Procrastinating

I've let a lot of stuff get my priority list all out of whack.

But on the plus side, I did get the new layout for Luna's Gathering uploaded. The site is so much easier to navigate. It is easier on the eyes and even has some new content. I try to add at least one new bit each week. The job that pays the bills is more than crazy in the summer and leaves me exhausted by the end of the night. I figure that little bits of success over a long period of time is much better than no success waiting for the big payoff. The farm site is in DESPERATE need of new content, but it is a bit depressing. The extreme heat has killed all the plants, so there's nothing happy to post right now. I found a nifty new layout for my Supernatural fan site. When I upload DHQ's new look, the site will also change its purpose a bit. With the show possibly ending next season, I wanted to expand the theme to keep it fresh. Demon Hunters Quarterly will be about the paranormal in all parts of life, not just the one show. There will still be a place for Supernatural on the site, but it will encompass so much more, including other great shows, the paranormal in films and literature, how it affects and has affected our culture, and even have a section for real encounters.

Still haven't worked on any SEO for any of the sites. That is still coming. Haven't added anything new to CafePress. I am averaging about 8-10 sales a month, which is pretty awesome with no work on my end. I also plan to help another friend with her up and coming SPN fan site. I'll post a link here when it is live.

On the writing front, I started the SPN/CSI crossover. I only have the one chapter so far. I also joined a drabble challenge group. A drabble is basically a story or scene told in exactly 100 words. The leaders of the group send out a new word each week. We write a drabble that incorporates that word and post it for all to read. As usual, I'm late to the game. They've already done 50 challenges. I will try to write about 2 or 3 of the older challenges a week to post with the new words as they are sent. It is a great writing exercise. It'll help me write tighter, cleaner stories. And it is a blast trying to find new and unusual ways to use a word, hoping you don't do the same as all the other participants. The "group" started out as two people. They are now the admins for the group that has grown to almost 100 people. All of my writing can be found at my ff.net profile.

Crazy busy and a little lazy

Lately there have been mood swings that alternate greatly. Most of it swinging low. My attempt at a nifty shopping cart software just about fried my brain. All because I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong with PayPal. Well, much to my embarassment, I fixed my PayPal issues very easily and didn't dare tell many people what stupidity was holding me back. As of this post, I have shiny new PayPal buttons on all but one of the products in my store. Yay!! Make sure to check it out at http://theapothecary.lunasgathering.com/ and let me know what you think. I'm actually kinda proud of my little shoppe. It's small for now, but everything is easy to find.

Next comes a MAJOR overhaul of the main site. As I've added new pages, the navigation went awry. Things are too hard to find. I have a new template with much better navigation. It is also more visually appealing (at least I think it is). I will post back here once the new site is ready. After that comes SEO on all of my sites. I believe I have something cool to offer. No one will know if my sites get lost in the massive sea of crap that is the internet.

Not much new to report with the Cafe Press stores. I did post a new Supernatural design a while back. I sold one of that new design just a few days ago. Sales have been slow but steady and much better than this time last year.

On the creative front, all but one of my fan fics are finished. "Final Betrayal" took forever, but the ending was well received and earned me a few favorite story and author nods. It didn't win the fan fic award it was nominated for, partly because it wasn't finished at the time of voting. My first strictly humorous one was a hit as well. Now that I only have the sequel to "What If?" languishing, my muse has two more ideas it wants me to start, one of them being a Supernatural/CSI crossover. I know it has been done, but I'd like to add mine to the mix.

Baby steps

Ok, the store is online. Well, sort of. I have pages up and some products listed. I haven't worked out the kinks in the PayPal buttons and cart. That should happen sometime during my vacation from the day job. The last couple of months there have been very draining, making work on all of my other endeavors next to impossible. I am taking 11 days off from retail and have big plans for all of them; most of it being personal stuff that has been piling up. After it is cleared up once and for all I can focus more energy on the important business stuff. All of the websites should see fresh new content over the eleven days; a whole new issue for DHQ, lots of info in the library on Luna's Gathering, and updates on farm business on Covenstead. I also hope to have a couple of new shirt designs. Then it is a matter of promotion. I have to get the word out to the right people.

On a more personal creative note, I finally finished three of my fan fiction stories, two of them for Supernatural and one InuYasha. The SPN story I've struggled with for over a year and a half, "Final Betrayal" at last has an ending. I also finished a funny one I started while stuck on Betrayal and posted the InuYasha story I wrote long before the SPN ones. I originally planned to adjust the ending. I decided I liked it the way it was and posted it. The posted ending was simple and understated, more suited to the characters as I've seen them in the show than flowery declarations of love I would've added.

A full plate

Much has been going on, though nothing is complete. With the addition of the site for Covenstead Farm, actual work on said farm, and an assist on another Supernatural site, we've been busy with very little results. Product has been ordered and mostly delivered for the upcoming shop on Luna's Gathering. The shop is under way and hopefully put online within a couple of weeks. We've planted seedlings that will hopefully become home-grown herbs for the shop. Once the basics are set in place it will give us time to work on marketing; for Luna's Gathering, the farm, and even the Cafe Press store. Then time can be taken to update the fun sites, the SPN fan sites. All in its own time. The farm and online shop must take top priority.

New design!!

Yep, time to show the newest design at Luna's Gathering. It's been in the store for about a month. It hasn't sold yet, but about half of my designs have never sold, as yet. I have about 5 designs that sell fairly regularly and a few that sell sporadically. My best seller is "WWWD What Would Dean Do?" My most recent sale was the design that simply says "really?" With set backs in getting stuff on lunasgathering.com and everyday life keeping me busy, I hadn't created a new design since the design I put up for Yule. I plan very soon to find some creative, free ways to promote my stores, as well as my websites to boost sales. Every little thing I can do to increase my chances of quitting my crap retail job, I will. Until then, gotta keep the day job. Now to the newest addition!

No more holiday craziness

With the day job and personal life taking such a huge chunk of my time, there's been precious little time to work on the business stuff. I did manage to squeeze a couple hours here and an hour or so there to make some important changes to www.lunasgathering.com. The focus of the site has officially changed from my CafePress store to a more broad audience. I don't have any of the product up or major content, but the beginnings are set. I have a snazzy new logo, the shells of most of the new pages and have removed all the excess shirt design pages. I even have the beginnings of the new site for the farm. I'll be back again soon with more details.