Planning to Succeed, a Post by R. Clint Peters

My publisher recently asked me two things:  1)  Would I edit the first two books in the Ryce Dalton series?; and 2)  Did I have another book ready to publish in the Ryce Dalton series?  Serial books are big business.  Just ask John D. MacDonald about his Travis McGee series.

Since I had a book about 80% finished that included Ryce Dalton and his Joint Border Task Force, I focused on finishing it (the book’s new title is the Michigan Connection).  Right now, the editing process is on page 142 of 181.  It is, however, moving a lot slower than I hoped.

Why?  Because I don’t have a plan.

I use a mini legal pads to keep track of the edit process.  At the end of a session, I simply note the page where I stopped.  That’s good.  I tells me where to start the next time.

However, I have no idea how many days have passed since I did my last editing.  One day?  Two days?  Three days?  I just don’t know.

I have determined the only way I will complete the editing process on three books is to create a good plan.  Here’s my problem.  I’m not tweeting; I’m not working diligently on The Author’s Club blog; I’m not promoting The Author’s Club website; I’m not diligently editing; and I’m not working on two other blogs I am the blog master of.  In short, I’m not diligently doing anything.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, my results for anything (tweeting, blogging, editing my books) is directly proportional to the amount of effort I put into those activities.  If I don’t constantly tweet, the interest in The Author’s Club begins to wane.

It’s like when I was growing up.  We had a furnace that heated the house using sawdust.  My job was to keep the hopper full.  If I didn’t do my job, the house got cold or someone else took over my responsibilities.  I have, unfortunately, been too busy doing nothing to keep the writer’s and blogger’s hopper full.

Here’s the plan (devised yesterday):

1)  1 hour each day editing my book 2)  1 hour each day working on websites or blogs (websites includes Twitter and The Author’s Club) 3)  1 hour each day working on blogs/websites I am responsible for (includes Deb’s Delightful Designs, a jewelry site)

The next part of the plan is going to be the most difficult:  documentation.  How do I document the time I spend on editing my book or working on websites and blogs.  I still haven’t gotten that part of the plan figured out, but I have a few ideas that involve a mini legal pad or perhaps a Personal Information Manager on my smart phone.  If you have any ideas, please let me know at rclintpeters@gmail.com.

For those following J Bar D, I will be posting an excerpt tomorrow, 11-20-2014.  I will be back soon.  And remember, the cutoff for the next newsletter (11-23-2014) is November 22.  Send your news to theauthorsclub@gmail.com.

#RClintPeters #TheAuthorsClub