What I’m listening to: Lola by The Kinks
Friday already? I feel like I was busy, but not much got accomplished. I did get an interview in yesterday and got a good bit of one article completed. But then I thought I’d try that Five-minute WordPress Install.
Two hours later, I gave up before I became too frustrated. I’m a tad upset with my host as they have a quick install option that hasn’t worked for the last month. Today’s task — get on the phone and find out what’s going on.
Five minutes. Right.
Since next week starts Writers Worth Month, I wanted to get my assessment in today. Also, Writers Worth is EVERY day this month — including weekends. Make sure you sign up over on the right of this post for the blog feed.
So on to what happened in April. I suppose I could say what didn’t happen. After a mad month of March (and even February was more than a little nuts), I sat pretty idle this month. Not that I’m complaining — the start to this year was a lucrative one, so I have plenty of financial cushion, even after paying taxes. However, the marketing has picked up again, and I’m looking to get work lined up to help me get through those July/August dry spells.
For now, let’s see what went on this month:
Queries:
I didn’t send any, but rather was contacted by a favorite magazine to complete a story. Okay, I had to complete it in four days, but that was fine. So was the assignment I got in email from another favorite magazine.
LOIs:
I’m back at it with the contacts and the LOIs. So far, I’ve sent out a dozen. No response yet, and follow-up notes go out next week.
Social media:
I connected with a few key people on both Twitter and LinkedIn — a few of them came to me, which is nice. I keep the response short, and I don’t try to sell.
Job postings:
Zero. There’s one vetted site that sends job postings, but none have been near what I want to make, so no thanks.
New clients:
No new clients this month, though I am in contact with one who’d been in touch two months back. I’m hopeful that an assignment will result.
Existing clients:
I love my clients. They kept me earning this month. I had four clients I worked with this month, one in particular giving me a good bit of work. This is where the bulk of my earnings came from.
Poetry:
I sent out a few poems to select markets and I put together a manuscript and sent it off to another. Nothing published yet (it’s early — these pubs take months to respond).
Earnings:
Despite sitting with more time than usual, I did okay. I’m at half my earnings goal. Not my best month, but with the other months being so ridiculously good, I can afford it. This time.
Bottom line:
Marketing has been kicked up a notch and I’m going to be trying out new ways to reach clients. I’m also getting back in touch with past clients, past contacts, and a few maybes. Summer is way too close for me to take it easy, so if you need me, I’ll be marketing.
Writers, how did you do in April?
Any surprises? What worked? What didn’t?