Jaclyn Paul's Blog, page 6

What I read last month: December 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from myGoodreads reviews.You can read previous months’What I Read… byclicking here. Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books I get most of mine from the library.

Confession: I did not stick to my “finish all books in progress before starting anything new” resolution. I did, however, finish two of the books from last month’s stack....

What I read last month: November 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from myGoodreads reviews.You can read previous months’What I Read… byclicking here. Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books I get most of mine from the library.

I don’t track this so I can’t be sure, but November may hold a record for most books started. This probably explains why I finished only one book (and a short one at that)....

What I read last month: October 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from myGoodreads reviews.You can read previous months’What I Read… byclicking here. Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books I get most of mine from the library.

While not my own reading per se, last month I had the privilege of seeing Jesmyn Ward read and speak about her work. Don’t miss her if she does an appearance in your town!...

If the email list is king, why did half of mine not know about my book?

I’m in the midst of a book release. This feels like a good time to reveal a fun fact about my book marketing game: according to my most loyal readers, it’s weak.

Since I’m probably in good company with my fellow writers, let’s dig into that.

I don’t mind marketing work but it takes time. For the amount of time I’ve dedicated to marketing Order From Chaos since the ebook came out in May 2018, I’ve gotten very lucky. I always attributed that luck to my existing platform: the readers who already enjoy my...

Business Diaries #3: Taking The ADHD Homestead Ad-Free

At the beginning of 2019 I mentioned wanting to take The ADHD Homestead ad-free. Since then I’ve done a lot of thinking about how ads fit into my business, both financially and philosophically.

And I’ve concluded that they don’t.

It’s easy for bloggers to think we should or even have to include ads. We don’t. Like any other business, we get to decide what we want the mission and ethics of our blogging platform to look like. For several reasons, some too complex to get into in this post, I did...

Apps, like art, gain meaning from their audience. (So ship that beta now.)

I released the first beta of DoTheThing.app earlier this month. It felt incomplete and far too humble to show the world, but I did it anyway. It’s part of my training as a creator, something I learned way back in art school: never show your work for the first time when it’s already finished.

Do The Thing still lacks a lot of what I’d call its defining features. I shipped it without notifications, which will eventually be one of the app’s major selling points. Some features are half-implemente...

What I read last month: August 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

Wow, what a bonkers month August was. I spent a week on vacation, which in theory should’ve given me more reading time. Instead I found myself dozing off after the first...

What I read last month: July 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

What I finished in July As predicted, I finished Equinox, the last installment of the Horizon trilogy. I really enjoyed how the story wrapped up. After everything we’ve...

What I read last month: June 2019

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and often shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

What I finished in June I really enjoyed Infinity, the second book in Tabitha Lord’s Horizon series. My only regret is not reading it sooner after the first one. I like...

Business Diaries #2: Actually, I want to make uneven progress

This post is part of Business Diaries, where I document my journey to grow a business around my blog The ADHD Homestead. You can read the full series here.

Having just hit the midyear mark, I want to talk about managing goals as an indie. At the beginning of 2019 I listed several goals I wanted to accomplish this year. Some, like forming my LLC, felt mandatory. But most fell under the broad umbrella of self-directed work. I want to do this stuff, but I don’t have any external accountability.

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