Thank You, Blog Readers and American Heroes

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I've always thought of this blog as a kind of collaborative project between me and my readers: I love sharing my new schemes and discoveries, and some of my best ideas have been contributed or inspired by readers. Today I want to continue opening the books on the project, and share with the curious some details on the support my readers have provided to the site.

Book Sales

It occasionally comes up in comments that I'm always trying to sell books.

I sure am!

Between the day the book first went on sale on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2013, and December 31, 2013:

  • 142 readers bought or borrowed the book through Amazon.com;
  • Another 118 people downloaded the book for free during the week-long promotional period I launched the book with;
  • I make about $2 per book that's purchased or borrowed, and earned a total of $263.44 from Amazon book sales in 2013.

Signup Links

While I don't have any credit card affiliate links here on the site, there are a few referral links scattered around, and I occasionally get a few dollars from those referrals:

  • Plink. 14 referrals; 100 Plink points, worth $1, per referral. $14.
  • Uber. 7 referrals (1 complete, 6 pending); $20 Uber credit per referral. $20 ($120 pending).
  • TopCashBack. 3 referrals; $10-15 per referral. $35.
  • Venmo. 1 referral; $1-5 per referral. $1.
  • BigCrumbs. 0 referrals.
  • Fat Wallet. 0 referrals.
  • Discover it. This is a "refer a friend" signup link for the Discover it card, which is also the only way to get the $50 signup bonus for the card (if you sign up for the card directly there's usually no bonus). 0 referrals.

PayPal Subscriptions

About a month ago, readers who visit the blog's website (rather than using an RSS reader or e-mail subscription) noticed that there was a new box in the righthand column, giving the option of signing up for a "PayPal subscription." As I explained last Friday, this is a way to continue supporting this project by making a small weekly or monthly contribution, if you feel like it's made a difference in your effectiveness playing the game.

  • PayPal Subscriptions: 1 (thanks for your support Ben!).

Conclusion

I don't have any terribly exciting conclusions to draw from this data:

  • This website is a labor of love, and my main reward is getting feedback from the amazing readers I've been able to help;
  • It means an incredible amount to me when readers buy the book, use my signup links, and of course signup for PayPal subscriptions to provide continuing support for the site;
  • Keep reading, keep writing comments, and keep the feedback and suggestions coming. The tips and tricks you guys suggest get multiplied through this site and help hundreds of people every day make or save thousands of dollars every year.

So here's to another year of travel hacks: new, old, and crazy! I do hope you'll stick around.