Long time, no blog, eh? For what it’s worth, I’ve been quite busy these past few months, but I wanted to check in and give you some big updates. For old times’ sake I split this up into three sections, Recap, Progress, and Goals.
Recap:
Looking back at the first half of 2022
A lot change over the first six months of this year for me. One big milestone was that I finished my first ten years of teaching. I’m hoping I finally figure this gig out during my second decade! 🤞🏼😁
On the writing side of things, I published my latest book, Unburnt, and I’m already planning its sequel. I’ve also been quite steadily posting stories, both fiction and nonfiction, on Kindle Vella under various names (bonus points to anyone who identifies any of my pseudonyms!). It’s nice to get paid for my writing–honestly, I can’t recommend Kindle Vella enough to anyone hoping to find an audience and make some coin by publishing serially.
In the personal arena, our family has jumped headfirst into summer with multiple vacations (and a few more still lined up). I won’t bore you with the (amazing, jealousy-inducing) details here, but trust me when I say that 2022 is lining up to be one of our best years ever, vacation-wise 👨👩👧👧😎🎸🌞🌄
Progress
The main areas of progress for me have been with my writing. Here are the highlights:
- I’ve published something every day on Kindle Vella (sometimes twice a day ✌🏼)
- I’ve recorded most of the audiobook for my book, Locked In (next step: post-production!)
- I’ve read a couple books on marketing my existing novels, and I plan to implement some new strategies this fall 😏
Goals
- Make over $500 a month on Vella (I’ve come so close multiple times!)
- Make over $5000 a month total on writing (that’s where the marketing comes in–stay tuned for giveaways and other contests!)
- Make this school year my best ever — enjoy each day with each student, educate them as individuals, spend my time wisely, and above all…relax and smile and have fun! 😁
- Continue to savor family time, even amidst the chaos of work and life 👨👩👧👧
M. J. Lau 