Starting My Online Store Through Bonanza

Well, I did it. I've officially opened my own online store. I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure what I'm doing. I do, however, think I've chosen the right place to get started. I've opened my shop on a platform called Bonanza.com.

I first found Bonanza about 8 years ago, but didn't really set up a shop until 2020. Even though I had set up a shop, I never did anything with it. In truth, I chickened out. I had myself convinced I couldn't do it, so I didn't. I want to prove myself wrong.

I have a shop set up on Etsy, but to date, I've never made a single sale. Granted, I don't have much over there, but I've had a few digital items listed for almost a year now. Honestly, I haven't done much in the way of networking or marketing. And yes, I know that a crucial element to success. I'm just not sure how to go about promoting my shops other than what I'm doing right now. Post it on one of my blogs that get literally NO traffic.

Anyway, about the shop. I call it Prairied Treasures. This name came to me a long time ago. In the early 2000's, I was thinking of setting up a shop on Ebay and the name just came to me. I live on prairieland and most of what I'd planned to sell were handmade items and vintage pieces I'd collected throughout the years. And just when I was about to go all in, life went sideways and it never happened.

Fast forward ten years and I was finally able to get back to the idea of setting up my own shop. The problem was that things had gotten way more technical since I'd last played with the idea. I had to learn how to do things all over again. 

Of course, my first stop was at Etsy. I set up my shop and began the learning process of how to make it work. I'm still learning, but I've managed to figure out that it costs money to list the items, as well as costing money when you make a sale. It's not a lot of money, but still...

Etsy charges a 20-cent fee for each listing and will automatically renew those listings every 4 months. Depending on your inventory list, that could get a little pricey, especially if you're not selling much. 

Also, Etsy limits what you can sell on their platform. According to their What Can I Sell page, they allow handmade items and vintage items that are at least 20 years old. And though that means you could potentially sell anything made before 2000, you still have to be very careful.

Finally, there is a lot of competition on Etsy. I mean, A LOT!!! It's hard being a little fish in such a huge pond. I make a lot of handmade paper items, as well as make a lot of Junk Journal embellishments. There are hundreds of other shops on Etsy that sell the exact same thing. 

So, why Bonanza? There's NO LISTING FEES. Bonanza does charge a one-time shop set-up fee of $14.99, then charge 25-cents per transaction plus a Final Offer Fee (3.5% minimum-30% maximum depending on choice of advertising package)

They are a little more lenient on what you can and can't sell on their site, but you should still look through their prohibited items list just to make sure. Most items on the list are common sense. No guns, drugs, get-rich-quick schemes...that kind of thing. 

I don't have a lot on my new shop yet, but I am working on it. I've got several Christmas brooches I'm planning on listing, as well as a lot of junk journal embellishments and ephemera kits I'm working on. I think this is going to be the best place to work my magic. 

Now, I just need to figure out how to do some proper marketing and I might have a shot. I guess we'll see. Stay tuned.

Until next time,
Miss Chris

Myth Monsters Podcast

 

I love all things mythological. I've always been fascinated with gods and goddesses and heroes and legends. But it was the creatures that always kept me coming back for more. Winged horses, harpies, the Minotaur, and, of course, mermaids and sirens. I just couldn't get enough.

As I got older, I began to read up on cryptids (though I didn't know that's what they were officially called) such as Mothman, the Yeti and Sasquatch, and the Jersey Devil. Believing that there had to be a grain of truth in some of the stories, I always wanted to know how these stories began. I still do.

I've been listening to a lot of ancient history podcasts lately. I used to watch ancient history documentaries on YouTube, but I think I've pretty much seen them all. In my search, I came across a really cool podcast called Myth Monsters. Yep, I had to go check it out. So glad I did.

Myth Monsters is based out of the UK and is run by a feisty little redhead named Erin. I started listening to her podcast from the beginning and found myself both informed and entertained. She cracked me up. 

The thing I love most about this podcast is that its main focus is just the creatures. Not the heroes, not all the hype that surrounds the creature, just the beasts themselves. And it's very well done. I especially like the segment near the end of each episode where Erin talks about whether she thinks the creature is/was an actual being. And, in a few episodes, she sings. It's awesome.

Myth Monsters look at beasts from all around the world. I have to admit that I knew many of them before the podcast, but Erin's done a few about Japanese creatures that I'd never heard of before. I enjoyed learning about those. Note to self: study more Japanese mythology.

Seriously, if you're looking for a way to learn more about mythic beasts and cryptids, check out Myth Monsters. The podcasts are short and sweet, as well as fun and educational. You can find Myth Monsters on several venues including Apple and Spotify, or follow them through any of their social media sites. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some mythic monsters to go study. 

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Images used in this post are the sole property of Myth Monsters Podcast and may not be used without the owner's expressed permission. Images were used in this post with permission. All rights reserved.

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Shameless Self Promotion

 

I spend a lot of time on Twitter. It's where I find a lot of the sites I review for my blogs. I'm finding that the best way to find these sites is by visiting any #WriterLIft or #ShamelessSelfPromotion list. I have a really hard time promoting my own work, but as I watch others, I'm finding just how useful it could be.

I was raised to believe that you didn't boast about your own work. You gave credit to everyone else for the wonderful things they did, but you never brought attention to yourself. Even after I learned more about the online writing community, it's been horribly hard for me to say, "Hey, look at me. I did this and I want you all to see it." I know, not gonna help me in the long run. I get it and I'm working to fix it.

While cruising through Twitter this morning, I came across one of those #ShamelessSelfPromotion lists, started by a gentleman by the name of Danny Garvin, creator of the Paranormal Campfire Stories blog. I dig this guy's blog as it's filled with true stories of paranormal events that have happened to people from all over. I'm currently working on my own story to send to Danny. 

I decided to look through the list to see what kind of things other people were self-promoting. I wasn't surprised to see so many books, that's what it's all about. I did see a couple of websites that I can't wait to visit and a few other things I might look into a little further to either write about or to add to my newsletter. I'm always looking for new sites to add to the newsletter.

As I went along, I found another list created by author J.G. MacLeod. It's still all about #Self-Promotion, but there were a lot of different sites than the first list. I found a couple of sites that I'll be adding to my next newsletter coming out the 15th. I'm kind of excited. LOL

Yes, I added links to my stuff on those lists. It felt weird, but I did it. I posted a link to my newsletter on Danny's list and a link to my book of writing prompts on J.G.'s list. Will I get any hits from it? Maybe. But I'm actually more excited about how many new places I can find to talk about on my blogs. LOL. 

What about you? How do you self-promote? Leave me a comment and let me know. I might even come by and see your site. I'm always on the lookout for new sites. Yours could be next. 

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay  

Time To Wake the Priestess

 

Hi, kids. Long time, no...nothing. Yes, once again I went and let this site sit abandoned. It's not that I didn't think about it. It's just that I've gotten so busy with other things, that this one took a backseat. Well, I'm hoping to change that. Check it out.

So, here's what's been going on. The main reason I haven't done anything here since October of 2021 is that I landed a gig over at Medium.com that ended up leading to a year-long adventure. Shortly after publishing my last post on this site, I started following a publication on Medium called Promptly Written. As a prompt writer myself, I know just how helpful they can be. I found a couple of the author's prompts and wrote my brains out. It was magical.

By the end of December 2021, I had been added as an editor on the publication and started a weekly prompt post on January 1, 2022. Out of an entire year, I only missed one week and that's because of health issues. When Promptly Written took a hiatus, I gave the weekly prompts a new home. I've grown a decent following and am having the time of my life. I currently run four publications of my own and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

I've also published my second book of writing prompts. It's called Promptly Questioned: 300 questions for the fiction writer to answer. I've published this book through Gumroad.com rather than Amazon. I have to admit that I wasn't happy with Amazon and have even taken my first book off their site. As soon as I clear the 90-day mark, I'll be adding it to Gumroad as well. 

I have completely revamped my personal blog, Graves Publications. A year ago, I had seven different blogs all running at the same time. I was having a great time with it, but quickly got burned out trying to keep up with all of them. One day, I'd had enough and I shut them all down. Completely! It didn't last long, however. I decided to bring my main site back and just added all my sub-blogs to it. Now, rather than trying to add a new post for each site, I can just do one or two a month and still keep my blog updated on a regular basis. 

I've just launched a bi-monthly newsletter for writers. It's called Graves Publications News and covers all kinds of things. I talk about some of the things I've written here, on Medium, and at Graves Publications. I talk about other writing sites, such as book depositories, publishers, book bloggers, graphic designers, and more. I also add links to online publications that are accepting submissions. At some point, I may start offering ad space, but that's something to look forward to in the future.

Now, it's time for me to integrate this blog into the mix. After all, this site is technically part of the Graves Publications catalog. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but I have a couple of ideas. I've thought about making this a site dedicated to all things fantasy. Sites, books, graphic artists, and whatever else I can find that I think fits in this category. And as far as I'm concerned, that's an awfully big category.

So, stick around and see where we take this site. I won't make any promises, but I've kept this site alive for more than 10 years, I'm not about to let it die now. 

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Image by Vlad Min from Pixabay 

The Grand by Evelyn Chartres--A Review

Have you ever read one of those books that just kind of leaves you hanging at the end? Well, this is one of those books. 

I found the author, Evelyn Chartres, through the AllAuthor.com site. The book that caught my attention of hers is called The Van Helsing Paradox. I'm a huge "Van Helsing" fan and am always looking for places where mentions of these monster hunters can be found. So, this title grabbed my attention immediately. 

Once I found Miss Chartres' Amazon page, I found she's written not 1, but 4 books and at the moment, they are all free. In my brain, that means, "Download Immediately. Do not pass this up, you need them all". So I did. What caused me to read The Grand first is beyond even my comprehension, but I found it intriguing. 

The Grand is the story of an opulent hotel built into the side of a mountain, overlooking a small podunk town in the valley. The residence and guests of The Grand are, shall we say, beyond the scope of your normal person. No, these individuals are supernatural.

I have to admit that I had a hard time finishing this book as I was very confused at times. The Grand is a compilation of several smaller stories packed in as a complete novel. It's a killer idea, but because it's so back and forth, I had a hard time keeping up. The chapters jump around from one era to another, causing the reader to wonder if they'd missed something. Some of the stories are set in the 1920s while others are set some 20 years later. Though they're all individual stories, they all tie in together. However, you've really got to be paying attention from one chapter to another.

Now, with that said, I will also say that the story as a whole is actually very good. Once I got the gist of the book, I very much enjoyed it. There were still a few questions I felt were unanswered at the end of the book, but it was done well enough that I'd be more than willing to read Part 2.

I did enjoy the way Miss Chartres portrayed her characters, even if a few of them are extremely vague. There are a few key characters that help tie everything together, but it gets confusing quickly. It's a lot like putting together a puzzle in order to hear the story. 

On a whole, I'd give The Grand by Evelyn Chartres a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was hard to get into, but once I started to understand it, I couldn't put it down. 

I will be reading The Van Helsing Paradox next. It was the reason I found Miss Chartres' page in the first place. It's about a young "otherworldly" hunter named Clara Grey. I'm kind of excited about this book, more now than I was before. Miss Clara Grey takes a peek inside The Grand, so she and I have met. 

I do recommend that you go check in at The Grand. Just beware. There are a lot more twists and turns than expected.

***As of the time of this writing, all four of Evelyn Chartres' books are free to download to your Amazon Kindle. This may change in the future.***

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This post contains affiliate links. However, all opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. I was not asked to write a review, nor did I receive any compensation for any type of review. I downloaded this book free of charge from Amazon.com. 

© Christine Graves 2020

FindIndieBooks.com: A Review

Image made possible by FindIndieBooks.com

So I got the surprise of my life here not too long ago. I got a notification that my e-book, Promptly Chronicled, had been reviewed by the site FindIndieBooks.com. I was nervous, to say the least, as to what the reviewer would say. However, my nerves were quickly calmed when I noticed that I'd gotten a 5-star review. Whoo Hoo!!!

Now, up to this point, I'd never heard of the site, so I thought I'd check it out. I felt really stupid when I realized it was run by a writer friend of mine from a site I'd written for called InThePantheon.com. Way to go, honey. I'm totally proud of you!!!!!

I ended up spending quite some time on this site, checking out what it was about and all the books listed. I was impressed. As of the time of this writing, there are nearly 500 indie books listed. And I'm one of them. YEA!!!!!

I'm really impressed with the way this site is put together. The books drop-down menu showcases the books in easy to find categories. From Kindle Unlimited to those only available in European markets and those in hardback only.

There are also links to author websites, so you can meet your favorite indie authors. Check out some of the reviews listed on the site and really get to know the authors from their author interviews. There really is a little something for everyone here.

Do you have an indie book you'd like to have submitted to FindIndieBooks.com? Check out the site's submissions page for all the information. It's free to submit (for now) and you'll usually hear back from them within 72 hours. Each author is allowed to submit up to 3 books at a time.

In order to have your book placed among those listed, your book must be self-published or published by a small publishing company (publishes no more than 10 titles a year). You can also send a link to your author website if you have one. All they ask is that you follow them on Twitter.

If you're an avid reader, or an author looking to get your book out to the masses, you've got to check out FindIndieBooks.com. Be part of the journey toward this site becoming the largest book repository in the world.

© Christine Graves 2020

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This review is of my own wording and my own observances. All opinions are mine and mine alone. No monies or other forms of payment were exchanged for this review.