Miscellaneous Musings

I truly don't care if someone requests an ARC copy of my book or not. But I'm puzzled by someone who posts a request in an inopportune place on Goodreads, but nevertheless I dutifully send a copy, only to have them ask again 24 hours later and I resend it, assuming I'd somehow gotten their email address wrong (even though I'd copied and pasted it). Then when I try to double-check the person's post, they've deleted their entire account. That's kind of an over-reaction from someone who's simply changed their mind. It's not as if I'm going to hunt them down and shove a copy of my book in their face. Again, I don't care. I just find it weird.

I continue the quixotic task of converting my second novel into a novella. There is so much to delete, it's daunting. I'd already decided to bury the old lady (not literally) and today I found that she has a relationship with the actual would-be killer. Oops. Perhaps I can cobble together a new motive for the guy. Or, like the ARC requester above, maybe he's simply weird.  

All told, I have only five actual (legit) requests for an ARC. Another person dropped out on me ~ again, I don't care ~ I can at least brag that I received a five-star review from one of the real readers. 

My LibraryThing giveaway sits at 16 requests out of 30 offered. At least I'm beating the iPhone 15 book, and I bet my story is more interesting.

I get too many emails from The Fussy Librarian, a service I tried once with pitiful results. The place seems rather desperate. It's time to pull the trigger and unsubscribe from all those places. I don't want anyone's FreeBooksy offering, or really anybody's book, free or not. I'm kind of busy with my own writing pursuits.

I get that everyone who wants to connect with me on LinkedIn has a service they want to sell, but I don't spam them ~ why is it okay for them to bother me? I've taken to simply ignoring their messages. I used to be a people pleaser, to my own detriment, but I don't owe these strangers anything. And I'm not in the market for book trailers or cover designers. Those things I can do on my own, and quite proficiently. And they cost me $0.00.

The most exciting news of the day is that I started my taxes and had to report $22.00 in book royalties! You're jealous, I know. It's taken about eight years to reach this peak, but through toil and tribulation, I somehow managed to slay the twenty-dollar beast! I am so awesome, I can almost afford to buy a McDonald's takeout lunch. I didn't even get a 1099 last year, so I'm clearly on the move.

All told, things are going according to plan. 

 Not my plan, but some kind of plan.