Monetary Report #1

Okay, so it's been nearly a week since 2008 began. And, I'm happy to report that I actually made some money on my writing. Someone ordered a copy of my book Poems New, Used, and Rebuilds. The buyer in question sent me a check for $13.00.

So, yippee, $13.00 earned!

Well, not quite.

Keep in mind that I am reporting profits only. I have to buy copies of the book from my publisher at a 40% discout -- that is if I want copies in hand to sell at readings, etc. As an upper lower-class writer, most of my sales happen face-to-face.

So, each book costs me $9.00 with the discount.

Okay, so my profit is $4.00.

Wrong.

I also had to ship the book, which cost me $1.65.

So, my first profit report is actually a grand total of $2.35. Staggering.

And, honestly, that's not completely truthful. I could factor in that I had to pay to have a box of books shipped to me -- which actually means that each book was a little more than $9.00. I could factor in the cost of the yellow envelope that I had to put the book in. I could factor in the cost of gas that it took for me to get to the post office (although, I did build the post office run into a number of errands that I had to do).

But, I won't factor in those other costs. I'll just say that I made $2.35 at the end of week one of 2008.

Stop back next Sunday or Monday for another report.