Well, it has been a busy week so I’m sorry I don’t have an organized post for you this Saturday. Instead, I am just going to tell you a bit on how things have been going.
Taxes
Why has my week been busy? One of the main reasons is because I have been getting my taxes done. Because my online retail business is structured under a corporation and because there are so many different aspects of the business, I do have a professional tax service do my taxes. But it is still my job to organize and submit everything. Then, of course, there are blanks which the preparer points out and needs more information on. This year, he told me that I have to start doing payroll. Even though I am the only owner of the corporation stocks and the only employee, I have to pay myself. Sounds simple? It is not. Setting up payroll includes more federal paperwork and requires tax reporting and social security withholdings. I suppose I could try to figure it out myself, but business is picking up so I would prefer to focus on customer service and improving my websites than spending time trying to figure out all the crazy federal laws and reportings. So, I am hiring someone to do it for me. If anyone ever tells you that running a website is easy, they are lying or they don’t know what they are talking about. There are a lot of costs involved and a lot of projects that need to be done in order to get a website on the first page of Google, Yahoo!, and other search engines. Even after running websites for nearly six years, I still have projects I need to do. It is a never-ending job. Sometimes it makes me money, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Medical
I also had a medical procedure done mid-week. Don’t worry, it was nothing bad. It was elective but nothing like plastic surgery or anything. Hopefully in a few months I will be able to give you more information. For now, my lips are sealed!
Sitemaps
Of the many projects I have been doing to make my retail websites better is to build sitemaps. I thought it would be easy. It was not. I’ve finally finished them for my www.PetAutoSafety.com website but not the others. What is a sitemap? It is not something I can easily explain so you may want to just Google it instead. I will tell you that there is more than one kind. There is an xml, html, and rss sitemap. I need one of each and creating each has its own set of procedures for setting up. Once they are set up, I have to submit them to Google and other search engines. I’m still not done.
The Third Dragon
I am proud to say that I finally finished getting a paperback version of my book on Amazon. You can find it at http://www.amazon.com/Third-Dragon-Book-Dukarian-Legacy/dp/1469974428/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330199368&sr=8-1. However, it is still not showing up in searches. You have to direct link to it in order to find it. I went back and forth with Createspace.com a bit, and have now sent an email to Amazon.com. Hopefully I will find out what the deal is soon.
The Raven’s Fire
I am supposed to be editing book two, but obviously with taxes and doctors I have not been doing it. I should have spent my time in bed rest editing my book. Instead, I watched TV. I will tell you about that in a moment. I dread the editing process. I find that even though I know how my story will go, I get caught up in it and forget to look for editing opportunities. Thank goodness for professional editors.
Heroes
Our local video store is going out of business so they are selling all their videos. I found a bunch of great ones I wanted including the TV series for Heroes. I watched the first three seasons but missed out on the fourth season. So, you guessed it, while I was getting bed rest this week I watched the full fourth season of Heroes. And I loved it! I am envious of all the twists and turns and little plots which my stories seem to lack. And I love all the characters. Even the most antagonistic character, Sylar, is a fantastic character. I’m not sure I felt he should have been redeemed. I wished Mohinder had been more involved in the story. They never showed whether he got back with his girl. Also, what ever happened to NIki’s son Micah? I don’t remember if something happened to him in season two or three. Perhaps I should buy seasons one through three as well.
Well, that is all I have for now. I will try to have a more organized post next Saturday. Have a good week! 🙂