Indie authors, a challenge for you: prove my wife wrong.
"Got another $50 donation yesterday," I told her.
She furrowed her brow and said, "Really?"
You see, my wife doesn't see this blogging venture as anything more than a hobby. I report to her about the balance of my Paypal account, and it surprises her every time.
One author has donated a little more than a hundred bucks. He donated three times. She couldn't understand why.
Occasionally I can tell she's irritated that I'm always online, or I might get a little frustrated when she stays on Facebook too long, playing games or just chit chatting. Mind you, I get irritated because I spend as much time as I do online, work more hours at my night job than she does at her job, and still manage to get some laundry done. In other words, I don't see my online time as down time like hers is.
And even though I'm not bringing in an income from this blog yet, I see the potential.
Recently we got a check from Google (and the last one ever since I'm not running Google ads anymore). Google doesn't send out a check until you rack up $100 in advertising revenue, which took me about a year to do.
When I mentioned that in reference to the blog bringing something in, her response: "But that just pays for the $100 you just spent."
Which is true. I just spent $100 to upgrade my Buffer account, which allows me to spread out my tweets throughout the day. This will help me do what this blog does best—market authors and their books. Besides, a business has expenses, right?
Settling Accounts ... Partially
One thing I want to do different than other outfits out there is have an open policy about finances, so in addition to the $100 I spent recently on Buffer, I've also spent $30 on Triberr and $24 on Feed140, both of which help me get your message out to my readers.
On the Paypal side, my account currently sits at about $450. $150 of that has been set aside to market our upcoming time travel anthology. I also need to pay myself back for Triberr, which was charged to my credit card. The $24 for Feed140 came directly from Paypal.
Also, not all of the $450 is from donations. Some of it is for the Indie Book Exchange, much of which will be paid out as royalties for books sold ... once that project gets far enough along.
Besides wanting to have an open policy about finances, there's another reason why I'm telling you all this.
Finally the Picture Up There Makes Sense
Though I see the potential for income from this entire venture, my wife is correct about one thing: it is sort of a hobby, albeit a very serious hobby. So, a few things are going to change. Since my eventual goal is to work only out of my home, I am going to start paying myself from the blog, working ever toward that eventual goal (putting another piece of the puzzle in place). Every time I do pay myself, I'll report it here.
I haven't itemized the proceeds in my Paypal account. When I do, I'll let you know where everything's going and how it will be used. Most (if not just about all) of the current balance will not go to me. Money that comes in from now on will be subject to that.
I blogged about advertising a few months ago, and then I blogged later, saying I had bitten off more than I could chew. Well, I'm going to focus on it again. Instead of doing it as a donation arrangement, there will be a fee based system, which should make it easier for me to keep track of.
That's all I'll say for now. I've got a few blog posts in the works, one to describe how the new advertising system will work and another one to introduce a new style of marketing that I haven't tried yet. Stay tuned.
By the way, what's the challenge for Indie Authors?
Continue to support me as you have so far. Donate if you have a little extra cash. I'll make sure you get your money's worth. Support the upcoming advertising system. Sign up for the Indie Book Exchange. Help me quit my job (eventually), and I'll do what I can to make sure you sell more books.
Prove to me (and my wife) that this isn't just a hobby.
