Thursday, April 27, 2023

Let the Sales Begin...

 

Not book sales. A different kind of sales...

I've had an Etsy store for quite a while now. For the longest time, it had one product, and then, at some point, I decided to expand my offerings.

For the last couple years, one of my annual goals has been to double my inventory. That inventory never materialized in full.

Sure, I could have gone to all that time and effort, but I wouldn't have been able to list everything because as a public marketplace that has to manage back-end technology Etsy charges listing fees. Twenty cents per item for four months. So $.60 a year for item that may or may not get purchased. Multiply that by (currently) 41 items and that's $24.60 a year just in listing fees. Luckily I've sold enough to earn that and a wee bit more, but I can't list everything I have.

So that's a long winded way of saying I've been wanting to have my own website where I can list anything and everything I create--no listing fees for a few years now.

The two things holding me back? Sales tax to other states and a payment system...

The second one was solved recently. I think I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago in advance of the author event at the library. Getting a mobile card reader ended up being a lot easier and simpler than I expected and probably a lot simpler and easier than it was several years ago when I thought about selling books directly from my publishing website. (which I can now also do)

But there was still that pesky sales tax dilemma.

So I finally sat down a couple of weeks ago and researched it. I wasn't sure of what I found, so I reached out to a writer friend who's been gung ho on selling her books from her website for several months now. Not only that, her husband runs a business and sells products online... And she backed up my findings:

I, of course, have to pay sales tax to my own state, which I have done for several years now. I have a TIN and everything. :0) But unless I sell (a minimum of) $100K to another state (some have higher mins), I don't have to worry about collecting and remitting that tax. Woo hoo!!

Unfortunately, I don't know to set up a website hosting account, so I have to enlist the help of DH. I have submitted a help desk ticket and, in the mean time, I need to organize the patterns I have and create new ones.

I'm so excited about finally getting going with this.

Wish me luck and have a great week.

 

Monday, April 24, 2023

I have The Right to Read whatever I want, thank you very much...

 

Today, Monday of the annual National Library Week, marks one year since the launch of the

Unite Against Book Bans campaign.

I'm just sharing that today.

It's important that individuals get to pick and choose what they or their children read.

This country isn't communist or a dictatorship.

Governments don't have the right. Politicians don't have the right. Professors and teachers don't have the right.

I have the right to decide. As I should have, on that and on so many other things pertaining to my life or my body.

Have a good week.

 

Thursday, April 20, 2023

National Earth Day on APRIL 22

 

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

 

What started as a national endeavor and began as a way to get the message across regarding air and water pollution is now a global event each year on April 22.

This all came about when, in 1969, an oil well off the Santa Barbara coast in Southern California blew and spilled three million gallons of oil into the Santa Barbara Channel.

Earth Day's first focus was the United States, but went global in 1990.

The first Earth Day also helped get the US Environmental Protection Agency formed. As a result, clean air, clean water, and endangered species acts were all set into motion as well.

Even the Paris Agreement of 2016 has its roots in Earth Day.

Did you know that the first Earth Day remains the largest single-day protest in human history when twenty million people took to the streets as part of the day's events? Wow!

I try to do my small part by using re-usable bags at the grocery store and recycling as much as I'm able.

What about you? Do you recycle? Re-use bags at the grocery store? Own an EV?

Take care and have a have a super weekend.

 

Monday, April 17, 2023

BE LOUD! WEAR GREEN! LET'S GO STARS!!

 

Image courtesy of MoneyPuck.com.

The Dallas Stars have made the playoffs! But you knew that right??

*Clicking on the image will show you the largest version...

According to the chart above, created last October, the Stars had a 58.3% chance of making it to the playoffs and a less than 6.2% change of running the gauntlet of four rounds and winning the Stanley Cup.

Well. they made to the playoffs and they've secured home ice. Which means the first two games are at home to give them the lift of a hometown crowd to support them and cheer them on to early victory. DD and I have tickets to Wednesday night's second home game... :0)

Fast forward six months from the date of the original chart and there's new chart with the sixteen teams (of thirty-two) who made the cut.

Image courtesy of MoneyPuck.com.

Our chances of winning the Cup, today, before the playoffs even start, is 4.6%. It's not the lowest but it's close. They thing about hockey, though, is that once you're in, anything can happen. There are a lot of factors outside the players' control that help or hinder a team's progress.

Injuries to your own players or to the players of your opponent are a big factor, as is "puck luck" and the capriciousness of the officials on the ice making calls. The frustration of many teams is that the officials put the whistles away come playoffs because they don't want to affect the outcome of the games.

BUT... They affected every one of the eighty-two games that led to these teams being in the playoffs and they affect the outcome of a game by not calling penalties when penalties are due anyway. So please, for the love of the Hockey Gods, call the penalties as required.

Okay, enough of that. The officials that get assigned to the Stars' games are all going to call penalties properly. I'm putting that into the universe.

If you don't have rooting interests in another team, will you please send your well wishes and winner vibes toward our boys in Victory Green?

Many thanks!

And on a sad note, the Pittsburgh Penguins, captained by my favorite player Sidney Crosby, didn't make the playoffs for the first time in sixteen seasons. >>sad face<< That's basically Captain Crosby's tenure in the NHL...

Hope you have a great week and don't forget to:

BE LOUD while WEARing GREEN and cheering on the GO STARS!!

Have a super week.

 

Friday, April 14, 2023

Prepping for the Author Event...

 

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

The books are all nestled, all snug in their box, while visions of dollars dance through my head...

Okay, not really, but it would be exciting if I came home with fewer books than I left with. :0)

In the meantime, I've dug out all my stuff and have setup a facsimile of my table at home so I know what it's supposed to look like. Since I have physical books this year, it has to be a little different, so yeah--dry run.

There will more authors and probably more visitors this year since the event is being held on a Saturday during normal library hours...

That's a little nerve racking to me since, as I've mentioned before, my choice of genre is not quite as mainstream or accepted as many others... I'll have a lot of my dear friends close at hand and so I'm choosing to believe it'll all be fine.

The coordinator sent out a huge list of questions which I've been working on writing up answers to...not all of them will be used at the event, so I'll have them to utilize here or at my Goodreads presence.

On another note, I'm not happy with the printed copies of one of the books--not after spending close to $70 for twelve copies that are now "damaged."

The proof copy I received in regards to the cover was perfect. Now the placement of the title and author name on the spine left something to be desired and Amazon had no way for me to fix it.

So I ended up just deleting both and asking DD to print me some, let's just say, labels on her Cricut. But when I got the new actual copies, the cover image was skewed and bits of the illustrated frame were cut off during the trimming process. UGH.

I wonder if the removal of the text shifted the image somehow...but how? Or why? Not that it matters at this point, so not only am I unhappy, but I'm disappointed.

Now the physical book I received from Draft2Digital looks great. Their system took care of all the logistics. The front cover looks super as the cover image is lined up correctly with the edges of the spine. The title and my name are properly centered on the spine...

So, probably needless to say, but moving forward I'll be getting physical books from D2D.

I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be for Saturday's event.

Have a great weekend.

 

This should have arrived yesterday, but I forgot to hit the publish button on time... :0)

 

Monday, April 10, 2023

National Peach Cobbler Day is Coming!

 

Image courtesy MarieCallender.com

Head out to your local grocery store asap and pick up a pre-made peach cobbler or the ingredients to make your own!

National Peach Cobbler Day is just a few days away on Thursday the 13th. Make sure you're prepared to enjoy the warm sweet concoction that is peach cobbler.

Now, I'm not a fan of fruit pies as a general rule or cobbler really, but for some reason this particular dessert just sings to me. To be honest, I really just love the crust and the sticky thick sweet syrup. I can take or leave the peaches themselves.

I could live on pumpkin cupcakes, chocolate pie, and peach cobbler for a while if I had to. :0)

What about you?

Cobbler fan? Fruit pie fan?

If so, what kind?

Have a great week. Catch you Thursday...

 

Thursday, April 6, 2023

A Miracle for Sale

 

Image courtesy IMGBIN.

A Miracle for Sale

I paid a dime for a package of seeds
And the clerk tossed them out with a flip.
“We’ve got ‘em assorted for every man’s needs,”
He said with a smile on his lip,
“Pansies and poppies and asters and peas!
Ten cents a package! And pick as you please!”

I paid a dime for a package of seeds
And the clerk tossed them out with a flip.
“We’ve got ‘em assorted for every man’s needs,”
He said with a smile on his lip,
“Pansies and poppies and asters and peas!
Ten cents a package! And pick as you please!”

“You’ve a dime’s worth of power which no man can create,
You’ve a dime’s worth of life in your hand!
You’ve a dime’s worth of mystery, destiny, fate,
Which the wisest cannot understand.
In this bright little package, now isn’t it odd?
You’ve a dime’s worth of something known only to God.”

There are seeds, but he plants and the blossoms are here
With their petals of various hues;
In these little pellets, so dry and so queer,
There is power which no chemist can fuse;
Here is one of God’s miracles soon to unfold,
Thus for ten cents an ounce is Divinity sold!

* * * * *

The only reference I found to this poem via Google-search credited a man called Bob Foster with writing it. I have no idea when.

Many many moons ago, my mom shared this with me. So long ago that I still lived in Nebraska. It really affected me at the time so I kept it. At some point, I printed it on a sheet of decorative paper. And I've kept that paper all these years as well. It's taped to the wall of my home office although it's a little too high for daily notice--I really should lower it so I can enjoy its message more often.

Anywho--take care and have a lovely Easter weekend.

 

Monday, April 3, 2023

New Month, New Quarter...

 

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

As the title says...it's a new month and it's a new quarter, and it's time to get moving. Literally and figuratively. :0)

Physical therapy for my hip is just about complete--one more PT appointment then I'm on my own. "PT" at home needs to continue until I'm dead. PT has been primarily yoga-type exercises, so no problem.

DH and I have started a new exercise / eating plan known as carb cycling. Instead of going full throttle on Keto, you cycle through days with higher and lower amounts of healthy carbs to coincide with higher and lower intensities of workouts. A quick Google search will bring up a bunch of articles if you're interested.

Carb cycling seemed like a good next step in our constantly morphing plan for weight loss and good health. DH was plateauing on Keto. He researched why and found not only the answer but a solution in carb cycling. We'll see how it goes.

* * * * *

It's also finally spring and we should have tolerable weather, at least, going forward. We've hit that part of the weather cycle where it's not warm and it's not hot, but because it's spring, there's a lot of moisture in the air and everything can get sticky.

That also means that my house partners will want to run the AC more...which I get, but there's a delicate balance between not sticky and too cold in the house for this time of year.

Conversely, there's been lovely mornings with the windows open and the breeze flows in over the bed and it's delightful and delicious to snuggle with Karma.

* * * * *

Getting physical books that look professional is a chore. Every time I made a change in the Kindle Direct Publishing site, I had to wait three days for the proof copy. And then when I finally got everything situated and I hit the official "go live" button, the book had to go to review which was supposed to take up to 72 hours. Luckily for me, each book took less that 48. So now I'm waiting on the delivery of my first ever physical books! They should arrive between the 8th and 10th--two different shipments, one for each book.

That's cutting it a bit close, since my author event is the 15th. There's nothing to do in regards to books but hope and pray. Now I can focus on setting up my table. Finding my swag. Prepping for panel discussions or whatever programming I'll be tasked with. I've reached out to the librarian for questions in advance so I can prep for those in advance. I'm not good at off the cuff kinds of things.

And in preparation for selling physical books...I finally got around to setting up a method for accepting credit cards. For things like this, I definitely appreciate technology. All I have to do is plug the card reader into my phone, open the app, ring up the sale, and swipe. Easy peasy. I hope. I should probably do a test sale, huh?

* * * * *

Image courtesy of DepositPhotos.

I've started yet another fiction book. I think I'm gonna blow right by my purported six books. Not that I mind. My current title in progress...

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill originally published in 1937.

I'm only a few chapters in, but it's very motivating so far.

What I find truly amazing--and I believe it's the universe at work here--is that it echoes other messages I've received from books and one of my YouTubers. So certain tenets are being reiterated. And I have to believe that that's my Angel Crew reinforcing the message they have for me and telling me to get after it.

I'm gettin', I'm gettin'...

* * * * *

And last but not least, while my Dallas Stars haven't officially clinched a spot in the playoffs, it's been a given for months that they're gonna make it...

Thank goodness for the loser point, otherwise we'd be nowhere near the playoffs according to one of my pod casters. :0)

* * * * *

Have a great week!