Category: Check-in

Accountability check-in: maybe it’s not the marketing

So, I’ve nearly finished the marketing-for-introverts course, and I had a realization. I don’t necessarily dislike marketing. Some kinds of marketing really drain me, and the course covers why that is, depending on your type of introversion. I found that part extremely helpful.

But I don’t lack desire so much as time, energy, and headspace—literal headspace, as in how much space I have in my brain for thinking about things that relate to writing and publishing.

And … I know the culprit in all this. And … I have a … let’s call it an exit strategy, for now.

In the meantime, however, I’m going to do a little marketing and tell you that Coffee and Ghosts, Seasons 1 – 3 is on sale for 99 cents. And it has been on sale for a while because I had a BookBub Featured Deal last month.

I also scheduled some other newsletter promotions around my BookBub day. But honestly? Nothing performs quite like a featured deal, which did most of the heavy lifting. I’m in the black in terms of ROI, so I’m very pleased. The bundle will be available for 99 cents through the end of the month.

Accountability check-in: start slow to restart

Hummingbird at my camera feeder, enjoying an evening snack.

So after the big software release at work, I’m getting back to the writing and everything else that goes along with the writing—and some things that don’t, like bringing in my hummingbird feeders for the season.

This weekend I restarted MTBs (Manuscript Time Blocks). These work better for me than word count goals. I’m reacquainting myself with the manuscript, checking in with all my characters, and starting to make some progress.

Also, this week, I began taking a self-paced marketing-for-introverts class, which I’m enjoying so far.

This coming week, I plan to claw back my morning writing time. I was logging on an hour earlier because of the release. No. More. Also, I’m looking forward to an actual lunch break.

Hope everyone made a little progress on something for themselves this week as well.

Accountability: let’s do this thing

Meadow Park, after the rain, July 14, 2024

So, I’m sitting here, eating the Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bake I just made. Let’s be honest. It’s really an apple crisp with fancied-up yogurt. (Crème fraiche! Lemon zest!) But a crisp by any other name would taste as good.

Here’s where I’m at. So far, I’ve completed the first book in the new series (at a whopping 140,000 words—not a typo). I have a companion novella at ~25,000 words. And I’m 55,000 words into the second in the series.

I suspect this will be a three-book series, and I’m going to try to draft the entire thing before publishing the first. I hope this is a good idea. I’m having lots of fun writing it, although I’ve slowed down a bit. There are reasons for that:

One, I’m working on the middle book, and the middle of anything can be slow going.

Two, I would say my day job is still a bear. But in a contest between meeting a bear vs. my day job in the woods, I’m going to pick the bear.

But we’ll be through this software release soon enough, and I hope to get back to writing every morning.

In my quest to clean out the basement and garage, I have filled one of the 10-yard Red-E-Bins. Today, I’m tackling the stacks of paperwork that should have been shredded eons ago. This, too, is slow-going; I suspect I’m in the part where it’s worse before it gets better.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how it’s going for you.