Author: Janna Hill

Weekly Photo Challenge: FOCUS

/ Janna Hill / 15 Comments

FOCUS: What is this weeks photo challenge and a subtle reminder of what I have lost sight of…

I need to get more aggressive, hence the red.  I’ll definitely try to keep the anger and frustration in check. 😉

6 Lessons Learned Because of the First Day of School

/ Janna Hill / 4 Comments

I’m re-blogging this because Staci makes six [eternally] valid points.
We all can benefit from spending time with family and friends.
Knowledge is wonderful and powerful.
Routine breeds productivity.
Physical de-cluttering leads to mental clarity.
Change can be good.
Entertainment in any form (particularly Steeler football, but to each his own) is necessary for recharging.

Staci Troilo's avatarStaci Troilo

Today is the first day of school for my kids. I have no idea where the summer went. It seems like it was just last week that they came home ready to celebrate the end of their school year. We went back to Pennsylvania for a visit, came home, and sports practices started. Now here we are, school supplies purchased and packed, and struggling to get up in time to make the bus.

I guess the adage is true: Time flies when you’re having fun. Or running all over the city as a chauffeur.

I dreaded this day since the first day of summer break. I hate not having my kids around. Sure, they weren’t around that much anyway, what with social events and sports activities, but they were here a lot more than they will be now. And in a few years, they won’t be here at all.

Saying…

View original post 268 more words

Weekly Photo Challenge: Carefree

/ Janna Hill / 19 Comments

This weeks photo challenge CAREFREE is brought to you by Sheri Bigelow . Sheri says, Summer memories make everything feel magical to me — carefree and untroubled. Even on the trips where everything went wrong, I look back and smile at the narrow escapes, or the long walks on a beach while I sorted out and righted the world. Whether a good memory was made in years past, yesterday, or only moments ago, I love letting the nostalgia wrap me up — like a borrowed sweater on a cold summer night. Even more, I love making new memories: a carefree summer at the lake, a stroll through the park, dancing in the rain… then all I need to do is remember, and the same carefree feeling washes over me. Thanks Sheri.

A happy child at play soothes my ragged spirit.

 

Touching the sky at Keller Bay

Let’s Talk Turkey

/ Janna Hill / 9 Comments

I was taking a walk with Whiskey (the eight month old German Shepherd I inherited) and came upon a flock of these feathered non-smack talking birds and just wondered…

Does anyone say ‘jive turkey’ anymore?

Why is a ‘turkey’ considered dumb? Have you ever hunted turkey?  Most game hunters will tell you those dull [seemingly dim witted] birds are really quite clever.

If a turkey is a dummy and a jive turkey is someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about why do people say “let’s talk turkey” when they want a serious discussion?

Hmmm. All of this turkey talk has made me hungry. Enjoy the pictures, I’m going to make myself a sandwich.

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour

/ Janna Hill / 18 Comments

On the Road at Sunrise is for this weeks photo challenge The Golden Hour. I know I skipped last weeks challenge, sorry.

Breaking Dawn South Texas

Here are a few beautiful sunsets on the water taken for last months challenge Fleeting.

 

What’s New in My Indie Adventure???

/ Janna Hill / 6 Comments

What’s New in My Indie Adventure???

Well… I created a discount e-store that only carries paper books by moi.  Y’all know I speak French, right? Right!  I don’t know if anyone will ever see it and I don’t really like the way it feels and functions but I did it by golly. So I have been productive! I’m one of those that has to be productive [in varying degrees] to feel comfortable- not perfect, just productive. It is too hot outside and I haven’t got my writing mojo back so there you go. I sat around in the A/C all day. I also consumed a cookie jar full of vanilla wafers and a jar of peanut butter. Eating is considered productive. Y’all know I can eat and type at the same time so I dabbled with banners, background colors and discount codes over at CreateSpace

CreateSpace is an Amazon venue, they print/provide the trade paperbacks for six of my books. They also offer an e-store option and discounts. If you don’t care for discounts (real ones) then you ain’t been poor enough yet. I’ve been poor. Poor as a church house rat and too poor to pay attention. Of course at the time I didn’t know I was poor, I had to be told “damn girl you’re poor.”  I believe rising from poverty helps a person not fear failure. Been there, done that- I ain’t scared. I recall one time  Grandma  and I –Oh dear that was a rambling digression.

So back to this store that is probably tucked away in the boondocks of cyberspace. I don’t mind that a new window pops up every time you click the ‘more’ link, it apparently keeps up in the shopping cart but already I have complaints about not being able to delete an accidental add to cart. These darn cousins of mine keep me in business but there’s four-hundred a handful of them that complain about the slightest things. (Not you – you know you’re my favorite.)

What Else is New…

I updated my LinkedIn profile. I didn’t know they had changed and it is like starting over. I got as far as hanging a picture on the wall and accepting a few invitations. (Sorry LinkedIn I don’t want a job right now. I do have one friend/connection I knew before LinkedIn. Morgan McFinn. He is a sophisticated slob. Sophisticated  and slob are my words but he doesn’t speak much higher of himself. He’s a funny guy.

Before I start babbling again I named the store Discount Direct. You can not buy tires, appliances or clothes but you can get 15% off of six different books (by moi) by buying direct and then you can sit naked in your car with bald tires at KFC because your fridge went out. I had to heard of that once.

DISCOUNT DIRECT HEADER FOR CS 15% OFF

P.S. Closed up shop before the ink dried. My friends/fans/family deserve better.

The First Year as an Indie (Apples to Oranges)

/ Janna Hill / 9 Comments

Part II (This is Me)

In the first portion of my annual Indie report I shared a few things I have learned regarding support, reviews and social media. I like the number five so if you’re interested I’ll share a couple more. I believe I left off at #3 in Lessons Learned. Since inquiring minds really want to know “how many books are you selling and how much money are you making?” We’ll start #4 with sales.

# 4 Sales: This is like comparing apples to oranges or beets to hamburgers. To simplify it allow me to use e- books and a twelve month period because a year ago I had maybe four titles available, all e-books exclusive to Amazon. Today I have about sixteen, most available wherever books are sold.

Don’t say wow yet. That number includes several books that were combined or joined and counted as a new title.  I.e. The Rage Trilogy, The Perpetual Series and Interior Verse/ Pose Prose & Poems.  Also Disturbed Affections was created for Barnes & Noble  which combines The Perpetual Series and Dour Number Four. Price trials were done and settled between 99¢ and $2.99.

For apples to apples sake March 2012 Amazon e-book sales were roughly about $5.80 with paper books way outselling them. March 2013 sales were about 50x that with very few paper books being sold. That’s two hundred and ninety sneering tight-lipped little Washington’s! Greenbacks baby! $1 smallYou can say wow now but hold that victory dance — I need to tell you something.

Sales over those twelve months were like a bipolar Bohemian. They were all over the place, feast and famine, up and down. Whew! It made me dizzy, now I know that’s just how it goes.

Looking at statistics is supposed to help me understand Bohemians’ such patterns and utilize them for … I don’t know but the good news is I made a few dollars. Woo-hoo – go ahead, dance with me.

#5 Stats and Ranks: OMG poke me in the eye! My website stats? I sort of saw a pattern of increased visitors equaled increased sales but it could’ve been my mind playing tricks on me. Example October hits were good and November sales increased. Why, how, what or who made it happen? Was it a tweet, a post or a random recommendation? I suspect it was a combination of factors or a cousin. I have lots of cousins.

Visitors: My door is always open and people apparently come and go while I’m in the shower or taking a nap. I am supposed to focus on unique visits, unique sites and unique referrers. [sigh] Okay. Most visits occur around 3:00 PM CST. Top referrers are direct requests followed by Google, Bing, A porn site I know nothing about (I swear!) and some from WordPress — that is probably fellow bloggers. Thank you all very much. See how boring data is?

I prefer to look at search string results. Search strings are interesting because you can see what query people use to arrive at your site. My favorites are “who is Janna Hill, “who the hell is Janna Hill”, “is Janna Hill really Janna Hill”, “Janna Hill + Symphony Angel, “is Janna Hill married to Joe Hill?” and “big ugly feet”. Really?! Someone searched “big ugly feet” and arrived here. [scratches head] Okay. Moving on…

Ranking: I use Amazon’s author tools. Just login and click rank. I occasionally break above the 12,000 overall in e-books. I know that sounds pitiful but when you came from ranking 500,000 to 12,000 I call that progress. C’mon, let’s dance again.

I may never be in the top ten or even the top 100 but I’m singing the Jefferson theme song and movin’ on up. I don’t want a deluxe apartment in the sky but I will take a small piece of some humble pie with a cup of coffee please.

The data above was gathered from March 2012- March 2013 reports. Yes I know we just entered July — I would make a great government employee, huh?! It has been (and is) one hell of a ride and I am truly grateful.

This is me. Not me writing on behalf of someone else. Not me pretending to be someone else. Not me wishing I was someone else. This is just me in all my rags of glory.

Addendum: Though it’s too early for me to offer a report or an opinion I can tell you I am seeing sales now at Apple. Maybe someday I’ll do an update and compare them to oranges. Ahh, I crack me up.