First thought: I really have to learn how to do the photo thing better on wordpress. It confuses me every time. I’ve added and deleted this photo four times now.  Also, I need to make enough money someday so I can pay people for their photos.

Second thought: Giveaway. So I’m in something called a facebook hop. Not entirely sure what this is, but it’s a promotional thing and I will be giving away book or books, and an Amazon card next week. It runs from April 3rd to the 9th. Just go like my facebook page–it’s over there in the sidebar–and sign up for my newsletter there and you will be entered. You will somehow be contacted. Not sure how right now, but I have friends who will be kind enough to tell me how this works. . .also, there will be a main giveaway on a main facebook page with a $200 amazon card giveaway. Now that is definitely worth it, right? I think there will be a list of other facebook author pages also doing a giveaway. There, I said giveaway three times. I think the search engine will not call me spam.

Random thought: I hate spam. My mother use to make a spam meal in which she coated the spam in cornflakes or some such thing and put pineapples on top. I won’t be posting that recipe here, I promise.

So this week was learning how to be an actually selling author instead of one who just posts things on a couple sites and hopes for the best. I’ve realized that I am actually a small business owner. This has been a very slow epiphany. I would say that it’s not really an epiphany, which by definition is sudden, but the words popped into my head suddenly. It’s the fact that I’ve been moving toward this that’s been slow.

I’ve resisted this for years. I hate the idea that creative people have to think about selling. We should just be creative. But there’s something freeing about saying “small business owner” as opposed to “promotion” or “marketing.” Also, I don’t know why I put those words in quotes. Grammar is a thing that I am always learning. That’s not on my list right now, though.

On my list is continuing to learn how to be a good small business owner. It appeals to the side of me that studied finance years ago. I own a small business and my product is my writing. It’s kind of cool, when I think of it that way. I have a product.

So I’m in a metamorphis stage right now, learning a lot of stuff. I have to say, how-to youtube videos are fantastic. I have learned how to create webpages using wordpress, instead of from scratch with Dreamweaver. I will be doing this for the Postplague series in the next week or so, and I will be moving this blog too. I’ll somehow manage to redirect if you’re following this blog.  At the very least, I’ll put a link on this page.

Final thing–newsletters! I’ve always thought of these as spammy things (did I mention how much I hate spam?) that just irritate people with constant “buy me!” links etc. But I am learning something else: newsletters are fun ways for readers and authors to have conversations. I like that idea. I write to share my thoughts, and I put them best in fiction form.

Then I thought, man, I have very few people on my newsletter. I have to fix that. And then I looked at this site and I have no newsletter sign up! So I’ll be adding that as well. I’m considering what I want to do with them right now. I don’t want to send them out more than once a month. And I’m considering writing little short stories for the members of COL and sending them to newsletter subscribers. Each short story (novella?) will show you, instead of telling you like I do in the books, how the COL member because a part of COL–their journey to rebellion.

I have a pretty clear idea already of Jarvis and Evan. Writing these stories will be fun for me, and useful too. Although I know their journeys, writing them out will give me details currently hidden. I’ll also be able to show you all more of the world. I think–but not promising because these are still concepts–that in Evan’s story we’ll see the Neri and Grayson’s joining ceremony.

So those are this weeks thoughts. I’ll put up a newsletter sign up on the blog soon, but you can also sign up on my facebook page (in the sidebar there) April 3rd-9th and register for that Amazon card. If you want a reminder, follow this blog for the next week. I’ll make sure to mention it, and you’ll read it in your email box.

Cheers all!