Wednesday, December 6, 2017

ROW80 #20: Happy Writing! Happy checking in!

Best of news: Early this morning (on my birthday), I hit that magic button and sometime within the next 24-48 hours, Rivers of Stone will go live as a paperback on Amazon (already online as an e-book). After three years of work, this is a big YIPPEE!!!

Since we're going out of the country nearly all of January and February to Merida, Mexico, this project needed to be finished before 2017 faded away.  This week, with inspiration from Olivia Randolph's stunning Facebook ad (b/w with color reserved only for cover), I fooled around with PowerPoint and posted this in my quarterly newsletter:

Click to visit Amazon

Last Sunday, my ROW80 planning/reporting life changed. With that new chart, I've moved to colorful progress, where (so far) nothing seems to slip in the abyss, and I can "see" how what I'm doing meets my goals.  What this really means is that those goals that I'm less comfortable with are truly more visible -- and I'm making progress!

So, here's my first update with color! Blue = DONE. Green = In progress. Red = Priority, but no action yet.

BIG PICTURE GOALS
ACTION STEPS
WRITING: Work on projects that nurture my writing and poetry. Read articles about writing strategies. 
1.     Proof final PB Rivers of Stone.
2.     Write 2-4 poems each week.
3.     Read/revise Mothers Don’t Die for Kindle. Completed through Chap 5.
4.     Draft scenes (1K words/week) for Island Wife.
5.     Read 1 writing mag/week.

BLOGGING: Post blogs so they realistically reflect my writing & readers’ interests. Connect with online writing community by reading other bloggers.
1.     Post ROW80 Sun and Weds.
2.     Post Writing blog 2x/month. Part 3: Deep Revision pending. Posted IWSG (Dec 6).
3.     Read other blogs x6/week. x2

MARKETING: Carry out action steps that build writing visibility. Read marketing research (declutter where possible).
1.     Sent newsletter December 4.
2.     Setup GoodReads giveaway for ROS.
3.     Take notes on useful market research.
4.     Send out review requests ROS.
5.     Order bookmarks.
6.     Alert folks re 12/11 signing.
7.     F/U re blog post re historical fiction.

SASP: Support Spokane Authors with publicity and 1 special event each quarter.
1.     Confirm readers for Feb 23 Auntie’s read.
2.     Pre-write articles xJan/xFeb.
3.     Post FB update re Launch Party and meeting Dec7.
4.     Update Anthology description Amazon.
5.     Put Auntie’s readings on KPBX.

READING: Track books I read and review 2x/month.
Read 6 books in December. 2/6 so far.
HOME-TENDING: Identify specific actions that support healthy diet, exercise, and family.
1.     Plan 2 veggie meals this week. x1 so far.
2.     Swim x3. x1 so far.
3.     Declutter home and e-mail.
4.     Transfer calendar to phone!!!
5.     Kitchen focus: 2 hours this week.
6.     Comfort quilt: finish border.

Thank you, Eden and Shan Jeniah, for keeping us all focused. May you ALL have a wonderful week to come, lots of writing time, nurturing down time, and limitless time with those you love.

Check out what we're doing over on our FACEBOOK group or on our WEBSITE.

3 comments:

  1. Looks like a lot of blue and green... and yeah, some red. But HEY, you have a BOOK! A few extra minutes doing the Happy Dance are perfectly acceptable. In fact, I bet I'm not the only one here who might encourage it. :-D

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  2. Happy birthday, and awesome about the paperback, and all the blue!

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  3. Congrats on the paperback. That's great!

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