Weds Check In on Thurs AM: Off to Market . . .

I read something somewhere this week that took a little of the sting out of marketing.

Find the marketing tools you're comfortable with and have fun with those.

That works for me because every time I look at my now rather long Marketing Plan with its 'to-do' list, I simply set it aside. And stress over what I'm not doing.

So this week, I discovered book reviews and beta reads.

Being enthusiastic, I probably have too many ahead of me, but this is fun. For the beta reads (3 in progress), I can read a nearly-final draft and let the writer know what works for me. For the reviews (4 downloaded and ready to go), I can simply read and write reviews. Something I want to do anyway for Friday Fiction on my own writing blog.

Two sites on Facebook may be of interest to you:  Book Review Depot has a nice list of about 30 books, some free, some at regular or discounted price, with a 'rule' that one of the reviews must come from the top (and oldest) listed books. Additionally, you must review two books from the list before your book can be added to the list.

The second Facebook review site I found is simply called Review Seekers. To participate here, you must offer a FREE version of your book you'd like reviewed. The list is crowded, but I've found a few here to review.

As we move to the end of Round 3, I can only say that I'm happy to have made SOME progress this round. In spite of all else, I'm feeling encouraged, supported, and reasonably productive. What else could we want?

Update for ROW80 Weds check-in one day late:

1. Cherish each day. Working on this one. The last three days have been very intense, so I'm tired. But daughter is improving every day.
2. Work on marketing. Made progress here. I'm working on my first beta read for a ROW80 colleague!
3. Write 5 sentences a day for Rivers of Stone for a minimum of 1,000 a week. New goal 7,000 words for September. Missed two days so only 341 this week . . . so far. Total as of Sept 12: 2,407.
4. Fulfill ROW80 sponsor by reading assigned + 5. Ooops. Not yet. Only 2 so far this week. Persevere!
5. Reduce electronic clutter 2x weekly. So far deleted 200. Discovered clutter on the netbook too, but I'm catching up the e-mail clutter first. Easy to do when I'm tired.
6. Blog 4x a week. Probably OK. Two posted so far.
7. Catch up on Washington State Quilters. Oh yes! Prepped for meeting AND motivated my colleagues to distribute hundreds of posters and brochures. That was fun. Promo next and a new article on antique quilts.
8. Exercise 3x this week. So far 2x and a lovely breakfast with the swimming buds. No walks yet.

Giraffe, Tanzania (Camp 2012)

Round 3 for ROW80 begins October 7. I know I will continue with ROW80 for this weekly accountability keeps me focused. BUT what I'm undecided about is whether I should sign up to be a sponsor again. Have I done all that a 'good' sponsor should do? I wrote the motivational article and read my assigned colleagues, but I don't reach everyone who posts on ROW80. But how else do I say thank you in a tangible way for this lovely on-line writing community?

Or is it better to have the sponsorship rotate? There are 4 slots left.

Have you considered signing up to be a ROW80 sponsor????