Lemme try and write this up quickly. Don’t have much time. Yes, I was bad yet again not getting this posted yesterday. As I told my editor, I got up late which set me behind. Wasn’t even that much later than normal. I have avoided everything today but my phone I use to listen to music, lol. That way I don’t have to focus on anything but the task at hand.

I’m going through and setting up new lists and information for my newsletter. Since I have had to go through the GDPR situation I finally decided to start anew. I am going to once more include these blog posts at the bottom of the newsletter. Won’t be all of them in between the newsletters since those won’t go out but around once a month-ish, I blog near daily, and that’d be a bunch. I’m only setting it up for 4 to post at the bottom. But that way if someone is subscribing to the newsletter, they will be able to see a snippet of the blogs I share here and be able to find them. Maybe keep checking back.

So if you’d like to sign up for that newsletter I am calling Kim Iverson News, I set a new bit.ly link for it since I can’t change where the old one directs to. bit.ly/KimIversonNews

that’s okay that I couldn’t change the link though. That “VIP” I added because yes, it was for the “elite” so to speak, haha, but it’s been annoying me. I don’t want to add “you’re extra special because you’re on this list!” stuff anymore. I’m kinda over that faux craziness. Look, here are my books I have up, if you’d like to check them out and purchase, come on by, but I’m no more special than another writer and I’m not interested now in that crazy sales marketing strategy.

We’re TIRED of it, right? I sure am. Sign up for a list I think I’ll gain some valuable information or [in terms of writers] I’ll get when their books are up for sale, maybe some information. Then suddenly I’m finding emails every. single. day in my darn inbox just screaming at me to buy buy BUY. *turns down volume*

Please.

That’s not why I signed up.

It’s just too much. No more of that template marketing* for me. I’m not going to do it to you, either. I never did it before and I won’t do it now. Okay fine, I’m not making zillions every day and my sales aren’t crazy. But you know what I’m building? A stable foundation of solid fans who’ll buy my work that won’t suddenly crash at the slightest change in how I work. Because this I can do. Keeping up the insanity 24/7? It’ll wear me down. It’ll wear you down.

*template marketing is a term I’m using to describe the template set out where they say to email 3 personal messages, then on the 4th email, ask them to purchase after telling your story in the first three. Uh, no thanks.

Nobody wants that anymore.

And sales marketers? Same. I’ve even read that from sales people who teach it. If you’re not emailing them weekly, you’ll get lost in the (oh look, they used the same term), “noise.” Or you’ll be forgotten. Maybe because with all the social networks and all that. People are convinced they lack time. What they lack is self-discipline to turn off and unsubscribe from the noise for fear of missing out. Fear of not being front of the line for the latest and the greatest.

If you’re investing all your time and energy into social networks or things that move at the speed of light, you’re training your brain not to recall anything. Now what do you think happens when we (or anyone in sales) is constantly sending messages and “noise,” or fluff just to stay in someone’s mind and inbox? We’re contributing to the problem. 

Time to retrain ourselves to what matters. Like the person saying, “I’m so busy.” If (I have been this person so I speak personally too) we look at our time investments and energy placements, we find we’re spending a lot of time just scrolling newsfeeds. And I’m looking at you news junkies too who do it for TV or online. This isn’t just social networking. It’s emails, it’s reading news headlines, it’s perusing store shelves. Times sucks can happen everywhere.

When then we find we’re not busy, we’re just investing time where we shouldn’t. I’m investing more time tending to an aging parent, dog care, yard work, and my books. Also working out. And those close to me. I pulled back on the “perusing,” which is what was wasting most of my time. Just scrolling through news feeds, literal NEWS feeds, etc. Reading memes can actually be a time suck too. So that little thing has given me a bunch more time and yet I’m still busy? My books have replaced that time, lol.

But that is more productive. My sleep schedule is sloooooowwwwly getting back on track, which is helpful.

So with my newsletter–where I was going with this to begin with–I figured I would replace the blogs and I’m contemplating also adding back the books area I had at the bottom just for the new folks, or the ones who forget what I’m working on at that time and don’t want to run to my website.

If you haven’t signed up before, feel free to sign up now. Note that this list is the VERY same list as before technically. I’m just making a new one to start fresh with my stats and such to really understand it well on my end because I’d participated in those InstaFreebies where they download the book and are automatically added to the list? Many of them–I’m grateful they have–stayed with me. I see that label in the list of contacts, but some didn’t. Since I want to ensure that I know who is really sticking with me this round and wants to be there for no other reason than they enjoy my newsletter and/or books, I figured it easier to start anew.

If you’re a current subscriber don’t worry you will be moved to that one if you go to this link and update settings to check all 3 boxes. Or, just sign up on this link and check the two on there. Either way works.

Signing up doesn’t include the freebies that old list did though. I haven’t added any. That way those who sign up want to sign up period. For news on the books, not just to “get a freebie.” I think I’m going to hold off on that for a while, if not period, because unlike other self-published, I act different. I don’t “do” the normal things to gain attention. Maybe I’m still fighting for massive lists of fans, but again, I want stability and a foundation that is solid. I don’t want people there just because. I seek genuine readers and people to be on the list who’ll care that I’ve spent an hour writing the newsletter up to let them know of the news.

We often forget that many of the writers we subscribe to have taken time out of their day to let us know what’s in those letters. They aren’t automated. So having many people on there not even reading all that work? Why are they there?

Again I’m to blame for that too. I don’t always read as well so I’m slowly unsubscribing from emails so I only get what I’m going to read. I know they may see the unsubscribe (as I have) as a bad thing, but in reality it’s a god thing. It means that the readers who are on the list are reading the newsletter. Otherwise they’ll be sent to trash without a read. That’s bad for statistics. I’d imagine on MailChimps end, if the one sending the newsletter out didn’t get anyone reading, MailChimp might be like . . . are you spamming these folks? When we just get so much mail we trash a lot. Same as snail mail.

I’m too lazy to add a featured image this round, and I have to get back to editing Dark Illusions: The Beginning – Extended Edition.

Today’s word count for Discovery of an Enchantress

Started today at – 68,259

Ended today at – 69,571

Total word count for today – 1,312