Isla Chiu's Blog

Hello, beautiful people!

So I’m still trying to do the full-time writer thing. I did apply for a part-time job, but I didn’t get it (my interview was HORRENDOUS). So is that the universe’s way of telling me I should still work at the writing thing? Or is that the universe’s way of telling me that I need to get freaking better at interviews? The next few months shall answer that!

Anyway, how did I do in February? Let’s look at the numbers!

My expenses-

Google Domain – $6.49Fussy Librarian promo – $35Planner – $3.24

Total: $44.73

My income –

Draft2Digital – $53.13Smashwords – $49.72Eden Books – $25Amazon – $71.51Payhip – $14.56Google Play – $5.58Medium – $0.54

Total: $220.04

For a total profit of $175.31.

*Half-hearted whoop*

But it’s significantly better than last year! In February 2020, I made a stunning total of $23.93. So progress is progress!

And despite the smallness of my first Medium payment (not even one dollar, haha!!), I have seen big growth since then. Let’s just say my next Medium payment will be quite a multiple of that 54 cents, and I am DEFINITELY continuing the Medium experiment. I expect my numbers for March 2021 to be significantly better.

Things I’m going to do in March –

*Release more damn stories, damn it. My productivity was shit in February. Shit, I tell you!

*Focus more on Medium

*Distribute some of my stories to Dreame and Media365 through Streetlib (I hear publishing times can be loooong, so it might be a looooong time before I see any $ from these retailers)

Anyway, that’s it. My report for March 2021 will be *significantly* more exciting.

Thank you, lovely people!

How is 2021 treating everyone so far? I have to say the beginning of the month was rough – thanks to certain political events in the US – but after January 20, my anxiety levels have dropped considerably. Joe Biden was far from my first choice in the primaries, but he’s not a wannabe dictator, and he’s empathetic and competent. And I admit I teared up with joy and a little American pride when Katy Perry sang “Firework” the night of Inauguration Day. (She’s a national treasure!)

Anyway, how did my first month of the new year go writing-wise?

Meh. My productivity levels were quite shit. Despite me coming out with less stories, my profits did not dramatically decrease from last month. Not that I have amazing profits, haha.

My expenses –

Google Domain – $6.493 Paid Newsletters – $43.85

Total – $50.34

My income –

Draft2Digital – $24.65Smashwords – $23.71Eden Books – $31.39Amazon – $96.29Payhip – $2.41Google Play – $1.38

Total – $179.83

For a total profit of $129.49.

***half-hearted whoop***

So nowhere near making a decent living (yet??? YET????), but it’s a significant growth from last year. In January 2020, I made a grand total of $11.67 LOL.

So progress is progress!

Things I’m going to do in February –

*Release more stories (seriously, I only released one short story in January)

*See how posting on Medium goes. I’m not expecting much because I’m not putting a lot of effort into it, but it would be nice if it could become another income stream

Anyway, I’ll be back next month with my February report!

With <3,

Isla

2020 was, well…a year. For most of us, it wasn’t great (understatement of the year).

I’m ready for 2021. Next year has to be better. Right? RIIIIGHT? IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE, RIIIIGHT?

But in all seriousness, I am cautiously optimistic about 2021. We have a vaccine for COVID-19 and Biden (GOD WILLING) will be president. Biden was far from my first choice in the primaries, and I’m sure he’s going to disappoint me, but he is empathetic, is competent, and cares about the work of being a president, which is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooot more than I can say for his predecessor.

Anyway…

Here were the goals I had in the beginning of 2020 –

Lose some goddamn weight – I am technically obese, so I really should do this. And I want to fit into my old clothes and/or avoid buying new clothes because I keep gaining weight. Along with losing some goddamn weight, I also want to exercise more. I’m getting more steps with the help of Stepbet and I bought some resistance bands that will hopefully help me get into shape.Write more – I really didn’t write as much as I wanted to in 2019. So many plans that failed to become reality! My maybe unattainable writing goals for 2020-Write 200,000 wordsRelease 20 storiesHave one of these stories be a novel (THE BRIDE OF HULI)Quit my job at some point (or get fired) – My 9 to 5 is really giving me an existential crisis. I do not want to do this shit for the rest of my life. If I’m going to do this for the rest of my life, MY GOD.

Did I meet these goals? HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Goal 1 of 2020 – I so did not lose weight. Thanks to the pandemic and the dumpster fire that is American politics, I stress ate sooooooo much. And I drank way too much (non-black, FATTENING) coffee.

Goal 2 – I did release over 20 stories. But I don’t think I’m going to hit 200,000 words and LOL, I did not even attempt to start a novel.

Goal 3 – I did quit my job. Not a wise decision, but I felt like I needed to do it. Might I regret it later when I have spent all of my savings and am begging for coins at the nearest 7-Eleven? Maybe (probably), but for now, I still believe it was the best decision for my mental health. Also, at my former workplace, there were a couple of Trump supporters and COVID-deniers, so I’m pretty sure I would’ve eventually gotten fired for losing my shit.

Anyway, I’m still going to set goals for 2021. Will I fail to reach them? Probably, but I’m going to try harder, damnit. (unless another pandemic comes along and I lose all motivation because the world is going to hell)

Goals for 2021-

Lose some goddamn weight.Write 300,000 words (unless I run low on savings and have to find a day job)Make more money with my writing and avoid having to find a day jobWrite The Bride of Huli, god-fucking-damn-it

If I’m being honest, in 2020, I did not really try my best. In 2021, I am determined to really try my best. And if my best is still not good enough, well, that will definitely suck, but at least I will know I have truly tried my hardest.

So next year, I’m still going to report my sad, sad, sad earnings, but I’ll report it a little differently. I will still do monthly reports, but instead of projected earnings, I am going to report actual royalties that show up in my (sad) bank account. And I am going to include business expenses (if I have any) and report if I’m in the red or in the black.

Anyway…

On the bright side, I did make more money with writing than I have in previous years! Which isn’t saying much, but it’s progress!

Anyway…

See you next month, when I will report my royalties for the first month of the new year!

Happy holidays, beautiful people.

With <3,

Isla

So last month, I wasn’t very productive. Politics and COVID-19 had me doom-scrolling and panicking like crazy. And this month probably won’t be that much different given that the corona is flaring up like crazy in my state Ohio (yet I still overhear people calling it a hoax…OHIOANS, GET IT TOGETHER!) and some dickhead who wants to be king won’t just concede like a mature adult.

But not all hope is lost. A vaccine is coming, and the wannabe king’s attempts to overturn the election results have been thankfully unsuccessful.

But will I still be wasting time doom-scrolling on Twitter and Reddit? YOU BETCHA. And I will most likely be doom-scrolling until that sweet vaccine is running through my veins and/or Daddy Joe is in office.

Anyway…so because of my lack of productivity and motivation, my numbers were a little worse last month.

Without further ado, November’s stats:

The Zon:

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Draft2Digital:

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Eden Books:

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Smashwords (YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE, BROS!!!): $5.00

For a grand total of…

$134.17

So I’m glad I still made over $100, considering I had less new releases and was spending more time stress-eating instead of FREAKING WRITING.

Anyway…

Things I learned –

*Posting in FB promo groups is truly a waste of time (for me at least). I didn’t do ANY of that for A Werewolf Jock for Thanksgiving, and it sold way better than books I have heavily promoted in FB groups. So I should focus more time on writing, less time on promoting (and doom-scrolling).

*I should really limit my time on Twitter. I really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally should.

*I should really limit my time on Reddit. I really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally should.

*Having a mailing list really helps. Which is kind of like duh. “WHAT, U SAYING THAT THING THAT EVERYONE SAYS EVERY SMART SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR NEEDS TO DO IS ACTUALLY HELPFUL? GET OUTTA HERE.” (my lazy ass should’ve gotten a mailing list waaaay sooner. If you’re a self-published author and don’t have one, START ONE. Don’t be like me and procrastinate for years)

Anyway, things I will be doing differently for the rest of December…

*I’m quitting KDP Select, baby. It’s just too restrictive, and I don’t think the KU reads are worth it. I might lose some money, but I think going wide will be better in the long run. Also, I never know if the Zon will ever try to bring the hammer down on my account, so I shouldn’t keep all my eggs in one basket.

*I started a Payhip this month! I actually made 2 sales so far, which is 2 more sales than I thought I would get! And the money just shows up in my Paypal, which is real nice.

*I started uploading my books on Google Play, and so far, I have yet to make a penny. If I make one sale, I’ll be very happy.

Anyway, hope this month is better than last month. If not, there’s always 2021 and/or finding another 9 to 5 (UGGGGGH).

thank you, lovelies

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Blurb to come!

Coming December 1!

Pre-order it for 99 cents.

Eden Books

More links to come!

I predict that today is going to be a remarkably unproductive day. Very likely I will spend most of today doom-scrolling and/or stress-eating. Because YA KNOW.

Insert obligatory reminder to go vote if you haven’t already!

Without further ado, the numbers from October 2020.

Amazon (as always, assuming a decrease):

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Eden Books:

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Draft2Digital:

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Smashwords: $3.56

For a grand total of $156.63!

So a slight increase from September, which honestly I wasn’t expecting. So you know, a very minor win.

Goals for November 2020:

I mean, basically, not sink into depression. And maybe make more money.

I might feel more ambitious and energetic next week, depending on the outcome of this election.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Anyway, stay safe, stay well, go vote.

Thank you!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

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The last thing I expected this Thanksgiving was to meet an alien prince.

Because I have no life and no friends, I’m working a shift at the convenience store on Thanksgiving. I expect the day to be completely uneventful.

Then a freaking UFO lands in the parking lot.

Sani is a 7-foot-tall green man with 12-pack abs, and he’s a prince from the planet Eler. Even crazier? He is in search of a mate because he needs to repopulate his kingdom.

And he wants me to be his mate…

***Get ready for Thanksgiving with this sweet and sexy short story containing cavity-inducing instalove, a baffled heroine, a well-equipped alien prince, and a HEA! Part of Romance Books You Should Be Reading: The Holiday Collection, a collaboration between your favorite authors of paranormal and scifi romance!***

Coming November 3!

Pre-order it for 99 cents.

Eden Books

More links coming soon!

Today has been a remarkably unproductive day. I woke up this morning and discovered that my ancient, sluggish Samsung Galaxy S5 died. So of course I freaked out because 1) I had to spend $$$ on a new phone and 2) I didn’t back up my data LIKE AN IDIOT (I planned to get a new phone on Black Friday…weeeeelp).

So today I wrote like maybe 100 words because I wasted time buying a new phone and playing with said new phone (on the bright side, I can play Pokemon Go without wanting to scream with frustration now!!).

Also, because I’m now out a few hundred bucks, #PleaseBuyMyBooks. #JustKidding #UnlessYouWantToBuyMyBooks

Without further ado, the numbers from September 2020.

KDP (I always assume a decrease because I’m a Negative Nelly):

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Eden Books:

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Draft2Digital:

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Smashwords (I like publishing through Smashwords OK, but their website is so annoying sometimes!):

$3.58

For a grand total of $148.55!

So still not great, but it is a noticeable increase from August 2020!

What didn’t work –

*My serial – None of my stories are hits, per se (I mean, look at my sad numbers), but my serial The Wrong Brother is a mega-flop. So I’m going to take a break on it. I do want to finish it in the future, but I got to try to make money first.

*Posting in Facebook Groups – I don’t think this has really improved my sales. I’m still going to post StoryOrigin promos in FB groups, but I think I’m going to spend less time posting just my own books in Facebook groups.

*Pre-order – my pre-order for Alpha Male Blast from the Past was a flop! Zero pre-orders! Ah well. You live and you learn. I might try it again once – well, IF – I get a bigger mailing list.

What worked (maybe?) –

*Working on my keyword game

*Enrolling in KDP Select for some of my stories

I’m still avoiding Amazon and Facebooks ads like the plague. IDK, just not in the mood to give Jeff and Mark more of my money right now. At some point, I’ll probably have to try them, but as always, I’m going to procrastinate on learning them damn ads!

What I’m going to try in October – participate in more group promos with other authors and publish one or two taboo stories. People on Eden Books seem to be buying my taboo stories, and Eden Books did comprise a third of my earnings in September. And I do like writing taboo stories.

Anyway, that’s all for now and hope you all are staying sane & healthy during these times of pandemic/this nerve wrecking election!

Isla

P.S.

#BuyMyBooks

#Please

#JustKidding

#NotReally

#YesI’mDesperate