My July
For me this month has been a lot of buckling down with my goals. I have also started my Alphabetic Resume Challenge, more information here, and am off to a pretty good start so far.I have been setting up with Five Dollar Books at the Sayre Farmers Market, and it was there I met and spoke with Libertarian congressional candidate Liz Terwilliger, who has been working to collect enough signatures to gain ballot access this November. I am not a libertarian, but despite disagreeing on certain policy stances, we did agree on several key issues. I ended up signing her petition, as I believe that anyone should be able to run for office regardless of political party affiliation. I have also decided to help with her campaign in an extremely limited capacity (simply gathering some information regarding public opinion in the community), as part of my Alphabetic Resume Challenge, since C is for Campaign Staffer. It is due to potential plans in the future and a desire to remain independent from the race that I am only helping in that limited capacity. For those same reasons, I am unable to publicly endorse or oppose any one candidate for that office. I am also including a note at the end of this post with links to the three major candidates for PA's 12th Congressional District for those who may be interested in more information.
I have been slowly finishing up my next book, Extraordinary Souls, which is scheduled for release on August 14, 2020. I usually like to be done with my books well ahead of the publication date, but this one has been the victim of my own personal procrastination. The book will not be delayed, however, since I am determined to meet my deadline and put it out on time!
Also coming up next month is my blog post about zucchini. I have been doing a lot of cooking with this versatile superfood this month and will be compiling some of the recipes I have tried in a post scheduled for the second week of August. I will link it here when it goes up.
July for Business
This month in business included one new side business venture and one new business idea. Basil E. Bacorn Publishing also welcomed our first wholesale account with SHEA Creations and Company in Athens, PA! I am also working on arranging a Fall book signing event in Athens for three of our local authors (myself included), so stay tuned!
The side business venture, Five Dollar Books, is essentially a way for me to build up a donation fund to give back to the local community. I will be set up Fridays at the Sayre Farmers Market, contingent upon the weather. My recent blog post about Five Dollar Books can be found here.
Regarding my new business idea, I am working on a business plan for a brand new venture of mine that I hope to pitch to investors starting next month. Stay tuned for tomorrow's weekly blog post, which will be the first blog post specifically about my new business idea! I will link it here once the update is posted. I am hoping this business will help me generate a more reliable stream of income sooner than I feel the publishing company will be able to.
July also had me start to seriously consider trying to figure out a way to hire a personal assistant to help take things off my plate. Fortunately, Basil E. Bacorn Publishing has several volunteer editors who assist me with editing incoming manuscripts. I am very grateful for those willing to help out, but I look forward to being able to pay our editors for their super important work. Outside of editing, however, tasks quickly pile up when you are running several businesses during a pandemic in addition to trying to write full-time. With my small budget though, hiring a personal assistant will have to wait.
I also have launched a new online business portfolio I call my "Venture List", which summarizes my past, current, and upcoming business ventures. The portfolio is available at ventures.basilebacorn.com.
A Community July
In my local community, things have been pretty slow due to social distancing and coronavirus preventing and/or limiting many summer events. Some highlights include the Bradford County Regional Arts Council's pop-up drive-in theaters, a "new again" way to go to the movies while maintaining social distancing measures. I for one look forward to attending one of the drive-in events, and wouldn’t mind if the attraction sticks around.Also this month has been the Sayre Farmers Market, at which I have been setting up with my latest business venture. The farmers market is in Howard Elmer Park in Sayre, PA, and hosts a myriad of vendors including Kurt's Makin Whoopie and SHEA Creations and Company.
In Athens, July is usually the month when the Athens Business Association holds our annual street fair event. The event, which is a ton of fun, was canceled in 2020 due to the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic, but another smaller event did manage to fill the gap this year. Christmas in July, co-hosted by Valley Snow Co, featured an array of activities and small business deals in downtown Athens, including a summer snowball fight in the park! Five Dollar Books was set up in the Rise and Shine Community Center with our book sale pop-up, and plenty of other local businesses participated as well.
And that’s that for my July 2020 wrap-up! Thanks for reading and feel free to sound off in the comments! :)
July for the World
Unfortunately, July has seen the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, especially so here in the U.S. Good news did strike this month though, regarding developments in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. A potential vaccine is being developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, with the clinical trial officially having started in Brazil this month.
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And that’s that for my July 2020 wrap-up! Thanks for reading and feel free to sound off in the comments! :)
Notes:
Please let me know if I have missed a candidate.
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