These days – more often than not – I feel like a car salesman or a telethon host, pitching a product to sell or looking for a few dollars of support. But the honest truth is, if I don’t engage with the hustle, it becomes a matter of being out of sight, out of mind.
I’m in my own corner of the ‘net, trying to keep the whole operation going, otherwise producing more stories and art falls into the category of being a hobby that I’ll get around to when I can as opposed to an actual business looking to release an app, the next book, the latest chapter, a new print, whatever.
At the moment, there’s other people involved that I’m also doing my best for their efforts.
So far, I haven’t had to engage in doing a Kickstarter or a Go Fund Me effort. Nor have I resorted to selling on Amazon or trying to get a distributor like Diamond to place my books and other items in the stores. The reason for that is the people who enjoy my work have been all I need to keep going, and I’d like to keep it that way.
I like personally engaging with the people buying my books and art. I read all their notes and words of support. I generally respond with a word of appreciation or an answer to a question.
So if I sell just a book or two – or a book and a couple of prints or back issues – every day of the month, that sum total accumulated every month makes it possible to move forward and plan for the long term, not to mention take care of current expenses that crop up.
When I was looking to print BEGINNINGS, I had to put down over $2500.00 as a down payment to cover the cost of the paper which enabled me to lock in the cover price of the book. That money came from pre-orders and other sales from my website store, because I had no book yet to sell, but I needed the support throughout to ensure the book made it to the finish line.
So here’s the reason I am acting like a car salesman or a telethon host:
If I sell those couple of copies of BEGINNINGS, or a copy of BEGINNINGS and a couple of prints, or the equivalent of anything else I post on my website store every day, it helps with getting the app released and starting the fund to put down a deposit on the KNUCKLES OMNIBUS until I’m ready to go with the pre-orders.
The OMNIBUS is going to cost a lot more to produce than BEGINNINGS. It’s going to cost more to ship from the printer to my place here in Los Angeles, and it’s going to cost a few dollars to store because of the size and quantity being delivered.
So if you’ve been thinking of buying something from my web store, sooner rather than later makes it easier for me to deliver the product. As anyone who buys from me can attest, I offer fast, convenient service and haven’t disappointed anyone yet. It’s a track record I’m proud of and strive hard to maintain.
Thanks for checking this out. If you’ve got the extra bucks, I appreciate the support. If you don’t, take care of yourself first. I’ll still be around one way or the other. Take care.
I can attest that you’ve always made buying back-issues and whatnot painless, and that I’ve never regretted a purchase. 🙂
Wishing you all the best in continuing to fund your work without going to Amazon or Diamond, keeping it independent! What you’re doing is awesome and I’m always happy to support it vocally and (when I’m able to afford it) financially.
That’s nice you like to engage with people who buy your books.
What’s a “hustle”? Is it another word for job?
I know I could look that word definition in the dictionary.
You use alot of business terms or jargon I’ve never heard or read before. I’m just not sure what the meaning is.
Nothing wrong with that,if anything it’s a learning experience.
I’m glad things are going good,it seems from what you say.
“Hustle” means sell aggressively. I tried to look up the definition. I was told it’s to convince someone.