Graditude

I have kind of been putting off entering a new blog the past two weeks and not just because I have been trying to do more writing on my latest book (I’ve written about 5,000 words the past two weeks in addition to figuring out scenes, setttings, and characters).  More than anything, I have had an overwhelming feeling of graditude and I have been unsure of exactly how to say it, but no sense putting it off any longer. Thank you to all those brave souls who took a chance and purchased my book. Also, thank you to all of my friends, family, and neighbors who actually read the book and gave me feedback how to make it better, and helped me along the way to publishing it.

For those who may not have been following along, I finally published my first book, Called To Serve Again, last November. The paperback version was available on 11/1/11, and I tried to get the eBook version available on Smashwords, but due to a couple of revisions, it wasn’t really available in an electronic format until the middle of November. Finally, I realized that Smashwords and Amazon don’t exactly get along, so I had to format the book separately for the Kindle version and I didn’t get that submitted to Amazon until Christmas Day. I really only sold free versions of the eBook up until Christmas, kind of hoping to get some word-of-mouth started. Social media was really all I could afford to budget as far as marketing, so my expectations were fairly low. However, since Christmas, people have slowly started to purchase my book. Generally there are only a few downloads each week, but it is still exciting to check the sales reports every Sunday and see how many copies have been sold.

Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy writing and I know it will likely be a long time before I could ever give up my day job. I think it is fair to say that most authors have a regular job that isn’t necessarily writing, especially LDS authors. Amazon doesn’t even send a check until the profits exceed $20, and at the current rate it will probably be another month or so until that happens with my book, so I’m definitely not in it just for the money.

In fact, if I am reading the Tax Code correctly, the IRS has a cut-off of 500 hours per year to determine whether a side business is classified as a hobby (less than 500 hours) or a small business (over 500 hours). I would surely have to classify my writing as more of a hobby at this point. Let me just say, though,  that the thing that gets me motivated the most is knowing that a few people have actually purchased my book and given it a try (still no reviews written or ratings given yet on any of the websites, so that is a little nerve-wracking). With that in mind, I feel an obligation to continue writing and getting the stories out of my head and onto paper with the hopes that someone out there will find some value or inspiration in what I have to say. Thank you again.

© Copyright 2012 Jeff, All rights Reserved. Written For: Jeffrey Olsen