How quick can I post this blog?

Wednesday Check In

So, how is your weather? It is snowing here, but so far we haven't gotten as much as was forecasted. It is, however, still early.

I am on my lunch break at work and thought I would rattle something off, so that I could get this posted before late evening, which is my usual MO. Which means I waste much of my evening writing my blog, correcting it, adding pictures, etc. I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn't spend so much time on my blog, but I have been pretty lax on that lately. I need to spend my evenings working on my novel, not boring a handful of faithful blog followers.

So here is my short sweet post for today, as I have to get back to work in five minutes (I spend most of my break time from work reading other people's blogs).

And since I am at work I don't have exact statistics for you. But I can take a guess. I know that I have added to my social networks, and I am pretty sure that I commented on four or five other blogs. I sadly have not dragged out my novel in the last ten days. I really, really, REALLY need to do that! Um, what else, oh, I have been working on my presentation which is for a women's group on February 27. I have most of the slides together, I just have to decide exactly what I am going to say about them.

Other than that, I've not been doing much, except checking on the weather. Gotta go. Whew, two minutes to spare.

Where is the month going?

Well, let's get right to it. What did I accomplish this week? 

Daily goals –

1-                           Write for an hour a day - Hmm? I worked on my novel one night and thought about it all the other nights. Then I wrote two extra blog posts, per my January commentment to blog every single day, so that adds up to three points. 

2-                           Market my book or other current project for one hour a day - I believe that I actually worked on marketing the book only a couple times. I know, how is that possible? It is possible because I realize that it is time for the book to make it on its own out in the big bad world. Mama Bird can only protect Baby Bird for so long; it is time for Baby Bird to fly and be free. But seriously, for my own mental health, I need to stop eating, drinking, sleeeping, walking my memoir. I know that I have to keep on it, but it is no longer going to consume me. I did start working on a presentation that I am giving which is about the trip, so I have to give myself a point for that. So, I'm going to squeak out four points. 

3-                           Comment on one other blog – Sometimes I still neglect this goal. Sorry to all the other bloggers. I really am reading your blogs, just not commenting on them, other than four times this week.  

Weekly goals –

1-     Post to Dino Chronicles three times a week – three points this week

2-     Post to Writing What I Can When I Can twice a week – two points this week

3-     Work on my social networks, by adding to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Pinterest each once a week – five points this week

Monthly goals-

1-     Do research on my novel – I really think about doing this all the time, but I really need to get on it. Zero points again this week

2-     Submit something somewhere – Which I did twice earlier in the month so am hanging onto my ten points five points per month

Year-end goal-

          Finish my novel – 1000 points! Yeah, has not happened. You will certainly be the first to know. 

Giving me 31 out of 41 points. So that's it for the week, and almost it for January. Where has the month gone??? 

What ride am I on?

Sometimes life still feels like a roller coaster. Do you remember being a teenager? If it wasn't one crisis it was another. You could be walking on a cloud one minute (the cute guy in History asked you to the dance) and the next you want to crawl in a hole (why did I get a zit in the middle of my nose the morning of the dance!). Or you are ecstatic because you got a C+ on that really hard Calculus test but bummed because you got a B+ on that easy English paper. And don't even think about driver's ed!

How did anyone survive to become an adult?

And then, here at fifty-one, I still have those weeks! Only now, God bless those hormones, I don't even need something to trigger the roller coaster ride. I just take off!

Anyway, I am venting. I also have a headache (imagine that!). So let me get to it. What have I done so far this week?

After having all of last week off, with high hopes of working on my novel, I finally looked at it on Sunday night. After neglecting it so long, I have to read the whole thing first to know where I am at. Arrgh. And I haven't been back to it since then.

I've continued to post on either this blog or my other blog every day this month. I did some adding to the social networks and I commented on a few blogs. I even did spend some time researching markets.

It just always feels like by the time Wednesday night comes, I have nothing to show for the week. I cruise into Thursday telling myself that I will get it all done on my three-day weekend. Sigh. Even though I didn't work at the day job last week, can you tell I still need a vacation?  Not one to an amusement park, though, I get enough of those kinds of rides.

Am I a failure or is it my system?

My Book

As I shared earlier in the week, my first book signing was today. I really had no idea what to expect as it was held in the thrift store run by a friend of mine (ok, she became my friend when her daughter married my ex-husband. Can you say redneck? Life in a small town.), but I think that overall it went quite well. Again, because it is small town, I knew everyone whose books I signed, but that helps because then I didn't have to look like a fool and say, "what did you say your name was? Ellen or Felon?"

So the book is doing well. I recieved my fourth quarter statement from my publisher and I was pretty pleased with that. My first check will be arriving in the next two weeks.

ROW80 Goals

Daily goals –

1-       Write for an hour a day. I can't honestly say this happened this week. I really didn't work on anything new all week, but I did write two extra blog posts, so I will give myself two points, because I make the rules here. 

2-       Market my book or other current project for one hour a day. I can say with confidence that I did market my book everyday. One day I think that is all I did. Seven points.

3-       Comment on one other blog. I think I commented on other blogs six times this week, maybe more or less, I lose track. Six points. 

Weekly goals –

1-     Post to Dino Chronicles three times a week. Ok, I posted five times, because I am still shooting for blogging every day the entire month of January. But I think I can still only give myself three points, because I gave myself points for this above.  

2-     Post to Writing What I Can When I Can twice a week. Yup, two times, two points. 

3-     Work on my social networks, by adding to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Pinterest each once a week. This has got to be a first. I think I only worked on social networking three times this week for three points. 

Monthly goals-

1-     Do research on my novel. Didn't get to this yet this month. 

2-     Submit something somewhere. Still sticking with my story that I submitted two things already this month. Eight points. 

Which all adds up to 31 points out of I can't remember how many points. Maybe my system has failed me.  

Is this a success or a fail?

I am on vacation from my real job this week. I had high hopes to get so much done, not only writing a couple thousand words on my novel, but also getting all of my closets and cupboards cleaned. It's Wednesday already, half-way through the week, and this morning, I wasn't feeling like it was going to be a productive week at all.

A few things happened today. I did clean some drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, but I still can't find the dining room table for all the stuff I put on it yesterday in my cleaning frenzy. Is it ok to clean one space at the expensive of totaling another?

Then this morning, while I was checking e-mail, I spied one from the reporter at our local newspaper. He had written an article about the trip Val and I took to Africa six years ago and I had asked him a few weeks ago if he would interview me about the book about the trip. We just haven't connected on a time, but it just so happened we were both free this afternoon.

Interview went well and within the next week or two, my book will be gracing the pages of the TomahawkLeader.

While I was setting up the interview, still perusing my email, I noticed one from a writer friend of mine. Her book on Social Anxiety Disorder came out shortly before mine, and she wanted some book marketing advice from me. I was completely blown away and incredibly honored.

I have my book signing coming up this weekend. I am being cautiously optimistic about it. I am sure that there won’t be lines of people, but if I sell a few books or even get the word out about it, it all helps. I also got an e-mail from a friend asking me to speak for her women’s group in February.

And lastly, I have five 5-star reviews of my book on Amazon.com.

Ok, so has this week been a success or a fail? I’m leaning towards success. 

Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

The first of January I signed up for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It sounded easy enough. Post to your blog every day for the month of January. When I first started blogging in 2010, I wrote almost every single day for something like six months. I know, I really didn’t have a life then. But anyway, how hard can it be to keep up this pace for 31 days? In addition, a new round of ROW80 started last week. Again, how hard can that be? I set my own goals; it’s not like I am forced to write one thousand words a day. I write what I can. I think what is slowing me down is keeping track of all of this. But that seems to be where I am addicted – I need to see the numbers. Thus, I continue to plug away.

Here are those numbers for this week:

ROW80

Daily goals –

I wrote for an hour a day on four days this week, I commented on other blogs five times this week, and I worked on marketing five times this week, for a total of 14 points.

Weekly goals –

I posted to one of my blogs seven times this week and I added to my social networks three times this week, for a total of ten points.

Monthly goals-

I didn’t do any research on my novel this week, but I did submit, not one, but two pieces for a total of 10 points.

Thus, out of 41 total points, I award myself with 34 points. Not bad for my first full week of this new and tweaked schedule

Ultimate Blog Challenge

            Yes, I did write a blog post every day this week. I also posted each of them on Twitter and the UBC facebook page. Umm, am I supposed to be doing anything else with that? I don’t remember.

My Book

            Ok, so I had a few setbacks this week regarding sales of my book, but the big one has been straightened out and we are moving forward.

            My publisher had reported a few weeks ago that the book was then available on Amazon.com. On their website however, the book kept coming up saying that it was temporarily out of stock. Being the eternal optimist (ok, I’m not always optimistic, but I do try), I thought that the book was doing so well that Amazon kept selling out. But what if that really wasn’t the case?

I emailed my publisher to find out. He got right back to me to say, that no, this wasn’t a good thing, there had been some software glitch and nobody, including Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Ingram (the main book distributor for book stores), had gotten my book. They were working on it, but my publisher (who truly is an eternal optimist) sounded pretty bummed out about this.

By Friday, he said that the glitch was fixed and that within a week or two my book would be at all of these places and available for delivery to the masses. I convinced myself that I had apparently been promoting only my e-book all this time and it was doing quite well. In another week or two, the actual paper version of the book will be available and I will promote that. I tell myself that nothing has been lost here. We just need to continue moving forward.

And moving forward I am. I am still working on getting that interview with our local paper and just this morning I received an e-mail from a friend who has connections at the paper. I also have my first official speaking gig. It will be on February 28 at Prince of Peace Church in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. And let us not forget that my first book signing is coming up this Saturday at Tomahawk Treasures downtown Tomahawk. Perhaps my immediate goal should be advertising that date. Ok, I am all over that.

Have a great week and may you achieve all of your goals!

What am I digging up?

I really didn't think I did much so far this week. Wednesday still rather sneaks up on me.

I guess my biggest accomplishment this week was that I submitted a poem to Wilda Morris's monthly poetry challenge. Not a huge deal, but considering that I submitted a short piece to Catholic Forester Magazine the week before, I am ahead of the game on submissions.

Looking at my other goals, I have posted to one of my two blogs every day and have commented on someone else's blog every day. I have added to two of my social networks. I have worked on marketing my book, but have tried to let it go at least a little bit. I am making myself, and probably everybody I know, crazy, by mentioning it every time I turn around, and here I go, doing it again. But you asked.

Wish I was digging up something good, but I guess that is why I only lasted as a journalism major for one semester in college. I think the good stories are in my head and not in the dirt somewhere.

2013 Goals

Daily goals –

1-                           write for an hour a day, this could be working on my book, writing articles, short stories or poetry, or writing extra blogs (my assigned posts don’t count) – one point per day

2-                           market my book or other current project for one hour a day, this could include researching markets for my articles, devotions, or other writing to various markets, as well as keeping my nose to the grindstone of getting my book sold – one point per day

3-                           comment on one other blog – one point per day

Weekly goals –

1-     post to Dino Chronicles three times a week – three points per week

2-     post to Writing What I Can When I Can twice a week – two points per week

3-     work on my social networks, by adding to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Pinterest each once a week – five points per week

Monthly goals-

1-     Do research on my novel – five points per month

2-     Submit something somewhere – five points per month

Year-end goal-

          Finish my novel – 1000 points!

Wednesday I will write about what I have been up to so far in the week. On Sundays, however, because I need to see numbers to see progress, I will post my actual points. The number of points to reach my goal in any given week is 30 (don’t bother to figure out my math, I give myself all kinds of lee=way and like to end up with even numbers). Maximum points in a week could be 41 (or I suppose 1041), and I’m not keeping track of totals at the end of the month. As it is I have spent way too much time thinking about this already.

Try not to make yourself crazy figuring out my system. I have already made myself crazy enough for all of us.