Is Plan B The Best Option Now?

Dear my WAers,

How are you all doing today?

As I said in my previous post, I have two plans for now. Plan A is to study in China, and if it fails, then comes Plan B, next. This is to continue with my books business, which seems to be picking up so nicely recently.

I have sold 99 books in June so far, with most sales being free Kindle giveaways or free orders as they call them, to boost visibility, especially for my author brand. If one buys an eBook for free, they might need to buy its Paperback version, Hardcover (rare) or its Audiobook edition right afterwards, or even recommend the book to others.

I also run ads on Facebook where I now pay $2/day, and this seems to work, though I really need to have a "pixel" whose set up is still a challenge for me since I have several pixels that don't work anymore. What I know is that sales start some days after I ran the ads, and then stop entirely some days later whenever I pause the ad. This suggests sales are coming from that 1 Facebook ad.

Now...

Plan A is dragging on, because I need to get my degree certified and authenticated, and this involves different countries, ministries, embassies and academic institutions. First, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) must samp it to certify that my degree is authentic. It has to verify my school/institution, program, year of completion, and grade.

By last Friday 26 June 2026, this was confirmed, but I have to do a SWIFT transfer from my bank to theirs for them to stamp the degree itself as proof, that it has been certified/verified. The draft letter verifying details has been received by the same date last week. But money transfer takes three days.

The deadline for my application was 10th of June 2026. Now, with the help of the Chinese embassy friends, I have been given a grace period of up to the 10th of July 2026. However, I'm not sure if I'll receive the certified copy of my degree before that date. Imagine, there are weekends in between. I couldn't expect SAQA staff to work on those weekends.

What I have been told is that missing the deadline again means I won't be admitted at Renmin University of China for Masters in Contemporary Chinese Studies. I can't blame either the university or the embassy for this. Yet, I do have other plans if this fails.

If Plan A fails, Plan B then will be in full implementation, even though I have already started working on it, mostly over the weekends. I would love to recheck all the redesigned book covers (I really don't want to do this every time from now on) and make sure every cover is what it should be. But there are 120 of them, and a few books are not yet published, though I have them on my PC.

I'm convinced that selecting at least one of my 120 books, printing copies, and doing extensive marketing for it here in Keny and South Sudan, will bring more sales, lead to more speeches at government and community settings, and much more.

Ah, and I am one of the founders of an African think tank group, known as Xi'an Think Tank for China-Africa Cooperation and Development, founded in September 2025, and it has 54 members from most African countries. These are government officials, think tanks, writers, and business owners. I will be invited once in a while to be the speaker (guess) in one of these international meetings!

Bragging here, right?

Love it!

Even though I can do many things at the same, [including trying affiliate marketing], I came to realize that my main strength lies in writing and communicating. I just need to invest in this, learn more, refine, and sell both myself and my craft to help myself and others. It's a give and take system as now stated clearly on my website.

And right now, I have an appointment for the first time tomorrow the first of July with the Ethiopian Ambassador to South Sudan, a courtesy meeting that might result in other opportunities and cooperation! And yes, I just saw I've 1 referral here this week! All these are updates to share to inspire you, aren't they?

I think that's all for today on my end.

Over to you...

What are you working on right now? What are you planning as A and B? Let's talk in the comments below.