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Hey everyone!
A.B. Queen here with a new batch of updates for the week.
What I Am Working On ✍️
The Curiosity Collection Book #2
I have made it to about 66% on draft 3! Made some really good progress last week and will be making some good progress this week. Should have draft 3 finished this week and maybe some progress in draft 4.
Draft 3 Progress 66%
Short Stories
The Longhand story this week is at about 5%. Not great progress but something.
Draft 2 Progress 5%
Articles
Currently working on two different articles that should be posted sometime this week. Keep an eye out on my Medium profile or Queenswrite.com for updates.
Postcard Stories #5
Updated and posted. Check the new postcard out here.
Post Card Series
What I Have Learned 🧠
Facebook Ads
As I am trying to get my name out there and more books sold, I am constantly trying to find new ways to do so.
This past week I have been taking a course on Facebook Ads. With any resource and tool, there are always different opinions, strategies, and ideologies. I could get lost in reading and listening to reviews all day on Facebook Ads. Many of them say they are great, while just as many say they are not worth the time and effort. So, I decided to take it into my own hands and make that choice for myself.
I located a Facebook Ad course on Skillshare (not sponsored in this post), by someone I have taken a course from before. I like their style and their effort to not waste time or get lost in the weeds.
I am only about a 3rd of the way through, so I don’t have an opinion of my own just yet about Facebook Ads. If I am to guess, I don’t think I will have an opinion of Facebook Ads until I try it for a few months and determine my results.
This leads me to my next topic.
Letting the Little Things Guide Me
Through all the courses I have been taking on advancing my author career and business, there is a lot of advice out there:
“You must do this, but don’t do that.”
That’s good and all, and I see why many of these self-help authors and entrepreneurs go with this mentality. I mean, being stern = confidence, and being confident = higher sales. Especially in the self-help/business category.
However, what I find many of these books, reviews, and teachings lacking is the idea that there isn’t a single way to achieve the goals they preach. There is so much more at play than following a formula and having it all work in the end. Sure, there are those that will see success by following the exact formula, but there are far more that don’t see success by following the exact formula. If formula X worked for everyone, then we would all be living large and in charge.
I am not saying the ones that were able to work the formula in their favor are lucky, I don’t necessarily put a lot of effort into luck, but what I am saying is every. single. persons. scenario. is different. No two are the same. We are all beautifully unique.
This doesn’t mean that those books I am constantly reading, or the podcasts I have listened to multiple times about finding success are useless. In fact, they are incredibly useful. It all comes down to the little things and how to use them. I don’t go into a book expecting it to change my life. I go into a book expecting to learn one thing. That’s it. Only one. If I were to come out of that book learning more than one thing, even better. Though, I may not remember them all which is why I may go back.
If I can take a single piece of information and apply it to my life, great! Then the next book I can take another small piece of information and apply it. Maybe building on top of my last piece, or maybe even canceling it out. What is important is that I am always trying something new, looking for something new, learning something new, and using those little things to guide me.
I am not saying that this is how you should learn, read, and listen. It would actually be pretty hypocritical of me to tell you this. No, what I am saying is this is how I learn and apply items to my life and career. I don’t allow random people to tell me how to do something because that is the way it is done. I am bothered when someone says “It is this way because it has always been this way”. It is an idiotic way to look at the world and how it works. Instead, I learn the topic, try it, tweak it, learn something new, apply it, tweak it, and repeat until I have the final results I want. The results may go against the grain, but they are my results.
Summary: Try not to look for one thing to change your life, look for multiple little things and tweak them until you get the results you want. But then again, you do you, it’s your life after all ;)
What I am Reading/Watching/Listening
Novels 📚
As always, I am still working through multiple books right now but finished two this week.
Star Wars: Fatal Alliance = 5% Completion (Paperback)
The Backyard Adventurer - Beau Miles = 100% Completion (eBook)
Absolutely amazing book. I always look forward to a Beau Miles video, and the book was a great extension of his videos.
7 Figure Fiction - T. Taylor = 100% Completion (Audiobook)
Heard about this one through Inkers Con. Had some good insight. It takes a little bit of imagination and work to apply to a non-romance genre. Overall, I learned something new this week, and that is all I ask for from a non-fiction book.
Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman = 50% Completion (Audiobook)
The First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks = 10% Completion (Audiobook)
Decided to start rereading some Terry Brooks for the hell of it.
Another…Escaping Time - Scott N. Beauchamp = 20% Completion (Paperback)
Show/Movie 🎥
Wings (T.V. Series)
Has been brought back to Prime Video. My all-time favorite sitcom. So much nostalgia.
Superstore
My partner and I have been going through a good amount of Superstore. Honestly, an amazing show with some of the best cutscenes out there.
The Last Airbender
Still enjoying these on my weekend mornings. It gets so good so quickly.
Royal Pains
Perfect weekend summertime show. Honestly makes me want to go to the beach on the east coast.
Music 🎵
A good amount of 90s Lo-Fi on Youtube this week. Some good concentration music.
What Inspired Me
Fictional Character
Glenn Sturgis from Superstore.
While this character has his flaws just like everyone else. He is truly a good person trying to make sure everyone is safe and loved.
I know it is a fictional character, but the feeling is real.
My Item of the Week
Brandon Sanderson hardcover of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.
I haven’t read it yet, but it looks so good on the shelf with the other two hardcovers from this year!
Also, if you haven’t picked up your copy of The Curiosity Collection: The Rings of Flight, I have placed the links below:
The Rings of Flight by A.B. Queen