Beware....

Mar 15, 2022 11:41 am

www.madisonmichael.net

Dear Author,

“Beware the Ides of March.”

Yep, March 15^th is here again and boy did Julius Caesar ever know what he was talking about!

I don’t know a single indie author who doesn’t get ninety days into the year and say, “where has the time gone?” It’s no surprise when we shoot out of the gate on New Years with grand intentions and what we believe is a fool-proof plan to achieve them.

But then the big three goals that we carefully selected, sowed and nurtured are joined by dozens of small weeds we feel compelled to pull—the webinar we watch that gets us working on our video skills, the email with a fresh autoresponder, the comment on our website design and poof! Our essential list of three is a list of six, then twelve and we are sidetracked from our writing more than we are dedicated to it.

How do we fight back against all the demons that want a piece of our time? I’m not talking about friends and family either. I mean the work demons, all the marketing projects that we are positive we need to be successful.

Trust me, I am no expert on this subject. My list of things I simply must do is horrendous. The number of courses I have purchased but not completed could fill a stadium. These are tasks I must undertake—someday. There are others where I have learned to let go, albeit reluctantly.

I have four tricks I use to rise about my demons, and between the three I manage to beat back about 80% of the temptation.

1/ I set goals and write them in my planner at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the quarter, at the beginning of the month, the week and the day. I swear! I use a paper planner, my favorite is still Day Designer, and I take it with me wherever I go.

2/ my never-ending list. Learn more about this in today’s blog post.

3/ my community of writers with whom I sprint every weekday. We do ‘writing sprints.’ The definition of a sprint? “A sprint is where you focus on one activity for a short period of time so you can get more of it done.” (Thanks Meera Kothand and your fabulous book/workbook Create for the succinct definition). My participation in sprints guarantees me focused writing time, no matter what else is on my plate.

4/ One course with everything marketing that I can refer to when I need to get back on track. Mine wasn’t cheap, but I have been using it for five years and it hasn’t let me down yet. Your First 10K Readers by Nick Stephenson has over seventy modules about marketing, advertising, promoting and selling books. In a logical order. With a high level of expertise.

When I get off course, head down a rabbit hole, or whatever cliché works for you, I return to Nick’s course and study a module or two and execute only what he taught me. It’s a pseudo-marketing sprint for me. Want to learn more? Here’s a link to a free video series.

Then I return to the never-ending list and cross off a few to-dos. So satisfying.

What works for you??

Happy writing,

P.S. Struggling to writing with a pandemic and a war? Be sure to read “Does My Writing Even Matter Right Now?” from the Resilient Writer’s Rhonda Douglas.

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Are you caught up with your Madison Michael?

The Beguiling Bachelor Series:

Available in eBook and Paperback on

Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

Bewildered

Bedazzled

Beholden

Bedeviled

Besotted

The B&B Billionaire Series:

Desire & Dessert

Moonlight & Moet