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.

A different way of presenting my work

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The internet, especially social media, seems to be full of headlines or strap lines such as-

You won't believe what happened next…

See what happened when…

Who would have thought what could…

And I like the fact that people have realised the world is more interesting with words. As someone who writes a lot, I think that simple, interesting stories can transform other parts of the internet, and the world around us. And it's got me thinking about how I present things such as my photography and Kindle books to the world. Adding my own story to the photographs or the books gives some context, some background and some interest to what I present.

I can now see photography as a story. "See what happened when one photographer…" is a far more interesting piece than just uploading photos to social media - no matter how good the photos are.

Presenting my books with the context behind them of how I ended up writing them will mean more to potential readers than telling them it's good or great or interesting or any other description I could come up with.

So, off the back of this enlightened thinking today, I'm looking at re-writing the blurb on Amazon for my two current books and adding to the introductions for both. I think that anyone browsing through Amazon and coming across my books would be more interested in whi ive written them than a synopsis of what the books are about.

So here goes. I write them because-

I'm sick of dealing with estate agents that aren't very good at their jobs.

I think I can do better.

I want to help people to help themselves.

I think that there is a better way than how houses are currently bought and sold.

I think that consumers should know more about the process.

Watch this space, and I'll update you on my progress.

New book is now available in the Kindle store

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It's finally here! I've published my new book! It's been uploaded to the Amazon Kindle site and is now available here.

It's entitled "How To Buy Your First Home - What estate agents don't want you to know".  I'm really pleased with how it's actually pulled together in the end. The several layers of editing have increased the size of the book and the quality of the writing. I've again used fiverr.com to have the cover produced, after the success of using it last time.

The blog about that is here.

The final cover looks like this-

And the book is available here

So what's next on the writing front? Regular readers of this blog will know that I spend a lot of time mystery shopping. I've carried out mystery shops now for nearly five years for twelve different mystery shop companies, and I've decided that I should share this experience. The book will be a mix of background knowledge, practical advice and some hints and tips. I hope to have this book written quickly and to add to the library I have on offer.

As I be said before, the idea behind having these things available is that it provides me with an income whilst I go away from my paid job and start up a business that won't bring in an income for the first few months. Having a set of five to ten of these books will give me the best chance of gaining an audience. That's where I'm heading…

Ebook revised, edited and published

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Just a very short blog entry today to state that my ebook 'How To Sell Your Home - What Estate Agents Don't Tell You' is now fully edited, extended and updated and available on the Amazon Kindle store.

How to sell your home: What estate agents don't tell you

I'm pleased with the updates, as it extends the book by approximately 40% and goes into more detail in parts of the book that need attention. I've told the story on here before, so if you're not a regular reader, then the blog below will give you a good idea of the changes-

Photographs, reviews, fiverr and some changes to my ebook

Thinking time whilst on holiday, and not enough action time on my return

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I've now returned from three weeks holiday. A three week break brings lots of thinking time but the return to reality and activity is tougher than I remember.

I've kept physically active whilst away, with a gym and swimming pool on the complex I've been staying on. But a lot of time on the road, by the pool, in the gym and on the beach gives you plenty of time to think about what you are doing and where you want to start going next with everything you do.

I think that it is good (and it was good) to have a period of reflection and contemplation. It gives you a chance to determine whether you think that you're on the right track and to plot the way forward without the everyday distractions of work life. It also enables a little "blue sky thinking" as there exposure to a different routine and a different culture can have you thinking about things in different ways. I have looked at the direction I'm heading in and I broadly think that it's where I want to be going.

It's now thinking about heading out of the break and back into my life that's occupying my mind. I landed and got home in Sunday evening and it was back to work at 7.30am on Monday, so there was no real transition to be had. It was a case of holiday mode as is went to bed and work mode when I got up the next morning. It was just the way it had to be with three weeks off - there was no spare time to be had! So it was straight back into it, which can sometimes be the best way to get on, although I don't really feel like that the the moment! I can just about see the wood from the trees at work now, after a few days of catching up. I just wish I could say the same about everything else I do.

The thinking I've been doing has further develop the direction I've been going in with the writing. I've got the two books ready for final edit, plus the extras of getting the covers done. I think that I should be able to final edit this evening and from there I will produce a glossary of terms that will help readers of both books. This should all be finished this week and then it's time for the launches.

The next book after that will now be one based on "What estate agents can't be bothered to tell you" or a similar title. I'll be looking to set up a blog, some simple You Tube videos and a social media presence. From there it will be a case of editing the blog into a readable book. I think that the social media can feed the You Tube views, then the blog and create an interest for the book. When all are up and running, I expect each to feed the other.

The new book is almost there - editing commences!

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The new book is almost there

It's taken far longer than I thought possible, with extra work commitments and ending up doing a lot more mystery shopping than I thought I'd do, but the second boom is almost complete. Large parts of it have actually been written in the same way I'm writing this - on the park and ride bus on the way to work. I have chapter after chapter saved and stores in different devices and I'm really pleased with the first draft. All that remains is reading through it, editing the text to ensure it flows and makes some sort of sense. I say all that remains, but I know from the experience of writing the first book that this can take some time. The first book was edited up from a series of blogs, so the content was really written without me really noticing the amount of time it took. I then had to re-read, edit and make it sound like a book with chapters, rather than a blog with entries. The cross-references had to work and I wanted to break up the text with blocks of colour.

As I've said in a recent blog, this has been re-edited again, adding a chapter, rewriting parts of other chapters and adding photographs and a newly-designed cover-

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/07/photographs-reviews-fiverr-and-some.html

I want to go through this process in the first instance with my second book. I want to edit it thoroughly and launch it on the Amazon Kindle store in it's finalised form, to make the most of the reviews and sales. After this is launched, the next step will be to write a link between the two books to ensure that they flow and then publish this as a double book. The idea is that you can get the content from both books as a double book for less than the price of buying each book individually.

Hopefully this will all get finished before a near-three-week holiday starting soon, and I'm hoping that the writing creativity continues to flow. I'm thinking about/hoping that I can get another book written during this holiday. It will be a fiction book that describes the beautiful landscape of where I'm going on holiday mixed with thoughts and feelings about certain aspects of my life so far. I'm inspired by the inner monologue of the writings of Phillip Roth and I want to tap into feelings I have the echo and come to the forefront when reading Mickey Sabbath or Swede Levov in Roth's writing. Obviously I'm not comparing myself to Roth or trying to be a Roth-lite but I find the writing crisp, energetic and witty. I hope to capture at least the first two in my writing, but I'm very aware that this will be quite a slow process and the drafting, redrafting and editing process is something I expect to take up a lot of my spare time. I'll look to self-publish it again, but the main idea behind it is a sort of line-in-the-sand moment where I can move on to other things. It's quite personal, and I'll get my wife to read the drafts first and help me with the content editing process. The writing and rewriting will all come down to me, though.

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.