![]() Most of my readers know that I love creating my own yarn patterns because I have one of my original patterns in the back of each Yarn Genie Mystery novel. I also list some patterns for sale on Etsy. Costs keep rising everywhere, and it's no secret that Etsy fees have increased substantially. It is costly to operate a business, so I understand this is the cost of doing business on Etsy. Like with my books, I like to keep my pattern prices low because some buyers have little money, and I want everyone to enjoy my patterns. As Etsy costs have risen, I didn't raise prices on my patterns as I consider my craft endeavors a hobby that I only do occasionally when I am not writing. I didn't understand until recently that when sellers like me list items below their production cost prices, this hurts those who rely on their Etsy business for financial support. Those sellers must factor in their time, materials, and other production costs to get a list price that will allow them some reasonable profit after Etsy fees are paid. It's hard for them to compete for business on Etsy when other sellers list their items below profit levels. So, I've gone through and adjusted my Etsy prices to take into account their higher fees. While being more favorable to those who do crafts for a living, they are still reasonable and affordable for everyone. And I do offer a few patterns here for free if your budget is tighter than Yarn Genie Imogene's purse.
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![]() Are you a full or part-time writer? I am a part-time writer with aspirations to be a full-time writer. I've had that aspiration for so long without achieving it that it's time to admit that I will never be a full-time writer. Just look at how negligent I've been in doing blog posts here. Or, I'm embarrassed to say just how long it's been since I've published a novel. It may be time to rethink my approach to writing. I have at least 6 novels I hopscotch around working on. I dig in when I have time and neglect them when I don't have time to do a deep dive. I have four published novels that are doing reasonably well and four Kindle Vella novels that still need to be completed. Have you ever seen the entertainer who spins plates on the tops of long wooden poles? They keep adding more and more plates to the poles until the stage is full. That's wonderful if you can keep them all spinning. My plates aren't crashing, but they do each consume valuable time. It may be time to focus on only one novel at a time until that gets done. Reading a heart-warming murder mystery while wrapped up in a handmade afghan is one of life's pleasures. It's one of the things to look forward to when the weather turns cooler. And why I love both writing and crocheting!
All four of my Yarn Genie Mystery novels were free for reading for those with a subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
KU has typically been a good source of income even though it only pays a fraction of a cent for each page read. For several days, KU has reported that not even one reader has read even one page of my novels. Not even ONE page when typically thousands of pages were read each day up to a few days ago? I checked the book listings, and Kindle Unlimited is no longer listed as an option, even though I didn't disenroll them. I find it disturbing that suddenly, my novels have fallen into the KU abyss. I liked that readers could pay a monthly fee and read any book enrolled in Kindle Unlimited for free. This saves voracious readers hundreds of dollars a year in buying books. I reached out to KU and found that the system did not automatically re-enroll the books when the enrollment period was up. Phew! I thought my readers had deserted me. ![]() I recently traveled back to a high school class reunion. At first, I thought I must have gotten into the wrong class year because I was much younger than all those other attendees. Seeing a few friends and getting caught up in their lives was great. Putting unrecognizable faces to names I haven't heard in years was also lovely. I'm now back to my current life and have no desire to return to my high school days for anything other than remembering at a reunion. I am happy with who I am now. It took me a long time to get here, and I'm not returning to who I was back then. Geesh. Nothing like having to hop back to edit a book I thought was finished years ago to correct typos. I feel like an idiot that I didn't notice this earlier.
Writing is hard. Sometimes the right words won't come. I would throw in the towel, but since they're all dirty, that would require doing laundry. So, I won't give up today. Maybe someday I will get this writing business right and be able to afford a wonderful maid like Keiko.
After months of dealing with health issues, I am now back on track to continue my writing journey. Many of my readers have been anxiously awaiting my fifth Yarn Genie Mystery, "Knot Another Murder." I have set a goal of three chapters (or episodes if you are reading on Kindle Vella) per month. I'm off to a good start and can't wait to get the entire novel into print later this year.
P.S. The picture is of the third book in the series, "Murder at Yarn Mansion" along with one of my new bookmarks I dreamed up while being too sick to do much else. This year was off to a rocky start as I struggled with health concerns that didn't seem to be getting any better as time went on. I felt like a medical jig saw puzzle with parts missing. Now, I finally have some answers and the pieces are all falling into place so I can begin this year again starting now and I'm only four and half months behind schedule.
A seasoned best-selling author once advised authors to not read the online reviews posted by readers, saying, "those reviews are intended for other readers, so they know if they'll like the book. You might get your heart broken if you see a bad review and focus on that one rather than all the good ones."
Fair enough, except recently, I saw a one-star review of "Knitting Up a Murder," the first book in the Yarn Genie Mystery Series. Curious, I foolishly read the review, hoping to see what about my writing or the mystery the reader didn't like, as those comments help with my future writing endeavors. I found the reader was angry because the series started out with the protagonist knitting in the first book and then switched to her crocheting in the next. The reader only knows how to knit and felt it is deceptive because all the books aren't about knitting. Did I not clarify that Imogene being blamed for her husband being killed with her knitting needles caused her to stop knitting with sharp needles for a while? While it saddens me to think I disappointed this reader, I don't feel I was deceptive in having Imogene shy away from knitting for a few books. The entire premise of the Yarn Genie Mystery Series is that Imogene loves yarn and keeps buying more. She went back to knitting in book four, "Wedding Lace Murder," when she knit a beautiful ribbon yarn shawl, but that reader won't ever know that because she will never again buy one of my books. *Heavy sigh* It is probably just as well that reader decided to abandon Imogene since I'm thinking of having her take up crewel embroidery in book six. |
Celeste BennettI'm a struggling author, these days what author isn't? I'm learning that life is better when you do what you love and I love writing, when I'm not crocheting or spending time with family. Archives
February 2025
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