TGIF. Another week zoomed by. Let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week.

1. Anyone else find the media coverage of Tiger Woods accident a little…ghoulish? Maybe it was just here in CA, or my interpretation. But it was almost like they were memorializing the man, when he’s still living. It was a terrible accident, and I’m truly sorry for him and all who love him. From what I read he has a long recovery ahead of him, and I wish him well.
2. Now that Savaged Illusions boxed set has been released, I’m cleaning up some things that didn’t go right, then I’m 100% shifting focus to Wing Slayer Hunters. These guys want their stories told and I’m obsessed with their would. But I’m begging them to stop jumping ahead and let me focus on writing Eli and Savi’s story right now. However the stories are so interwoven, Ram, and a mystery character I haven’t revealed yet, won’t shut up. It’s seriously annoying.
3. Maggie had her urinalyses and her PH is still too high (which is part of what forms the stones in her bladder). We’ll retest her in four weeks. I’m the lowest level of concerned, but happy with her care so overall feeling confident. We are keeping her strictly on the recommended food, and doing the best we can for her to keep her healthy.
4. My blood work and other assorted labs all came back good. I figured they would, but that’s good to know. Today, I’m getting an ultrasound to check my gallbladder. I’m thinking it’ll come back normal or mild stuff, but Wizard thinks I’ll have three stones in my gallbladder like Maggie had in her bladder I won’t, he was just amusing himself and saying I was trying to copy our dog. I have to admit, he made me laugh.
5. No coffee before the test! I can go without eating, but coffee???? That’s just mean. The test is at 8:15 thought so I’ll tough it out.

That was my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

So this week started off great, and then…The. Frustrations. Happened. In my case, it’s stuff like a price change challenge from Amazon. The other four vendors changed the price right on schedule while Amazon said they have to “research my request”. Then two of the first three bloggers on my blog tour have not posted on schedule. Add in that I had to chase down some other issues related to writing and deal with a lot of errands and appointments that happened to all fall in this week. Nothing in that list was terrible or disastrous, just details popping up like whack-a-mole.

Frustrations happen. And we have to figure out how to remain productive through them. To be clear, I’m not talking about disasters, tragedies or illnesses. Those all deserve time off with no guilt. I’m referring to all the normal issues that come with the job and life. Amazon for instance; I knew they were going to do this. It wasn’t a surprise. But it still takes time to handle, and it frustrates me that readers are paying more at other vendors, but I can’t change those prices or Amazon won’t price match. Rock meet Hard Place However, this is the game I signed up for when I chose to publish with Amazon. It’s their platform and their rules.  I have to accept it as part of the job description, do what I need to, then get back to my priority.

Writing.

To that end, I thought I’d share a few tips I have for trying to remain productive during the frustrations. These are basic, but does a reminder hurt?

Set a writing time It’s okay to keep your days fluid if that works for you. But set aside a time in there to commit to your yourself, your book and your dreams. Even if it’s a half hour, those half hours add up enough to one day become a book.

Have a daily goal: For some people it’s word count, page count, or if you’re like me, it’s set amount of time. Word and page counts don’t work in my process, but if I commit a chunk of time and don’t get distracted by other tasks, that works for me. Remember: To make dreams a reality reality, you have to break then down into tasks, prioritize them and follow through.

Develop a routing to shift into writing: I usually start with getting a cup of coffee, take out my story bible notebook, a yellow pad and a freshly sharpened pencil. Then I open the file and work UNLESS I go down the email and social media rabbit hole.

Turn off, or mute, your phone and social media. I turn down my sound. Anything important will pop on my phone screen and I’ll usually see it. I’ve read studies on how much time we lose to buzzing around online, and it’s an eye opener. We all get the same 24 hours a day, it’s up to us what we do with them. I don’t think the latest Twitter feud is a good use of my time, do you?

End your day’s writing on a cliffhanger. In other words, leave off where you’re super interested and engaged so you can’t wait to get back to it the next day. This has backfired on me, I’ve left my characters in the proverbial corner, and the next day realized I have no way out. But, hey, if writing was easy, we’d all be billionaire bestsellers. In general, though, the concept works.

Don’t should yourself to death The shoulds: I should write a newsletter, hit all the social media, write two blogs, write a reader magnet story (a freebie to use as a magnet to get more people on your newsletter), write four chapters and end world hunger. Ease up on the shoulds and constant pressure on yourself. I can should myself into scrambling around like a mad woman that achieves nothing significant. That’s not being productive, it’s being busy and there’s a big difference. Instead, prioritize. Isn’t writing the next book the most important goal? (I need to put that sign up in my office!)

Take Nora’s Advice of “You Can Fix Anything But A Blank Page:” So write. (I’m looking in a mirror on this one too!). Keep writing until you fall in love and can’t stop writing. Go for it!

I hope these help. Do you have tips you’d like to add?

TGIF! I hope all of you in the path of the freezing and dangerous weather have power, heat and water. This is just brutal, and shows us that Mother Nature can kick all our modern conveniences butt when she chooses. But seriously, Mother Nature, take a chill pill and give these folks in Texas, Oklahoma and all the other regions a break.

Okay onto Friday Five:

1. I went to lunch with Biker Witch today. Great to see my sister! I had a tri tip wedge salad that sounded good, but wasn’t But that’s okay, ordering dessert made up for it.
2. Wizard got his first Covid shot. Yay! It was super easy, he got up early, went online and made an appointment at out local pharmacy and did it. I won’t be eligible to get mine for another month or two, but at least people I love are getting it.
3. Wizard is building a model car (small scale). And he’s a perfectionist…and I’m laughing my butt off. He’s already ordered an exact replica because this one isn’t coming out good enough. He’s laboriously redoing parts, and describing it all to me and I finally said, “All this pain, doing it, redoing it and endlessly obsessing, then buying a new one and starting over? IT’S LIKE WRITING MY BOOK! He gave me a sheepish grin, acknowledging that he may have told me to just write the book and be done a time or two.
4. I am writing tons, but no farther in the book, LOLOL! The book I originally planned wasn’t good enough and I’ve done months of work to retool the story to where I think it will be…someday, but still hoping for summer   I think I may make it. I really want to get this book and Ram’s written this year.
5. The last few weeks were a combination of stress and not feeling well that landed my butt in the doctor’s office. Really long and boring story short: one theory is that my funky gall bladder is being set off by stress. This week we started some tests…and of course I feel better. I can hear my gall bladder taunting me,  What? I’m totally cool, dudes. Nothing to see here! Anyhow, I have an ultrasound scheduled next Friday (a week from today) and I’m going actively try to set off another attack before that with spectacularly bad food choices. Will it work???? Probably not. You all know my gall bladder is laughing gleefully, right? Still I’m feeling so much better this week that I’ll take that as a win

That’s my random five things about my week, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a safe, warm and happy weekend!

Today I’m sharing promo updates for the release of Savaged Illusions, The Complete Series on February 22nd. I’ve done a few things to get some preorders for special price of $3.99 before the price goes up to $6.99 after release. I’m going to be brutally honest. In rebuilding my career after a publishing hiatus, and the current market that’s over-saturated, I don’t have the sales power I once did.

My Preorder Goals: Below are my levels of goal setting for preorders on Amazon because I can see the actual preorders in real time:

Low Goal:  20 to 40 preorders. I got that. Achieved

Medium Goal: 60 preorders. I got that. Achieved

High Goal: 70 preorders. I got that. Achieved

Dream Goal over a 100 preorders. Not Achieved Yet

I have so far topped out at 70 on Amazon so I hit my high goal (so far) but not my dream goal.  I’ve stopped running ads so I may not get anymore.

So how did I get those 70 preorders on Amazon? I used three methods:

1. Social Media, I’d estimate I got between 20 to 30 preorders from my newsletter and social media.
2. Amazon Ads. I tried one of two Amazon Ads, and failed. Mostly because they would NOT let me mention the special or reduced prize. This is frustrating, because why else would most new readers preorder a boxed set they didn’t have a prior interest in? It’s different if it was a series or something they’d been anticipating, but for this, not being able to advertise the special price killed it.
3. FB Ads. I had decent success there and got the balance of the preorders from those. I probably about broke even between what I spent and what I sold in preorders.

Without the FB ads, I’d never have done even half the 70 preorders currently listed on Amazon for this boxed set. But this way, the boxed set lands in at least 70 readers Kindles (or other devices) early morning of release day, which puts it right at reader’s fingers tips. Some of those will read them soon, and hopefully a few will talk about the book. So my goal with the preorders is that my paid marketing of advertising preorders will translate into some priceless word of mouth publicity from readers. 

FB Ad Tip: Don’t do what I did, and keep stopping and restarting, or changing the ads. I learned the hard way that you lose all the likes and comments that push your ad higher in the algorithms and attracts more readers. I was doing it to “test” different ad graphics and targeted audiences, and eventually figured out that was a really bad idea. So set an ad and let it run.

Other Marketing-Promo I’m Doing:

Blog Tour. I hired InkSlinger PR to schedule a one-week blog tour for release week (next week). They scheduled 15 blogs over 5 days, and so far, they’ve fulfilled what they promised. So color me happy with them at this point.

Buy Links in Published Books, I had my formatter update some reader letters and all the buy links in all six of my related books (even distantly related, like the Plus One Chronicles Series that has some crossover characters). This required me to get that all organized and then re-upload all those book files to all the vendors. It was a time suck, plus the cost as I pay for formatting, but those buy links are gold. If someone finishes a book of yours and loves it, that’s the time for them to have a link to click on.

Newsletter. I’ll send out a newsletter announcing the release. They’ve known about it for a while, but I always try to communicate with my newsletter subscribers. They cared enough to subscribe, and that means a lot to me. I mean that.

Social Media. I’ll promote some on social media.

Other Things in the Works. I’m always trying one or two things here and there. For instance, I submitted Savaged Dreams, the first book in the Savaged Illusions Series for a Bookbub Feature. I’ve never managed to get one for my self-published book–even the bestsellers, but I know one thing for sure: If I don’t try, then I definitely won’t get one. These are pricy though, and they don’t have the same success these days as they did a few years ago.

I’ll let you all know how it all goes. So that’s my few updates/tips. Anything you’d like to share?

Check out the Special Priced Preorder for Savaged Illusions, The Boxed Set here

This is a two-parter! Scroll down if you want to skip to the Weekend Roundup part

The Contest:

Weekend Round

Hey all! I hope everyone in the grip of the cold snap is safe, warm and stocked up on necessities!

Saturday we got to see Turbo. Always fun! He’s a Grandpa’s Boy, and I love it. I’m starting to plan a fun birthday cake for him. Can you believe it, he’s going to be 3 years old next month!

Sunday we made streak and shrimp, opened a bottle of wine, and I made some chocolate covered graham crackers (Wizard’s request) to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Youngest son’s birthday is this week. So I called him yesterday to figure out a time to see him (not nailed down yet) and ask him if he wanted me to make cookies or a cake. For that I got an instant answer, “Peanut butter balls!” I’ve redesigned my peanut butter ball recipes for him to adjust to his preference for non-dairy, and my attempts seem to be working out, LOL. They do tend to come out soft, but they are good if you keep them in the fridge, and I discovered by accident, even better in the freezer. Like chocolate covered peanut better ice cream

I’ve been dealing with some doctor stuff, and while I like my doctor very much, I don’t love tests and running around. But that’s minor, and this week is looking much better than last, so I’ll happily take it!

How was your Valentine’s Day and Weekend? How’s the weather in your area?

Don’t forget, if you want to enter into the Cathy Yardley’s Fall Into Romance Giveaway for a chance to win a $200.00 Amazon Giftcard, click here to enter!

TGIF and Happy Early Valentine’s Day! Boy it’s been a week, but I don’t want to dwell on sad and mad stuff. Let’s jump into Friday Five:

1. Maggie got her stitches out, cone off and she feels great. It made Wizard and I feel so much better to see her happy again. There will be followup tests in two weeks. Maggie will be on a special diet for the rest of her life to try to prevent the stones from reforming, and if we don’t have to watch her suffer like that again, it’s money well spent.
2. We’ve had the stairs gated off to keep Maggie contained for two weeks, and man that was a pain. Wizard and I kept stepping over the hip high gate to go up and down stairs, and try that carrying laundry. To my credit, I never tripped or fell. Yay me! But it sure is nice to have free access to the stairs again.
3. I just started reading a new to me paranormal, REJECTED (A Shadow Beast Shifters Book 1) by Jaymin Eve and enjoying it so far.
4. We haven’t made any plans for Valentine’s Day, but Wizard and I are experienced at pulling off romantic dinners and will pull something together. We always do.
5. Tomorrow we’re going to see Turbo. I went to the store and bought him some little things for Valentine’s Day. Both of us are looking forward to hanging out with the little guy now that Maggie’s doing so well and we feel comfortable leaving her.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a good weekend!

I don’t have a business related blog today. Frustrations like some computer issues for Wizard, a hack that was caught (Kudos to our bank!) and assorted life stuff tripped me up. It’s been like that for a couple weeks now, stuff popping up that requires instant attention.

Hopefully this picture will make up for my failure to post a substantive blog:

Or if you prefer a little hair:

 

Did either of those distract you from my lack of a real post?