Weather is Spelled With Two H's - Feeding Muses Calls for Research...
Still waiting for our two last calves. Weather was hot like August and cool like Fall. Never exactly as predicted. I'm researching ahead in the next book, all while I get glimpses of the two after...
Hi,
Glad to have you open this once again (or even for a first time). Yes, life (and writing) goes along on this farm with trials, tribulations, joys, and marvels. And my daily/weekly writing continues as well. Glad to share this all with you .
Farming News - Now we wait for the last two. Weather is not exactly predictable, but it’s interesting as it changes. The barn became a hospital for one cow with her calf. She’s doing fine…
Writing News - I’m called to research the third book while I haven’t released the first or second. (They both need tweaking.) The good news is that this means new books for you - if I keep going at it.
Fiction News - Ongoing serial is nearly complete. The heroine and her team now face a clock running down as the tension builds…
Expectancy Tips - Brutal honesty seems to be a core discipline to learn. Not that this is impolite or rude, but just seeing what is as what it is.
Farming News
No new calves this week. Still waiting. Those two cows look closer than ever.
Here’s the herd. How many can you recognize?
This was a nice day out - and flies weren’t so bad that the herd had to stand next to each other for relief. They are mostly ruminating and taking it easy. The big red bull in the background is doing his job - to ensure the ready cows are “settled.”
The cows get “ready” every 20 days or so, and that lasts only 24 hours. And when it’s too hot or uncomfortable, neither of the two are particularly interested that much. And so the calendar goes around again.
Still, there was a study done a few years back where a herd of cattle were all gotten “ready” so they could be artificially inseminated (what “AI” used to mean) all within 24 hours of each other. And those cows were still strung out as much as six weeks apart. Their conclusion: “It’s when the cow and calf agree it’s time.”
I’ve got them surrounded by a single strand of hot electric fence these days. That seems to be working well.her
One old cow (17 years) sprained a rear ankle, and to help her heal, we have her and her calf up in the barn by their lonesomes. This means feed and water everyday - mostly hay, although I’ve been treating her with those green apples that keep falling next to our cottage. And some corn-protein-sweetfeed mixed supplement. That gets her up and I can check how she’s doing, along with that calf. Some fresh grass is growing in the outer area, so she’s doing fine. About 8 gallons of water every day. (It’s easier to carry two than one, don’t you know…)
Tiny Home News
My wife canned a smaller batch of chunked tomatoes this last week. And somehow stored everything inside the cottage. She got me to get her pressure canner out, so this is the next adventure. So far, she’s only used the “hot bath” method - where the jars are kept in simmering water until they are ready to be filled - then they get lids and rings and we wait until they “ping”.
(Well, she waits. I’m usually out checking the cows or writing/researching.)
We’re getting prices on things to get our little piece of land and a house on it. (Still a tiny home, but not as tiny as what we’re living out of. Check out “sheds to home” and you’ll see our next iteration.
I’ve got her considering a “dog trot cabin” style - which is two cabins opening into a large deck in between, which has a roof and is enclosed with lots of screened windows. We first saw this in a little village where Abe Lincoln tended store (New Salem, Illinois) and read law books when he didn’t have customers. That town used to be a center for local commerce - until the river moved its banks and other towns gave it too much competition. But they’ve rebuilt the town based on archelogical digs, so it’s quite interesting.
That dog-trot cabin has a nice design to it. Shutter down the windows when it’s too hot or cold, and the other two ends will keep it nice. My wife thinks we should have a wood-burning fireplace in that middle space. Our plans shift somewhat.
In our case, we’d be able to get a first cabin set up, paid for and finished off, then put up another on foundations that match the first for height. And then fill in inbetween (the “dog trot” portion) with some custom work.
I guess it’s called that because when asked about the center part, they’d tell them “that’s where the dogs trot.”
Writing News
I keep getting pulled into researching later books.
Yes the Kickstarter is still on, but the next point is to get several thin paperbacks and ebooks made out of my big volume, publish them with a soft release, then release that big one as a deluxe hardback in the Kickstarter, followed by the large paperback in general distribution.
That gives me three or four ebooks to act as reader magnets, each part of a series. The Kickstarter ramps things up. And the releases I do to promote each book becomes a mini-course for each of the smaller books (something like a dozen or 16 lessons.) Once the big book is ready, these three or four mini-courses are available as add-ons - or opt-in to get the bigger course bundle.
I’m still reviewing Tim Grahl’s Your First 1,000 Copies, as he also had a long-running Book Launch podcast, where more stuff happens that’s not in the book. Updates and expanded content and such.
Upcoming Books
After WriterpreneurOS, we get Copywriting for Writerpreneurs, which is dual-published under another title that has different SEO. And I’ll split that book up into several chunks to market it as above.
What’s got me going right now, is Becoming a Professional Writer, which is a study of the OU Professional Writing course through the books of the instructors. Keep count as I roll these out:
Walter S. Campbell I found when reading Eugene Schwartz’ Breakthrough Advertising. And eventually got around to getting the local library to get me his other out-of-print books. His emphasis was on getting authors to shorten their time of application to making a living as writing. This was by studying and revamping other successful books, the perennial-selling ones.
He mentioned a contemporary named John Gallishaw, who wrote a couple of texts on writing, and shared a similar intent through those two.
Campbell got an accomplished writer, William Foster-Harris, to come on board and help critique the author’s works. Foster Harris wrote two texts for the course.
Campbell died, and Harris carried on. Harris got another published author, Dwight V. Swain - also on staff at OU, to take over his duties when he got severely ill once, and then stayed on. Swain kept on teaching after Harris retired. He’s written a couple of decent books on writing that OU still publishes.
Swain had a student who became professional under his tutelage, named Jack Bickham. Once Swain retired, Bickham took over and ran the course another 20 years, to about 1997. The course meanwhile became an degree program in Journalism, with a Master’s program available under the English department.
My interest is in upgrading my own writing by going through these texts to chase down what was being taught when, how the course evolved, and what I can learn from each of these instructors. (I count five.)
Two of Harris’ out-of-print books arrived yesterday, and I have to scan and OCR them for my studies. I already have the two main Gallishaw books, plus print and digital versions of Swain’s and Bickham’s books.
I’ve gone back and forth on how many texts I’ll wind up with - but it’s probably two big texts, although these other authors may expand this with their later evolution of author training.
All while I keep farming and building my little farmlet on the hilltop.
Keep opening these newsletters as the adventure continues…
Update: I worked out this morning that I’d be better off simply publishing the three books I have sitting almost-ready, then try to split these up in some fancy marketing test. As I’ll tell you later - self-publishing has the advantage of being able to update and re-market a book as many times as you want. The overall number to hit is to get 10,000 readers so it starts to spread by word of mouth.
WriterpreneurOS
I interrupted the Cashflow Code serial to bring you one on starting a paid subscriber service on Substack.
And I’ll be back to continue that Cashflow Code series this next Monday again.
Fiction
We’re on the downhill part of the Erotika Jones serial.
There are only two more to arrive in this serial. It’s interesting to see how things are changing and increasing the tension. It’s not just your boilerplate mystery.
I’ve some ideas of what serial-series to produce next. There are a couple which run independent of the Ghost Hunters long narrative. Of course, characters from that narrative tend to cross-pollinate the others. So eventually, I’ll simply start up with the Ghost Hunters from the beginning (any we haven’t already published) and start in laying these out in sequence. Mainly because they read far better as you meet each new character and they evolve alongside the existing ones.
Expectancy Tips
Another waker-upper. I was dreaming so hard that I punched the ceiling overhead.
The point was the conflict I’d carried with me since my cult days out on the West Coast. Something still wasn’t settled with me. I don’t know what ticked this off, but it was there.
So I set to work sorting it out and found out that the long theme was one of Peace and Honesty.
This cult was created by a Sci-Fi pulp author, and he only borrowed workable evergreen principles from others and assigned his own trademarks to them. Yes, he died monetarily rich and spiritually poor - since he was paranoid the whole time. (Which comes from stealing others’ ideas without giving them credit, and underpaying his Kool-Aid drinking staff and overpricing his buying public.)
Anyway, the solution to a lot of fears (if not all of them) is to simply face up to them and see them for what they are. You release the emotional baggage associated with them and eventually achieve some state of always-on release, called Zen by Buddhists, and a Peace that Passes Understanding by Christians. Once you know you can tap into this at will, and have that as a cornerstone experience to compare your current situation with.
And that also then enables you to set high expectancies and enable them to appear simply, with little apparent effort on your part. Hill and Nightingale use the word persistence as equivalent to faith. And then that brings in numerous Christian verses that are highly workable.
While “brutally honest” fits the attitude you have, it’s not one where you are critical of other’s or your own actions. It’s simply observing what you see, exactly. No real emotion connected to it - if so, let it go. Then observe more clearly.
You’re creating your success as you go along.
Again, this is running long today. You can visit https://store.livingsensical.com for my numerous books, courses, materials. As usual.
Kickstarter Previews
Still need your feedback on the Kickstarter preview.
Please visit the preview and use their comment area to tell me what needs to improve - or just give me (needed) attaboys.
Kickstarter display page here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1481356435/1548894263?ref=a5wy7u&token=315549e4 (Feel free to share that preview…)
Sign up to be notified when it goes live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertworstell/writerpreneur-cracking-the-cashflow-code-non-fiction-book (Sign up now. Share that link with anyone you know who it could help.
PS. I discovered late pledges have been implemented by Kickstarter - so mine will have these for all who missed the initial roll-out. Lots of great stuff. When we get back to it.
A Special Offer Returns
Continuing along - the beta-readers version of Cracking the Cashflow Code is now available. It will be available at this link until I start the Kickstarter release, you can download the new and improved edition (especially if you already have it from earlier.)
That link is also Pay What You Want - a nice way to donate.
Here’s the link: https://livingsensical.gumroad.com/l/CashflowCode
AN ASK: if you’ve downloaded it, please give some feedback. Leave it in the comments, send me an email. Something, anything. Like it, could be better.
NOTE: This will be a bonus for the Kickstarter. Publishing decisions will be in the next few weeks.
Thanks for being there, opening this.
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Leave a comment if something strikes your fancy.
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…
(Meanwhile, I’ve put my archived newsletters and articles all available as free on Substack, instead of behind a paywall.)
AND you can always buy me a coffee…
Here’s that new beta-reader advanced copy - still available: