[Living Sensical] Spring is too early, per the calendar. Books don't care.
Well, I'm tired of winter, tired of news, and trying to write when you're tired is a bit frustrating. Thankfully, there are cats, dogs, and cows to keep me calm...
Hi,
Hope this reaches you well. Feels like Spring here. Even though we have a chance of a freak snow storm next week. (According to the “whether” forecasters.)
Again, check your subscriptions if you’re getting too few or too many of these newsletters.
For most of you, the farming, writing, and new fiction newsletters seem to be a hit. (And hint: I could always use more paid subscribers - helps keep the lights on, and these newsletters coming to you.)
Got distracted this week by a very rare article which I ended up round-filing.
Farm News - still feeding bales tentatively. Looking forward to rearranging my paddocks for better water.
Writing News - I was working on Book Marketing this week, and found out how tedious that is.
Our Next 8 Months - an update of prepping.
Farming News
Still stretching out these bales to last until the Ides of March, which is traditionally when they eat more grass and start ignoring the hay.
Snowed on the 16th. Here’s how the cows found a local watering hole on the 18th and 19th:
They step on that 2in ice to break it. (Yes, those are two different cows - that white is its belt, not leftover snow.)
I found they stay in better if I put up two lines of fencing - even though it takes at least twice as long.
My sister is “upgrading” the pond they usually water out of, so I’m looking to rearrange my paddock choices this Spring so I can water cattle out of different sources (I was depending on her pond a bit too much, so grazing last year was very irregular.)
We have only one pond that doesn’t have run-off from crop ground. And my sister installed two waterers that run off “city water” which has a few chemicals like fluoride, which cows don’t need - and we don’t need in our beef. Just means printing out a satellite view and drawing some lines.
Oh, we’re supposed to have an 80F day in two weeks…
Tiny Home News
Visiting some more relatives this week, about next Wednesday. More kids to visit with, and their parents.
My wife is running through a lot of suet cakes and bird feed keeping the birds fed - but the view outside her window is fascinating. About 6 feet away, and only a thin window in between - they don’t notice us standing there.
Here’s a snow-bound view:
And a few days later, we had the front door open to the screen, and a couple of other windows open to air it out a bit. Fun.
That commingling flock of birds we’ve had all winter is starlings. And they are the only species that gather fly in those patterns - it’s called “murmuration”. Just the first year I’ve seen so many all at once in this neighborhood.
Writing News
The book marketing area had me gollywhumped this last week. No matter how I revised it, the article I was writing always went south. Too little, then to big, not exciting enough, too depressing. And more than enough grouse to keep a bird-dog happy for days.
The real core of book marketing is boiled down to two elements:
1) Damn Good Books, which are perennial sellers, regardless of ads, and
2) Continually Building Your List of Subscribers - which currently is by writing an engaging newsletter that also promotes my books. Cross-recommending these is a working pattern.
Writers also take out ads. The common approaches at all income levels of authors, according to a survey of 2200 authors by Written Word Media are Book Bub deals and promo sites. The least effective were social media, Book Bub ads, and in-person events. (Promo sites are sites that email books out to lists of readers.) David Gaughran has a list of Best Book Promotion Sites on his site.
At the top end of the Written Word Media survey are Amazon ads and Facebook ads. And this is from a company that helps authors with spending their ad money. Reminds me of what my studies tell me the Advertising business was in 1905
In that survey above, as the income level of authors increased, so did the depth of their backbench. And also the total years they’ve been writing. Some of the people making over $10K per month have over a hundred titles. (At an average of 4-5 books per year, that would be a something like 20 years of invested.)
Per Written Word, authors at the staring out (low end) of the scale pick mostly to use promo sites and newsletter giveaways.
The real business for authors is in building a backbench of quality books in all formats, including courses, which then you can eventually pass on as a legacy. One hidden factor is to publish in all possible formats. These are particularly profitable outside of the main three fiction genres, which sell almost exclusively ebooks.
I have some more study to do in these areas. And probably a spreadsheet analysis of 2023 sales is over due.
What’s ahead?
As I’ve often said, we create our own actuality around us. And living in it is accomplished for this current moment - the future never arrives, the past is only a memory. And, test this as you can: We Become What We Think About (Nightingale).
I got two Alex Jones books last week, and haven’t started reading them. Because I don’t read depressing stuff just before sleep - bad dreams result. And until I can fit them into some sort of research that I’m doing, I won’t open them during the day. If it isn’t something to do with book writing, publishing, or cattle farming, then it’s backwater material.
The one exception to all that work is, of course, if my wife is interested in it. Or has to do with my grandkids.
Again, you create your actuality. The best handbook to explain this is my Strangest Secret Collection. (Also available as paid ebook or paperback.)
(If you the most updated copy of that book, email me - or reply to this newsletter you get in an email - and I’ll send it to you. Free. )
What’s covered there does have to be internalized. And it’s will always be a work in progress. But once you get that concept, your life changes forever. And you can see the “news” and these prophets for what they are - and how they are effective where they are, if they are. It’s all in what you believe, identify as, and adopt as a burning desire.
For me, I have books to write.
The working lineup is still - for now - the same.
Whatever people forecast, predict, or prognosticate - I still have books to write. Because that’s how I can contribute to making this world a better place.
Look for:
Writerpreneur OS (current)
Copywriting book
Writing non-fiction (Campbell revamp)
Writing short stories (also a Campbell revamp)
The Entrepreneur Flywheel System
And more in the pipeline…
With a little concentrated work, I believe I can get these named books all out within a few months. You’ve got the front row seat to follow all this.
As usual, I really believe life is great and getting better. And hope you expect yours is, too.
Thanks for being there, opening this.
And leaving a rating on the Living Sensical site for the stuff you buy there.
And also leaving comments on my Substack site.
As well as leaving recommendations on Bookbub in addition to reviews anywhere else.
You know, that "paying it forward" kinda thing.
Oh, yes - buying my books, paying for a subscription, all that keeps these newsletters coming to you.
Do keep sharing these books and this newsletter with your friends, too.
I hope your life is not too interesting to be overwhelming, but sufficiently engaging to keep you amused. (Like some of us here...)
Robert
PS. Again, you can always email me about anything.
PPS. Again, do upgrade to the paid newsletter version. That helps me keep the lights on - so I can keep all this coming to you. As much or little as you want…
I too am tired of winter. Tired of shivering by my computer while I write. I have a space heater. But then I get hot, yet my hands are still freezing making me prone to typos.
Like the survey shows, most of us writers are editing our own work, so typos are a bane, and therefore the winter is a productivity drain.
What always amazes me, Robert is your ability to be so prolific. I have two book projects, one will take years to finish. The other, if there is an early spring, might be done this year. I can only hope. And type.