#in true me form i was aiming this to be around 10k words and it's like 17k lmao

[pynkhues]

The reunion scene really just packs such an overwhelming punch. It's just such deep, visceral emotion. And it's not just, oh they're crying--I'm sure we've all seen scenes with actors crying a lot where you're left cold. So it's the writing and the acting just getting to such a raw nerve kind of place. I could go on about all the little moments I love, and I REALLY want to read your longer thoughts on the scene, but Sam's voice breaking like that on "Did you hurt yourself" lanced through me so intensely the first time I heard it, and it gets me every time. For someone with such a deep voice (both Sam and Lestat lol), to be so overwhelmed with emotion that he loses control of his voice completely....just, wow.

I am SO so so so excited to read your reunion fic, you have no idea. :)

It's everything to me, anon!! It really is just so loaded with emotion, but I also think what makes it so cathartic and resonant is that it really feels like the culmination of these two seasons, both in the sense of Louis' arc, but in the connection these two characters have. It's so, so affecting, and I promise, I'll finish my big post on it soon, haha.

And thank you!! I am hoping to post my reunion fic today (although I'm also out for half the day to have lunch with friends and see a Q&A screening of Memoir of a Snail which I am very excited about), but have the opening scene (and maybe a little bit of the scene that follows ;-):

-

It had been a gloomy fall for London in 1958 when Louis and Armand had gone to see the play.

The decision itself had marked a - - transition for them. After all, Louis hadn’t found himself inside a playhouse since he’d burnt the Théâtre des Vampires and all those who tread her boards to the ground, lucky, perhaps, in that he’d never felt a real inclination for the stage, although he knew Armand still held the artform close with something akin to fondness. In fact, Armand had made a point in those years of regularly attending the West End during their stays at their Chealsea apartment, Broadway the summers they’d spend in their Manhattan townhouse, keeping careful track of productions across both professional and amateur venues. The spectacle of his former career turned specter as he haunted the stages, documenting in the little pocketbook he’d carry with him his thoughts and observations, collecting playbills and programmes, newspaper clippings and ticket stubs with the care of an archivist, documenting a landscape dominated by new musicals and post-war dramas, and by the rise and fall of flush-faced stars.

For a time, Armand had tried to keep this from him. Had been sensitive to the events of Paris and inclined to, publicly at least, make Louis’ interests his own. He’d read the books Louis was reading, attend the gallery showings Louis was attending, travel to the sweating, flyover, working towns Louis would and pretend to see the potential in them that Louis did, and Louis had been amused in part, but bored in almost every other. The feeling of speaking to his own echo dulling his senses as the years wore on to the point that it had almost been a relief, that night in ’56, when Armand let slip that he’d been moved by a new musical – The King and I, at Broadway’s St. James Theatre.

They’d fought, of course. Bitterly and fretfully and Louis can admit cruelly, but it had felt good to fight. Felt like the lick of a flame to a snowed-in life, a heat to thaw the ice of his frigid, shiftless mood, and his temper had risen with his voice as Armand used words like patient and over and almost a decade before they settled it in bed. A rough hand and an open mouth and Armand had played penance like the worst actor in his old revue.

Still, a seal had been broken, and Armand had taken to mentioning his attendance at the Winter Garden Theatre and The Stoll – Kismet and The Water Gipsies and hammy dramas that would last only the blink of a season – and soon Louis was deaf to it again. Found the hurt and irritation didn’t spike for long, but rather blunted through its repetition, which perhaps had been Armand’s intent all along, because one night, he left out the paper on an advertisement for Peter Brook’s The Tempest, set to premiere at Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.

And Louis couldn’t say why he said yes, why he agreed to accompany Armand that night. If it was to shock him or to acknowledge his patience or stir another fight, if it was even to try and set the events of Paris behind him, but he’d quiffed his hair and donned his Roman suit, and settled into the fine red velvet seats of the Theatre Royal with the hope of being moved in any direction at all.

And it had, is the thing. Moved him. Just not in the way he’d expected, nor in the hours, because as the lights had dimmed, the sound had started. A loud rumble of thunder and sudden slope of rain, the theater shaking with the affect of a storm, the sort that avoided London’s dreary isle as it set sail for a newer world, and oh, how the actors had tumbled onto the minimally laid stage. One, two, then several more, rolling around the boards as if on a ship, battling the elements as they tried to secure the hatches, and in the moment of it, Louis wasn’t in his seat in the London theater at all.

No, suddenly, with the wail of weather and the shuddering curtains around the stage, Louis was nine-years-old again and home in Louisiana, chasing after his daddy as he boarded up doors and windows. Louis was fifteen, wind cutting at his cheeks as he hauled a babbling Paul in from what he promised wasn’t any sort of rapture, twenty-four between Jonah’s trembling adolescent legs, down in the liquor cellar beneath the colored hotel off Bourbon Street, thirty-three in flesh, thirty-eight in years, exasperated, hammering nails into plywood and spitting fury at Lestat, who danced through the house like a hurricane all his own, feeding off the weather outside, and - - oh, it hadn’t been fury at all. Not when Lestat had his hands on his, pulling him close, the bright sparking look in his eyes catching in Louis’ own, and Lestat was new to this, new to hurricanes, but it wasn’t dread or terror in his eyes, but enchantment and so much fuckin’ love, and the way he’d said it. Louis, this wild, wonderful city of yours, she’d have us hear her tonight! as he pulled him in for the dance, it - -

Fuck.

And it’s that, is the thing. That that has Louis scrambling up in his seat, yanking at his tie, shoving past the legs of pestered patrons, desperate, suddenly, for the still, the quiet, the drizzly tepidness of London air.

He bursts out the aisle and beelines for the exit, flinging open the theater doors, struggling to catch a breath he doesn’t need to take. He rounds Drury Lane, tries to let the bustle of the people, the honk of car horns, the autumnal chill chew him up and spit him back out into this moment. Stick him steady here in this spot, and he doesn’t even realize he’s crouched on the sidewalk, head in hands, until he feels the weight of Armand’s touch on his shoulder, fingers clutching in a pale offer of comfort.

“Too soon, perhaps,” Armand says gently, and Louis shakes his head, holds onto the thread of Armand’s voice, tries to will it into an anchor.

“No, it’s not the theater, it’s the show,” he wets his lips, takes a breath. “It reminded me of the hurricanes, that’s all. Back home. A lot of memories tied up in all of that.”

Armand’s hand curls a little tighter around Louis’ shoulder, and for a moment, Louis thinks that it’s working. That maybe Armand’s presence here, now, is enough to steady him. To ground him here on the street, among the puddles and the passerbys, that the feeling of being very far from home yawning awake in his chest is nothing that can’t be put back to sleep with a walk, a drink, a fuck in the dewy grass of the park he sometimes picks up in. At that, he feels Armand shift above him, the thought heard, perhaps, and Louis raises a hand to cup the back of Armand’s in an approximation of a comfort returned. Armand could be the fuck in the dewy grass. If he wanted to be.

“We could go there together,” Armand says, and Louis’ surprised Armand would suggest it – he typically prefers their bed – only that’s not what he means at all. “To your New Orleans. It would be good, perhaps, to revisit the places of your mortal life, the places you worked, the - - ”

“Should we revisit your old whorehouses too?” Louis bites, offense at even the suggestion struck like a match in an instant. Above him, Armand’s jaw clicks shut, and the wet breath of regret snuffs out the flame of Louis’ temper almost as fast as it had been lit. He shakes his head, pushing out of his crouch to stand.

He looks over, takes in Armand’s blank expression, his amber eyes carefully guarded, and frowns apologetically.

“I’m sorry,” he says, softening his voice, even if the thought of Armand in New Orleans has his toes curling in his brogues. “I didn’t mean that. You’re just - - you’re not to go there, you hear me? Don’t know how she’d treat you.”

It’s a cool look that Armand returns to him, tilting his head to the side, inquiring, dark curls slicked back like he’d often wear them in Paris, and Louis finds himself carefully drawing up those early memories – of his father, and Jonah, and Paul, of juddering windows and roaring grey skies and Grace’s little hand in his and - -

“You’re thinking of him,” Armand tells him coldly, seeing through Louis’ ruse, and Louis stares back at him.

A blink and it all slips to nothing but him as he falls on top of Lestat in his coffin, the creamy silk lining offsetting the pink flush on Lestat’s cheeks, the roof above them shuddering, walls shaking, glass shattering somewhere downstairs, but then - - Lestat’s mouth. Open, warm, wet beneath his, fangs sharp as Louis slides his tongue beneath them to lick his way inside.

His pulse, now, a jackhammer in his chest.

“I’m thinking about the hurricanes back home,” Louis tells Armand, frank. “That’s all.”

*

It’s like a matryoshka doll, Louis thinks now, memories inside of memories, the past a rope that can never be unknotted, and it shouldn’t matter, not now, not when the floor is juddering beneath them, the walls cracking, the lights flickering, because this is not their house on Rue Royale, steady and sandbagged and half-boarded up, and Lestat’s not dancing down hallways, he’s trembling in his arms, and it doesn’t take all that history to know this place isn’t going to hold.

“We gotta get out of here,” Louis yells, pushing a little at Lestat’s waist to give them a degree of separation. Just enough distance to breathe again, but Lestat’s not looking at him, head still dropped, hair a limp, yet still-golden veil around his face, and Louis has to resist the urge to shake him to get him to see what’s happening around them. Instead, he just says: “Lestat.”

[dramionediscussion]

To the slow-burn questioner. This advice is based on the assumption that your chapters are anything between 1-3k words (so the total length until the kiss is somewhere between 34k and 102k). In general, if there's any questions, when a length of is of any importance, the word count is by far the best metric. Anything else is can be seriously misleading or difficult to comment upon, because there's so much variation. E.g. I just looked average chapter lengths for my favorite Dramione fics (which are almost all novel length slow-burners) and the avg. was somewhere around 3-5k, longest being around 10k and shortest 2k. Harry Potter books themselves have around 5,5k as a contrast. When we are talking about 34 chapters, well even divergence of 1k words is considerable difference in total length (Of course, nobody expects you to predict the exact amount and stick by it. A crude approximation is totally sufficient. If you have written just chapter or two, extrapolate from that, and it probably won't be too far off base in the end).

As for the question itself, unfortunately there's no clear-cut answer, because so much depends on other factors and circumstances. As an example, I've abandoned otherwise well written Dramione fics around 6-10k, because there wasn't any inclination of any Dramione, or even faint promises of something to come. Yet, one of my favorite fics has their first kiss around 70-100k mark, and even that is a stolen kiss, and from there it takes 30-50k before it develops into a explicit (physical) romantic relationship.

Difference was that the latter had Draco and Hermione interacting and being involved into each others lives from the very start, and former had them totally separated. It can be fairly antagonistic, or devoid of any romantic sentiments (even a relationship based on a hatred and hostility is still a relationship. Other is nothingness and void, and that gives me well ... nothing). I believe that as long as a Dramione fic has them interacting, or influencing each other, or in some way intertwined into each others' lives and minds, you can have a fairly long and arduous road into an actual explicit romantic relationship.

This should be established quite early and it should occur often. As long as your fic has enough D&H moments from the very start, there's a plenty of time till things have to progress into a romance. There's a lot of room to play around, and the exact nature of these interactions and influences doesn't matter. It can fluctuate between anything from antagonism, longing, teasing, titillating, rivalry, competition, curiousness, pining, struggle, humor, denial, self-deception, lust, etc. Almost anything can work, but there has to be something.

Actually, I would go even further, and say that when this phase is done well, it can often be equal or more interesting as the relationship itself. Sometimes it is a treated like an obstacle, which a writer just have to get over with, in order to the relationship (the actual content) to make sense. Surely, it builds up to a relationship, but it can be more than just a build-up. In this phase their internal conflicts are often most pronounced, this inexplicable infatuation and irresistible attraction is most driving. There's some much material for a drama and conflict, and for a romance in its most heightened and purest form. It's not easiest part to get right, but I find this pre-relationship phase an absolute delight, when it's written well. Definitely something to savor, though conflicting motivations, subtle hints, internal struggles, sentimentality and high romanticism for various reasons are not easiest things to write satisfactorily.

How long this should, or can last at the most? Well, there really isn't an answer, because that is determinated entirely on what is actually happening between those chapters. Beyond D&H content, there has to be a sense of motion with events and their relationship. It must be seen, that things are happening and they are moving towards something (not necessarily directly and linearly towards romantic relationship. It's Dramione after all, thus detours and one step forward two steps back- situations are expected). In general events should be part of some larger context and/or chain of events, with form a cohesive whole, and support and build upon each other. No filler, or idling, or stuff for the sake of it. If it start to go into circles or not proceed for prolonged time, even promises of future potential will not keep people interested. Overall, longer anything goes on, harder is to keep it going on without it turning into either stale and boring, or totally ridiculous.  

Altogether, I find this to be one of the most hardest feat to achieve with a creative work. Limiting yourself, and curtailing those temptations, because at least for me every time I think of something what I feel is clever or interesting, my immediate reaction is to squeeze it to whatever I am working at that moment. Then try to bend the larger totality to fit and compliment the added thing, and it almost never works out, and I've been better off by discarding it entirely. There's always another fic you can write, in which that discarded idea fits naturally into the flow of the story. I am not saying that this is so in your case, but if you have these concerns and this pre-relationship stage is that long, it can be a mark that it's bloated and there are parts that don't really add anything to the larger whole, and by existing actual subtract from it.

Goes without saying that events should be inherently interesting and compelling, and that is largely the factor what will make your readers stick to that +30 chapters, or give up around 1-3, kisses or no kisses. It's not pleasant thing to say, but unfortunately that will probably be largely what will determinate everything. Almost everything can work under almost any circumstances if it's well executed, and even most conventional and formally sound fic will not be well received, if the execution is not working.

This is also something that there's hard to comment or give advice in abstract, because it's so hard to define it precisely. Too complex, too elusive and there's innumerable different ways and combinations, with really subtle differences and myriad of configurations. There are some near universals (like that Dramione should have content between D&H), but I am certain there's that one fic out of tens thousands what makes opposite of that to work out somehow, despite it being a requirement for 99,99%. Even something what feels like a precondition or absolute is not necessarily so for every fic out there.

Like that text / fic should be intelligible for its readers. It's totally solid advice for almost every text out there. But then there's something like the Voynich manuscript, which is precisely interesting, because it's incomprehensible. If it was understandable, it would be just another early modern treatise on natural philosophy, maybe with some mysticism or occultism thrown in. Nothing remarkable or something what makes it enduring for anything except a footnote of the times it was written. Lack of something which is prerequisite for almost every other text, happens to be the aspect, which makes it intriguing. What I am trying to say, that anything I've written might not be true for your fic, because even something what is generally true might not be so for everything out there, and yours might be the exception (that is if my advice is true at all, even conceptually or for most Dramione readers out there, which honestly is something I don't know).  

The structure you've presented sounds a little bit alarming. Pre-romance period is what 25 chapters, then conscious and active falling in love, which culminates into a kiss like 9 chapters or something? If you are aiming for a romance fic primary, that structure is not probably not going to work. Romance fic In this context defined as the main plot is development of their relationship. All other events feed or supplement it, and everything is related to that at least indirectly. Romance can have other events and even plot-lines, but solving a mystery or defeating a dark wizard is not the main plot line, but something which rather provides backdrop and material for development of their relationship.

Usually when it comes to a good structure, it is good to aim towards a certain symmetry and different parts should be at least somewhat proportional. It can be arranged by many different ways (be it a three act structure or whatever), but if the stage one is 3x longer than the stage two, well it probably won't be well received. As they read it, longer it takes to get the next thing, they'll probably expect something of similar magnitude, or at least close to it. It's quite instinctual and unconscious expectation, and usually going against something like that will not work. If you build up for a relationship for 50-75k words, people are not going to be satisfied with having only a morsel of actual relationship. In that case, it's probably better to build the entire fic in which to the goal and the end point is that they'll begin their relationship. Then possibly write a sequel, which depicts the actual relationship or dating.

That structure probably would work better, if there was some other genre along side of the romance for you to lean on (I presume angst refers more to the tone or mood, rather than the plotline. Unless you are writing something along the lines The Sorrows of Young Werther in HP universe, in which constant setbacks and suffering are pretty much the storyline). Then there's much more freedom structurally and otherwise for developing the relationship. If your fic has some other solid plotline(s) or genre to keep things interesting and moving forward. Be it coming of age, school drama, war, mystery, fantasy adventure, or anything else. That would take some pressure off from the relationship, and readers engaged in something besides that, thus they won't mind if things are sometimes on the back burner with the romance, or not exactly balanced in the end.

If you are primarily writing a romance fic, then it's better to concentrate on that fully, and provide full palette of different aspects and phases of what goes into romantic relationships. Even if it ultimately is a tragedy, or angsty. Naturally harmoniously adjusted with each other, and fitted in a complementary fashion. Each with their own ups and downs, crises and turning points. A skeleton of a relationship might look something like starting from an introduction, to attraction, then courting and wooing, then dating, then established relationship, then marriage or something similar in which relationship transitions from a private affair to a communal or public fact, then forming a permanent family like getting children, then the end like happy ever afters. (ofc, there's countless ways to categorize these, arrange them differently, split them, drop some, add some, etc, but a romance which has only couple of these, and wildly unbalanced, well it might work as a tragic and bitter sweet one, if that's what you are going for).

[missytearex]

Hi! So I’m combining my October and November favourites here, as I never made a post for last month! Oops. Anyway, I’ve started making fic boards! I’ll link to those throughout. Here you go!

Larry

Boiling Blood Will Circulate by whoknows | @crazyupsetter (42k)

The wait isn’t long before something starts rustling in the bushes. Harry takes aim, squeezes the trigger, body moving unconsciously. They’re motions he’s done a thousand times before, and his body knows how to do it without the input of his brain now. It’s what makes him such a good shot.

He misses. The shot misses.

Something howls in the woods, a pretty clear indication that Harry hit it, but there’s no telltale sounds of a big body dropping, no animal charging out at him to take him out before he can finish the job.

Something does turn and run, though. “Fuck,” Harry spits out, scrambling to his feet and slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, giving chase. He’s not going to lose this hunt.

The trail of blood goes on longer than Harry thought it would. He doesn’t know how long he runs for, but his muscles are burning, chest heaving with exertion, until the trail just - goes dead. No more blood, just like that.

“Fuck,” Harry says.

deleted your number (so i can't call you) by tofiveohfive | @tofiveohfive (9k)

Harry wakes up to a voicemail.

It’s Saturday morning and it’s raining, a barely there drizzle. He sees the notification as soon as he picks up his phone from the bedside table, bleary eyes making it hard to distinguish the words. He’s got a few instagram mentions, a couple unread texts, but what really stands out is the “Missed Call and Voicemail”.

From Louis.

Or the ten hours before Harry comes home to Louis, and the five hours after he does.

Lilo

don't you hear me howling by theamazingpeterparker (13k) - [my board]

Liam turns and looks at him for a while. A scruffy, sleep-warm Louis Tomlinson curled up in a Star Wars blanket, asking what’s for breakfast after a night of running around the upstate forests. Werewolf or not, Liam had almost forgotten what a goddamn menace Louis Tomlinson was.

Louis has seen An American Werewolf in London enough times to know that city living isn't an ideal lifestyle for a new werewolf. He moves back home to find that Liam never left.

i'm never gonna fall (but i'm never hard to catch) by carissima (5k) - [my board]

TFLN: we were supposed to fuck one time, but ended up fucking for 2 years

“You’re fucking ridiculous,” he mutters, hooking his fingers into the waistband of Liam’s boxers and shoving them down past his knees. He’s inordinately pleased to find Liam’s dick is just as nice as he remembers. He curls his hand around him and hums happily as Liam fattens in his grip. “You know that, right? Who cooks breakfast for their one night stand? And then washes up afterwards? I feel like I should send your mum a thank you note or something for raising such a polite young man.”

“God please don’t,” Liam says fervently.

Lirry

the stars look very different today by colourexplosion | @jessimond (5k)

Harry's an alien who blogs about aliens. Liam's a human. Or is he?

an AU

Narry

just a little rush, babe by theamazingpeterparker (10k) - [my board]

“You know everything they say about Dracula? All that stuff I wrote in my paper?” Niall asks as he rips one of the glazed donuts in half. Harry hums. “It’s all bullshit. Real vampires do tomato juice cleanses and do yoga. Fuck.”

Harry's a vampire who's awful at parallel parking, being scary, and being alone. He meets Niall walking home alone one night.

Niam

Building Castles in the Air by el_em_en_oh_pee | @dulosis (10k) - [my board]

Liam is overwhelmed by his bootcamp roommate, who is loud and friendly and so totally up-front about what he wants out of this competition.

"I plan on winning," Niall says, twenty seconds after introducing himself, slinging his duffel bag down on his bed. "Touring. Playing my guitar, you know. Selling albums. Maybe working with Justin Bieber, if I'm lucky."

Lately I've Been Taken In by el_em_en_oh_pee | @dulosis (53k) - [my board]

Niall is the youngest in family of vampire hunters that extends back, generation after generation, for the thousands of years since St. Patrick brought vampires to Ireland to get rid of all the snakes. He's been well-trained in the fine art of slaying practically his whole life, racking up over eighty kills by the time he leaves the motherland to join a boyband.

His new bandmate, Liam, swears up and down that he’s not a vampire. But Niall’s senses never lie.

Nouis

Ask If You Know The Answer by disarm_d | @onedisarmed (4k)

It takes them longer than it should to realize that something is up. Telepathy.

Zarry

baby I'll never leave if you keep holding me this way by estrella30 (10k)

“Does he have your mark?” his mum asks. Zayn shakes his head. He’d looked at Harry’s wrist explicitly for the edgings of Zayn’s family crest but couldn’t find anything. Not that that means Harry’s not the one; it might need a touch or connection to come to the surface. Zayn’s not sure he wants to find out though. He doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to know for certain.

“Ah, well. It could be coming,” she adds, and Zayn shrugs. She’s silent for another moment, before quietly adding, “You could pick him, you know.” She sounds thoughtful, distant even. Zayn wonders what she’s thinking about, what she’s remembering. “If you want to that is. I know you’ve not been looking for your mate Zayn, but maybe this was what you needed. Maybe you needed your mate to find you.”

or - Zayn is an immortal modern times non evil sexual incubus who is reluctant to find his mate. And then he meets Harry.

Ziall

our names are written with starlight by softzindagi | @softzindagi (7k) - my board

After four years of failed attempts, Niall is still hopelessly single with no match to his soulmark in sight. But just because he can’t find his soulmate, doesn’t mean he can’t find love.

Got fire for a heart, i'm not scared of the dark by geewhizmo | @sleepymouses​ (45k)

“I dunno,” Zayn mutters. “I just think you’re much more in the business of flying than falling, y’know?”

That’s not entirely true, Niall thinks. I’m falling for you, aren’t I?

*

Niall leaves home for the first time and moves to a big city. There, he meets a group of people who will shape the course of the rest of his life. He tries (and fails) not to fall in love with one of them.

Also, they all have superpowers.

Ziam

Heart of Stone, Life of Fire by SoftlyandSwiftly (96k) - [my board]

A war with the city of Banshia and its conquering King threatens all of the Cities on the continent of Kiza. Young Zayn Malik finds himself hopelessly entangled in the web of the war, his future rewritten in the span of a morning as allies and enemies shift. Traded for the promise of an ally, Zayn finds himself among the warrior tribes of the Nakizi people, where he must carve out his own place and take his fate into his own hands.

For All the Stars We Cannot See by iambluehead | @iambluehead​ (30k)

Zayn grins sheepishly, the light hitting his face and making him squint, his fingers curling around the strap of his bag and his other hand rubbing at the back of his neck, a habit of Liam’s own that he recognizes on the other boy. “Yeah,” he finally says. “Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow?” “Yeah,” Liam says, letting out the breath that he’d been holding in his lungs until it burned. “Yeah, see you then.” The door slams shut, and Liam watches him walk up to his front door, wondering what would have happened if in that moment, he would have just leaned forward and— “The boy’s in bloody love with you,” Louis says bluntly, pulling away from the house and slamming around a corner at the speed of light. “You should get over your fear of everything and just kiss him already.”

(This is the high school AU where Liam plays football and is afraid of failure until someone puts Zayn in his life and he learns to be brave. There’s music Liam’s never heard of, eventful rides home from school, and drunken toasts to the stars they can’t see from Wolverhampton.)

Zouis

all the stars were crashing by sarcangel | @sarcathlon (25k)

“We should practice,” Louis says. He’s got a faraway look in his eye that doesn’t bode well for anyone, based on Zayn’s newly-formed knowledge of Louis. “Find a place, set up a schedule, all that.”

“What?” Zayn says, not sure where the conversation is exactly headed anymore.

“You know, in a movie - like, this would be our montage sequence,” Louis says, hands everywhere, gesturing wildly. “There’d be some song playing in the background while we spar and gain strength and -”

(and lick sweat off of each other’s necks, Zayn thinks, and then you knock me to the floor and lay on me and)

“Yeah, that’d be sick,” Zayn says, instead, not knowing if he’s more surprised that anything coherent comes out of his mouth or that he’s actually agreed to Louis’ awful plan.

In A Small Town I Saw You by zouee | @louiswmalik​ (153k)

Zayn nods a few times, judging whether or not he should just fucking spit it out. He should rip off the band-aid, jump into the cold water, throw this earth-sized weight off his shoulders and look Louis in the eye. “You should’ve remembered me.” He feels like saying. “I’m the reason you couldn’t.”

~

Zayn Malik spends the past eighteen months alone - using whoever and whatever he can to take his mind off of the one person he regrets leaving - and it’s not until he finds himself residing in a small town called Hillside when he finally remembers what peace feels like. Louis Tomlinson spends the past eighteen months surrounded by people - he’s coddled, fawned over, and most sickeningly; sympathised with - until he finally breaks away from the suffocation and finds himself face to face with someone who instantly hates him. Cue: endless angst, devastation, pathetic pining and Disney references mixed together in a pot full of misunderstandings and one-sided memories. The end result is ghastly. Proceed with caution.

Gryles

hold this thread by disgruntledkittenface | @disgruntledkittenface​ (26k)

The air is heavy between them as they both watch Nick’s clumsy fingers mend the fabric. It must only take a minute, but it feels like ages. Beads of sweat form on Nick’s forehead and he can’t tell if it’s from the panic of the moment or the way the man seems to be waiting for something. He’s done a bad job of it, but finally the hem is stitched up. Nick loops the end of the thread and can’t stop himself from lightly poking the man’s skin again, next to the dark ink smudged on his hip that Nick is currently dying to ogle in full, just to… see.

The man shudders this time and luckily Nick is still looking down or he would have missed the man’s cock very clearly twitch in his bloody loose trousers.

Fucking hell.

On his way to visit Henry getting ready for his London Fashion Week show, Nick bumps into a (stupidly pretty) model and pulls a loose thread on the sample he’s wearing. Horrified, Nick tries to mend the simple mistake, but it may just unravel into the best thing that ever could have happened to him.

Tomlinshaw

Lost and Found by shiftylinguini | @shiftylinguini​, Writcraft | @writsgrimmyblog​ (31k)

In a year when things are coming to an end for Nick, an unexpected chapter begins at the start of a long, hot summer.

An accidental romance in Malta. Featuring Annie on the decks, Nick and Louis below deck, a handful of bad nautical puns and weather that's far too hot for trackies.

OT5

The Youth Branch of Magical and Fairy Tale Creatures and Beings Anonymous (Volume One) by sunsetmog | @magicalrocketships​ (5k) - [my board]

Sometimes trying to pass for human is hard. Monthly meetings of the Youth Branch of Magical and Fairy Tale Creatures and Beings Anonymous offers them the chance to be themselves, have an agenda, and work on some life goals. Just so long as Zayn can stop asking people to marry him after just one kiss, Harry can turn his Veela powers down, Louis can stop pre-emptively trying to usurp the god of mischief, and Niall can stop turning things into scythes. Liam just wants some orange squash and a biscuit.

steal my heart tonight by ThankYouMerlin | @thankyoumerlin​ (40k)

Niall rips off his ski mask, it was cliche and stupid (and totally Harry’s idea) anyway. “This is my mission.”

“We know,” Liam says, pulling his own mask off. Niall thinks they’re all wrapped a bit too much around Harry’s finger, maybe. “We just like watching you work.”

or,

An OT5 international thieves AU that contains very little actual stealing because I have no idea how to break into vaults in real life and lots of friendship and feelings from five boys in love.

Lilourry

only because you know (that you wanna feel the same) by words_unravel (34k) - [my board]

Liam may be able to catch glimpses of the future, but he never saw this coming.

Shiall

After All, You're My Wonderwall by alienharry | @aceniall (7k)

Guitar Prick: best eagles song, hands down, is peaceful easy feeling. they knew their stuff.

And Niall can't hold in his outrage. He's pissed. The Eagles are his thing, and how dare Shawn think he can message Niall, only nineteen years or so of experience under his belt, and shove his shitty musical concepts and overall terrible taste in Niall's face.

Niall: victim of love is clearly their best song. ya really ought to get your head out of your ass and educate yourself before running your mouth lad.

-

Niall's used to being the center of attention, so when a bright, musical boy with a charming smile starts routinely stealing his spotlight, he decides then and there to do everything in power to put an end to it.

[freedom-of-fanfic]

I can't for the life of me understand the weird overlap between ace discoursers and kink discoursers on Tumblr. It makes sense with homophobic Christians, but not on a place like Tumblr fandom. How do discoursers put these together, rhetorical styles aside?

What a good question.  Let me see if I can explain my understanding of this in less than a 10K-word essay for once.

A one-sentence summary of the overlap would be kinky people and ace people are both seen as invaders of LGBT spaces. (I’ll be using ‘LGBT’ as opposed to ‘LGBT+/queer’ to refer to non-straight/non-cis spaces that exclude people who identify as queer.)

This concept that kink communities and ace people are suddenly trying to get in on the LGBT fun is ahistorical.  Having a kink doesn’t make you queer, but kink communities have long been a haven for LGBT+/queer people and have many non-straight/non-cis people in their clubs, bars, and communities. they provide good spaces for questioning people to explore their sexual/romantic interests.  And ace people, frequently identifying themselves as bisexual as the ace identity was so invisible, have long been part of LGBT+/queer communities. 

However, this is how exclusionists perceive them. They see kinky people and ace people as kind of like flip sides of a coin, so the talking points for each group are strikingly similar:

kinky people & ace/aro people don’t experience social stigma or harm for being kinky/ace. ‘nobody cares about your sex life,’ exclusionists scoff, while simultaneously caring a lot about their sex lives. (This is predicated on misunderstanding ace identities as being synonymous with celibacy or sex-repulsion. In reality, asexuality is simply not experiencing sexual attraction to others.) In reality, both kinky people and ace/aro people experience lots of social stigma, and ace people are sometimes singled out for harm because of their identity.

kinky people & ace/aro people can both be ‘cishet’, so they do not belong in LGBT spaces. kinky people may be only attracted to the ‘opposite’ gender & identify with their birth-designated sex & gender. ace people may be only romantically interested in people of the ‘opposite’ gender and identify with their birth-designated sex & gender. Because some ace/kinky people are like this, all kinky people and all ace people are either outright excluded or carefully screened for the proper qualifications to be LGBT.

kink communities and ace/aro communities create alternative spaces where ‘real’ LGBT people are encouraged to deny their true identity.  to ensure LGBT people are forced to come to terms with their true identity, the communities they hide in must be kept distinct from LGBT spaces. This is ironic because kinky spaces have long provided a space for questioning people to explore non-straight or non-cis experiences without being forced to immediately ‘choose a side’, and ace communities are frequently very encouraging of people to move in and out of the identity as they discover themselves.

the fresh rise of purity culture in the US through a combination of factors causing ’abnormal’ sexual acts and ’abnormal’ sexual desire to be perceived as  forbidden, scary, and dirty in a way it wasn’t for a decade or two has had its own weird part to play in this. (Though ‘abnormal’ no longer always includes monogamous cis mlm and wlw the way it used to.) the tl;dr version is ace people are overly prudish and kinky people are overly sexual rather than staying between the Acceptable Sexual Interests/Displays boundaries.

sexual myth 1: ace/aros think LGBT people are disgusting for wanting sexual relationships but want to be in the LGBT Cool Club anyway. through a combination of factors including but not limited to misunderstandings of what asexuality is, some ace people making bigoted or unthinking statements that have been virally spread, and the pure/prude dichotomy of being perceived as sexually abstinent (sex is dirty, but not wanting sex is inhuman), ace-identifying people have a reputation for looking down on and disdaining LGBT people for being ‘dirty allos’ while simultaneously wanting in on the ‘special’ status of LGBT circles. This is a weirdly self-contradictory myth - why would you want to be part of a community with people you despise? - but there you are.

sexual myth 2: suggesting a minor may be asexual is inappropriately sexualizing them. asexuality is the realization of an absence of sexual desire, which can make it hard to identify. some people argue that implying a minor can identify as asexual is inappropriate. Minors aren’t yet sexually aware enough of themselves to make that assessment. If a minor thinks they might be asexual, it’s more likely they just haven’t matured enough to have sexual interest.  In reality, a minor might already know - and if not, they are always free to identify differently later.

sexual myth 3: kink communities are entirely made up of sexual abusers and their self-deluded prey. In this reductive and mistaken view, all kinky relationships are abusive. clg and ddlg are indistinguishable from csa, bdsm is physical abuse, pet play is beastiality … and you’ve exhausted the concepts of ‘kink’ that most anti-kink people have. LGBT circles aren’t safe spaces for these abusers!  But in reality kink is much more broad than these circles and when handled and negotiated correctly, clg/ddlg/bdsm/etc are enjoyable and safe for all participants.

sexual myth 4: public LGBT+/queer demonstrations, parades, etc should always be child-friendly/safe spaces, so kink is unwelcome. ace/aro people are too prudish for LGBT communities, but kinky people are too flamboyant. the example I see over and over again is ‘imagine a kid going to a pride parade and seeing a guy on a leash and collar crawling around on all fours. How will you explain that to them!?’ This shows some severe lack of awareness of how nsfw Pride demonstrations could once get!  But when you take away the alarmist ‘think of the children!’ language, it’s clearly a game of respectability politics - specifically, Pride making itself respectable to the straight, cis(, non-kinky) majority. A kinky mlm couple - while gay, and clearly LGBT - would not find it is acceptable to be kinky in a public Pride space anymore because the image of Pride has cleaned up. 

All this care about how sexuality is expressed in LGBT+/queer spaces is because in its most mainstream form, Pride is no longer presented as counter-culture. Pride displays are more often aimed at ‘we’re just like you [cishets]!’ acceptability now, rather than the sometimes vulgar displays demanding recognition that they exist (and aren’t going away).

(This is also why shedding the ‘queer’ label is important. ‘Queer’ has come to represent ‘people who aren’t straight and/or cis, but also aren’t necessarily fitting any label.’ These are mostly people still struggling against invisibility, being counter-culture to keep from fading from existence - but they’re not helping the respectability angle too much.)

long story short, both kinky people and ace people are socially unacceptable to LGBT exclusionary groups for mirroring reasons, resulting in vetting practices that harm questioning people and purity demands that weirdly echo … well, homophobic Christians.

(All that to get right back where we started.)

[clonerightsagenda]

alright... this is a vague as hell question so i understand if you gotta think about it for a while, but do you have any advice on writing? or maybe about the process of how you personally write things? i love how organic all the emotions in your fanfictions seem to be. it's not over the top but they still seem /tangible/, you know? i aim to have that kind of skill some day so i figure i may as well ask where i can, but no pressure or anything! thank you :)

Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment! It’s always exciting as a writer to hear that things are coming across well. And it’s very flattering to have someone come to you for advice.

Now, my writing style and process vary dramatically between fic and original stuff. There aren’t a lot of examples of my original stuff online - I put a few stories up here, here, and here, and of course there’s the shitty vampire novel, but all of those are pretty old. I don’t have any current examples of my original stuff; I’m hoping to get back into that more once TLC stops eating my life. So I guess I’ll split this response into halves, with a section for generic advice as well. So thirds, I guess.

General

This is something you hear everywhere, but the number one ingredient in good writing is time. I’m 23 years old.  I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. And my early stuff is shit. That being said, it’s fun shit - there’s this joyful abandon you can find in really early work, where the writers don’t know any of the rules, don’t care about what other people think, and are having fun in this new world where they can do anything. I love looking back at my old stuff for that reason.  But in terms of quality, it’s not great. Now…  I’m not going to be arrogant; I’m not spectacular, but I’d say I’m pretty consistently OK. Solid.  And a good chunk of that is because I’ve been writing for nearly two decades.

That being said, this time I’m talking about is over *years*. I don’t hold with advice that says you have to write every day to be a writer, even if you feel miserable doing it. Doing something when you hate doing it is a good way to poison it for yourself forever. There’s a difference between knowing you’ll get into a writing session once you start and you’re just dragging your feet vs. forcing yourself when you don’t want to. Don’t punish yourself if you don’t feel like writing today or if you don’t have the time. Don’t fret if you’ve gone a year without touching any of your wips! You can always come back to it. It’s not a race.

You’ve probably heard this next one already as well, but reading is also important. Find authors you like. See what they’re doing. Learn. And this 100% includes the writers you like online.* There are some people online doing incredible things with language that I haven’t seen as much in published fiction, because self-published stuff is a crucible for creativity that might not get past official publishers as much or as quickly. (Ngl it’s also a dumping ground for a lot of bad stuff, but you have to do the filtering). The more you read, the more you have to draw from when you’re developing your own style.

*(If your goal is publication, you do need to read a lot of what’s being published in the genre you’re aiming for. Most of my advice here is focused on just writing for pleasure. Publication has some different considerations.)

Finally, if you have an opportunity to give and get critique, go for it. You learn a lot from pulling other people’s writing apart. What worked? What didn’t? How can you apply that to your own work? Do note though, that unless people are asking for this level of criticism, they may not appreciate you showing up and giving it to them. There are some sites that involve people critiquing each other, or you might find a workshop class or group. You can also find friends who might be interested in swapping stories. Always figure out what your boundaries are and how honest you want your friends to be. Setting that up at the start is a good way to avoid hurt feelings later.

Those are all pretty general and obvious, and I’m sure you’ve heard most of them before. So let’s move on to my process and break the rest of this response into two.

Fic-related

I’ll start with fic since that’s what you mentioned. Again, a major ingredient is time. I’ve been in this fandom for 5 ½ years, which is kind of horrifying to think about. I wasn’t writing fic for all of that time, but what I was doing was a lot of meta and character analysis. I really love digging into characterization and motivation. How does this character really feel? Why do they do what they do? What would be the best way for them to develop as a person?  Those are questions I dealt with in my meta posts, but they are also questions that you frequently deal with in fanfic. Then TLC happened, and I ended up writing tens of thousands of words for these characters. That was a hell of a lot of practice. So, I got very comfortable with them. I can whip off a pesterlog like that these days.

What really got me comfortable though, was assigning a kind of speedy and carefree attitude to fic. I tend to be very protective of my work. For a long time, I wouldn’t let anyone read anything I wrote. A real turning point was when I went to a workshop where the instructor challenged us to submit something. I submitted something terrible to a literary journal, and it got rejected, but I also got a really nice note, probably since whoever looked it over realized how young I was. That first submission broke some of the tension. However, I still tend to be cautious. I’m a perfectionist. I like to get things right. So with fic, I really tried to let go of that. I don’t polish this stuff as much as I’d polish original material. I usually do a little more if I am putting it up on ao3, but I will write something in one go and slap it online. That’s incredibly freeing. It makes me more productive, and I think some of the stuff I write fast and loose is often some of my better stuff. The John and Jade pajamas thing, which I think is by far the superior tuesjade prompt response I’ve done, popped into my head all together. I wrote it down, did one pass of revision, and was done. Telling yourself ‘I’m just going to write this thing because it’s fun and I want to, and I’ll put it up online in case anyone else wants to look at it, and if they don’t like it I don’t care because I like it’ is liberating. When you’re no longer so worried about getting everything perfect and making sure other people will love it, I think you write better stuff.

In terms of process, most of my fic is short. I usually have an idea, often a few scenes will pop into my head fully formed, and I’ll write it. There’s typically not a lot of planning involved. In my longish 6-10k stories, I usually do this for multiple scenes and then paste them together. Now, I planned the hell out of TLC, but that’s because it’s 1500+ pages with over 30 characters to deal with.  If I didn’t plan everything out, I’d be halfway through and realize I’d forgotten a main character. And that would be terrible.

I want to make sure I touch on emotion, since that’s something you mentioned. A lot of it does go back to all that analysis I did so I got pretty comfortable with how I interpret these characters’ inner lives. Then I had to figure out how comfortable they would be talking about that stuff, how they would express it, and what circumstances might encourage them to be more vocal. The nice thing is, people sitting around talking about their feelings is a perfectly acceptable fic genre. I’m not saying you can’t get away with that in original stuff - I’ve seen some good examples - but it’s not a hallmark in the same way. Fic is about filling in the gaps, and since content creators often don’t slow down to show these quiet emotional moments or the emotional impact of various story events, fic writers and fic readers love them.  

When I’m writing something focusing on emotion, I try to avoid “quick fix” stories. You can’t suddenly solve depression or anxiety or trauma. Instead, my moments of catharsis typically involve someone learning to be more honest than they had before about their problems, an exchange of insecurities, a realization of what they have left to overcome, or another sort of “small step”. They’re quiet, tiny progressions on a scale of getting better, and maybe that’s why they feel more organic? Sometimes you get a big epiphany in life, but more often you get a lot of small ones.

I do think stories focused on emotional development can very easily seem forced and false, so I’m pleased that you don’t think mine do! It’s something I worry about. I think the biggest trick is to make sure the characters aren’t just talking about something because you want them to. Would they realistically admit something? How would they respond to being questioned? Are they doing this because they want to, or is it obvious that the fic author has tied them to a chair and is pointing emphatically at a teleprompter offstage? One advantage for me is that a lot of my fic is set post-TLC where people have aired a lot of their grievances. However, they’re still sometimes reluctant, say one thing and mean another, or cloak one emotion in something different. Once you know how a character behaves, you can write them behaving that way and still express the true emotions underneath through the ways they try to hide them. I think Catch Me If You Can is a good example of that. Vriska is allergic to being genuine (that’s kind of her whole arc in that fic) and so instead of being upfront about her emotions, she frequently gets defensive and hostile. However, those defensive responses betray a lot about what she’s really feeling. So often, I like to express character’s emotions in the negative space between their reactions and their true sentiments. What we don’t say or only allude to is often more important than what we do. Sometimes the words we use are just distractions.  (In contrast, Dave will talk to a wall, and TLC Jade is so determined not to repeat her mistakes she turns honesty sometimes into a cudgel or penance.) Often, characters being truly honest to each other and straight-up admitting their feelings shows up at the ending of one of my fics as the resolution moment, once they’ve worked their way up to that level of vulnerability. See: A Horrible Kind of Nice.

OK, let’s touch quickly on original stuff. In terms of process, it’s the total opposite. I outline the hell out of it. Maybe not for some a shorter stories, but for anything long? I love outlines. I also tend to start with the plot first. That’s something, after spending so many years focused on fic, that I’m starting to reconsider. I think that when I go back to original stuff, I’m going to spend a lot more time immersing myself in the characters first, so I can write them as authentically as I hope I write people in fic these days. I also write out of order. Is there some scene you are really itching to get to? Write it. This goes for scenes in the same story, though. You do need some level of discipline to not keep jumping from new idea to new idea abandoning your old ones. You’ll never get anything done that way. I do think there’s power in finally completing something too. In my experience anyway, after I completed my first long story, it got a lot easier to finish other ones. I did that with the help of NaNoWriMo, but I’ve since done it on my own.

This has gotten very long, so I’ll cap it off there.  It’s a big question that can be answered a lot of ways, and I feel like I mostly rambled. So if you’d like clarification on anything, or if you want to say 'hey Kat you didn’t answer my question at all’, feel free to ask a follow-up.

[steampunkfan]

EOFire’s May 2017 Income Report

May 2017 Income At-A-Glance

Gross Income for May: $196,304

Total Expenses for May: $81,185

Total Net Profit for May: $115,119

Difference b/t May & April: -$15,126

Why We Publish An Income Report

This monthly income report is created for you, Fire Nation!

By documenting the struggles we encounter and the successes we celebrate as entrepreneurs every single month, we’re able to provide you with support – and a single resource – where we share what’s working, what’s not, and what’s possible.

There’s a lot of hard work that goes into learning and growing as an entrepreneur, especially when you’re just starting out. The most important part of the equation is that you’re able to pass on what you learn to others through teaching, which is what we aim to do here at EOFire.

Let’s IGNITE!

CPA On Fire’s Monthly Tax Tip

What’s up Fire Nation, my name is Josh Bauerle. I’m a CPA and the Founder of CPA On Fire, where we specialize in working with entrepreneurs to minimize their tax liability while keeping them in line with the ever-changing tax laws.

I’ve been working with EOFire for years now, and John and Kate have included me in these monthly income reports with unlimited access to all their accounts so I can verify that what they report here is complete and accurate.

And because they believe in delivering an insane amount of value to you, my job doesn’t stop at the verification level; I’ll also be providing tax and accounting tips to you along the way!

Josh’s May Tax Tip: Charitable Donations

Charitable donations are an item I get a ton of questions on, and it’s top of mind for me right now, as this past weekend I was in Texas representing a client in an audit that mainly centered around a large amount of charitable donations claimed on their 2015 tax return.

Luckily, the client had done everything by the book, and we came out of the audit without a scratch.

So this month, I’m going to tell you how you can do the same.

First, let’s talk about what a charitable donation is…

To qualify as a tax deductible donation, the money and/or property must have been donated to an IRS-approved nonprofit organization. That would include most churches, schools and places like Goodwill and Salvation Army.

What it does not include is donations to friends in need, donations at fundraisers that go directly to individuals, and even most of the Go Fund Me campaigns for people in need. If it’s not an IRS-approved nonprofit, it’s off the table for a tax deduction.

Next, let’s talk about what records you need to keep to protect yourself.

In the event you are like my client and the IRS comes calling, they classify donations in two categories: cash and non-cash.

Here’s a run down on both.

Cash Donations

This is the easiest one to show proof of.

First, make sure you record exact dates, amounts and who they went to for each donation. If you can make the donation via check, even better.

Second, make sure the organization you donate to issues you a tax receipt. Do these things and you’re fire-proof against the IRS.

Non-Cash Donations

This is where things can get tricky; non-cash donations consist of any type of property donated to a nonprofit.

For most people, it will be clothing, furniture, toys and other household items given to places like Goodwill and Salvation Army.

If your total non-cash donations are under $500, there’s not much you need to do. Simply ask the organization to give you a receipt and you’re clear.

But if it’s more than $500, the level of proof you’ll need to provide is higher.

First, you’ll want to record exactly what you donated, the estimated date you purchased it, the estimated price you paid for it and the current value of it.

So if you donate a couch to Goodwill, you’ll record you bought it on April 3, 2012 for $2,000 and the current value is $600.

Second, you’ll want to be even more sure the organization gives you a receipt with the donation value on it. This will be huge.

Finally, if your non-cash donations are unusually high that year – say over $10,000 – I would even go so far as taking a picture of each item you donate. Example: for your couch, take a quick pic of it and store with your records.

And one more note here: if you have a non-cash item you donated worth more than $5,000 that you’ve owned for more than one year, the IRS requires you get a third party appraisal to determine the exact value. This typically comes into play for people who donate vehicles.

Charitable donations are an awesome way to lower your tax liability and help those less fortunate – a true win/win.

But it’s also an area that is frequently abused on tax returns, and the IRS watches carefully. Follow the rules above and you’ll be in the clear in the unlikely event they do decide to take a closer look.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss what would be best for YOUR business. I LOVE chatting with Fire Nation!

*Bonus* If you haven’t checked out Josh’s FREE course on business entities yet, you can get it here!

David’s May Legal Tip: Copyright & Trademark

What Can I Do When Someone Takes My Logo or Image?

This question came from EOFire listener Lori Eisenstadt: What can you do when someone takes your logo or image and uses it online?

First let’s separate logos and images.

Images

If you create an image, you own the copyright. This doesn’t apply to online memes where you just add some words – I’m talking about an image you created yourself or that an employee created for your company.

If you find that someone has taken your image and used it online, there are a few things you can do.

1. Of course, you can contact the person who’s using your content and nicely ask them to take it down.

They may or may not comply. If not, you can hire a lawyer and sue them, but that’s a bit of an extreme – and very costly – step.

2. Fortunately, there’s a simpler option: if the website, app, or service is located in the U.S. or does business in the U.S., they’re required to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

The DMCA has what’s called a “safe harbor” provision for online service providers.

Websites that host user-created content – for example, every social media site – can’t be sued when infringing material appears on the site, as long as they comply with “takedown notices.”

These are notices provided by copyright holders that a piece of infringing content has appeared on the site.

If you go to any website or app that has user-generated content and search around a bit, you’ll find a section called “Copyright” or “DMCA” or “legal” – something like that.

They will have either a form you can fill out or an email address to which you can send the notice. In most cases, the content will be taken down quickly at that point.

Often the site will then initiate a process to ensure that the notice was valid.

Be sure to keep good records of images and other content that you create, so if you ever have to prove that you actually created it, you’ll be able to show that you’re the rightful owner.

Use caution, because some people abuse the DMCA takedown process – see this blog post for some examples.

Logos

The same info that applies to images also applies to logos (since a logo is a type of image), but logos are also trademarks.

A trademark is anything that identifies your company as the source of goods or services.

If someone is using your logo without permission – and they’re using it to market competing goods or services – they may be liable for trademark infringement and unfair competition. This is the type of situation where you’re definitely going to want to bring a trademark lawyer in to advise you.

Trademark law is complex, and there may be valid reasons for someone else to use your logo – for example, if they’re doing a “taste test” to see if consumers prefer your goods or theirs, or if they’re reporting factual information about your product or service.

If you’re not ready to hire a lawyer, and your trademark is being used online in a manner that you think is violating your rights, you may be able to take advantage of a takedown procedure similar to the one described above in the “Images” section.

Again, search the website or app for instructions on how to do so.

Wrapping It Up

It’s important to make sure that your valuable intellectual property is not being used against your wishes. Be sure to search for your brand name regularly on Google and your preferred social media networks. And, of course, always contact a legal professional if you run into a potentially serious issue.

Thanks, Lori, for submitting this question!

If you have a legal question that you’d like me to cover on a future EOFire Income Report, click here to email me and I’ll be sure to give you a shout-out when I join John and Kate to talk about your legal questions!

Want to stay on top of how intellectual property issues like trademarks and copyrights affect your business? Download my free Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs Checklist!

What Went Down In May

The Mastery Journal 1-day

Following suit with The Freedom Journal Kickstarter campaign, The Mastery Journal Kickstarter campaign offered a pretty special pledge level: a full day with JLD in Puerto Rico.

The investment was not insignificant: $10,000, not including travel.

Because we know pricing is a tough thing to wrap your head around, we want to breakdown how we came up with this number, and why it’s worth every penny.

How’d we come up with 10k?

Charging what you’re worth is a known struggle for most entrepreneurs, especially when you’re first starting out.

Has John always charged $10k for his time?

Not even close. There was a definite progression up to this number, which developed in line with the following factors:

John’s desire to do one-on-one coaching;

Other revenue streams; and

Our bigger vision.

When you’re first starting out, you likely don’t have multiple income streams. While this should be your goal, you have to build up to it one step at a time.

So when coaching was the only income stream we had, and EOFire and JLD were still proving themselves as a great brand and a credible leader, the investment matched that.

As the brand and JLD became more widely known and trusted, so did our diversification. With other income streams coming into play like Fire Nation Elite and Podcasters’ Paradise, we were able to start weighing our time investments in different areas.

The scales started to tip, and one-on-one coaching was no longer the only way we were generating revenue.

Because of this, John was able to increase the investment for one-on-one time with him.

And when we talk about the bigger vision, this is for the business as a whole. If John were to spend all of his time doing one-on-one coaching, we never would have been able to do things like create Podcasters’ Paradise, or launch The Freedom and Mastery Journals.

If your goal is to grow a coaching business, then that’s one thing; however, if your goal is to create products and other types of services, then there has to be a point where you start doing less coaching and more implementation.

How do we know it’s worth it?

Investing $10k is a big deal, and with it comes pressure and expectations. But as we’ve grown EOFire and JLD has proven his expertise and knowledge time and time again, we have proof that the one-on-one investment is worth it.

Plus, John now has the confidence of nearly 1,700 conversations with today’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, and real relationships with master minds like David Siteman Garland, Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, Russell Brunson, and Tim Ferriss – just to name a few.

YOU believing that you’re worth every penny and that you will deliver on the expectations you’ve set is key to not only knowing that you’ve priced your product or service correctly, but also knowing that whoever makes that investment will also walk away knowing it was worth every penny.

Saul, welcome to Puerto Rico!

Now that we’ve given some background, let’s have a peek at John’s first 10k Day for 2017!

From JLD:

In 2016, I hosted two $10k days, and in 2017 I’ll be doing the same :-)

The first person to rock the $10k day this year was Saul Marquez.

It started out with Saul and I jumping on a 30-minute strategy call the week before he came down to Puerto Rico so I could get a solid sense of where he was at with his business, where he wanted to go, and what he wanted most out of his ‘Day with JLD‘.

After our chat, I was FIRED up because I knew Saul was in the perfect place in his life and business to spend a day under The JLD Microscope.

Saul rolled into Puerto Rico Friday evening and I took him out on the town to meet a few friends and have a fun first night. We limited ourselves to one drink each, as we wanted to be 100% for Saturday’s 12-hour strategy session.

Early Saturday morning, we both awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed, prepared to IGNITE the day.

Without going into too much detail of what Saul and I accomplished, I’ll share that by the end of the first hour I had identified a MAJOR hole in Saul’s business model:

He had no FUNNEL.

In my words, a FUNNEL is the journey you take your Avatar on from the moment they are introduced to your brand to the moment you make a high-level offer.

There needs to be a LOT of value and know/like/trust at each level in your funnel, which in my opinion needs to be a minimum of six levels. I call this The JLD Method.

We built Saul’s ENTIRE funnel, and now Saul has EXACTLY what he needs to pour IGNITER fluid on the top of his funnel, and watch revenue drip (and eventually pour) out the bottom.

Saul (like my other 1 day peeps) has become a friend, and I know our paths will cross many times and that I will take pride in the success that awaits him.

And thanks to Saul, I now drink Matcha Tea!

Puerto Palooza

Saul’s 1-day in PR wasn’t the only deep-dive we did during the month of May…

Right before we launched The Mastery Journal on Kickstarter we had an idea: what if one of the pledge levels for the campaign included a 3-day mastermind here in Puerto Rico?

We’ve certainly gotten the request for an in-person mastermind or an event more than a few times from Fire Nation, so we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

Not knowing what to expect, we added a $6,500 pledge level to our campaign, which included a 3-day mastermind here in Puerto Rico, a signed Mastery Journal, and a spot on EOFire.

Five weeks later we had five attendees locked in and the planning was in full swing.

Even though we’d never hosted an intimate mastermind like this before we knew our experience with participating in masterminds and leading what we like to call a “hot seat” would play a huge role.

With a lot of logistical planning around travel and accommodations and a few strategy sessions between the two of us, we came up with a solid plan for the weekend.

We decided to host the mastermind at our home here in Palmas Del Mar; we knew this would add a personal and intimate touch that we’d never be able to create at a hotel or event center.

The first two days (Friday and Saturday) were the business-focused days.

Throughout these two days we crushed all five hot seats, which ran two hours each; we made sure all questions were answered with a shorter, wrap up hot seat; and we even had time to spare for some roundtable discussions.

All-in-all, the business-focused days were a perfect 10!

Then, the third day was reserved as our “Palooza Day”: a day to kick back and enjoy Puerto Rico, which we took full advantage of aboard a 40 person catamaran!

Island hopping, snorkeling and relaxing were all on the agenda, and we finished the day back at our home in Palmas with a BBQ pool party.

Image credit: Travis Chappell

While we don’t have Puerto Palooza II planned just yet, there’s a good chance it’ll be coming up soon, so stay tuned!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 2017 Income Breakdown*

Product/Service Income: $131,158

TOTAL Journal sales: 963 Journals for a total of $37,750

The Freedom Journal: Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!

TheFreedomJournal.com: $5,646 (103 Hardcovers & 32 Digital Packs sold!)

Amazon: $14,070 (402 Freedom Journals sold!)

Total: $19,716

The Mastery Journal: Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 days!

TheMasteryJournal.com: $5,889 (111 Hardcovers & 36 Digital Packs sold!)

Amazon: $12,145 (347 Mastery Journals sold!)

Total: $18,034

Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 Podcasting community in the world!

Recurring: $20,327 (4 annual, 203 monthly)

New members: $5,325 (26 new members)

Total: $25,652

Podcast Sponsorship Income: $62,500

Podcast Websites: $5,000 Your all-in-one podcast website peace of mind

Free Podcast Course: A free 15-day course on Podcasting

Free Webinar Course: A free 10-day course on Webinars

Free Goals Course: A free 8-day course on Setting & Accomplishing Goals

Funnel On Fire: A free 8-day course on Creating a Funnel that Converts!

Podcast Launch: Audiobook: $164 | eBook: $92

Affiliate Income: $65,146

*Affiliate links below

Resources for Entrepreneurs: $56,039

Audible: $660

BlueHost: $900 (Step-by-step guide and 23 WordPress tutorials)

Click Funnels: $49,863

Coaching referrals: $2,560 (email me for an introduction to a mentor for overall online business or a Podcast focused mentor!)

ConvertKit: $93

Disclaimer Template: $50 (legal disclaimers for your website)

Fizzle: $453

Infusionsoft: $500

LeadPages: $960

Courses for Entrepreneurs: $7,359

DSG’s Create Awesome Online Courses: $4,233

Eben Pagan: $158

Ramit Sethi: $2,396

Self-publishing School: $250

Bryan Harris’ 10k Subscribers: $322

Resources for Podcasters: $914

Pat Flynn’s Smart Podcast Player: $30

Podcasting Press: $354

Libsyn: $467 (Use promo code FIRE for the rest of this month & next free!)

UDemy Podcasting Course: $63

Other Resources: $834

Amazon Associates: $741

Other: $93

Total Gross Income in May: $196,304

Business Expenses: $78,613

Advertising: $7,727

Affiliate Commissions (Paradise): $1,970

Accounting: $350

Cost of goods sold: $6,607

Design & Branding: $1,980

Education: $144

Legal & Professional: $740

Meals & Entertainment: $1,517

Merchant / bank fees: $1,061

Amazon fees: $12,676

Shopify fees: $208

Stripe fees: $5

PayPal fees: $336

Office expenses: $1,284

Payroll Tax Expenses / Fees: $1,422

Promotional / events: $1,323

Property Tax: $807

Paradise Refunds: $2,000

Sponsorships: $13,750

Show notes: $215

Travel: $2,296

The Freedom & Mastery Journal: $15,079

Virtual Assistant Fees: $3,295

Website Fees: $1,821

Recurring, Subscription-based Expenses: $2,572

Adobe Creative Cloud: $100

Boomerang: $70 (team package)

Brandisty: $24

Authorize.net: $91

Cell Phone: $216

Internet: $300

eVoice: $9.95

Infusionsoft CRM: $396

Insurance: $551

Libsyn: $203

Manychat: $10

Chatroll: $49

PureChat: $20

ScheduleOnce: $9

Skype: $2.99

Shopify: $147

TaxJar: $19

Workflowy: $4.99

MeetEdgar: $49

Taxes & Licenses: $300

Total Expenses in May: $81,185

Payroll to John & Kate: $15,900

In our May 2014 Income Report and our June 2016 Income Report, Josh focuses on how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur. Check them out!

Wondering what we do with all of our net revenue? We share all in our April 2017 Income Report :)

Total Net Profit for May 2017: $115,119

Biggest Lesson Learned

Engaging with your audience

May was the start of Season 6 on my podcast Kate’s Take, and throughout this season I focused on a single topic: project management.

I learned a lot through creating the posts and episodes for this season, especially when it came to hearing straight from my listeners about the specific struggles they’re currently facing in their business.

Which got me thinking…

I wonder if others are leveraging tools like Google Forms and SpeakPipe to engage with their audience?

These are probably two of the simplest tools when it comes to collecting information, which is why I love them so much.  Plus, this engagement one-on-one with your audience is GOLD when it comes to understanding their biggest pain points and coming up with new ideas for what you can create for them that will be of value (i.e. what they’ll actually pay for!)

So I thought I’d go through a specific example of exactly how I’ve used these tools to gain feedback from my listeners.

Step 1: Set up the page

Once I have my goal in mind (in this case, to collect input for my next season on the podcast directly from my listeners) I’m going to set up the page I’ll be directing listeners to.

For this, I simply login to our site and add a new page.

Once I give the page a title and write a line or two about the purpose of the page, I’m ready to move on to step 2.

Step 2: Create the Google Form & SpeakPipe box

Because I’ll be asking my listeners to visit the page I created and either fill out a Google Form or leave me a SpeakPipe message, my next step is to create those two things.

The Google Form will simply ask which topic they’d like to hear about most (with an option for ‘other’ so they can write anything in that space), plus some other general info about how long they’ve been listening, how they found out about the podcast, etc.

You can check out my Google Form for Season 7 here.

Then, creating my SpeakPipe message box is just a matter of logging in to create the widget, and then pasting the code on the page like I’ve done here: EOFire.com/season7

Step 3: Create the call to action

Now that I have my page set up and my form and message box ready for input, I need to figure out what I’m going to say to actually get people to the page.

My call to action is typically in the intro and outro of at least 3 – 4 episodes: 1 of those episodes being the final episode of the previous season, and then 2-3 of them in the episodes I publish in between seasons.

Step 4: Encourage engagement

Don’t think that just asking for input one time is enough; you have to really encourage engagement, especially if your call to action is reaching people via a podcast.

If you think about it, podcast listeners are typically doing some other type of activity when they’re listening to your podcast, so the chances of them remembering something you only say 1 time is very unlikely.

There you have it. Now that you know how simple it is to request engagement and feedback from your audience, it’s time to put it to action!

Bonus step: if you want to take your engagement to a whole new level, also add a scheduler link on the page where people can sign up for a one-on-one chat with you via Skype or Zoom. Any time you can spend with your ideal audience one-on-one will equal massive results, because when you listen to the questions, struggles and pain points revealed, each one is a potential product, service or resource you can offer your audience.

Alright Fire Nation, that’s a wrap!

Until next month, keep your FIRE burning!

~ Kate & John

Note: we report our income figures as accurately as possible, but in using reports from a combo of Infusionsoft & Xero to track our product and total income / expenses, they suggest the possibility of a 3 – 5% margin of error. 

Click here for all of EOFire’s Income Reports

This post was written by Kate Erickson, Content Creator and Implementer at EOFire. Follow Kate on Social:

The post EOFire’s May 2017 Income Report appeared first on EOFire Business Podcasts.

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EOFire’s May 2017 Income Report

May 2017 Income At-A-Glance

Gross Income for May: $196,304

Total Expenses for May: $81,185

Total Net Profit for May: $115,119

Difference b/t May & April: -$15,126

Why We Publish An Income Report

This monthly income report is created for you, Fire Nation!

By documenting the struggles we encounter and the successes we celebrate as entrepreneurs every single month, we’re able to provide you with support – and a single resource – where we share what’s working, what’s not, and what’s possible.

There’s a lot of hard work that goes into learning and growing as an entrepreneur, especially when you’re just starting out. The most important part of the equation is that you’re able to pass on what you learn to others through teaching, which is what we aim to do here at EOFire.

Let’s IGNITE!

CPA On Fire’s Monthly Tax Tip

What’s up Fire Nation, my name is Josh Bauerle. I’m a CPA and the Founder of CPA On Fire, where we specialize in working with entrepreneurs to minimize their tax liability while keeping them in line with the ever-changing tax laws.

I’ve been working with EOFire for years now, and John and Kate have included me in these monthly income reports with unlimited access to all their accounts so I can verify that what they report here is complete and accurate.

And because they believe in delivering an insane amount of value to you, my job doesn’t stop at the verification level; I’ll also be providing tax and accounting tips to you along the way!

Josh’s May Tax Tip: Charitable Donations

Charitable donations are an item I get a ton of questions on, and it’s top of mind for me right now, as this past weekend I was in Texas representing a client in an audit that mainly centered around a large amount of charitable donations claimed on their 2015 tax return.

Luckily, the client had done everything by the book, and we came out of the audit without a scratch.

So this month, I’m going to tell you how you can do the same.

First, let’s talk about what a charitable donation is…

To qualify as a tax deductible donation, the money and/or property must have been donated to an IRS-approved nonprofit organization. That would include most churches, schools and places like Goodwill and Salvation Army.

What it does not include is donations to friends in need, donations at fundraisers that go directly to individuals, and even most of the Go Fund Me campaigns for people in need. If it’s not an IRS-approved nonprofit, it’s off the table for a tax deduction.

Next, let’s talk about what records you need to keep to protect yourself.

In the event you are like my client and the IRS comes calling, they classify donations in two categories: cash and non-cash.

Here’s a run down on both.

Cash Donations

This is the easiest one to show proof of.

First, make sure you record exact dates, amounts and who they went to for each donation. If you can make the donation via check, even better.

Second, make sure the organization you donate to issues you a tax receipt. Do these things and you’re fire-proof against the IRS.

Non-Cash Donations

This is where things can get tricky; non-cash donations consist of any type of property donated to a nonprofit.

For most people, it will be clothing, furniture, toys and other household items given to places like Goodwill and Salvation Army.

If your total non-cash donations are under $500, there’s not much you need to do. Simply ask the organization to give you a receipt and you’re clear.

But if it’s more than $500, the level of proof you’ll need to provide is higher.

First, you’ll want to record exactly what you donated, the estimated date you purchased it, the estimated price you paid for it and the current value of it.

So if you donate a couch to Goodwill, you’ll record you bought it on April 3, 2012 for $2,000 and the current value is $600.

Second, you’ll want to be even more sure the organization gives you a receipt with the donation value on it. This will be huge.

Finally, if your non-cash donations are unusually high that year – say over $10,000 – I would even go so far as taking a picture of each item you donate. Example: for your couch, take a quick pic of it and store with your records.

And one more note here: if you have a non-cash item you donated worth more than $5,000 that you’ve owned for more than one year, the IRS requires you get a third party appraisal to determine the exact value. This typically comes into play for people who donate vehicles.

Charitable donations are an awesome way to lower your tax liability and help those less fortunate – a true win/win.

But it’s also an area that is frequently abused on tax returns, and the IRS watches carefully. Follow the rules above and you’ll be in the clear in the unlikely event they do decide to take a closer look.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss what would be best for YOUR business. I LOVE chatting with Fire Nation!

*Bonus* If you haven’t checked out Josh’s FREE course on business entities yet, you can get it here!

David’s May Legal Tip: Copyright & Trademark

What Can I Do When Someone Takes My Logo or Image?

This question came from EOFire listener Lori Eisenstadt: What can you do when someone takes your logo or image and uses it online?

First let’s separate logos and images.

Images

If you create an image, you own the copyright. This doesn’t apply to online memes where you just add some words – I’m talking about an image you created yourself or that an employee created for your company.

If you find that someone has taken your image and used it online, there are a few things you can do.

1. Of course, you can contact the person who’s using your content and nicely ask them to take it down.

They may or may not comply. If not, you can hire a lawyer and sue them, but that’s a bit of an extreme – and very costly – step.

2. Fortunately, there’s a simpler option: if the website, app, or service is located in the U.S. or does business in the U.S., they’re required to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

The DMCA has what’s called a “safe harbor” provision for online service providers.

Websites that host user-created content – for example, every social media site – can’t be sued when infringing material appears on the site, as long as they comply with “takedown notices.”

These are notices provided by copyright holders that a piece of infringing content has appeared on the site.

If you go to any website or app that has user-generated content and search around a bit, you’ll find a section called “Copyright” or “DMCA” or “legal” – something like that.

They will have either a form you can fill out or an email address to which you can send the notice. In most cases, the content will be taken down quickly at that point.

Often the site will then initiate a process to ensure that the notice was valid.

Be sure to keep good records of images and other content that you create, so if you ever have to prove that you actually created it, you’ll be able to show that you’re the rightful owner.

Use caution, because some people abuse the DMCA takedown process – see this blog post for some examples.

Logos

The same info that applies to images also applies to logos (since a logo is a type of image), but logos are also trademarks.

A trademark is anything that identifies your company as the source of goods or services.

If someone is using your logo without permission – and they’re using it to market competing goods or services – they may be liable for trademark infringement and unfair competition. This is the type of situation where you’re definitely going to want to bring a trademark lawyer in to advise you.

Trademark law is complex, and there may be valid reasons for someone else to use your logo – for example, if they’re doing a “taste test” to see if consumers prefer your goods or theirs, or if they’re reporting factual information about your product or service.

If you’re not ready to hire a lawyer, and your trademark is being used online in a manner that you think is violating your rights, you may be able to take advantage of a takedown procedure similar to the one described above in the “Images” section.

Again, search the website or app for instructions on how to do so.

Wrapping It Up

It’s important to make sure that your valuable intellectual property is not being used against your wishes. Be sure to search for your brand name regularly on Google and your preferred social media networks. And, of course, always contact a legal professional if you run into a potentially serious issue.

Thanks, Lori, for submitting this question!

If you have a legal question that you’d like me to cover on a future EOFire Income Report, click here to email me and I’ll be sure to give you a shout-out when I join John and Kate to talk about your legal questions!

Want to stay on top of how intellectual property issues like trademarks and copyrights affect your business? Download my free Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs Checklist!

What Went Down In May

The Mastery Journal 1-day

Following suit with The Freedom Journal Kickstarter campaign, The Mastery Journal Kickstarter campaign offered a pretty special pledge level: a full day with JLD in Puerto Rico.

The investment was not insignificant: $10,000, not including travel.

Because we know pricing is a tough thing to wrap your head around, we want to breakdown how we came up with this number, and why it’s worth every penny.

How’d we come up with 10k?

Charging what you’re worth is a known struggle for most entrepreneurs, especially when you’re first starting out.

Has John always charged $10k for his time?

Not even close. There was a definite progression up to this number, which developed in line with the following factors:

John’s desire to do one-on-one coaching;

Other revenue streams; and

Our bigger vision.

When you’re first starting out, you likely don’t have multiple income streams. While this should be your goal, you have to build up to it one step at a time.

So when coaching was the only income stream we had, and EOFire and JLD were still proving themselves as a great brand and a credible leader, the investment matched that.

As the brand and JLD became more widely known and trusted, so did our diversification. With other income streams coming into play like Fire Nation Elite and Podcasters’ Paradise, we were able to start weighing our time investments in different areas.

The scales started to tip, and one-on-one coaching was no longer the only way we were generating revenue.

Because of this, John was able to increase the investment for one-on-one time with him.

And when we talk about the bigger vision, this is for the business as a whole. If John were to spend all of his time doing one-on-one coaching, we never would have been able to do things like create Podcasters’ Paradise, or launch The Freedom and Mastery Journals.

If your goal is to grow a coaching business, then that’s one thing; however, if your goal is to create products and other types of services, then there has to be a point where you start doing less coaching and more implementation.

How do we know it’s worth it?

Investing $10k is a big deal, and with it comes pressure and expectations. But as we’ve grown EOFire and JLD has proven his expertise and knowledge time and time again, we have proof that the one-on-one investment is worth it.

Plus, John now has the confidence of nearly 1,700 conversations with today’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, and real relationships with master minds like David Siteman Garland, Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, Russell Brunson, and Tim Ferriss – just to name a few.

YOU believing that you’re worth every penny and that you will deliver on the expectations you’ve set is key to not only knowing that you’ve priced your product or service correctly, but also knowing that whoever makes that investment will also walk away knowing it was worth every penny.

Saul, welcome to Puerto Rico!

Now that we’ve given some background, let’s have a peek at John’s first 10k Day for 2017!

From JLD:

In 2016, I hosted two $10k days, and in 2017 I’ll be doing the same :-)

The first person to rock the $10k day this year was Saul Marquez.

It started out with Saul and I jumping on a 30-minute strategy call the week before he came down to Puerto Rico so I could get a solid sense of where he was at with his business, where he wanted to go, and what he wanted most out of his ‘Day with JLD‘.

After our chat, I was FIRED up because I knew Saul was in the perfect place in his life and business to spend a day under The JLD Microscope.

Saul rolled into Puerto Rico Friday evening and I took him out on the town to meet a few friends and have a fun first night. We limited ourselves to one drink each, as we wanted to be 100% for Saturday’s 12-hour strategy session.

Early Saturday morning, we both awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed, prepared to IGNITE the day.

Without going into too much detail of what Saul and I accomplished, I’ll share that by the end of the first hour I had identified a MAJOR hole in Saul’s business model:

He had no FUNNEL.

In my words, a FUNNEL is the journey you take your Avatar on from the moment they are introduced to your brand to the moment you make a high-level offer.

There needs to be a LOT of value and know/like/trust at each level in your funnel, which in my opinion needs to be a minimum of six levels. I call this The JLD Method.

We built Saul’s ENTIRE funnel, and now Saul has EXACTLY what he needs to pour IGNITER fluid on the top of his funnel, and watch revenue drip (and eventually pour) out the bottom.

Saul (like my other 1 day peeps) has become a friend, and I know our paths will cross many times and that I will take pride in the success that awaits him.

And thanks to Saul, I now drink Matcha Tea!

Puerto Palooza

Saul’s 1-day in PR wasn’t the only deep-dive we did during the month of May…

Right before we launched The Mastery Journal on Kickstarter we had an idea: what if one of the pledge levels for the campaign included a 3-day mastermind here in Puerto Rico?

We’ve certainly gotten the request for an in-person mastermind or an event more than a few times from Fire Nation, so we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

Not knowing what to expect, we added a $6,500 pledge level to our campaign, which included a 3-day mastermind here in Puerto Rico, a signed Mastery Journal, and a spot on EOFire.

Five weeks later we had five attendees locked in and the planning was in full swing.

Even though we’d never hosted an intimate mastermind like this before we knew our experience with participating in masterminds and leading what we like to call a “hot seat” would play a huge role.

With a lot of logistical planning around travel and accommodations and a few strategy sessions between the two of us, we came up with a solid plan for the weekend.

We decided to host the mastermind at our home here in Palmas Del Mar; we knew this would add a personal and intimate touch that we’d never be able to create at a hotel or event center.

The first two days (Friday and Saturday) were the business-focused days.

Throughout these two days we crushed all five hot seats, which ran two hours each; we made sure all questions were answered with a shorter, wrap up hot seat; and we even had time to spare for some roundtable discussions.

All-in-all, the business-focused days were a perfect 10!

Then, the third day was reserved as our “Palooza Day”: a day to kick back and enjoy Puerto Rico, which we took full advantage of aboard a 40 person catamaran!

Island hopping, snorkeling and relaxing were all on the agenda, and we finished the day back at our home in Palmas with a BBQ pool party.

Image credit: Travis Chappell

While we don’t have Puerto Palooza II planned just yet, there’s a good chance it’ll be coming up soon, so stay tuned!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 2017 Income Breakdown*

Product/Service Income: $131,158

TOTAL Journal sales: 963 Journals for a total of $37,750

The Freedom Journal: Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!

TheFreedomJournal.com: $5,646 (103 Hardcovers & 32 Digital Packs sold!)

Amazon: $14,070 (402 Freedom Journals sold!)

Total: $19,716

The Mastery Journal: Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 days!

TheMasteryJournal.com: $5,889 (111 Hardcovers & 36 Digital Packs sold!)

Amazon: $12,145 (347 Mastery Journals sold!)

Total: $18,034

Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 Podcasting community in the world!

Recurring: $20,327 (4 annual, 203 monthly)

New members: $5,325 (26 new members)

Total: $25,652

Podcast Sponsorship Income: $62,500

Podcast Websites: $5,000 Your all-in-one podcast website peace of mind

Free Podcast Course: A free 15-day course on Podcasting

Free Webinar Course: A free 10-day course on Webinars

Free Goals Course: A free 8-day course on Setting & Accomplishing Goals

Funnel On Fire: A free 8-day course on Creating a Funnel that Converts!

Podcast Launch: Audiobook: $164 | eBook: $92

Affiliate Income: $65,146

*Affiliate links below

Resources for Entrepreneurs: $56,039

Audible: $660

BlueHost: $900 (Step-by-step guide and 23 WordPress tutorials)

Click Funnels: $49,863

Coaching referrals: $2,560 (email me for an introduction to a mentor for overall online business or a Podcast focused mentor!)

ConvertKit: $93

Disclaimer Template: $50 (legal disclaimers for your website)

Fizzle: $453

Infusionsoft: $500

LeadPages: $960

Courses for Entrepreneurs: $7,359

DSG’s Create Awesome Online Courses: $4,233

Eben Pagan: $158

Ramit Sethi: $2,396

Self-publishing School: $250

Bryan Harris’ 10k Subscribers: $322

Resources for Podcasters: $914

Pat Flynn’s Smart Podcast Player: $30

Podcasting Press: $354

Libsyn: $467 (Use promo code FIRE for the rest of this month & next free!)

UDemy Podcasting Course: $63

Other Resources: $834

Amazon Associates: $741

Other: $93

Total Gross Income in May: $196,304

Business Expenses: $78,613

Advertising: $7,727

Affiliate Commissions (Paradise): $1,970

Accounting: $350

Cost of goods sold: $6,607

Design & Branding: $1,980

Education: $144

Legal & Professional: $740

Meals & Entertainment: $1,517

Merchant / bank fees: $1,061

Amazon fees: $12,676

Shopify fees: $208

Stripe fees: $5

PayPal fees: $336

Office expenses: $1,284

Payroll Tax Expenses / Fees: $1,422

Promotional / events: $1,323

Property Tax: $807

Paradise Refunds: $2,000

Sponsorships: $13,750

Show notes: $215

Travel: $2,296

The Freedom & Mastery Journal: $15,079

Virtual Assistant Fees: $3,295

Website Fees: $1,821

Recurring, Subscription-based Expenses: $2,572

Adobe Creative Cloud: $100

Boomerang: $70 (team package)

Brandisty: $24

Authorize.net: $91

Cell Phone: $216

Internet: $300

eVoice: $9.95

Infusionsoft CRM: $396

Insurance: $551

Libsyn: $203

Manychat: $10

Chatroll: $49

PureChat: $20

ScheduleOnce: $9

Skype: $2.99

Shopify: $147

TaxJar: $19

Workflowy: $4.99

MeetEdgar: $49

Taxes & Licenses: $300

Total Expenses in May: $81,185

Payroll to John & Kate: $15,900

In our May 2014 Income Report and our June 2016 Income Report, Josh focuses on how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur. Check them out!

Wondering what we do with all of our net revenue? We share all in our April 2017 Income Report :)

Total Net Profit for May 2017: $115,119

Biggest Lesson Learned

Engaging with your audience

May was the start of Season 6 on my podcast Kate’s Take, and throughout this season I focused on a single topic: project management.

I learned a lot through creating the posts and episodes for this season, especially when it came to hearing straight from my listeners about the specific struggles they’re currently facing in their business.

Which got me thinking…

I wonder if others are leveraging tools like Google Forms and SpeakPipe to engage with their audience?

These are probably two of the simplest tools when it comes to collecting information, which is why I love them so much.  Plus, this engagement one-on-one with your audience is GOLD when it comes to understanding their biggest pain points and coming up with new ideas for what you can create for them that will be of value (i.e. what they’ll actually pay for!)

So I thought I’d go through a specific example of exactly how I’ve used these tools to gain feedback from my listeners.

Step 1: Set up the page

Once I have my goal in mind (in this case, to collect input for my next season on the podcast directly from my listeners) I’m going to set up the page I’ll be directing listeners to.

For this, I simply login to our site and add a new page.

Once I give the page a title and write a line or two about the purpose of the page, I’m ready to move on to step 2.

Step 2: Create the Google Form & SpeakPipe box

Because I’ll be asking my listeners to visit the page I created and either fill out a Google Form or leave me a SpeakPipe message, my next step is to create those two things.

The Google Form will simply ask which topic they’d like to hear about most (with an option for ‘other’ so they can write anything in that space), plus some other general info about how long they’ve been listening, how they found out about the podcast, etc.

You can check out my Google Form for Season 7 here.

Then, creating my SpeakPipe message box is just a matter of logging in to create the widget, and then pasting the code on the page like I’ve done here: EOFire.com/season7

Step 3: Create the call to action

Now that I have my page set up and my form and message box ready for input, I need to figure out what I’m going to say to actually get people to the page.

My call to action is typically in the intro and outro of at least 3 – 4 episodes: 1 of those episodes being the final episode of the previous season, and then 2-3 of them in the episodes I publish in between seasons.

Step 4: Encourage engagement

Don’t think that just asking for input one time is enough; you have to really encourage engagement, especially if your call to action is reaching people via a podcast.

If you think about it, podcast listeners are typically doing some other type of activity when they’re listening to your podcast, so the chances of them remembering something you only say 1 time is very unlikely.

There you have it. Now that you know how simple it is to request engagement and feedback from your audience, it’s time to put it to action!

Bonus step: if you want to take your engagement to a whole new level, also add a scheduler link on the page where people can sign up for a one-on-one chat with you via Skype or Zoom. Any time you can spend with your ideal audience one-on-one will equal massive results, because when you listen to the questions, struggles and pain points revealed, each one is a potential product, service or resource you can offer your audience.

Alright Fire Nation, that’s a wrap!

Until next month, keep your FIRE burning!

~ Kate & John

Note: we report our income figures as accurately as possible, but in using reports from a combo of Infusionsoft & Xero to track our product and total income / expenses, they suggest the possibility of a 3 – 5% margin of error. 

Click here for all of EOFire’s Income Reports

This post was written by Kate Erickson, Content Creator and Implementer at EOFire. Follow Kate on Social:

The post EOFire’s May 2017 Income Report appeared first on EOFire Business Podcasts.

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