Author: jongraylang

Is it true that all good ideas start with coffee? Since my days generally start with coffee and I have good ideas at some point during a day, it must be. Hmm, things to ponder…

I know, I know, it’s been a while. I’ve been neck-deep in trying to get a grasp on marketing and advertising in the ebook universe. What?

Near the end of 2019, I made my first advertisement for Facebook. I did it on a lark and mostly just to see what it would do. It was a pre-release ad and it did garner some sales. Nothing fantastic, mind you, but it did do something. I ran another ad through Facebook later on and it didn’t do much of anything. All in all, it was an interesting experiment.
The interface for their ads and reports is pretty simple and easy to work with. It makes for a nice beginner’s trainer, to be honest. The results I got were common, at least from other’s responses I came across. Other social media platforms don’t really have an advertising bend to them which I am 100% good with. But there have to be other ways to get my books out there, right?

A couple of authors I know, Kathryn Reynolds and Xero Reynolds posted about a 5-day rush course by Amazon Ad School. The class was massively informative and I learned more than I think I remember… or something like that. I ended up taking it days late and had to rush through to get all of the information but I learned so much.

I could now see why my books weren’t popping as frequently on other lists as I thought they should. I gained a much better understanding of how the search engines and suggestion systems functioned. I could see why my books weren’t showing up. It even pushed me to see why my books may or may not be desirable and how correct that. My brain is still pinging from the amount of information I learned. I have so many new things to try now.

On top of that, this year I will be attending my first Con as an author. I am excited and trepidatious about the experience. I might have to install a caffeine drip to keep my social batteries charged.

Now to get ready for my Bollywood Dance class.

Image by KEN CHO from Pixabay

There’s a little bit of snow on the ground and the weather is rather pleasant today, so why not?  2019 has been an odd year; in some ways successful and in others, depressing.  Let’s get the downside out of the way, shall we?

Cancer was a complete bastard in 2019.  It has worked hard and taken friends of mine.  I am having trouble even contemplating what its effect has been on those left behind.  Outside of cancer, Death has pulled others I care about into its grasp.  I’m at that age, I guess.

Lastly, I had a panic attack earlier this year.  Not something I’ve had to deal with in a decade.  The cause of it, unknown.  The effect, a heavier depressive cycle for starters as well as other problems I thought I had finally surmounted.  Aah, the joys of the brain and body.

How about some good stuff, eh?

I achieved a goal in my sword art pursuits that I had been striving for, for years.  In fact, I had all but given up on ever achieving it.  Do I feel that I deserve what it stands for?  I am still unsure.

I completed my oft dreamed about trip to Macchu Picchu.  Ever since my grandparents had talked about it, I had dreamed that I would get to see the wonders.  And wonders they are, my friends.  Wonders they are.

I finally got the second Matilda book, Twistin’ Matilda, published.  There is so much rejoicing about this, Sir Robin would be proud.  Even better, progress on the book three rewrites is moving right along and I hope to have it off to the editors by spring.  On top of that, I made massive headway on book four in the Matilda series that it accomplished NaNoWriMo.  That first draft is still not done but the end is in sight.

Even with the setbacks caused by depression this year, I persevered and continued moving forward.

Like Time itself.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Whew.  It’s over.

Well, the month of November is.  And I made it!  I hit 53,169 words as of 11:55PM on November 30^th.  On top of that, I wrote thirty poems over the month as well.  It was a massive writing extravaganza!

Even better, the fourth book is now at 67,454 words!  But it’s still not done.  I only have a couple more storylines/locations to go.  The completion of that first draft is still elusive but I am so close.  I can literally taste it.

What was my take away from all this?  Umm, I appreciate poetry a hell of a lot more than I used to.  That is one hard writing form with more styles than I was aware of.  I had a lot of fun taking a crack at a bunch of these styles and I feel that I was relatively successful.  I may continue to write more poetry in the future.  It’s an interesting experience to paint a scene, an emotion, a single moment in time and even a good old nursery rhyme.

So, what’s my focus for December?  Get that first draft knocked out.  Get back to editing book three and have it ready for beta readers by early next year.  And finally, make some progress with my writing partner on our collaboration effort.

Hmm… I guess it’s not really over.

Image by Bruno Glätsch from Pixabay