A few years ago I started thinking about creating an at-home business over the internet, about doing something I love and making a living off of it in this vast digital space... but anxiety and self-doubt got the better of me and I shoved the idea to the back of my mind.
However, it's come to a time now where I've been seeking employment for far too long and I'm sick of being looked over because I'm in my mid-thirties and cheaper, younger people are preferable for the fields I'm actually qualified for.
It's time I buckled down, let go of the anxiety and self-doubt, and employed myself since no-one else is going to employ me. 💪
My idea is far from unique and there are hundreds of others out there in the space. Editing. Proofreading. But there are other things I'm planning on, also. Book covers. Writing advice. Reviews. Reasons to click and browse. An Author's Wonderland, if you will.
I also have something else to offer: a casual yet professional attitude that is severely lacking on other people's editing/proofreading business sites. There is no need to sound pompous and overly smart with technical terms the average person doesn't understand - these businesses are losing half their market. They sound too... intimidating to actually work with.
I will be there for the average person and I will not be overly intimidating with jargon. 🤗 I am also more than happy to read and edit things other people may be too politically correct to bother with.
Different authors and editors and readers also have different voices they like and don't like. You know what I like and can help people improve upon?
There is a place for purple prose in writing, if done correctly. I will agree that there is prose out there that is far too jarring and out of place and needs to be eradicated, but there is also flowery, ornate prose that belongs, and other editors will cut it straight out without a single thought.
I aim to beautify and preserve.
And that's why, after two months of deliberating, I have decided to call my business the Purple Preserve.
I've got my web domain, Twitter account, and, of course, made a Hive account for it. Is Steempress still a 'thing' for Hive? I must investigate!
I'm not quite ready to actually publish a website and get it all up and running just yet. I'm still studying. Although I know enough to be a proofreader and very basic editor, I want to be better. I want my qualifications first.
The course that I'm studying is endorsed by the Institute of Professional Editors and once I've completed it and become more learned, I can apply to become a registered member.
I look forward to that day.
In the meantime, I've been learning the intricacies of Paintshop Pro and have been working on a few covers I intend to sell.
I have no idea if they're considered 'good' or not, but I like them and think they look a lot better than some other premade covers I've seen available (which literally look like two images badly photoshopped onto one another). And! I'm enjoying the creation process. What do you think? The one above, with the sun and red sky and wolf howling is my favourite so far. It's really fun to make these!
Each one has 3-5 different stock images in them and takes me a few hours to do. Hopefully they'll appeal to some people out there. 😊 I'll be making heaps more. I want a lot of stock at the ready for whenever it is I finally open my digital doors.
I'm not naive enough to believe I'll get more than one or two visitors in the first month or so. Neither am I naive enough to believe I'll even get my first job within the first month.
Header image courtesy of Pixabay. All other images in this post are courtesy of me, 
