Starting a Business during a Pan-Demic
What tremendous changes! The year 2020 brought unexpected shifts to every family. Health care workers, government budgets, and politicians forever seemed to be catching up to events. Covid-19 silently and invisibly spread its sinister small spikes, triggering immense suffering and grief.
As we come to the end of the year, the digital world has zoomed into a preeminent position. Students study from home, slumping on the couch, sliding between homework, social media, and songs that would not be permitted in a regular classroom. Working mothers at home bounce between work assignments and young children's demands for attention. Scientists' sleepless nights supplied the statistics that resulted in vaccines, even as increasing opposition to vaccinations became a concern to health officials.
In February, I completed the banking requirements to sell books in the USA. My company Century One Chronicles, was launched. I uploaded my first novel onto Amazon in March. I expected that before the end of April, I would organize book-signing events in May and June.
But you know what happened! Plans to gather with friends were tossed from Windows 10. I entered the digital world—big time. Century One Chronicles is a business that generally would demand face-to-face contact to show my books to interested persons.
As we come to the last days of December, I have a Century One Chronicles store on Shopify. I am organized to sell books on Facebook, eBay, Amazon, and Instagram. I want to help other writers publish and get their books circulating. It's challenging to go through the steep learning curve needed when forming a digital store, which is very demanding.
Truth be told, I would far sooner write a 400-page historical novel with complex characters than face the daunting task of managing the radio buttons on Amazon's Seller Central and other programs. After weeks of attempting to set things up on Amazon, I am still struggling to connect all the moving parts. (This is a reflection of my limitations, not a criticism of Amazon.)
However, I fell blessed. Elizabeth, my daughter, has helped me set up Shopify, my digital shop. I feel like a baby just learning to crawl. Such is the gap between my present knowledge of the digital world with its thousands of websites calling persons interested in setting up a business and my limited skill base.
I'm blessed to have the continuing help of three persons. Dusan Arsenic lives in Serbia. As an illustrator, he does fantastic things with his digital brushes. He has created the first three book covers and will continue with the next ones. Jerry Whittaker is my primary editor. He made countless helpful suggestions and continually improved the phrasing. My final copy editor, Daphne Parsekian, caught errors that I was not aware of. I see the Lord's gracious hand in helping me connect with many people. Each person has helped me, including the numerable persons who read pre-published copies of my novels.
Two books were published:
Through the Fire: A Chronicle of Pergamum, Heartbeats of Courage, Book One, in April, and
Never Enough Gold: A Chronicle of Sardis, Heartbeats of Courage, Book Two, in November.
In 2021, Lord Willing, I have three more volumes ready to publish, and in 2022, the last two novels in the series of the Seven Churches of the Revelation.
Thanks for being a prayer partner in this enterprise. I hope to send proceeds from the sale of these books to help widows and orphan children in four developing countries.
Warmest regards on these chilly winter mornings! Love and prayers for the joy of it all, David