Well, it has been another busy week despite not getting a lot of words counted for the blogs or books. But, I've logged quite a few miles driving everyone around, set up recording the Halloween Special, worked on a particular violent chapter in my book, and started toying around with a few things in Photoshop for the next book cover.
Not to mention uploading a few videos recently that seemed to perform better than average. I might actually get the channel monetized before 2030.
Hey, $10 per month would be handy to help pay for some of the extras I'd like to put on the blogs. Plus, it can help offset marketing expenses while publishing future books. But we shan't be putting the cart before the horse.
Getting My Office Back Today (Hopefully)
Today (Friday), I should be getting my office space back. That means that I won't be crammed into my bedroom 16 hours per day and I get a cleaner background when recording YouTube videos. Currently, I just have too much going on and my room is overly cluttered. In my defense, that's because I shoved two rooms' worth of crap into one.
In any case, I'm sure having my office back will do wonders for my productivity. For one thing, I am a bit claustrophobic. So, sitting here and trying to work while being completely surrounded by randomness has been pretty tough over the past couple of years.
Not to mention that "work" is the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning, and that can start eating away at you over time. It's reminiscent of how I felt in 2016 when I had a pretty severe mental crash.
So, let's hope everything goes smoothly today and I can start setting things up. It would be nice to do the WordPress live stream today from my office.
Working on AdSense Post (Vignette Ads)
Recently, I conducted an experiment that was two-fold for all three of my major blogs. The purpose was to see if showing related posts in your blog actually makes a difference in viewership. The second part was to see if turning off vignettes had any impact on visitor page views per session.
Vignettes are the ads that pop up when someone clicks a link on your site to visit another page.
The short answer is that vignettes had very little impact on how many pages the average visitor would read during a single session on the blog. However, I lost more than a third of my ad revenue from all three blogs.
Needless to say, it's going to make an interesting blog post that will be out next week on WriterSanctuary.com. So, if monetizing your blog interests you, feel free to follow my flagship site for that post.
Screenwriting is a Bit Different
I'm in the process of writing up a basic review of a screenwriting app. And although this is the first time I've actually written a screenplay, it's been quite fun. It's considerably different than writing a book, though.
Essentially, it's mostly about dialogue and scenery. From what I've learned, the only things on which you really need to focus are elements that are visual. Then, directors and actors make the rest happen.
Anyway, I'm using Arc Studio to set up something on my Creative Sanctuary YouTube channel. It's been a fun process to learn. Will the video be Oscar-worthy? Pff...probably not. But it's probably one of the best videos that I've put together thus far. And for me, that's all that really matters.
Besides, I don't review products and services that I haven't tried myself. This includes "best of" lists, and that's because I can't call something "the best" if I have never actually used it. Unlike other bloggers out there, I have a moral compass. Just because it's cracked, faded, and ancient, doesn't mean it doesn't work.
Who knows? Perhaps I'll have a series of videos for YouTube next year that are more entertainment-related.
Reedsy Sharing My Videos
I'm a fan of the Reedsy book editor. It has all of the basics any new writer would need for publishing a digital or print book. Plus, it's free to use.
Recently, I've been making videos about Reedsy on the YouTube channel as they seem to perform fairly well. This last one was simply showing viewers how to properly set up a book including a few tips.
This time, I completely forgot to share it on Twitter and Facebook, as I do all so often. However, Reedsy still found the video and apparently enjoyed it enough to share it on their feed. This is the second video they've liked in a short amount of time.
The cool thing is that they had to at least watch the video to see my "gorgeous cat."
I geek out a bit when a company I like mentions me, likes something I create, or comments on a post. It goes a long way to demonstrate to myself that I'm actually on the right path that I want to be on. It's a small bit of validation that is quite inspiring.
Just to put it out there, never once have I ever approached a brand with an "influencer" mindset. I'm not trying to make a buck, I just want to show things to my viewers. So, no, the Reedsy videos are not paid advertisements in the slightest. I simply like the tool.
Half a Million Words Thus Far
This week, I surpassed 500,000 words written for 2023. I am quite a ways behind hitting one million, but I am confident that I'll at least surpass the numbers for last year. That is as long as the chaos decreases to a dull roar.
Can you imagine writing 500,000 words for nothing more than books? In order for me to do that, though, I would need to make enough sales to quit as a freelance writer. Yeah...I'm a far cry from that.
Still, it's quite an accomplishment and I'm looking to see how close to one million I can get by December 31st. It's still several months away, and a lot can happen this season. Regardless, I'm proud of what I've done so far and look forward to seeing how much I crush 2023.
What Are You Working On?
We've got a week left in August. How are your writing goals shaping up? What have been some hurdles for you to overcome?
For me, I doubt I'll have the record-breaking month I wanted. Yet, I did have a lot of things to take care of recently, both on and off the field. So, I'm not overly disappointed. It just means I'm going to turn up the heat a bit in September to see what I can do before Halloween.
I just had a thought. I can pull the decorations out next Friday!