I expected May 2019 to be a slightly ‘off’ month simply because I didn’t get back to writing until a few days into the beginning of the month. I was out of town for a week at the end of last month and that seminar extended into the first part of this month. As a result, I put a hold on all of my freelance work until a few days after I got back home. However, I still had quite a volume of work regardless.
The Totals From May 2019
I completed at total of 24 different jobs this month – down from 35 in April 2019. The total number of articles I finished in those jobs was 64, compared to 96 last month. Also my total word count for May was down, which made sense. I counted 46,175 words compared to 68,175 from April. What I did notice this month was that some of my jobs are getting bigger. Instead of a number of smaller 1,000 word orders I am seeing 2,500 and 3,000 word orders more frequently. If this trend continues, I would expect the job count to drop in June but the word count to increase.
Other Stuff From The Month
Near the end of May 2019 I got to spend some time working on the ‘Big Mac’ computer. It was the one I used frequently in the newspaper office for various tasks. Although it does not see much action these days in my home office, I do enjoy when I fire it up and get to do some graphic work on it. The job this time around was a complete column of newspaper ads for vendors in the Oliver Indoor Flea Market. This was a renewal of a previous ad campaign and I supplied the pre-built ads because I could. It’s also good practice for me to keep those skills intact.
There is actually a funny story to go along with that. The morning I turned the Mac on I was pretty certain I could shortcut my way through the ad creation stage by recycling a couple of the previous ads I had on file. The problem was that I couldn’t locate that file. I also couldn’t exactly remember how to move a text box to where I wanted it or how to export a photo into a picture box. I use QuarkXpress, in case you are wondering. Anyway, the answers suddenly came to me and I was on my way. I never did find all the old files so I just built 95% of it from scratch and by the time I remembered what to do, it didn’t take me long at all.
Writing Promotional Emails
This is something new for me. A client of mine has requested I write ‘funny’ emails to help promote a business. It’s not the first time I’ve done this but it is the first time I’ve been contracted to supply content for use in an ongoing email marketing program. I completely understand the concept and the effectiveness of the direct email approach so I think that has something to do with my interest in the project. I’m just not so sure at this time if I’ll use that as a potential extra service to branch out and provide in addition to my normal ghostwriting services.
EBook Activity
My collection of eBook titles continues to get attention at Amazon. I have seven different eBooks there and although I tend to sell them in spurts, May 2019 was an interesting month for pages read. The way Amazon works is that you can purchase an eBook or you can go to the lending library and read one. I earn a commission from each copy sold as well as each page read. This month my pages read commission is going to be slightly higher than it was in April 2019. In fact, I’ve noticed a trend where my eBooks are getting read a bit more than sold and that is perfectly alright by me.
The Totals From May 2019
I completed at total of 24 different jobs this month – down from 35 in April 2019. The total number of articles I finished in those jobs was 64, compared to 96 last month. Also my total word count for May was down, which made sense. I counted 46,175 words compared to 68,175 from April. What I did notice this month was that some of my jobs are getting bigger. Instead of a number of smaller 1,000 word orders I am seeing 2,500 and 3,000 word orders more frequently. If this trend continues, I would expect the job count to drop in June but the word count to increase.
Other Stuff From The Month
Near the end of May 2019 I got to spend some time working on the ‘Big Mac’ computer. It was the one I used frequently in the newspaper office for various tasks. Although it does not see much action these days in my home office, I do enjoy when I fire it up and get to do some graphic work on it. The job this time around was a complete column of newspaper ads for vendors in the Oliver Indoor Flea Market. This was a renewal of a previous ad campaign and I supplied the pre-built ads because I could. It’s also good practice for me to keep those skills intact.
There is actually a funny story to go along with that. The morning I turned the Mac on I was pretty certain I could shortcut my way through the ad creation stage by recycling a couple of the previous ads I had on file. The problem was that I couldn’t locate that file. I also couldn’t exactly remember how to move a text box to where I wanted it or how to export a photo into a picture box. I use QuarkXpress, in case you are wondering. Anyway, the answers suddenly came to me and I was on my way. I never did find all the old files so I just built 95% of it from scratch and by the time I remembered what to do, it didn’t take me long at all.
Writing Promotional Emails
This is something new for me. A client of mine has requested I write ‘funny’ emails to help promote a business. It’s not the first time I’ve done this but it is the first time I’ve been contracted to supply content for use in an ongoing email marketing program. I completely understand the concept and the effectiveness of the direct email approach so I think that has something to do with my interest in the project. I’m just not so sure at this time if I’ll use that as a potential extra service to branch out and provide in addition to my normal ghostwriting services.
EBook Activity
My collection of eBook titles continues to get attention at Amazon. I have seven different eBooks there and although I tend to sell them in spurts, May 2019 was an interesting month for pages read. The way Amazon works is that you can purchase an eBook or you can go to the lending library and read one. I earn a commission from each copy sold as well as each page read. This month my pages read commission is going to be slightly higher than it was in April 2019. In fact, I’ve noticed a trend where my eBooks are getting read a bit more than sold and that is perfectly alright by me.
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