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It’s the first Wednesday of the month, meaning it’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day! Not sure what it is? Check out the link in the image below.

When wondering what to write this month, I started by checking out the optional question in this month’s email.

OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

Yeah, not touching that one. I’m in a too fragile emotional state to go into that. The short answer: yes, check out my published works for more. (I cried when listening to the audio version of “Once…” last month, especially while making sure that everything was just right in “The Fae of Bremen” – Tony is a major character in that story…)

Moving on.

What am I insecure about in my writing life? Oh, you know: the usual.

(My newsletter subscribers already know the following, so they can feel free to skip a couple of paragraphs.)

Will the audiobook sell? It’s available everywhere my producer could get it on, including Audible. (I’ll do a post another time on how I got past the whole restrictions on who can use Amazon’s ACX program.)

Will anyone care about the discount I’m running throughout October on the eBook to promote the audiobook? (It’s on sale on Amazon for $2.99 the whole month.)

Can I stick to my writing and publishing program? I did a couple of webinars last month – love being on Joanna Penn’s mailing list, I get so many free resources – and learned a lot about time management, tracking my writing, getting reviews, etc. I’m also working through the DIY MFA book, because, you know, throwing myself into learning new stuff gets me through major life events.

I realised last month that I needed to do some non-fiction stuff to fund my publishing. As an author, I do have skills that I can get paid for. So I signed up to be a freelancer on Upwork. I set up a proper profile and a competitive hourly rate (I looked at all the other profiles there and tailored mine to stand out). But even after trawling for work, sending out proposals, only two people responded. Both seem very excited to work with me: I’ll be beta reading their novellas/short stories. Totally in my wheelhouse. And below my hourly rate. If they really hire me… *Sigh* I did get an invitation to interview from someone needing beta readers, we’ll see how that goes.

I found this great proofreading course on the Society for Editors and Proofreaders that fits my needs: Basic Proofreading: Editorial Skills One through the Publishing Training Centre. So I’m doing that.

Why proofreading? Because I can even find typos and incorrect facts in published works… And I like to find problems and suggest corrections. (If not watched like a hawk, I’ll fix the spelling mistakes on shirts, advertisements, billboards, movie posters, and anything else that needs correcting.) And I believe that a proper proofreader can make all the difference to the quality of your book, short story, etc.

And why am I willing to do beta reading for money? Well, people are asking for beta readers on Upwork and are willing to pay for a freelancer’s time. So why not? I love beta reading for my friends and they do the same for me – we know that it is an essential part of the writing process (and there are usually some perks).

So… I did a lot of course correcting the past month to be able to make a living from my writing. (Totally freaking out about that, BTW.)

I know I did a couple of plugs here: audiobook, eBook and (please hire me on) Upwork. *Grin* But it’s about more than that: will the audiobook sell? Will the discount affect sales on the eBook? Can one make a living as a freelancer?

Any advice – and encouragement – is very welcome. Happy IWSG day!

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