Tag: Authorpreneur

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The Entrepreneurial Struggle Will Wear You Down

But You Have to Keep Going and Believing, Think of Those Behind You.

By John Irvin

            After last weeks theme of breaking the chains of Corporatism, I sure feel “plum tuckered out” that’s old hillbilly speak for I’m tired.

            It’s funny how in the Author journey—as in every aspect of life it seems—your motivation comes in waves. One week you can be all fired up and the next down in the dumps.

            This is where discipline comes in.

            This is where determination comes in.

I will keep writing, no matter what.
Why are we not running like we’re on fire toward our dreams?

            We only have one life on this planet, it runs out fast, why are we not running like our butts are on fire toward our dreams?

            But, when you work hard, keep going, pushing yourself to the limit, every single day and get little upfront reward. When you watch you bank account fluctuate so close to the red line for so long. When your mind begins to tell you your friends and family are giving up hope in your dreams.

            When people start to question you, Why are you doing this? Why aren’t you looking for a better job? It’s been three years, if it was meant to be, don’t you think it would have shown up by now?

            Doubt settles in. Life laughs and punches you in the groin.

            You fall. Push yourself up.

            Life hits you again.

            You fail again.

            So you start to lie on the ground a little longer each time.

            The ground starts to feel like a comforter. It whispers in your ears, You can’t do this, why don’t you give up? You’ll only hurt yourself more.

            But we weren’t made to stay on the ground.

            It’s when you feel like you just flat out can’t go on—every single cell in your body screams to give up. You actually start to want to give up. But you take another step anyways, that’s true strength.

            So I’m going to keep with my plan, try a new plan, and keep going.

Magic's Time Split, Book 1: Hidden Lake's Light by John Irvin
This book is Permanently Free! (PermaFree)

            I’d like to let you know, thought I’m still exhausted, I got up this morning and started writing the next book in my Magic’s Time Split series. Book 5 is going to be a fun one. I still haven’t exactly figured out a title that zings with me though.

            Since I started writing down the idea of the whole series, the title was tentatively called People Change Too. Because the main mythic creature type to be introduced in this one will be Shapeshifters.

            I finished Book 4, When Nights Bleed, last week and its main mythic creature type was Vampires. The one before that was Zombies. So you’re starting to see my trend here, aren’t you?

            But I want a better working title, maybe by Wednesday’s blog I’ll have figured one out. I’ll let you know.

            Over in my Longevity series, Book 2, Independence, was just returned to me by my Editor and I’m excited. I’ve finished adding in the interior stuff like Copyright page, author profile page, other works page, etc. so now it’s only waiting for a formatter and the cover art and ISBNs, a some little tweaking then it will be ready for its due date in January 2020.

            Just talking about that gives me a little energy to keep going. I’ve come so far, there’s no point stopping now.

            If you’d like download Book 1 in my Magic’s Time Split series for FREE go to this link: Hidden Lake’s Light.

            If you’d like Book 2 for free, make sure you sign up for my newsletter!

            If you’re interested in starting the Longevity series, you should check it out on Amazon! I’ve got it in Hardcover, Paperback, and E-Book. Though I think Amazon is still taking its time adding the E-Book. But here’s the link: Revelation.

Longevity, Book 1: Revelation by John Irvin is out on Hardcover, Paperback, and E-Book
Revelation comes in three formats!

            Next blog post I’ll share an excerpt from each of these three books. Does that sound good?

            All right, I’ll talk to y’all on Wednesday!

I am an affiliate marketer for Amazon and some of the links provided are affiliate links, meaning I make a tiny percentage of a sale if you go through my links.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

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Freeing Myself From the Traditional Lies that have Enslaved Me. You Can Too!

The Continued Rant of an Artist who No longer Believes the Lies of Corporatism.

By John Irvin

            Welcome back, thanks for suffering through this rant with me. I’m seriously trying not to let this be a rant. But, I don’t know about you, this whole “you need a real job” advice I get from friends and loved ones has pushed me to the line.

I don’t want a ‘real’ job, I want a job that’s real to me

            Every job I’ve worked at I end up going through the same routine. I make friends with my coworkers—I fall in love with them. But I’ve never had the urge to advance in my positions no matter what job I’ve worked, whether it’s warehouse or hospital or pizza delivery.

            Many bosses have tried to promote me—it’s not a promotion when you already don’t enjoy the work. Why would I want to add more responsibilities and stress on my own shoulders?

            But most of my coworker-friends don’t think this. They see a promotion as something profound they can add onto their Resume to make them look good for the next job. I get this, not hating on them for this.

            The problem comes when the job suddenly gets between us. Whether it’s a miscommunication between us or their higher-ups stuffing things down their throat (in general, I’ve come to learn, the higher in power you go, the more common sense you lose. You forget the people under you when all those numbers start to parade in front of you) and suddenly we’re no longer friends, but rather boss and employee.

            It hurts. It stings. And when people outside of work tell, Apply to other jobs. That frustrates me. Why would I want to repeat the cycle again? I want freedom from this monotonous soul-crushing like society places on our shoulders as soon as we graduate from high school or college.

Why repeat the cycle again?

            I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of or taken the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, but according to it, there are 16 types in the world. I am an INFJ, the rarest of all—making up only 2 to 3 % of the world population. I’ve always been independent, butting heads with anyone who tried to boss me around.

            But ever since I decided to set out on this authorpreneur journey, become my own boss, my mindset has shifted even more. I no longer feel the employee-employer relationship. Yes, I still obey the rules and policies of the company. Yes, I still do my job. But I can’t stand being treated like an employee—an underling beneath some manager who hasn’t even been working at the company as long as I have.

            It just doesn’t work in my brain anymore.

            Okay, this is now sounding more like a rant. But all I am trying to do is explain to those who tell me I need a real job or more on to another company since I’m frustrated.

            To you wonderful people, I love you, I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but no. That doesn’t work for me.

            My writing IS my real job and I have come to no longer expect you to understand that. You still see it as just another hobby.

You still see writing as just another hobby…

            To those of you among my readers who are of a kindred spirit, I love you. Whatever you do, do NOT give up. If you know what your passion is, stick to it. One of these days, we will find our dream careers. We will be able to kiss corporatism good-bye and we will figure this mess out.

            Here’s to making money in our sleep or while we build a life we no longer have to take a vacation from. Here’s to us who believe dreams do come true. Let the peasants stay stuck at their dead-end jobs living from paycheck to paycheck.

            To each their own.

            We’ll build the new world without them.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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Why Do You Want to Be a Writer? Why Don’t You Want a Real Job?

Find What is Real to You and Stick to It!

By John Irvin

            I get these questions so many times—every since I quit a corporate job and became a full-time author. I had to grab a pizza delivery part-time job to help with the bills, been there for two and a half years and it is running thin.

With Freedom comes Responsibility, but also Happiness
With Freedom comes Responsibility, but also Happiness.

            Society has trumped up these lies that if you don’t work a 9 to 5 or you don’t work 40 hours or more a week, you’re not working a real job. Society has us believing we must trade 8 to 12 or more hours every single day just to live from paycheck to paycheck.

            Lies, lies, and more lies.

            Corporatism in America has done a great job brainwashing us.

            And our friends and family are on that bandwagon so it makes it that much more of a struggle to stand for what we are passionate about. Everyone has plenty of advice to give, but no support.

            This traditional way does not work for me, it never has. I believed the lies for too many years. Now that I’m about to hit 30, my mindset is finally flipped. I no longer think the same way I did five years ago after wasting 5 years and over $40,000 on an education that—though fun for the most part—has no worth in this corporate-led economy we slave under.

            I’m not angry, I hope I don’t sound like it. I’m just tired of people not getting it.

            You don’t need a ‘real’ job—you were NOT made to live the same year 75 times and call it a life. You were NOT made to live from paycheck to paycheck, slaving at a job you either hate or simply have no love for—don’t call that a life.

            Find what you love to do then find someone who needs that and get them to pay you.

I write because it’s real to me.

            Shed those lies of traditional corporatism and take the risk of freedom.

            To those who love this traditional way, forgive me. It’s not for me.

            Why do I write? Because I was born to be a writer—it just took me twenty-six years to realise it! I have no time to waste on a 40 plus job just because I need to pay bills the government or some other business decides they have authority to slap on me.

            For now, I’m working a traditional 9 to 5 (or rather, in my case, 10am to 7 or 8pm), because I have to pay those bills, but I only give them part of my time, only what is necessary for the bills as well as paying for publishing my books. My friends and coworkers at the job understand this: it is a means to an end.

            But I’m also finding the job is now threatening some friendships I’ve come to cherish. When I got written up for something stupid a couple days ago, I was a hairline away from putting in my two weeks not just because it stung (I’m not the kind of employee who gets written up often) but suddenly the job was a threat to this relationship.

            Only logic and reason convinced me to hold on a little longer. My books are a source of income, but it’s still too small for freedom…yet.

            Maybe I should split this into a two part series, it’s getting rather long. So I’m going to cut it short and I’ll continue on Wednesday.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

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Writing and Reading E-Books vs. Print Books

Is there a versus? Why can’t we all get along?

By John Irvin

            Back when I quit a corporate job and went full-time as an author/proofreader/ghostwriter, I read several articles and books how I should be writing as many short e-books as possible and that’s how I would get my name out there.

No longer a proofreader/ghostwriter anymore by the way.

            So I started doing that. Looking at my Book library on my website, you’ll see about 20 of those e-books that I poured out of myself. I’ve tried to cut out the slosh from other failed attempts, there are many books that won’t see the light of day because I was more worried about getting as many out as I could.

            I didn’t focus on what I should which are the plots and characters—making a truly worthwhile reading.

            So now I’m focusing on two main series. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you’ll know those are the Longevity series and the Magic’s Time Split series.

            Longevity is in Print and E-Book while Magic’s Time Split is only in E-Book. Magic’s Time Split has books about the length of a regular novella or novelette—depending on how you categorize them. Hence why they’re not in Print…yet.

Boxset for Shattered: The Complete Collection, publication: 30 October, 2019

            But so were all five books of my Shattered series. Each one was way too short to be in print. Until I finished the whole series, now I have the Complete Collection coming out on October 30, 2019! It will be available for Pre-Order starting tomorrow, most likely.

            Right now it’s going through Review and I’ll be ordering my Proof Copy in a couple days.

            So, yes, I like to hold a book in my hands, smell its leaves, and hallucinate on the scratches and chicken feet called letters on the page. But I’ve also found, I enjoy reading on my Kindle shorter books, making me feel like I’ve accomplished a little extra each day.

Blogging and Writing Books, this is my Dream

            I think both realms are relevant and significant. I believe we can unite both E-Books and Print Books in the ever-growing cause to make the world literate again.

            Though my focus is slowly pointing more toward Print copies now, I believe it’ll probably be in waves in the future. I may focus one year on more E-Books while the next year on Print. Or half years or seasonal, who knows? All I know is, I love writing either way.

            I also know, now that Shattered is finished, I’m probably going to be focusing ONLY on Longevity and Magic’s Time Split until those are finished.

            I started writing the first draft of Book 4 in Magic’s Time Split yesterday so I technically only have six more books to write in that series—which, if I write one per month, I’ll have those finished long before Longevity.

            Being longer novels, Longevity isn’t planned to be complete until the end of 2021!

“Life is like a laptop, sometimes it needs a reboot.”

            And, the way life is, it might be a little longer. We’ll see!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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EXPLORATION—FINDING MY AVENUE. I Tried Freelance Along With My Own Writing

By John Irvin

            When I started out as a “full-time writer,” I signed up for Upwork.com and Wealthy Affiliates. W.A. helped me start my first website. I had no idea what I was doing then—looking back, I see the direction I could have gone.

            Funny how you can always look back with 20/20 vision.

            But I now see the whole first year and a half for what it was.

            Exploration.

            I was finding myself you might say. Exploring the avenues of freelance writing, proofreading, copyediting, etc.

            Reading a couple books on being a writer—such as: Make Money As A Freelance Writer–I found the life of a freelance writer is nothing but cold pitching a 100 times every single day. Sadly, that’s not really in me.

Make Money as a Freelance Writer by Gina Horkey and Sally Miller

            Then came the scammers—the thieves, the perverts, the liars. Yeah, I have to state it here. Half of those who offered jobs, either via Upwork or email, were scams. I learned a lot for those experiences though.

            After that year and a half was over, I ended my subscription and my freelance website closed out a month later.

            It took a few months before I found someone to help me start from scratch—I was now focusing on my own books, mine alone. So I need an author website.

            That’s when I found Joanna Penn at the TheCreativePenn.com (Check her out if you’re an author looking for freedom!) She is literally stocked with information and podcasts and everything I needed to begin my Author-Entrepreneur Career!

            I signed on,

got the first free book as the incentive for that, loved it so much I’ve been collecting the rest of the Author Career series since. Only one or two books left!

            Getting my website up and running was easy with her help, the video guide she shares at her site aided me for the most part. Yes, there is room for you to explore on your own. I did that, I’m still learning a few tricks to it, but I like where I’m at. Yes, I know, I’ll change my mind later and want to change up something on the site—but that’s normal.

            Since that new day about a year ago now, I know what my career goal is and what I am now. I am 100% an authorpreneur. Do I have other side hustles? Yes! There is one quote I read, Every millionaire has at least 7 sources of income.

            Now, my goal isn’t to be a millionaire—although that would always be amazing—but rather to be financially independent. Passive income is where it is at!

            Passive income is basically “Money flowing in while you sleep.” It’s scalable income. Non-scalable income is you trading your time for money. That’s your every-day 9-5 normal job. That will get you nowhere.

            Here’s a great starter on ideas for Passive incomes: Passive Income Freedom. I’ll be sharing others as well on the subject in the near future.

            Along with my affiliate blog, I also have my books—each book is a passive income source. So, eventually, I’ll be reaching my independence goal.

            Whatever your dream job is, I believe you can do it. Through trial and error or through the help of others who’ve been where you’re at, whatever your way is. Wherever your journey leads you, never ever give up. Keep going.

            Every one of us has been given a mountain or two in our lives to show they can be moved.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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When You Change Paths, But Keep The Same Destination (My Author Book Review is Changing to my Author’s Corner)

By John Irvin

            Today will be my 104th blog post. The previous 103 are all book reviews. But I’m going to be honest with you. From the experience, I’ve seen, no matter how much I advertised my blogs, the only ones that made any difference, were actually the commentaries on my own published books.

            Yesterday, there was no posting, because I did no blogging. Instead, I did much thinking. Finally, today, as you can see, I’ve decided to change directions with this author blog. I won’t be doing book reviews anymore—at least for awhile.

            I’m keeping my goal though—still trying the affiliate marketing.

            But I will now focus only on my own books and on my author life. It does seem more related to my website—I’ve been wondering if the niche was just not right for my author website so people were just being confused.

            I will keep my Archive though. The Book Reviews are still there, available for anyone wanting to read them. But now I’m jumping onto the new path.

https://johnirvinauthor.com/

            I’m excited. Feeling a little timid, but bearing the determination of a maelstrom within me.

            Today I won’t talk about any books, only wanted to announce my decision and change the title of my blog. I’m calling in John’s Author Corner—not too original, I know. But I think it fits.

            I’ll also be dropping down to only three posts a week. I need more time to focus on my writing as I have several works due over the coming months. So Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be my new schedule.

            Those of you who’ve subscribed for my newsletter, I’m still going to be sending that out on Friday.

            Hey, changing this focus of my blog will actually help in the near future when I start going on my Book Tours or visiting my bucket list places around the world! Now that I’m no long just writing book reviews, I’ll be able to let folks know what’s going on in my life.

            Although, maybe every once in awhile, I’ll add a little review of a book that I absolutely have to share. But, again, that won’t be the focus.

            It’s a new day, a new week, so many exciting things can happen. Make sure to live life, enjoy and learn from every moment. Chase your dream, whatever it is. We only get one life, make sure it counts.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com