My latest book is available on the Amazon Kindle store this week

As time moves by and the startup dreams are on the back burner for the Winter, I have started to branch out into other areas. My regular readers will know that I have been doing a lot of writing recently.

My work on fiverr.com has really taken off and I am very pleased with the number of gigs I have been getting. I have also expanded the different writing gigs that I offer, which is bringing in more activity and more income.

But it is the book writing (and publishing) that is the reason for today's blog entry. I have published my latest book this week and it is gaining some interest already. I have started to promote the book through social media and there has been a small buzz associated with it.

I have written about the book on this blog before and it's now ready. The book is-




It is available now, so please investigate. Ask me any questions you have and I will help you on your own quest to write a book. It really can be done if you follow a plan like the one outlined in my book.

The next book is starting and it is going to be about writing a blog, gaining readers for your blog and then monetising the blog. It will be another mid-sized book like the others I have written and I think that it will become as popular as te others I have written and published.

A bit of everything has been happening all at once this week

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A bit of everything has been happening all at once this week. It's one of those occasions where I don't really know which way to turn so I've turned all ways at once! Let me explain-

Work

I've been offered the chance to  step up to the next level until after Christmas. It means going full-time for a few months and this impacting on the available time I have to do other things. But I've  accepted the offer in the basis that many of the other things I do at this time of year will start to tail off.

Fiverr

I came home to 4,500 words of fiverr writing on Friday night. It's mice to get regular sales on fiverr and it means that my gig explanations are hitting the right notes. I'm relatively new to fiverr and I'm finding out that Friday afternoon seems to be the time for buyers to instruct you. About 60% of my gigs have been commissioned on a Friday afternoon. I set aside two hours on Saturday morning to complete the gigs and I've had the first drafts sent off for approval.

Mystery shopping

This does really start to tail away at this time of the year when retailers really want to concentrate on serving customers and making money.

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/its-time-to-start-mystery-shopping-now.html

There have been a couple of mystery shops and a gambling success but few and far between-

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/see-how-quick-mystery-shopping-trip.html

Book sales

I've been using my blogs to promote my books more and more recently, especially-

The Mystery Shop Blog - http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.co.uk/

How to Sell Your Home - http://how-to-sell-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm finding that books sales are steady and that interest in the blogs is increasing well at the moment. From here I hope to produce a solid regular income for when the business opens.

homeestates

Fiverr

Seller

I am a writer - I write all the time. I have several blogs, have written three books (so far) and I just love writing. I will write positive reviews or articles or mention you in my blogs in clear English. I'm new to Fiverr but I'm incredibly passionate about what it can empower.

Photographs, reviews, fiverr and some serious editing are improving my Kindle book

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I've been looking to increase the income from my first Kindle ebook by improving it in several ways.

How to sell your house: What estate agents don't tell you by Steven Thompson

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_etaRvb3QK3CFG

These changes are coming before I finish my second ebook on the related topic of and then a combined book of The income I receive from this has been modest but steady, and I want to extend this to help when I eventually open my estate agency and have to rely on other income for a short while.

I've looked at the book and the changes I think were needed and the details are below-

Addition of photographs

The book itself flowed quite well in the way it was written but the newer version, to be released soon, will have some stock photos added to the text to break up the words and provide a link between the chapters. They are simple stock images that provide visual clues to the text and make it more easily readable.

Top tips boxes

I found that throughout the text I was highlighting really good ideas of how to make the most out of the process of selling your home. The ideas tended to get lost in the text as there were over 5,000 words. I came across the idea of adding boxes marked with the heading "TOP TIP." This enables the reader to spot the things to make the big changes. In short, it really highlights the really good ideas.

Reviews

I've started the process of emsing people a copy if the book so that they can give me a review. The Amazon reviews help potential buyers to make their decision in terms of whether to buy something. I've started to contact the top reviewers on Amazon with a copy of the book with a request to read and review. Hopefully this will add to the interest in the book and some reviews (hopefully positive) will tempt people to buy or borrow.

A new cover

I decided that the original cover that I designed myself on Microsoft Publisher didn't really stand up to the competition. It looked homemade. During one of my serendipity trips on the internet I found a website called fiverr.com. (See blog - http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/06/stumbling-across-ideas-and-answers-when.html .) The website brings together designers and people who need quick basic designs - all for the princely sum of $5.

My designer came up with the following design first-

Obviously with a website that crosses large parts of the world, there can be small issues with communication. With fiverr, the designers have rules they post in the site when you instruct them to produce work for you. My designer allows one alteration to the design and if you're still not happy after that they refund your money. I asked for a revision to change the notes at the bottom of the picture to UK sterling pound notes as the book is mainly aimed at the UK market.

And this is the final design. The new design is uploaded to the book's profile on the Amazon page. The new design shows another change, albeit sort-term. There are many books called 'How To Sell Your House' on Amazon already, so I've decided initially to make this Kindle book titled 'How To Sell Your Home' to differentiate. The next step will be, however, to order another Kindle book cover and add the title the second time, so it's listed under both 'house' and 'home' on the Amazon website. I hope that this will enable me to reach both search terms.

Days of relative inactivity must stop

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After a great Fathers Day and the photographs I took (see previous blog) I've had a couple of days if relative inactivity. Now I've been working for 8 hours a day in my employed role for the last two days but it's stopped me from getting in with the task in hand - making money.

That said, it's mainly the administrative side of things I've let slip, with the mystery shops, paid surveys and selling tasks in the PC having been left behind. I did manage to procure about 200 books for the princely sum of £3 yesterday so there is progress being made on this front. eBay is where this purchase originated and I'm on the lookout for joblots of books locally at a good price. The next task here is to add them to my inventory on Amazon to have them seen by the public and hopefully to make sales. I think that the sale of only one of these books will pay back the outlay and the mileage, and there will be some in there for my children, for the local playgroup and charity as well. So everyone wins, to a degree.

So tonight after work (another 8 hour shift) tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening will be set aside for catch-up as suspect my email inbox will be showing over 200. And about half will be money making opportunities from survey companies or mystery shopping companies. Looking forward to it!

A feeling of refreshed positivity!

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I've worked up with an overwhelming feeling of positivity this morning. I'm really 100% sure why this is, but I'm liking it.

What's changed?

Well, in the two days since I was last on here, there have been a few changes but they all feel positive and can help me to look forward. One of the ways I've been making money and looking to continue making money when the business starts, is buying and selling books. I have an eBay account (who doesn't?) and an Amazon seller account t that I sell these through. The issue has been increasing my stock from 100 books to 1,000 books. Not unlike an issue with stock that I'll be facing when I'm an estate agent. Without giving away too much detail I've started to find areas where I can increase my stock by the hundreds without a massive expense.

I've also signed up for another mystery shopping company this week. Things have slowed down with mystery shops (although I still wouldn't describe them as slow.) I felt as though another company on my books was a positive step and would give me the opportunity to learn how they operate, experience more companies and earn some more money.

And I think I've found the doors for my office! The doors I need are almost £250 on B&Q, so I've been looking for an alternative at a better price. I've found some on at a current bid of £30 and - although I'll have to rent a van - the savings are huge. This will complete the office in terms of structure and allow me to furnish and move in.

So onwards and upwards!