Hi all,
I am going to do something different for the end of December, Winter Update.
Rather than talk about book news, I am going to talk a little bit about myself.
Being an author is not . . . profitable, not when you’re first starting out.
There’s a lot of learning to do, a lot of mistakes to make. Writing a book isn’t only about writing, it’s about building a fan base. These things take time.
But time is not a luxury you can afford when your bills are due. A sale of 5 dollars for a royalty of 3 dollars isn’t going to pay your $130.00 utility bill. The $3.00 isn’t even going to be in your bank account until 2 months after you’ve made the sale.
So, like everyone else, you have to work.
Unfortunately, I ran into a problem where I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.
I thought my long-term career was video production or motion graphics. Editing video and creating special effects in After Effects were my passion. In my dreams, I saw myself on a film studio or TV set. Then I got older and my priorities shifted. I wanted to spend more time with my family and friends.
All I knew was how to edit video and write a story. Skills and experience in other fields were non-existent.
I spent a huge chunk of 2017 and a portion of 2018 soul searching. If I couldn’t be a full-time author and I didn’t want to edit video, what could I do?
Hopelessness hit me hard.
If I didn’t like employment at Rockstar Games, where the heck did I want to work?
I went from earning $15,000 bonuses to barely making $800 a paycheck.
Without a Bachelor’s degree and experience in other fields, no place wanted to hire me. I felt worthless, valueless, and powerless. The only thing that kept me away from complete depression was writing. In fact, if you look closely, you can see elements of my struggles written into Cindy’s life.
Anyway, I was pedaling nowhere, fast.
Only one thing kept me moving forward and I’m not talking about the writing.
I wanted A Bitter Winter to outperform my previous two novels. In order to do that, I invested some time and money into creating advertisements. I bought Facebook ads, Amazon ads, Twitter ads, and I experimented with copywriting. I realized that I could write an attractive ad copy. One phrase could lead to more sales.
To my great surprise, I also had the ability to sell my book face-to-face. I didn’t have to push or twist anyone’s arm. I told them what the book was about and how much it cost. That’s it.
As an introvert, I found it weird to discover how much I enjoyed selling my book.
I’m not saying my dream was to become a salesman. But a copywriter? Mm, maybe.
I registered for a free 30 day trial of Skillshare and searched for Copywriting courses. This led me to an excellent instructor by the name of Alan Sharpe. As a result, I fell down the rabbit hole of education.
I discovered blogs, youtube videos, online training courses, and so many other wonderful opportunities to expand my skillset.
After stumbling so long in the dark it was nice to find my light. I wanted to become an online marketer.
Whenever I had an opportunity, I would go online and consume hundreds of hours of educational content. I completed Alan Sharpe’s copywriting course and moved onto Dan Lok’s Youtube channel, The Futur youtube channel by Chris Do, and gained great insights into the vendor/client relationship thanks to Jon Stark.
Links to all of these guys are here:
- https://www.sharpecopy.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/user/vanentrepreneurgroup
- https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSkoolRocks
- https://medium.com/@jonathanstark
So 2019 is going to be a year of change. I plan on going back to school to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. I am also chasing down certifications in Google Analytics and to become a Certified Technology Specialist. The more skills you have as an individual the more valuable you become as an employee.
If you’re stuck in a similar rut, ask yourself the following questions:
What do I enjoy doing?
What is my goal?
How do I achieve my goal?
Once you have a goal everything else will fall into place.
Hope you have a great holiday and I’ll see you next year!
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