Happy Pi Day!

3.1415926...

...that's actually all I know.

Some brief information on Pi (if you don't know): Pi is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle. As in, if you were to take the diameter of a circle and wrap it around a circle, it would take 3.14 times to create a full circle.

Pi is also involved in pretty much every calculation involved in a circle - area, circumference, and volume (of 3-Dimensional shapes) and is overall quite a useful number.

Hooray!

The really awesome Pi day won't come until March 14th, 2015 (3/14/15). The really really awesome Pi day, however, passed us by years ago - 3/14/1592.

Anyways, I also have a few random, miscellaneous announcements to make: firstly, being that the blog Flurries of Woods made Family History: Part 1 their "Book of the Day."

Secondly, and far less importantly, is that one of my posts made the front page of Reddit's r/askreddit. The post itself? Right here. And no, I've totally NOT been watching "Happy Days" these last few days. NOT AT ALL.

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days....

On Dreams Coming True.

I've mentioned in a few places that I've wanted to become an author since I was about six years old. Considering most childhood dreams seem to die at some point, either because they're too unrealistic ("I want to be just like Batman!") or not glamours like they are on TV ("I want to be a police officer!"), I find this to be somewhat of an amazing feat.

Even though I didn't go through the whole process of querying agents and publishers on my lovely masterpiece, this is, in some sense, a "dream come true". Why? Because people have purchased - yes, they've paid money! - for something that I wrote.


Yesterday, I jumped for joy as I saw that I had sold seven ebooks - 3 copies of The Dowry and four copies of Family History: Part 1. Considering both are currently up now for $2.99, that means that I made about ~$14 yesterday. It won't pay the rent or anything, but that's $14 more than I made then when those same novels were sitting idly in my hard drive.

Around this time last year, some friends of mine happened to run across some photography I've done. Truthfully, I scoffed at the idea, because I honestly could not think of a reason somebody would actually pay for photographs I've done, especially when I'm so willing to put them up here for free. Hell, I have an entire DeviantArt profile full of stuff I took just for fun that's free to view. To this day, it still seems silly to go out and attempt to sell these photos for anything more than free.

Truthfully, though, if they had told me the same thing about my writing, I probably still would have scoffed. One year ago, even though so many people were doing it, I still would have laughed at the idea, because who would want to pay for my work? My words? Impossible!

Yet sometime in mid-November, I was browsing Reddit's r/writing and came across this post by a man under the throwaway username "Throwaway_Writer". Basically, the entire post briefly mentions that he made $1000 in a single day - all from writing.

And suddenly, profiting off the novels that had been sitting in my hard drive for nearly two years didn't seem so impossible.

I started asking questions; first on that thread, then on others. I began scouring r/writing. I remember that I had previously dedicated this day to my studies, though all of that was quickly thrown out the window as I found myself focusing more on these "dreams" I had so badly wanted to achieve for so long. I had long ago decided that I was not going to traditionally publish either Family History or The Dowry, so it's not like I had that tying me down in any way. Honestly, neither of them were ever going to get picked up by publishers, except for maybe The Dowry - though even that would have required a lot of work.

I actually divided Family History into two at the suggestion of throwaway_writer himself, who actually had suggested dividing it into three and selling them for either $2.99 each or $0.99 for the first and $3.99 for the rest. Two, of course, was a more natural division for the story.

That day, I settled on a "publish-by" date of January 1st, though I actually didn't meet that since boyfriend and I had decided to take a road trip that began on the 28th of December. Though I did do a few things; I started this blog on December 1st, began tinkering with covers, and did some editing on Family History, which included the separation of the two stories. Despite everything, I did end up putting Family History up for sale up on Amazon by January 4th, which coincidentally, was also the 3rd anniversary of boyfriend and I being together.

So far, though, nothing's glamorous. I'm not running around the country talking to Oprah and signing the breasts of fan girls (because all girls want their favorite female authors to sign their breasts). Believe it or not, I've got a couple of guest posts coming up this weekend, which might do something for sales, though I'm not hopeful. I've also got a twitter account - again, that's got to count for something, no?

Yet despite the lack of glamour, the pitiful sales numbers, and everything else, I do have this: I'm able to cross "Get Published" off that ol' bucket list. Cheers to all the ambitious authors who've been able to do the same.

The Twitter Experiment, Part 6: Data and Numbers

I've decided that, rather than all of my posts about Twitter saying nothing more than "Tw1t3r suks stfu", I ought to write about something constructive.

I joined Twitter because everybody said that it was a great resource for authors, for advertising, connecting with authors, etc. The question is: has it worked?

First off, for the Twitter data itself: I joined Twitter on 1/20/2012. It is currently 2/7/2012. That means I've been "Tweeting" for 18 days.

In 18 days, I have gained 291 followers and have sent 360 tweets.

I know, I'm ashamed too. I've sent more tweets than gained followers.

Less "hard" data: because of Twitter, I'm scheduled for two upcoming guest blog posts on two different websites, so keep a lookout for those (although one isn't scheduled to occur until April 17th).

That said: let's look at something else. How has being on Twitter affected traffic to Predicted Hindsight?

Number of Page Views Prior to January 20th, 2012.

• January 15th: 8
• January 16th: 12
• January 17th: 13
• January 18th: 35
• January 19th: 28
• January 20th: 32

Now, keep this in mind: January 18th was SOPA blackout day. For whatever reason, my SOPA post attracted a lot of attention that I wasn't used to having. I was actually getting people getting to Predicted Hindsight via Google searches, mostly with terms containing "SOPA" in some form. The dates preceding January 18th are more representative of what I was used to.

Now, what about after January 20th?

(NOTE: I'm not including January 21st, 22nd, and 25th, because I think I might have posted a Reddit link that day, and those tend to skew the data pretty high. Since I'm not looking at "The Effect of Reddit on Data", there's no need to include them here.)

• January 23rd: 5
• January 24th: 7
• January 26th: 28
• January 27th: 28
• January 28th: 25
• January 29th: 49
• January 30th: 8
• January 31st: 13
• February 1st: 17
• February 2nd: 25
• February 3rd: 33
• February 4th: 48
• February 5th: 35
• February 6th: 31

But...What Does This Mean?

To be honest, this is not ALL Twitter. There are a few other things to consider. Like, first off, I established my Facebook Author Page just a few days before (I'm thinking it was about a day or two before SOPA blackout day). Also, I post most every blog post, at least the ones with substance, on the Kindle Boards blog thread. Despite having only 20 likes on Facebook and being relatively unknown on Kindle Boards, these seem to generate quite a bit of traffic themselves.

Also, with any statistic like this, we have to remember to keep this very important fact in mind: Correlation does NOT Equal Causation. 

So, what else, besides the factors mentioned above, might be contributing to the fact that this little blog does seem to be gaining some traction?

Well, first off, it is important to note that I've been working on this little project for more than 2 months now. The passing of time alone might be contributing as more and more people have the ability to run across this website.

Also, the blog also now has nine followers. Quickly: may I give a big THANK YOU to those who have followed? :D

That said, though - despite everything, I do think Twitter has a lot to do with the slow uptick in numbers, ESPECIALLY since my "Twitter" posts seemed to have gained "some" attention on their own. Quickly...

• Part 1: 7 Page Views
• Part 2: 6 Page Views
• Part 3: 22 Page Views
• Part 4: 6 Page Views
• Part 5: 9 Page Views

Also, keep in mind that these are just standalone page views - these don't even count the people who read these posts just be "scrolling down".

What Conclusions can be Drawn?

Really, it's pretty inconclusive. To REALLY gauge where I'm going, I should be ceasing all advertisement of posts on Twitter, but nowhere else. But am I going to do that? Maybe. Though what's the point of that? At this rate, I seem to be doing something right, something that seems to be working.

Also, something else of interest: I did a "secret" free download of Family History: Part 1 today. By secret, I mean I advertised NOWHERE - no Facebook, no Twitter, no Reddit or Kindle Boards. As of 9:27 pm MST, there are 15 U.S. downloads and 5 UK downloads. With some advertising on Twitter, Part 2 made it to 24 U.S. downloads and 1 UK download (also: 5 Germany Downloads).

So yeah, Twitter does seem to be doing something. 

• 
  

The Twitter Experiment, Part 2: My Experience with Twitter so Far.

What I expected: People tweeting every single moment of their day. "Just got out of bed." "Just ate breakfast." "Getting in the shower." "Showering ;)"

What I Seem to Have Gotten: "Buy my book!" "[TITLE] is free on Amazon Today!" "[Preview of Book]. [Only $x.xx on Amazon] [Link]."

I suppose that's what happens when you just start following indie authors.

What I Like: I've been "tweeting" for a week, and already, I have 72 followers. Considering it's taken me nearly two months to get 8 followers here on this blog, I would say it's not a bad deal, especially with the possibility of people seeing my stuff and thinking, "Hey, I'll totally Retweet that." Is it going to happen often? Probably not; I'm not really all that interesting. And with so many others clogging up feeds with "Buy my book!", what chance is there that my little Family History is going to be mentioned? It's highly unlikely.

What I dislike: Again, the fact that so many authors use it for only advertising, and only advertising. I've already unfollowed one or two people who only posted advertisements, and posted them all. the. time. I've got enough of that without seeing your picture every other tweet.

Also, some of the "Worldwide Trends" that pop up in my side bar seem so inane and stupid. I don't care about Britney Spears being president, or whatever. So far, my favorite has been "Replace Band Names with Doofs."

What I would like to see more of: So far, this entire endeavor feels very impersonal. When I see a tweet about something other than "Buy my book!", I'll often try and respond, just to try and open up a conversation with somebody, though I've had very little of the same. In fact, most of my "personal messages" are from people I've newly followed telling me to "Check Out [X]." Today I had a "personal message" from somebody saying "We make book trailers for $150!" Most of the book trailers I've seen have been nothing more than something of a powerpoint-type show with pictures, music, and words, and I've never really heard of them helping generate any type of sales. If I have $150, I'm probably going to spend that on advertising my book somewhere. But that's another post for another day.

So far, I can't say I'm disappointed with Twitter. Again, I was pretty anti-Twitter ever since I heard of the website, and still am, to some extent. I suppose this was more or less of an experiment, since I kept hearing that it was an excellent social networking tool for reaching out to readers and other writers. And it is, really. Like I said; I've gotten 72 followers in a week without doing anything other than following others. However, I was hoping to use this as a tool to "connect" with others; thus far, I feel like I've entered myself into a not-so-successful advertising campaign.

In other news: there's this awesome new site that's been created by a Redditor, Reddit Authors. The point is to show off Redditor-produced content. The site is new, though it looks sleek and professional already. And, from what I can tell, the creator seems like a pretty nice guy. Also, I'm on there (but, for whatever reason, Family History: Part 1 is not, though Part 2 is. Weird.) and I didn't even have to request it. Seriously - if you're a Redditor, I suggest at least stopping by and taking a short look around, and not just because I was somehow automatically thrown into some "Yay! You're Affiliated!" category.

After My "$40" Post on Reddit, Somebody Posted This. Appropriate?

(Half) of My Experience with Reddit Secret Santa

Throughout the month of November, Reddit posted ads all throughout their website advertising their "Secret Santa." And, when they included a note about wanting it to beat the record for the world's largest Secret Santa, I decided to sign up, mostly out of curiosity.

After I got my match, however, I started perusing Reddit's r/secretsanta forum, I admittedly became a little nervous, almost to the point of regretting my decision to sign up. Why? Well, when you see people getting things like Bass Guitars, Kindles, and Laptops, it's hard not to feel...small.

And honestly, I had a tough time thinking of something for my own Secret Santa, so honestly, I put it off for about a week. It was almost to the point where I forgot about it, actually. That is, until I received an email message announcing that my gifter had sent off the first part of my gift.

At this point, I once again started snooping around my own Secret Santa's profile. First off, I quickly figured out that my Secret Santa was a man working on his PhD in Chemistry, specifically physical chemistry. I despised my own Physical Chemistry class, so I once again felt the same intimidation I had felt before. What kind of gifts do you give a chemist...beakers? Honestly, that was my first thought - I'll give him a set of beakers! (Don't worry, that idea only lasted for about three seconds before I decided that somebody who has seemingly dedicated their whole life to chemistry probably has all the beakers they need.)

However, as I dug deeper into their comment history, I did begin to gather some steam - particularly, when I saw they they were pretty active on Reddit's Minecraft subreddit. Finally! I was beginning to gather some clues. Yeah, sure, it still didn't tell me a lot, but it gave me something to work with. And naturally, my first instinct was to type "Minecraft" into Amazon's search bar, just to see what would come up. Lo and behold, what did I find? Naturally, "The Periodic Table of Minecraft".

I ordered the shirt, send my SS a message requesting that he fill out this little questionnaire, and simply hoped for the best.

The shirt actually took awhile to arrive here - I was originally going to send the package itself to his house before sending an additional second package (because when people were getting Kindles and Laptops, sending just one item seemed pretty lame) with cookies or something, though quickly decided against that. And when he mentioned in his questionnaire that he liked 70% chocolate, I went out, bought a couple of bars (they were much cheaper than I expected), and included those. And when the shirt did come, I basically tore off the shipping label, opened the box, and threw in the chocolate. Oh, and tons of Whoppers, Pixie Sticks, and Tootsie Rolls/Pops, since we happened to have a ton of extras lying around the house.

I really wish I had taken a picture of the package before I sent it off, too, because it looked absolutely ridiculous. When it came time to actually seal the box shut, I was looking around for some tape. I was pretty sure we did not have any packing tape, and the closest alternative happened to be purple duct tape. Except, it was purple duct tape from Walmart, and when I pressed the tape over the box, the tape seemed...flimsy, to say the least. So, I put tape over the tape. Then I put tape over the corner edges of the box. And, at that point, so much of the top of the box was covered in purple that it seemed silly NOT to cover the box in purple duct tape. But, only the top of the box - none of the sides (what?). Looking back, why did I not dress the rest of the box in purple? It's not like I don't have plenty of purple duct tape.

Also, before sealing the box shut, I wrote a quick note to my SS, and when the note only took up about half of the page, well damn it all, that just didn't seem good enough, so I included a l33t (read: awful - who says "1337" anymore?) drawing. Thankfully, my SS DID take a picture of that (why didn't I take a picture of that, either?!).

I sent the package off on Monday, December 12th. At this point, all I could do was wait to hear something. 

To be one-hundred percent honest, I expected to hear nothing. However, today, when I logged into Reddit, I received a very nice Thank you from him, that admittedly, totally made my day.

Hi!
I just wanted to thank you for the great secret santa gift it was heartily appreciated! This was my first reddit gift exchange so I didn't know what to expect but you exceeded all of my expectations! Not only did you find a way to combine chemistry and Minecraft (difficult) but I also loved the drawing of electron cafe! I may feature it on the blog if you don't mind.
Also I ate ~20 pixie sticks as soon as I opened the box... I swear I haven't had any of those since middle school or something like that.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday break, good luck with all your finals! (I feel your pain on the O-chem - bleh!).
~ electroncafe

Did I mention that this message made my day?

Also (now for the creepy part), he has a pretty sweet blog about science and chemistry that's worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing - http://electroncafe.wordpress.com/.

Also, here is a blog post that sums up Reddit's Secret Santa very nicely.

Merry Christmas!