3 1/2 Weeks and Counting

According to my schedule, it's 3 1/2 weeks and counting until I ship the manuscript (electronic & hardcopy) to BookMasters to do their printing and binding magic.

The shipping date represents the first giant step in releasing your Creative Child into the wilds of the world. After that, the author and publisher have only one more chance to catch any ghastly errors on the cover or book pages before letting go completely, at which point, it becomes a real, live book. (Stuffing the chick back into the shell at that point is a very costly process.)

It's an incredibly exciting, adrenalin-pumping time.

Here is the current situation:

^ The new chapters and updated author’s preface and introduction are now in the gifted hands of the copy editor.

^ The cover art is almost finished. Basically it just needs to have the depth of color and contrast tweaked.

^ I’ve completed about one-fourth of the job of sorting through the newest list of 1,700 newspaper editor’s e-addresses for self-syndicated news & article releases.

^ This morning I finished the first of ten pieces for the new press kit and emailed it to my kind but critical proofreader.

From here on, the only additional writing I do will be on marketing and promotional materials – getting people to notice and like my baby.

(When the author owns the publishing company, he or she must focus on about
ten tasks at once! Hence the well known term tentasking.)

My lists now have lists, but the truth is I’m on automatic pilot. After writing and birthing so many books, I know what I should be doing – and when I need to cut loose and play with jobs out of order. It’s refreshing to get all giddy and reckless once in a while, like me writing the Book Fact Sheet for the press kit before I finish reviewing the full manuscript! My, my …

Happy writing ~

Linda

Book Writing Update

I meant to keep you more up-to-date on the process of creating this 2nd edition of The Many Faces of Journaling. But when I'm immersed in the flow of writing, days flash by at the speed of the muse.

Last week I firmed up the deadlines for completing the new chapters, updating of the original 1st edition of the book, outside editing and proofreading, submitting the galleys* to various places and shipping the final manuscript to BookMasters, my book printer in Ohio.

[* A galley is a pre-publication copy of the book. It may be a finished copy that's simply marked Advance Pre-Publication Galley or it can be printed and bound at CopyMax or Kinko's. Some book reviewers, book clubs, and others in the book business require a galley, which tells them they're getting the information ahead of the actually book releaseor publication date. I use the CopyMax method, although each copy can run $13-18.]

That robin’s-egg-blue schedule of dates is posted on the wall next to my desk, and reminds me in a most happy way that the “delivery date” for this new creative child is May 31st. The excitement that engenders in me helps to offset the pressure of the deadlines.

This week I’ll incorporate the last of the guest journaling entries into the new environmental and scrapbook journaling chapters and once again rearrange the contents a bit. But according to the schedule, I need to have this ready to hand off to the copy editor next Monday.

Therefore, I need to get back to the book at hand.

May your muse be generous ~

Linda

Arrangement of Information

Yesterday, I took the working version of the Scrapbook Journaling chapter (for 2nd edition of Many Faces of Journaling) down to Kaldi’s, where with the help of a welcoming mug of Highland Grog coffee, I reexamined the order of chapter information with a fresh eye.

What a difference a small shift in placement can make! The paragraph about not crowding the text in a written scrapbook entry didn’t work at all in the “Kinds of Information” page. It needed to be in the “Getting the Right Look” section. Of course! That information is now comfortably nestled in among other specific suggestions on layout.

It’s good to remember that, when your text sounds awkward or choppy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that part should be deleted. Maybe it just needs to be moved to a different section or chapter.

Happy writing ~

Linda

Time & Writing

What a distressing discovery. I've just come to realize that there isn't enough time for a writer to lead a well-rounded life!

OK, that's overstating it. But finding time for all aspects of me - creative muse, curious mind, loving mom/grandmother/friend, healthy inner child, nature lover - and fit in a daily meditation, all in the course of a day or even a week often eludes me. Still, short changing any of them makes me feel crummy.

Am I keeping up with professional deadlines? Paying my bills? Getting together with family and friends? Writing? What an upper it is for me to hiking around my neighborhood park and immerse myself in nature. But I haven't taken time for that in weeks. How does one prioritize those things?

One solution I’ve learned is to take each day as it comes. Yes, some things must be scheduled ahead of time. But considering the constant shifts in our lives, prioritizing according to the day’s needs makes sense. Mental and emotional health must be factored in too, lest the imbalance flatten our joie de vivre. Flexibility and humor both come in handy.

The companion piece to this involves patience and understanding of our imperfect selves. Make-do actions can sometimes ward off that nasty cloud of guilt. You’ve dropped the ball in treating your elderly aunt to a monthly lunch out. Maybe a quick and loving note to her could make you both feel reconnected until you can get together. Trimming the chore down to a more manageable size can make all the difference.

So it looks like I’m beginning to sort through this challenge after all. I’ll get back to you on the guilt thing, though. I’ve had a lot of experience feeling that first before my brain kicks in. And you know about old habits.

Good luck on your own time management. And happy writing~

Linda