Finding my Brand

Writing a book was the easy part....

Never thought I would say that in my life. After what seemed like forever, I finally hit the "Approve" button and my book was out in the big, wide, evil, cruel world for review.

Ok - it was no longer for review. It was up for grabs for anybody who was curious enough to spend a few hours reading it and a few bucks buying it... but that also meant it was up for critique. People could love it - or they could hate it!

What would people say?

I was so nervous....

Sure, we all have people who will never fail to buy what ever you write regardless of how bad it is or how good it is. It is the strangers we have to be careful of. We need to wrap our hearts and our minds with a Teflon coating so we don't get burned.

And that was when I ran into a wall.....

I was so excited to have finally hit publish. I knew I wasn't going to become an instant millionaire... and probably maybe not even a best selling author... at least yet. What I wasn't aware of, was how hard it would be to actually get someone to buy my book.

A few short lonely books later, I was wondering where were the critiques? The people slamming me under the bus because they hated it. Where was the love? The people who told everybody about it until they were blue in the face.

I guess that means you have to sell some books.

Now don't get me wrong. This is not a pity party. I have already sold a handful of books and the people who have invested the time in it to read Mother's Day, can't seem to put it down. So it must be good. At least that is what I am getting from the feedback.

The problem is, I need to brand it. I need to make people want to buy the book. I need them to realize they can't live another day without purchasing my book. I need to find a way to convince them there is something in it for them.

Frankly, how the hell do I do that?

If you would like a copy of Mother's Day, the book I completed for Nanowrimo, click here for the paperback. If you would like the Kindle version, click here.

My Phone Call With Google

Google and I have been fighting.

I have been working out. Google better watch out!
I am ready for them!

I have never fought like this with Google before, in fact, I would rather stay on good terms with them. After all, Google is kind of like the parent and I, as a blogger, am like the child. Whatever Google says goes and I am stuck with their decision.

So - you are probably wondering what went happened?

Well, at the end of March, I woke up to the nastygram saying there was invalid activity going on with my account.

WTF!!!!

I was nearly in shock. I thought I was going to cry. And then I remember, I don't really care because my writing is about my writing, not necessarily the money I make from my blog. So if you are wondering why I have been absent lately, it has nothing to do with my Google Adsense ban.

Anyway, I have tried to be nice and calm about the situation, appealing to the Google Gods. Only, it doesn't matter what I say or do, I just get a canned message back.

Do they think I am stupid??

If you message me back within 4 hours, I can pretty much guess you did nothing to evaluate my account.

This of course went on through the course of several different appeals. I know they say one shot is all you have, but I like to be annoying. So, what does it take for me to sit down and write them a letter every single day until I get some attention. Not a whole lot of time, in comparison of where I could waste it elsewhere. (Do you notice how much I update Facebook?)

Well, I got sick of remembering to write to them, and I got sick of trying to reword the facts so it sounds like I am coming up with new evidence. However, I don't have any new evidence. I don't know what might have caused them to see invalid activity.

Good-bye spare change. I probably
won't get to spend you anymore.

This is what I do know though. At the beginning of March, I started to actively promote my blog. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of spam comments coming in. I turned on Captcha to deter the
spam. My traffic tanked. Right after I did that, Google took away my account.

Days later, I found out my writings have been being copied on other websites. So yeah - how happy does that make me? I can't make money off of my stuff, but other people can copy it and at least make money. Google frowns at duplicate content.

However, it doesn't matter how much I study the stats, I can't seem to find anything that jumps out as unusual.

And Google... well they are equivalent to a parent saying... "Because I said so."

They are a bully. That is really what it comes down to. If any of the small guys start making money, they quickly do an update to change those numbers. If people click on your ads, even though the ads are matched toward what they should be interested in, Google will call you out for fraud. Why - because God forbid if the advertisers have to actually pay for their advertising!

So as a small fish in a big ocean, I am the little guy, barely making pennies, and they choose me to lay down their wrath. So while I actually care very little about the money, I have this problem of wanting to know.

So right now, I am sitting on the phone, calling Google. I waited on hold for 30 minutes before accidentally hanging up the first time. The second time....

If I knew this was going to be such an exciting
date, I might have gotten up and tried to
look presentable. 

.... well, I have already been on hold for an hour and a half.

What can I say... I don't give up easily!

Wordless Wednesday: Money

Did you ever hear the phrase that "Money Can't Buy Your Happiness?"

It really can't buy happiness but with today's increasingly cost of living, it sure as hell helps to make you a little happier.

When I sit down and think about money, I get disgusted. There is never enough to go around. It doesn't help that we live in California where the cost of living is ridiculous, the gas prices skyrocket for piss poor reasons and you have no choice but to commute to work to make living affordable.

The other day I was looking at plane tickets. I really want to go back to Wisconsin this summer, but I just don't see how that is possible anymore. With all the car issues we had earlier in the year, and the grocery bill nearly doubling as the cost of food raises, and gas (well don't get me started), plane tickets seem to be out of reach. I have yet to justify spending $300 per person for a weekend.

I would love to be able to go home. My budget doesn't nearly support my dreams of traveling. It doesn't support my want of a hot date out on the town all the time. And it surely doesn't pay for a maid that will clean and organize my house so I could spend my extra time writing!

On the other hand.... I have an amazing family. My kids never fail to say something that will make me laugh. My husband is never short on showing me how much he loves me. And those I am fortunate enough to call friends have filled my heart with riches that can never be spent. They are memories to be hoarded inside my heart to keep going when times get rough.

Now if only love would pay my electric bill this summer when it gets hot and the AC is turned on!

Who wouldn't love to have a handful of 100
dollar bills in their hand?

If you would like to participate in Wordless (or Wordy, since I obviously failed at the Wordless part this week!), check out my dear friend Cyndi over at Pictimilitude for ways to submit.