Organizing Your Writing Life #OpenBook Blog Hop

September 24, 2018

What tools do you use to organize your writing life? Keep track of deadlines, blog appearances, guests appearing on your blog, etc.? What have you tried that didn't work for you but might work for someone else?


If you've come here hoping I have the magic button to organize your blog visits, Facebook posts, and personal appearances, don't hold your breath. I struggle with it too. Which amazes me, because I know how to organize. I once set up a three state,  twelve city business trip over the space of four days. That included flights and rental cars and hotels.  And accomplished it successfully. But keep track of a blog tour for a new release?

Now, I don't do as many personal appearances as I would like, so they aren't a problem. I welcome the opportunity to get out and meet people, even if I don't convert them into new readers. And I've gotten good about keeping a stock of my books on hand so that I don't go into a last-minute panic needing to order more.

But blog appearances are my downfall, especially multi-author ones that are several months in the future. I've tried a variety of methods to track due dates for both appearance on other blogs and people appearing here, but I can't get it right. In fact, the last exchange I took part in, I tracked with a series of post-it notes stuck to my desktop. It worked, but it wasn't very efficient.

I tried a spreadsheet another author designed, and it just didn't 'feel' right. So, I tried designing one of my own. And it was better, but I found myself ignoring it. It wasn't 'in my face', annoying me, so I didn't have to look at it.

I tried a pocket calendar that I could carry around in my purse. The problem was, my purse never makes it to my writing desk. I keep it on a different floor of the house. So the calendar didn't do me any good.

And I tried the calendar tied to my google account. I'd get the alerts reminding me of appointments when I was at work, not when I was at home. By the time I got home, I'd forget I had a task. And sometimes I didn't get the alerts at all, or I'd set them wrong. Not helpful.

Why not try a wall calendar, you ask. Good question. The wall behind my desk is windows on the upper half. Covered my blinds. Can't hang a calendar there!  And I don't like desk calendars. I have this nice glass desk, and I hate cluttering it up. I like the feeling the clean open desk gives me. A desk calendar would make it feel too much like work.

So, I'm looking to my fellow authors and anyone who reads this blog. What am I missing? What haven't I tried? If you've got a magic button, please tell us about it! Or if you are as frustrated as I am, you can tell us about that, too.

Now I'm headed over to read everyone else's entry this week, in hopes of learning their secrets.


September 24, 2018

What tools do you use to organize your writing life? Keep track of deadlines, blog appearances, guests appearing on your blog, etc.? What have you tried that didn't work for you but might work for someone else?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

Blogger

The Impostor Syndrome #OpenBook Blog Hop

How do you see yourself vs how you think other people see you?

Have you ever had one of those moments? When someone compliments you and you stumble through a thank you because you can't figure why they think you're so (fill in the blank with whatever relates to you.) You know what I'm talking about. Those moments that make you feel like a fraud.

It's the impostor syndrome.

A lot of us have it. We work hard but never feel good enough. So when we get a compliment, it's hard to accept whether it's in person or on paper.

Moments like that hit me all the time at work, in my personal life, and in my writing persona. If I allowed half the praise to sink in, I'd feel like some sort of super woman.

Here's an example: A few weeks ago, a fellow writer praised me for all the help I advice I gave her on the business side of being an indie.I was astonished, because like most indies, I'm putting together the information a piece at a time, learning as I go, but always willing to share what I've gathered from other sources. It's not like I'm coming up with the information myself. The fact that this writer viewed me as some sort of expert floored me. I didn't scream 'I'm a fraud!' out loud, but I sure as heck thought it.

At times I find it amusing. Like the time a representative from the software company we  use at work asked me to be part of a focus group for new features being developed. Called me an expert. I thanked him, but internally I was shaking my head. I know the right questions to ask and how to get the answers, but I don't know if it makes me an expert.

So how do others view me?  The experts will tell you it doesn't matter, it's how you see yourself. That sounds all very well and good, but you know you care. I do. So, when little 'ol insecure me gets a compliment, I try not to let it go to my head. Instead, I look at what I did to deserve that compliment, and try to do whatever it was even better.

By the way, that means I absolutely pay attention to the book reviews I get, both good and the not-so-good. The good ones I read with pride, the others I search for the one thing I can take from them that will help me improve my writing. So if you enjoy my stories, and haven't done so already, please leave me a review!

Now, let's head over and see what the other authors have to say.


September 17, 2018
How do you see yourself vs how you think other people see you?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

Blogger

An InLinkz Link-up

One Wish #OpenBook Blog Hop

September 10, 2018

If a genie magically appeared, what would you wish for? (Just remember, no wishing for more wishes!)


The "rules" don't say so, but I'm going to guess all the big ones are out of order too. World peace, an cure for all cancers, an end to homelessness. I'm afraid those would be out of an individual genie's range of powers.

How about proper medical treatment for all veterans. Or more funding for public libraries. Ending child abuse. Still too big?

Let's get personal. I have a number of family members with major medical conditions. I'd wish for the ability to heal people. Let's say I could only heal one person a day.  If I started with my family, who would blame me? Then I'd move on to friends.

The trouble would be hiding my gift. If  word got out, can you imagine the chaos?  I'd never be able to go out in public without people accosting me, demanding I cure their loved one. I could charge extravagant amounts of money and hire security guards, but that wouldn't make me happy. If I lived like a hermit, my ability would be wasted.

And how would I chose the one a day? My heart would be in curing children. But how could I cure a child and not cure the parents if they needed it?

So that's my quandary. Maybe it would be easier to ask for a large sum of money. Millions of dollars. That way I could spread it out among many causes or give a lot to just one organization that was doing good work.

What would you wish for? You can tell us in the comments. In the meantime, I'm going to go see what the other authors have to say.



September 10, 2018

If a genie magically appeared, what would you wish for? (Just remember, no wishing for more wishes!)


Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.


Blogger

Why I'm an Indie

Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?


For those of you who follow my Monday Blogs, welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. This is a new hop I'm participating in and we'll see how it goes. There are a lot of other writers on this one, and I hope you'll check out some of the other posts. (More on that later.)

As you can tell, this hop is focused on writers. This month we're talking about our publishing path.

I didn't start writing fiction until a few years ago. Before that, my focus was on poetry, and I'd had limiting success getting published by small literary magazines. I had notebooks tracking where I'd sent poems and when, which had been accepted and where, and plans for the next round of submissions. Frankly, it was a lot of work.

Then I went through a long dry spell with my poetry. At the same time, a story that couldn't ever become a poem was bouncing around in my head. I'd heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and decided it sounded like fun. A 50,00 word story in 31 days? No problem.

Yeah, it didn't happen. I got to 49000 words and ran out of story. But I was hooked. I rewrote that story three times before deciding it was a lost cause but I learned a lot in the process and got hooked.

It took three more books for me to decide I finally had one worth sharing with the world. I'd already started my research, and knew there were several options. Go the tradition route-find an agent and have the agent send it on to publishers or a more do-it-yourself option. Go Indie.

The decision, when it came down to it was easy. I wanted to control my own stories and not write them to someone else's specifications. I wanted to be able to control my pricing and where and when my books would be available for sale. Sure, that meant I had to find an editor and formatter and cover artist on my own, but I was used to handling project planning.

But none of those were the biggest factor in my decision. When it came down to it, there was one more.


I'm not a spring chicken. I didn't have time to wait for the traditional process to play out.  How many years would it take? Two? Three? And that's if I got lucky. Going Indie, I could make it happen quickly.

So that's what I did. I have published six books now, and I keep learning as I go. (You can find my books here https://pjmaclayne.blogspot.com/p/wolves-pawn.html ) Sometimes I look back and can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm glad I did!

Now back to that 'other posts' thing I referred to at the beginning. There's a lot of other posts by a lot of great people in this hop. You can check out some of them by following the links below.

Best Purchase #OpenBook Blog Hop

What's the best purchase you ever made and why?

As the song lyrics go "'Cause we are living in a material world and I'm a material girl."

But I try not to be that girl. There are so many things that I value that can't be bought. You know the list-friendship, love, time. But I'm not living off the grid and out of contact with humanity, so I buy things on a regular basis.

So what is the best purchase I ever made?

Let's bypass the obvious- my husband's wedding ring. That was an excellent purchase. And we'll also skip over the computer I use to create my stories- a good purchase, but not the best. And I'm tempted to tell you about buying the Greyhound bus ticket that took me to a little college in northwest Wyoming. But I think I'll skip that one, too.

Instead I'm going to brag about our Jeep.

A few years ago, the reliable little truck I'd been driving for years started to become unreliable. Little things started to go wrong and we were having to put money into it to keep it running on a regular basis. So we decided it was time to replace it.

I knew I didn't want a boring car. And I was okay with another pickup, a slightly larger one. But I really wanted a 4-wheel drive vehicle, one that could handle the local roads in winter and get me places in the mountains a standard vehicle couldn't. A Jeep seemed to be the obvious answer.

We did our research-checked out models, options, colors, used vs new. We made several trips to the dealership to see if they had what we wanted. When we finally found it, it wasn't a perfect fit but we decided it was good enough.

at about 14000 feet above sea level

Why do I call it our best purchase? The Jeep has taken us places where we would never attempt to go in the old pickup. We've taken the back roads and discovered new-to-us places. We've driven it to the East Coast and to the West Coast. It's been at 0 feet above sea level and at 14,114 feet above sea level.

But the best thing about the purchase? It's the time together the Jeep has given us. It's the freedom to take a side road and not worry about what we might run into. It's the satisfaction and joy in pulling into the driveway after a long day exploring, with new memories of the beauty that this world has to offer.

And that's why I'll say the Jeep is the best purchase we've ever made. How about you?

Now let's take a peek at what the other authors have to say.



September 3, 2018.

What's the best purchase you ever made and why?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

Blogger

An InLinkz Link-up