Too Many Irons In The Fire?

December 19, 2010

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Things have been busy lately in the world of Kosmo.  Barring a complete collapse in the second half of the month (which is possible, with Christmas pulling people away from their computers) we should set a new record in page views for the fourth consecutive month.  We’re not seeing a million visitors per month, but we’re seeing solid growth, particularly from search engine traffic.  The Soap Boxers has always been the flagship offering of Hyrax Publications, and this will continue in the future.

I have also launched a consulting business, Sparks By Kosmo.  The thought was that up-and-coming bloggers would take advantage of the service to get some new ideas for their site.  However, at this point, the main interest seems to be coming from established bloggers looking to iron out the last few wrinkles.  We’ll be unveiling new packages geared toward these different sets of customers in January.  And perhaps we’ll also unveil a new member of the Sparks team at that point?  While The Soap Boxers is the flagship of Hyrax Publications, Sparks has the potential to actually pay some bills.

We’ll also be launching an eBook project in January.  This isn’t me just announcing a new eBook or audio book for sale in the Hyrax Publications store.  This will actually be a collaborative effort involving up to 100 individual authors.  I’ll be looking to include some of you in this project.  Keep your eyes open for more details in January, with publication slated for late spring or early summer.  Some of you are already aware of this effort and have signed on to become contributors.

Hyrax Publications will also be getting into the business of selling printed books in 2011.  The first two books are written by a self-published author on an interesting niche topic.  Putting her books for sale in the Hyrax Publications store will allow her to reach a potentially worldwide audience without having to build out any infrastructure.  If this experiment proves successful, we may opt to work with other authors later in the year.

My novel, unfortunately, has been pushed to the back burner a bit.  My New Year’s resolution for 2011 will be to get some traction on it.  Given the free time, I think I could hammer out the first hundred pages fairly quickly.

Several days ago, I received notification that I was NOT the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award contest.  This wasn’t a big shock, since the contest attracted 400+ writers.

And in the category of “things you didn’t notice and really don’t care about,” my business name has changed from Hyrax Publications to Hyrax Publications, LLC.

2 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. Evan @40Tech
    Dec 20, 2010 @ 12:17:41

    You are a busy man. I don’t know how you do it – some days I can barely keep up with responding to comments, getting posts done, etc. My other side project keeps getting pushed back, too. Just talking about it has me ready for a nap.

    Reply

    • kosmo
      Dec 21, 2010 @ 10:08:50

      It’s all about maximizing your sleep deprivation. It also helps to avoid TV like the plague.

      Reply

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