Life of A Writer

I was jumping up and down yesterday when I surfed over to Amazon.com. I check my sales rankings at Amazon often, and I also participate in Amazon Connect, and will be doing the guide soon too. Anyway, while checking the sales ranking on my book I realized I made some sales. Now I'm not 100% certain how to read the sales ranking, but I do know the lower the number the better. Yesterday my sales ranking for On the Net Resource Guide for Writers was at 301,172. I know this means sales, and I know the number is good for me since a month ago my sales ranking was somewhere around two million. I'm not only excited about the sales, but I'm also excited that my marketing efforts, and the time I've put into marketing both my books are paying off.

On another note, because I've made more sales with this book it gives me a nudge to work quicker on the update. Trust me, I am working on the 2006 edition, it just takes time to go through all the resources to make sure they're still active, and I'm also weeding out resources that have been reported for scamming writers. I know the 2002 edition can still be helpful, but it does contain some Web sites that are no longer available (publishers, editors and etc.. do go out of business and sometimes change their Web site addresses), and also contains publishers that have been reported for scamming (Publish America being one of them). Other than that, the 2002 edition is still a helpful tool for writers, and if writers research the markets before submitting or signing with them they should be okay.

If you're one of those writers who purchased a copy of On the Net Resource Guide for Writers I'd like to say thank you. In addition, if you find a Web site in the book that is no longer available, let me know which company it is for and I'll get back with you to let you know if they've updated their Web site address, or if they've just folded (gone out of business). I also invite you to let me know if the book was of help to you -- you can contact me personally, or you can leave a short review at Amazon.

Before I go I'd like to remind you that spring isn't far away. Spring is my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of rain in the air, and the smell of the flowers blooming. You know, spring makes a wonderful time of year to get married too. If you're planning a spring wedding don't forget about wedding favors -- you'll be needing them. Of course you'll want cheap wedding favors in order to save money.

I've got to go now, I have more writing to do. Always remember, never give up on your dreams -- work toward them.

Hugs,
Misti Sandefur, Author/Freelancer
http://www.mistisandefur.com

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I hope you all had a good Valentine’s Day – I did. I got a huge bear from my husband; I collect bears. At least this stuffed bear isn’t breakable. My other bears are, and now some of them seem to be missing legs, arms and other body parts. Of course some have also been glued back together, but I still have them.

2006 seems to be keeping me pretty busy. I have been writing and trying to keep up with Article Distribution Services too. Though it’s a lot of work I enjoy it…writing is something I have a lot of desire for, and something I enjoy very much. It really warms my heart to have the assignments I currently have lined-up. I honestly don’t know if I could face working outside of my home again. I like sitting here at my computer, in my pajamas, and writing to my heart’s content. There’s no one looking over my shoulder, and I don’t have to answer to anyone. And the thing I love the most is I'm doing something I love.

What I really love about writing is learning new things. There’s an old saying -- “write what you know.” For a long time I use to do just that, but later I wanted to write more than just what I know, I wanted to learn new things and then write about what I learned. I spend a lot of time researching the Internet for things I want to know more about. Let’s say I want to find out about stock option investing, I can visit web sites and learn all about stock option investing. Then later I can write what I’ve learned (using my own words) and sell it to magazines, newsletters, webmasters or anyone looking to buy an article on stock option investing. I don’t just pick any topic at random and research it…I choose topics that I want to learn about. If I were to pick a topic I have absolutely no interest at all in I wouldn’t learn a thing, it would be boring to me because I have no interest in it.

Are you tired of “writing what you know?” Then think about something you would like to learn about and research it. Remember, make sure it’s a topic you’re interested in, because if you have no real interest in it, it probably won’t work out for you. I’ll help you out a bit; do you have an interest in gold? Good, now you need to find some information on gold, information such as the price of gold, types of gold or etc.. There are many web sites out there that can help you. Just use the search engine and enter the terms you want to learn. For example, you can enter “types of gold,” “price of gold” or just gold. The information is out there, you just have to have the desire to look for it.

I’ve got to go now, I have deadlines to meet, and thoughts to write down. Until next time, take care of yourself, and never give up on your dreams -- work toward them.

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I know it's been a while, but my writing life lately has been busy, busy, busy! I have had all kinds of article ideas that have been popping into my head, and so I write them all down so I don't forget them. Then to act on them I have been writing and surfing the web for markets that will buy my articles. So much to do and not enough time in one day to do it.

In addition to my article ideas, I have also been working hard on the 2006 edition of On the Net Resource Guide for Writers -- I've got to get this edition done before it ends up being the 2007 edition. I've been going through and checking for Web sites that no longer exist so I can remove them from the book. The most time consuming part of it all, though, is I am also researching the markets to see if they have been reported for scamming writers. I don't want the book to be full of markets or publishers that scam writers, and so I do whatever I can to remove those. For example, the first edition of On the Net Resource Guide for Writers listed Publish America, and this one had to be removed for sure. When I listed them in the book they were just beginning, but turns out they were only around to scam their authors.

Are you ready for a giveaway? I have been working on coming up with some nice things that I can give you free when you purchase my books. What's even better is you don't have to buy the books from me to get these freebies -- you can buy the books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, or etc.. Keep watching my blog and my Web site for the giveaways (coming soon) and details.

I'll let you get back to what you were doing, and I'm going to return to my writing life. I'll post again real soon. Don't forget to watch for the giveaway!

Never give up on your dreams, work toward them.

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