Looking forward to NaNoWriMo!

NaNo Approacheth!

It’s time once again to start making plans for November… of course my plans rarely survive contact with the 1st, it’s still fun to try! šŸ™‚

Since last year’s post-a-day worked well for [Placeholder], I’m going to try it again with the new book. I’m also going to follow on the heels of Chasing Falling Stars and write a pre-NaNo book on the setting and charactors for the novemeber novel.

I ‘m tentatively naming it [YANS] (yet another new story), because my track record for working existing stories is horrible. But that means I need to think about what sort of book I’d like to read…

(more…)

Continue ReadingLooking forward to NaNoWriMo!

Micro Mini Shipping Methods, Redux

I’ve been using USPS Priority Mail for all my Etsy listings, which works out to roughly $6.51 for VA to CA shipping for a 5oz package. The boxes are free and the tracking number is included, so it seems like a good deal– right?

Well not when you pair it with an $11 horse!

It wasn’t until I started working on revamping the listings to match the new custom order prices that it really hit me how much the shipping was. The micros are supposed to be cheap and fun, and 50% markup for shipping is neither. (more…)

Continue ReadingMicro Mini Shipping Methods, Redux

Saturday Story Prompt Collections – Take 2

So after poking around with the idea of doing a Saturday Story Prompt collection I came to the realization that I can’t rationalize charging someone a dollar just to take 4-5 previous blog posts and bundle them together.

To counter that I’d planned on adding ‘new’ prompts to those collections– but it seemed sort of a waste to not be able to share them with the world (since that’s what the prompts were meant to do).

After mulling it over for a bit I think I’ve finally stumbled onto a solution! (more…)

Continue ReadingSaturday Story Prompt Collections – Take 2

Why I’m Using Amazon Payments Instead Of PayPal

I’ve heard horror stories about PayPal for almost as long as the company has existed. There are numerous websites about the various folks they’ve taken money from and sellers that they have screwed over. I actually setup a second bank account back when I did this the first time, just so PayPal wouldn’t have access to anything but the business funds.

But most of the bad things I knew about happened years ago and thus I’ve been waffling about using PayPal or not when it comes to my business.

And then this happened. The story is still spreading across the internet like wildfire, so hopefully PayPal will fix this in the next 24 hours. (Check out this wonderful post by GreenGeekGirl that breaks it down step-by-step.)

Now I am firmly now in the NOT camp. (more…)

Continue ReadingWhy I’m Using Amazon Payments Instead Of PayPal

The First 42

Hammering out a sales plan to meet the January 2012 income goal is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Going into this project I was fairly confident that the first $42 would be the easiest to earn, after all I’d made that easily when I was doing only model horses, right?

Well, no, not so much when I start looking at the numbers. That first month income goal is for a net amount (after costs), not gross amount (before costs) and I rarely pulled in that much from the horses due to high material costs vs. price points. (more…)

Continue ReadingThe First 42