done for the day. Having finished the short story, I also put a few words in on the novel, and I think I might finally get around to starting to film the next stop motion short I want to do… I’m excited about that one! I really enjoy doing stop motion… it feels… satisfying? I dunno, I just really enjoy it.
If I don’t get that started today, I will definitely get it started tomorrow!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
2026 Begins!
Start of the year has been… sub-optimal at home, but that’s okay. It’s a stressful time for everyone, and frankly, if things started to go right for me I’d be suspicious.
Relieved, but suspicious.
Regardless, it is what it is, and I’m still alive and here and writing. That, to me at least, is the important part.
Monday I’ll pick up the story again, hopefully moving forward with it, but for today I’m just going to take it a little easier, try to let things calm down overall, and do my best to keep my head down but my chin up. Tricky, that, but what else can you do.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Just taking a few days to relax (as best I can), stepping away from most of my tech and all of my responsibilities until… tomorrow? Probably will get back to writing as of tomorrow.
Here’s hoping each of you are having a fantastic holiday season, surrounded by those you care about and, ideally, those who care most deeply about you.
Gentle Snow
I’ve mentioned (many times) how I don’t like the cold. I accept that it will be cold for about 6 months of the year, due to where I live and the way both “geography” and “weather” work, but I don’t like it.
That stated, today is a chilly day and there is gently falling snow. Fluttering? Big, slow flakes that don’t “fall” so much as they twist on slight breezes and air currents to eventually land on the ground.
It’s actually quite pretty. The world is rendered almost monochromatic, making the occasional flash of colour from lights or birds all the more impressive. It’s nice.
Would I rather be warm, someplace sunny? Or even warm in someplace that was raining (but it was still warm)? Yes. A thousand times yes.
But since I am not there, and I am here… I can at least appreciate the weather for what it’s worth.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
But Baby It's Cold Outside...
I know that not everyone likes that particular Christmas song. I’m of two minds about it… I like the tune, and I think there are some killer performances of it, but I don’t like some of the more questionable elements told by the story of the song? And yes, I know there is a big back-and-forth about whether the song is liberating for women (she’s deciding to stay!) or oppressive for women (he’s forcing her to stay!), but art is always viewed through the lens of the consumer, so that’s nothing new.
For me, I kinda like it. But it’s not my favourite (although I’d be hard pressed to pick a favourite carol… I have a least favourite, which is Silent Night).
But I’m not here to write about the song… it is legitimately cold outside today! The weather in Southern Ontario has been full of big swings the last few days… really cold, then shockingly warm (and raining), then another cold snap and snow, and then windy but mild… it’s unpleasant, to be sure. No matter what weather you like, you’re getting a fair amount that you won’t enjoy, almost no matter what! Such is life… the winters here are inconsistent, but I’ve never liked the cold so that’s not a huge surprise.
At least I have plenty of writing to do! Gives me something to focus on other than the weather!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!