Writing Blog

20230411 No Money, More Worries

April 11, 2023, 1:30pm

So... my attempts to make writing a real career has been dealt a blow because the police state that Australia is combined with the moronity of PayPal has meant getting paid for writing is now ridiculously complicated. So complicated that i can't get my hands on money yet.

Explanation: PayPal cancelled my account. They wouldn't (and won't) tell me why, and I was not allowed to respond, just cancelled.

Then, as of December 1, 2022, the Australian Federal Government decreed that Australian banks cannot accept cheques from overseas banks or in foreign currency if sent via wire service. Apparently, during COVID, a few people swindled banks out of money using foreign cheques, and instead of making banks, you know, actually use security measures, they punish everyone. This includes US banks.

Then they upped the charges on companies converting foreign currency to Australian dollars, so much so that it is not viable for anyone to pay me for anything under $US500.

I know Australia is generally populated by people who think of reading as something other people do, but this sort of thing is just destroying the arts in general in this country. So, I need to be incredibly successful if I am to make even a slight dent in making money from this. I believe this will also affect people who self-publish and sell through overseas websites/companies.

One positive, though - there have now been 70-plus star ratings of Invasive Species and 7 written reviews on Amazon. If I can get 10 written reviews and 100 star ratings, then the book will be recommended to other readers. So I need to encourage people to review me...

So easy...