Marking New Paths
Sep. 24th, 2014 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseLast call for fall classes! Link to class descriptions is here.
Signups to this point have been minimal despite extensive signal boosting (for which, thanks to all who have so kindly spread the word). I will be conducting the class for those who have signed up for it so far, but unless I get at least another four participants, the format will be different than I had originally planned. I'll be contacting participants in a few days with further details.
It does seem that I will have to find another way to keep the horses fed. With so many writers hanging out the editing and teaching shingle as advances shrink and contracts slow down or stop coming, the market appears to be saturated. We are at a scary juncture here, with the boarders gone (one was ready to go home after rehab, the other took off last week while I was away; I returned to an empty stall and a note on the table). They had paid the bulk of the hay bill. The ebook revolution has not been the bonanza for me that it has for others: it covers utilities every month, but that's as far as it goes. I do not have the funds to buy ads that supposedly will increase sales. Another Kickstarter can't happen until I get the last one done and fulfilled--which it will be by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the horses keep eating. I'm not sure where the next load of hay is coming from, and they'll need it next week. (Yes, I've been hiding under the bed. It's been a rough month.)
I still have openings for editing and mentoring--will be happy to take referrals. There are also openings available for Camp Lipizzan, which I tend to call Horse Camp for Writers, but what it actually is is a week with the White Herd. There's yoga, there's riding and groundwork, there's quiet and peace and a chance to rest and be pampered, whatever your level of horse skills. You don't have to be a writer, either. Horsepeople come for the horse-retreat aspects.
I have in the past offered sponsorships for the horses. I'm thinking I might revive that, and turn it into a monthly newsletter or blogthing. Backers-only news, updates, pictures of "your" sponsored horse or horses, bits of things from the farm. Not sure if that should be a formal setup a la Patreon or a more informal, one-on-one arrangement. I'm open to suggestion.
I have also offered commissioned stories--have written a fair few, in fact, over the years. Email me at capriole at that gmail thing if you'd like to talk about a story for yourself or friends or family. I love doing these, and recipients seem to love getting them.
I've seen crowdfunding campaigns with authors doing a monthly short story. I wonder if this would work for me. While I was in toxic block, I couldn't commit to any such thing, but that's finally gone (and that part of me feels wonderful).
I hate to borrow, because paying back becomes this ongoing awful thing while the hay bills keep coming. I need something that I can do that will give value, and feed the horses, and keep the place going in the next few weeks or months while I figure out the longer term. I'm running out of energy to keep hustling, and I'm running out of options for keeping this place afloat.
I have no idea what will happen to the horses if I have to let them go. Tia might find a home as a broodmare, she's still of an age for that. Pandora would have a place to go, at least, and I would put Capria down; she's nearing the end of her body's ability to cope. The rest are a hard sell in this economy.
Ideas would be most welcome. I'm so tired and stretched so thin that I know I'm not seeing the forest for all the tangled thickets of panicky trees. The woo side of things says the farm will continue, the horses will stay, I'm just missing something blindingly obvious. But I persist in being, well, blinded.
Wish you could help, but just as broke as I am? There is one thing you can do. If you've read my books, post honest reviews especially at Amazon. Reviewomancy has gone a bit whackers lately as authors become more desperate and careers slip closer to the edge, but it does appear that the more reviews you get, the more likely the book is to bump one of those all-important "If You Liked X, You Might Like Y" algorithms. You can also encourage your library to buy books from Book View Cafe via Overdrive or an assortment of other distribution networks--they usually buy a selection of mine, and the proceeds eventually trickle down to me.
Every little bit helps.
Signups to this point have been minimal despite extensive signal boosting (for which, thanks to all who have so kindly spread the word). I will be conducting the class for those who have signed up for it so far, but unless I get at least another four participants, the format will be different than I had originally planned. I'll be contacting participants in a few days with further details.
It does seem that I will have to find another way to keep the horses fed. With so many writers hanging out the editing and teaching shingle as advances shrink and contracts slow down or stop coming, the market appears to be saturated. We are at a scary juncture here, with the boarders gone (one was ready to go home after rehab, the other took off last week while I was away; I returned to an empty stall and a note on the table). They had paid the bulk of the hay bill. The ebook revolution has not been the bonanza for me that it has for others: it covers utilities every month, but that's as far as it goes. I do not have the funds to buy ads that supposedly will increase sales. Another Kickstarter can't happen until I get the last one done and fulfilled--which it will be by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the horses keep eating. I'm not sure where the next load of hay is coming from, and they'll need it next week. (Yes, I've been hiding under the bed. It's been a rough month.)
I still have openings for editing and mentoring--will be happy to take referrals. There are also openings available for Camp Lipizzan, which I tend to call Horse Camp for Writers, but what it actually is is a week with the White Herd. There's yoga, there's riding and groundwork, there's quiet and peace and a chance to rest and be pampered, whatever your level of horse skills. You don't have to be a writer, either. Horsepeople come for the horse-retreat aspects.
I have in the past offered sponsorships for the horses. I'm thinking I might revive that, and turn it into a monthly newsletter or blogthing. Backers-only news, updates, pictures of "your" sponsored horse or horses, bits of things from the farm. Not sure if that should be a formal setup a la Patreon or a more informal, one-on-one arrangement. I'm open to suggestion.
I have also offered commissioned stories--have written a fair few, in fact, over the years. Email me at capriole at that gmail thing if you'd like to talk about a story for yourself or friends or family. I love doing these, and recipients seem to love getting them.
I've seen crowdfunding campaigns with authors doing a monthly short story. I wonder if this would work for me. While I was in toxic block, I couldn't commit to any such thing, but that's finally gone (and that part of me feels wonderful).
I hate to borrow, because paying back becomes this ongoing awful thing while the hay bills keep coming. I need something that I can do that will give value, and feed the horses, and keep the place going in the next few weeks or months while I figure out the longer term. I'm running out of energy to keep hustling, and I'm running out of options for keeping this place afloat.
I have no idea what will happen to the horses if I have to let them go. Tia might find a home as a broodmare, she's still of an age for that. Pandora would have a place to go, at least, and I would put Capria down; she's nearing the end of her body's ability to cope. The rest are a hard sell in this economy.
Ideas would be most welcome. I'm so tired and stretched so thin that I know I'm not seeing the forest for all the tangled thickets of panicky trees. The woo side of things says the farm will continue, the horses will stay, I'm just missing something blindingly obvious. But I persist in being, well, blinded.
Wish you could help, but just as broke as I am? There is one thing you can do. If you've read my books, post honest reviews especially at Amazon. Reviewomancy has gone a bit whackers lately as authors become more desperate and careers slip closer to the edge, but it does appear that the more reviews you get, the more likely the book is to bump one of those all-important "If You Liked X, You Might Like Y" algorithms. You can also encourage your library to buy books from Book View Cafe via Overdrive or an assortment of other distribution networks--they usually buy a selection of mine, and the proceeds eventually trickle down to me.
Every little bit helps.
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no subject
Date: 2014-09-24 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-28 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-24 10:38 pm (UTC)FWIW sending bright, shiny light from my little herd here.
Looking forward to class, whatever the format.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 12:02 am (UTC)In the meantime, I'm pimping! I hope it helps.
I may contact you about a layaway program for the Horse Camp. I can't afford it at the moment thanks to husbeast losing his 2nd job, but I am bound and determined I'm GOING to get there someday, dammit. -.-
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:31 pm (UTC)I'm sorry about C's second job. That's a bummer all around.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 06:44 am (UTC)Horse riding for disabled kids
Therapy riding for rehab?
Returning veteran rehab?
Hospitals or veteran centres or rehab specialists after car accidents or maybe private schools -- playing up the Dancing White Horses of Disney and General Patton?
My post concussion syndrome is proving difficult to shake off or I might be able to do more to help.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 05:51 pm (UTC)Judy, as always, blessings.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 06:03 pm (UTC)Best wishes.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:32 pm (UTC)Sending my own good thoughts for your return to full health.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-26 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-26 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 08:22 am (UTC)I know that one sale isn't going to make an enormous difference to you, but reading your entry reminded me that a lot of your novels are available as ebooks now, too, so I just snagged a copy of Lord of Two Lands for my Kindle. I can't count how many times I've re-read it - it really is my favorite historical fantasy novel ever, and one of the biggest reasons that I started writing historical fantasy in the first place! - and although I've got two different paper editions floating around the house, I definitely need an e-version for comfort reading anytime I need it. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 02:52 pm (UTC)In the meantime, I'll get my butt in gear and make a point of reviewing everything I've read, both on Amazon and on Goodreads. Apologies for not having done so already!
Some of the ideas above re: other types of camps or retreats are good ones, if you could bear them. The yoga-with-horses camp, too, would probably be a winner if you got it a little more exposure, through regional publications, horse and yoga bulletin boards (online), etc.
I have faith in the woo-woo and I'm pulling for you.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-25 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-26 08:04 pm (UTC)An income idea
Date: 2014-09-26 08:33 pm (UTC)Re: An income idea
Date: 2014-09-27 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-27 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-27 08:41 pm (UTC)Paying the hay bill
Date: 2014-09-29 07:13 pm (UTC)Are you rural enough to offer people trail riding weekends - B&B accommodations for them and their horses and a trail map or pre-loaded GPS with places to ride?
Re: Paying the hay bill
Date: 2014-10-08 10:30 pm (UTC)