Saving Lives, Staying Home and Very Much Determined

I hope all of you, your familes and friends are safe and healthy during this strange time.  I live with my mom and sister and we are all okay.... BUT  the  day job I had for years is now gone. I was working at home  for two weeks and two days, in March, then I was called and told I had zero hours.

Now, I have always wanted to quit my day job. I have a college degree from Syracuse University, and have been accepting a low salary for years ( under $10K) because I could find nothing better. I had watched several employees-some just new hires,  get promotions in a few months time, while I who had tried many times got nothing. I won't go through all I had experienced there, that is not the point I want to make here today.

I had no way of getting anything better in my city, so along comes COVID-19 and now I am at home. Am I going stir crazy? No! I love being at home with my family, and now have the time to get all those  time consuming jobs and projects around the house and in the yard done. Most importantly,  I have the time to make the life of my dreams come true....to be a successfully published writer. I have sold ebooks,  yes, but not successfully. So now I have all the time in the world, and I am going to focus on one thing at a time, and get the job done!

While I wait for my first unemployment payment (you can guess how crazy that is..*eye roll*) I will be focusing on becomiing better and marketing my books.. I am so bad on keeping up with this blog but, I will post at least once a month to keep you posted.

Take care, and remember to wash your hands.

Still Chasing Riley 2016

Alot has happened. I was sick last year for more than six months. This year, about three weeks. It has been hard trying to work when you don't feel well. Then, not being able to.  Now that I am just about feeling great, for once,  I can get back to it.

Seriously, the whole point of this blog is to earn an income that will not only make me financially independent, but will have me working at home. I am still trying to get my e books to sell. It's frustrating seeing people who are selling hundreds and thousands of books a day, and I'm not even making bus fare with my books.

What has changed? If you also want to become a writer, please take this very important advice. FICTION sells on Amazon. If anyone tries to tell you non-fiction is the best thing to sell to pay the bills,  they are misleading you. I've done a cookbook, children's books, and it is not the same as FICTION.

SO, having said that. I am actively writing again. I got an editor working on one book, and I will keep writing and publishing, hoping that in a few months(according to one course that I took) that I should make enough sales. If I make enough sales and become financially free, that means I would have caught Riley, at last. I will keep you posted on my progress and success. Once I have caught Riley, I would be more than happy to share what worked in free case studies.

I have not forgotten my first love, music. I just have to get past the first step.

Until next month......

Music And Still Chasing Riley....

No. My music isn't available online-yet. I'm still working on what I have been working on since the beginning of this blog: Financial independence. I have a lot of projects going now, that is why I've been scarce, but I will attempt to do a post every Friday to keep you updated.
Remember when I said I didn't know how to get my MTV Music Generator stuff online? Well, I still don't, BUT a thought occurred to me just the other day. 'What if their are music generators online?'
HELLO! Why didn't I think of that before?! So, anyhoo, I found some sites and I'll be working on some 'new' music that will finally be heard on the Internet. I have found some great books on marketing your music for free. Here's one right now, get it before the guy changes his mind.
Six Figure Musician
If you are an indie musician and you want to make more money, then you will want this book! It covers every aspect of selling your music.  I am glad I have it, so that when my music is finally able to go live on the Internet, I will be able to market it properly instead of guessing.
On the Chasing Riley end of things, I have decided that the only way to get rid of my day job  is to write. I have chosen Kindle to do this. I am sure you have heard of the success of many authors such as J. A. Konrath, Amanda Hocking and John Locke. The books I have published are not making big sales, so I have to change my genre to fiction. Non fiction is not the biggest seller. That is all I have been doing, which is probably why I haven't succeeded! So, I have the key, so all I have to do is put it in the lock and turn it.
Until next Friday.....

Getting Closer To Catching Riley

*Sigh*. No, I'm not yet close to getting my music out yet, but a way to become financially independent is. Well, one good thing is that I do have a publishing contract for a series. My first book will be out in October. Instead of endlessly searching for things to do to make money, I have focused on three things:

• Writing(my publisher+ Kindle, Smashwords and other websites like them)
• Teaching(online)
• Crowdfunding

 So, I am hoping by the end of next month to be debt free, and therefore able to purchase the software and equipment I need to get my music online and heard by millions of people. So, you will hear from me once more this month, and will hear the final verdict next month. Will I have caught Riley? Will I finally be able to just wake up every day and work at home? Stay tuned and find out....

One Step Closer To Riley.....

There is so much confusion about earning money online. That is why people scream scams and don't believe that you can make anything on the Internet. Those people are wrong. I have made money online, not enough to quit my  j.o.b. but,  I have a plan to get me past the first step on to the next. What is my plan?   Kindle Publishing. I've read a lot about it, have made a little money with it, but there are so many things I need(music supplies and equipment) not to mention the basics. I've listened to at least six if not more Kindle publishing webinars. I've read ebooks, and listened to a video course. So this month I'm finally putting this plan into action. If I succeed, then I will be one step closer to Riley. Will I be the next Amanda Hocking? I don't know, maybe. I'm not that silly to think I could achieve that within a month. All I'm looking for is some financial relief and that's nowhere near what Amanda Hocking has. I'll let you know in May....and then, when I make it,  I will reach for the stars.

New Years Resolutions

Okay! It's been a few years since I've started this blog, and although I have not yet caught Riley, I am one step closer to doing it. I've had one success last year, and that is I have found a publisher that will publish three of my books. One this year, two next year.
Even though that is part of my dream coming true, it still does not allow me to just work from home, and all(as far as I know) digital publishers do not give advances, just royalties. The debt I spoke on in earlier posts is still there. It's gone way down since then, though, but it is not gone like I want it to be. So I've found a few ways to make money, but it's very slow going.
One thing I want to duplicate, that I know would get rid of all the debt, is publishing on Kindle. I have twenty titles on there now, and only six are consistently selling. None of them are fiction titles, though. So, right now I am working on writing fiction for Kindle. It would be nice to reach the success that Amanda Hocking has, but even if I have just a fraction of her success now, that would mean I would be at least debt free.
So! In the next three months, this is what I want to accomplish:
1. Become debt free
2. Have enough money to quit my day job
3. Make a consistent $5,000+ a month
4.Jump Start My Music Career
My plan is just to write, write, write until the following is accomplished. If John Locke can sell a million books in just five months, I figure I can do at least have as good as he did when I put some effort into it. I do have
another trick up my sleeve that will help get rid of the burden of debt, but I will only mention it in April when I will report the results of my New Years' resolution.
As for music, it still all boils down to getting software. I'm kind of afraid to use other peoples "free" royalty free music, or public domain music. I did a video for Youtube, and I get an email from them saying that the song I used belonged to some company! I didn't dispute it, but I checked the song on my hard drive. The person who gave me the music called it 'PLR' or something like that, and said that I could put my name on it
and use it as I wished. So, I am going to have to buy my royalty free music and I just don't have the cash now. So, this plan has got to work for my New Years' Resolutions to come true.
As I continually say, I will try to post at least once a month, so at least let you know I am still actively working.
3.

Blast It All!!!

We have so much music, copyrighted,
and more yet to be, but for the life
of me, I cannot figure out how to
connect MTV Music Generator to
the computer. I've been searching
for articles frantically online, and it's
definitely confusing, as one person
says how difficult it is, another that
there is a way to do it. It doesn't help
that my television is an old model and
it doesn't include hookups for the red
and white connectors.

UGGHHH!

As for my other iron in the fire, writing is going
well. I've completed six manuscripts. Two of
them ebooks and one is on sale at Scribd.
Just visit:
http://writegrrl.blogspot.com
to check it out. I am still earning about
$10-$15 a month from Associated
Content (Whoop Dee Doo!) I'm still
trying to figure out how to get more
page views, 'cause if I can manage that,
it will get me one step closer to Riley.
How Close am I now? Let's see...See that graph up there? You can't
really see it that well, I know. I'm not a master of doing my own graphs
yet, I used an online website. What you see at the bottom, the splat,
is where I'm at now. I didn't get past it. The end is where I want to be. the
point where I have caught Riley. I'll do a better graph next month,
and hopefully I can get past that blasted splat!
Peace