Begging for my Article Payments is Ridiculous

When I get incredibly mad, I post on Facebook. I should not, but I do. Here's my recent one related to writing:

It's sad but true that I have to spend time chasing down payments from magazines. We are not talking about $1,000 articles here, people. We are talking about $35 article reprints that editors ASK FOR and then ignore invoices, emails, phone calls. It's disgusting. I can use that $35 to feed my children. You started a magazine and you need to pay your writers.‪#‎despicable‬

Several magazines owe me money currently. I'm not talking about they published my reprint for $35 in September and have not paid me yet. I'm talking they did it in January and have not paid me yet. Or last year. And they won't email or call me back. Maybe even worse is when they give you hope and finally might write you back when you get really angry and they say it's in the mail and it never comes. Who are these disgusting people?

I'm about to start naming names. I'm very close. I'm also going to contact their local Better Business Bureau and file a complaint. I'm not a customer, but an independent contractor they are not paying.

I feel like it's my duty to let fellow writers know what they are getting into. I have warned many in my close circle who write for the regional parenting magazines and some of them have had the same issues. It's about time to go bigger.

I wrote this book for writers to get published in such magazines and I've just been taking out the crappy ones that may have been in previous editions. For the 7th edition I think I'm going to make a chapter titled "Do Not Submit to These: They Do Not Pay."

Update on Inbox Zero and My Anniversary

So what are you working on today? Writing, reading, getting your inbox to zero, keeping good records for tax time?

I took about 15 minutes this morning to work on my Inbox Zero project. You can read about it here.

I started at 211 unread and 1,701 total email in my inbox. I have zillions in other folders but this is about just my inbox.

After 15 minutes I got to 144 new and 1,495 total.

I have a tendency to want to look at EVERY email, afraid I will miss something VERY important. I suspect you might have the same problem and that's why your inbox also overfloweth.

Today is my 17-year anniversary with my husband, who I jokingly call Mr. Kerrie. We'll go on a walk later tonight just to chat but today at some point I hope to walk alone and just can't decide what to listen to! I love Lifestyle Liberation but also Brilliant Business Moms and also The Empowered Podcast with Ellory Wells. I also have Travel Like a Boss on my list since I love to write but also love to travel. I write because I love it but if making money from it takes me to a place of travel with my family, then my soul would be incredibly happy. I have so many great podcast series and single podcasts on my listen-to list and am excited to share those with you as I get to them!

Have a great Saturday!

Brilliant Business Moms Podcast: Inbox Zero Concept

So MAYBE this isn't EXACTLY about writing. But it does apply to BUSINESS, and if you are serious about making money from your writing then you have to treat it like any other business. Sorry to burst your creative, magical bubble here but you have to market yourself and keep track of income and file taxes and junk. For real.

So I found this podcast and dig it. The Etsy-related stuff isn't for me because I don't sell things like that but I do have a physical book that I try to sell. And I sell myself in the form of my writing and my articles and my blogs. And I sell makeup and nail wraps. And yet, this podcast also talks about writing voice and writing ebooks and writing cookbooks so it really is about everything. Anyway ...

I heard one podcast from these ladies about a book called Eat That Frog and so I put that on hold at the library because I'm currently broke coming off of vacation. Can't wait to up my productivity and stop getting distracted so easily.

The other podcast I dug was about Inbox Zero ... so I'm trying to get my inbox to ZERO. Who else struggles with this? It drives me nuts when I have so many emails but it's always that way. It's hard for me to concentrate on my work! So I'm attempting to get to ZERO every day and deal with subscriptions I never read or coupons I'll never use. I'm putting things on my to do list as they come in so I can then move them to a folder but they are still relevant.

Tonight I started with 442 new email and 2,105 total in my inbox.

After about 45 minutes I got to 197 new and 1,686 total.

Yes, I am sorting by sender to make it easier to lump things together and move them to folders.

I HIGHLY recommend this podcast and website for anyone who is business-minded. They cover so many different topics that there is something for everyone.

I'll keep you posted on my inbox zero situation. I'd love to see your inbox numbers!

Walking Writer on Vacay

 So you probably won't be hearing much from me this week because I'm on vacation with my family in Nebraska. Today I did manage to somehow log almost 3 miles at a wildlife safari park. And then I decided that I would walk from our cabin to an activity center and meet my family there. I did not realize that it would be about a 1 mile walk. I could not get I heart radio to come through And so I decided to do some Periscoping. I think that I am mommykerrie on periscope. Like with most things in my life I have not come up with the focus for my periscope thing. I do too many different things and so it's hard for me to focus and I feel like most of the time I get on there and I just ran and have not figured out how to engage people yet with questions and hearts. So keep walking and keep writing and I will be catching you soon.

And if you see any typos in this it's because I was doing dictation on my phone and am in a super rush and don't have my laptop with me on vacation so I will fix anything when I get back over the weekend. Thanks for reading and excepting my faults anyway.

YouTube: Eric Worre on Recruiting 20 Team Members in 30 Days

So in addition to proofreading and writing books and articles for income and pleasure, I also do other things. I do some social media stuff, blogging, and I also sell Younique skincare and cosmetics and Jamberry nail wraps. I have a team in each business and it's so much fun to work with them and sell things I love. So this morning I was listening to a YouTube video by Eric Worre about recruiting 20 new team members in 30 days.

I have to admit I have not been focusing on my direct sales businesses. September was INSANE with starting the kids and I at a weekly co-op, starting religious ed classes, Scouts going in full force, activities, parties, BBQs, friend and family events, volleyball, homeschooling and more.

The thing is, I can't seem to quit anything. I love life and I love all we do. I just need like 30 hours in a day instead of 24 and I could do everything well, I just know it!

Anyway, I walked to the grocery store for the hard-core Sudafed for the kids and Chapstick and then to get the dog's flea pill at the animal hospital. It was over 2 miles and I feel great. It was only about 50 degrees.

I'm sharing my September income with you today. I have to say I don't now where it goes! A lot of it goes into the bellies of my children! Some goes to my monthly Weight Watchers membership. Some to my new 12-passenger van payment, the rest is all over the place (coffee, kid shoes, gas, books, gifts and so much more). I'm sharing this to show you how things fluctuate. I've been focusing more on proofreading, obviously, than on sales or marketing my books ... or on writing new ones. Focusing less on writing new articles and marketing the old ones. Let's see how this changes in months to come!

What are your challenges with fitness or writing or anything in between?

Podcast: "Big Magic" Do What Ignites Your Soul (Elizabeth Gilbert)

This morning's neighborhood walk found me feeling guilty and stressed because I have large proofreading projects to finish before leaving town for the much-needed family vacation in the cabin in the woods ... to include trips into the city to go to Omaha's Zoo and Lincoln Children's Museum.

So I found Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic podcast series on my phone and walked to the grocery store for snacks for co-op today. I also needed Sudafed ... the kind that makes meth that I have to give my driver's license for ... but the pharmacy was closed. I wonder at what point they start to question if I am buying too much but I do have a family of 7 so ...

Episode 1 was "Do What Ignites Your Soul" ... and Gilbert called someone who had posed a question to her. The question was how do you do what you want and write what you want to write when you have kids and also when your extended family is not supportive of what you are writing?

Wow, did that hit home.

So I homeschool 5 kids ranging from almost-6 to 14. It's a big job and I love it. I'm also married so there's that other main person in my life who takes a lot of my thought. If not for him, the house would be a pig sty and meals would be frozen waffles every night. He helps me to be better and to get out of ADD Creative Land, where I kind of want to live all the time. An example is that I want to just PLAY at homeschooling all the time and go places but he makes me realize there is also learning work to be done at home.

So there's that challenge of writing with people around, which we all have! Also I am a proofreader for money and I write articles for money. We need the money so I put off the writing for pleasure and income. This, to me, counts right now as writing.

Then there is the aspect of writing something like I want to write, the memoir of my 4 1/2 years with an abusive man and all the stuff that went with that. Stuff that I fear could get me shunned in my Catholic groups. I don't give a shit about myself being shunned but I don't want my kids to be shunned because of things I did over 20 years ago and because I chose to write about them and make them public. I'm sure my family also doesn't want anything to do with reading it or know it's out there. I would hate to read something written by one of my kids about a horrible situation they had been in!

But ... (1) I feel the need to get the story out and (2) a side benefit would be helping other women in my situation. (** after I published this post I realized I could always wait until my kids are grown to get it out there)

Okay, so then Gilbert CHANGED MY LIFE when she said there is a difference between the book you will write and the book you can publish.

Yes. This is what I needed to know. Thank you for that.

Permission to write my truth and then do what I want with it.

Next episode is with Cheryl Strayed of Wild fame and she's a mom who took off for 3 weeks to write and left little kids behind. Getting judgy like I was at first? Read tomorrow to see how this one went!

YouTube: Maria Forleo and Elizabeth Gilbert Talk Creativity and So Much More

This morning I went for a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood. The weather is in the 70s this week in Kansas City and it's so easy to just put on my Oofos sandals, shorts, grab a water bottle and my phone/headphones and GO.

Today I was armed with something to listen to. My list is really stacking up so I'll be sharing with you as I get the chance to listen. My friend Christine Shuck of The Deadly Nightshade (also a writer) told me yesterday about this YouTube video since we are both in love with Elizabeth Gilbert. It's over 45 minutes, so I knew it would take me two walks to finish ... or maybe later today I'll sneak in listening to the rest of it somehow!

What I've heard so far is so inspiring! She has such a way with words, that Gilbert! I have her book Big Magic on the way to me before I go on vacation with my family (thanks to my husband for the rockin' pre-anniversary gift) and am super excited, being a creative person and all that. But I think we are ALL creative! This book is going to be so amazing for so many people!

Anyway, no, I don't WATCH the video as I'm walking or I'd likely trip and die ... I just put it on and listen and absorb the awesomeness. So far I've learned about fear (it's good!), authenticity, writing to help others versus yourself, shit sandwiches and the fact that just because you put your all into something (ahem, like a direct sales business) doesn't mean you are going to get to the top or succeed. Get real!

Here you go! Let me know what you think!