One Week In To Self-Employment

So, my first week of self-employment down and dusted. 

My biggest focus has been on the business plan and mapping out the company's procedures. Having spent a few more days in business planning and praying (an important part of a good business plan, if I do say so), I am starting to get a better idea of what The Five Day Writer company is about. Though, coming up with a tag-line is still illusive (which you would think, as a writer, would be the easy part!). 

The purpose of the business is to help writers self-publish with ease and greater reach than if they did it themselves. My future goal (not quite there yet, give me a few years) is to be able to help writers self-publish with more exposure than if they had gone with a traditional publisher. (Got to dream big). 

So, the taglines I've been thinking of:

Giving Writers Whatever Support They Need to Succeed. 

or

Making Your Writing a Business. 

Like, dislike, makes you want to gag? 

To keep me on track, I'm going to use my ROW 80 goals to give myself weekly challenges on what to achieve. 

Work-wise:

This week I'm going to be intensively editing Dave's book, Tom Grafton Vs The Environmentalists, as next week I plan to start the re-launch for it. Once I've finished editing it, there will be review copies offered to everyone on the Five Day Writer's newsletter. 

If you are interested in receiving free books in exchange for reviews, please sign up for the newsletter (I'll be putting a signup form here on 100firstdrafts on the sidebar, but if it's not there yet, go across to www.thefivedaywriter.com). For every book that my company, The Five Day Writer, helps to produce, I'm going to send out a blurb the newsletter list with an option to get a free review copy. So if you like a stream of new and varied works, why not get them for free? 

I'm also going to be formatting and publishing on Smashwords a free short story for my aunt's webpage (www.churchdispute.com) called 'A Mother's Tale'. It is non-fiction, about the impact of an abuse case within the Anglican church in Sydney from a mother's perspective. I've actually just gotten the cover created, what do you think?

(Though I realise it breaks Ben's rule about having blank colour up the top, but I think it blends in enough.) 

I was testing out a new service. Have you ever heard of fiverr.com? basically, it's a place where people offer to do different things for five US dollars. This cover was created for me by webmark for $5. And yes, it is something I could have done myself, but it would have taken me at least an hour and my time is worth a lot more than $5/h. I gave him the title etc., and described what I wanted and gave him an example image. His first design had 'Abuse' in red, which I could see why but I asked for it to be the same as everything else, so he redid it all for the original price. Also, it only took a day. 

I'm also looking at getting a voice over intro for my Dad's podcast done through them, and a few other things. Now, sometimes I'm sure I'll get a dud, but to be honest... it's only $5. A dud at that price is much better than a dud at $100. So at the moment I'm recommending you go and have a look around. I wouldn't use it for covers that I wanted something a bit more complex, but if you really just want a simple stock image with heading etc., it's pretty good. And for an extra $10 (I think), he'll give you the full cover (back and front), or a 3D version of the book, etc.

Anyway, back to my work checklist: I'll have to set up my aunt's author pages on Amazon, Smashwords and Good Reads as well this week.

My writing-wise: 

I'm hoping to spend the mornings focused just on my writing. This week, I'm going to start a really exciting new project. I might have mentioned months ago that my grandparents gave me a manuscript written by my great grandfather of early settler tales. They have asked for me to look at it, edit (and where necessary re-write it) and see if I can turn it into something. I haven't started looking at it yet. It's a leather bound book sitting tantalizingly on my shelf, like a birthday present that you know you could open early, but you hold onto until the actual day to make it more special. 

The book is supposedly short stories based around the main character, a young theologian. I'm currently thinking to rework them (after getting them all typed up) and see if I can publish them as a series of short stories as well as compiling them into one work which I will make print on demand (so my grandparents can get a copy). But will be able to tell you more on Wednesday. 

I am also going to turn my short story - John Verry into a free ebook on Smashwords etc to start building up my author page. 

Finally, I've gotten The Five Day Writer's Retreat completely re-edited, and I'm going to be re-launching it with a new price of just $4.95. Anyone who has received a free copy through the Five Day Writer newsletter, I would really, really appreciate an Amazon, Smashwords or Good Reads review. It makes such a huge difference to me if there are even just a few honest reviews. Yes, I'm prepared to beg if I need to.

Also, if anyone would like a review copy, I'm more than happy to hand them out, so email me at Buffy@thefivedaywriter.com. 

Well, those are my goals for this week. 

In my next post I'm going to discuss my return to internet dating, so stay tuned if you're interested!

Woodend Winter Arts Festival Review and ROW 80 Check In

I've just come back from a wonderful weekend staying with my parents who live in Woodend. Woodend is a wonderful little town just an hour of Melbourne, at the base of Mt. Macedon. It is becoming quite a hub for cultural events and one of the highlights of the calendar is the Woodend Winter Arts Festival. Among the music concerts and art shows, the Festival also holds a series of talks about writing and for writers. Yah!

Over the weekend I attended 5 different talks at the Festival. However, instead of summarising them all, I want to focus on one that interested as well as annoyed me and in the end gave me a lot of food for thought (and ideas for new plans!)

Saturday afternoon I attended the talk Getting Over the Line with Toni Jordan (writer and mentor), Christine Nagel (editor and assessor) and Sheila Drummond (a local literary agent, to whom I once submitted a query and she never replied, so had fallen from my good graces, but I was prepared to overlook that.) To be completely honest, I had never heard of Toni Jordan or Christine Nagel before the event, but they were interesting enough to listen to. The talk was on the role each of these people (mentor, assessor/editor, literary agent) played in taking a writer/manuscript and preparing them to approach a publisher. 

It was interesting and reinforced the importance of editing and being part of a writer's group, as well as attending writing courses etc. So in that way was worth going to the talk.

However, two things irked me. 

First is that they all saw themselves as graciously helping 'a writer's dream come true', as they said. They treated the writer as some poor misfit who needed their fairy-godmother talents to turn the work into anything good. That annoys me. It is rude to say about any client who is paying you for your services that you are doing them a favour. 

Also, it downplays all the effort and hard work the writer does. I think editors and literary agents (literary agents in particular, as I feel they offer the least to the writer when small ones such as Ms. Drummond don't appear to help market the work, or edit the work, or do much else than submit it to publishers and negotiate the contract) that they only exist because of writers. Writers would go on even if no editors or agents came into being, but the other way around can not be said. 

(Am I bitter because she wouldn't accept my manuscript? Maybe. Though not because she wouldn't accept it, but she was so rude as not to even reply. To send out a template email takes 2 minutes, and at least lets the writer know not to waste their time waiting. But to be honest, I had actually completely forgotten it was her I had sent the query too, and just got annoyed when I listened to her talk.  She started by saying she was a literary agent, and because there were so few in Australia, they wielded a great amount of power. Not at all arrogant!).

The second thing I found lacking is that they paid no attention to the online world and how important it is for a writer nowadays. When they spoke of self-publishing, they appeared to only be referring to paying a publisher to do a run of books and were very negative about it. They appeared to have no idea about the possibility of publishing just electronically online, or anything like that, as they kept saying how expensive and difficult it was.

When I was brave enough to ask whether they considered a writer should have a platform and whether that would help with attracting publishers, Ms. Drummond first asked me what I meant by a 'platform'. I felt like saying 'Well, I mean what everyone who knows anything about the current state of publishing means', but I just smiled and said 'well, in particularly I was thinking of an online platform, but other forms as appropriate as well.' 

Ms. Drummond answered that it might be useful for some genres, but she had no interest in these things. Toni Jordan then added that she didn't have anything, she didn't even have facebook except for her friends. To which Ms. Drummond said that must answer my question.

I couldn't believe that an agent who was meant to be preparing and marketing her clients as well as possible refused to look at anything online! Is it just me? Most of you, my readers, are also writers. Do you think people should be told that being online is of no important if they want to make a career of being a writer? Or have it suggested that only going through a literary agent and a traditional publisher matters?

For my ROW 80 check in: well, my own writing might not be going as fast as I might like, but things are definitely moving. Two particular ideas came up out of this weekend.

The festival was filled with older people who wanted to write the book they had been thinking of all their lives, and who probably won't ever find an agent interested. However, with some help, they would be able to self publish and at least their family and friends would buy a copy, and they could see their names on Amazon. 

Therefore, I'm developing plans to start small, personalised seminars for new writers on self-publishing and creating an online presence. I'm going to create a series based on the 6 steps of my Five Day Writer's books, which will take them from dreaming about being a writer to actually being published.

So it looks like my little company, The Buffy Group, is finally taking shape as a consultancy for online publishing and marketing. 

This is further supported by the fact I have my very first client!

Yes, my brother has just hired me to help develop and promote his new ebook, Tom Grafton Vs. The Environmentalists. I'm going to work on developing his webpage, getting traffic, designing a new cover, and getting reviews. He's going to be a bit of a guinea pig as I find out what is really the most effective and useful online strategies that I can present to others.  

It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm so excited about it all.

The Five Day Writer's Retreat - Just a Few Days Away!

It's now just a few days until the release of my first book: The Five Day Writer's Retreat!!

Sunday, 10th of March, my 30th Birthday, is the big day. 

So, to get you all as excited about the book as I am, I wanted to share an extract from it on Goal Setting. I thought this was particularly apt, as this is also my ROW 80 goal check in!

This is from Day Four of the Retreat, and hopefully it will inspire you to look again at some of the goals you have for the year.

By the way, it helps if you have seen the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. So in case you haven't:

Day 4: Preparing Your Life

Food For Thought Part 1: Goal Setting. 

There is a lot of information out there about how to set good goals, and for unknown reasons a lot of that information sets my teeth completely on edge. Yes, I know they should be ‘Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Realistic – Timely’ (aka SMART), but who wants to be smart when setting goals? 

I think goal setting, at least the big, end goals, should be more like an Indiana Jones movie than a business plan. 

How does my little analogy work? Follow me! 

You should first see the goal in front of you like an idol. Can you see it? Gleaming on its little pedestal asking to be reached? Good.

Now, look at the bag of sand you have been carrying and work out if you have enough sand for the weight of your goal. The sand is every day material that you will need to give up: time, resources, money, etc. How heavy is your idol? How much will you have to hand over in order to achieve it? Do you have enough?

You are tense for a little bit as you slowly place the sand for the goal and rejoice when you pull it free – you have just agreed to a goal you think you can achieve.  

But wait! That is not the end. You still need to get out of the cave with your goal to realize it. It doesn't count until you are safely back home with the idol. And everyone knows it's once you have decided on a goal that everything in your life tries to stop you from achieving it. 

You start running. Then comes your first pit with stakes or snakes (not snacks as I originally wrote, unless tempting snacks are likely to distract you from your goal…hmmm, snacks…). 

Some kindly person yells to you that you should throw them your goal and they will give you the mundane life item to get you across this barrier. Maybe they say to give up the goal for a sensible job, just for a bit so you can pay the bills. 

Do you throw them the idol? Well, if you do, you still have to get out of the cave alive, and you no longer achieve anything at the end!
 

Maybe you are brave and you keep hold of it, working out some way through yourself. But then life might throw a giant, rolling boulder at you. Just remember, as long as you are running towards the entrance, it is all good, just don’t forget your hat.
 

Of course, when you break out with your goal, there will be a thousand people pointing arrows and spears of criticism that want to cut you down to size, so it is always best to have an escape plan such as your own plane that you can fly off and enjoy your achievement.
 

That is the way I think goals should be handled. So much more exciting and adventurous than being SMART. 

Also, if you create a goal that isn’t worth the sand you are swapping for it, or risking your life to cross the pit for, or even facing all the tribesmen wanting to kill you, then you haven’t really got a good enough goal. Stick with your sand and your day job.

Hope that gave you some inspiration for setting a new goal!

My goals for this week is simply to do as much as I can to improve the book before release, and then sit back and enjoy my 30th Birthday :D

If you would like a gift copy of The Five Day Writer's Retreat, you can still sign up to the newsletter at www.thefivedaywriter.com until 17th of March to receive it free. Or you are more than welcome to buy it. I am still offering a personal appraisal of your writing with every purchased copy, just to encourage you to take your writing seriously.

Sales will (hopefully, fingers crossed) go live on Sunday, 7pm Melbourne Australia time. You will be able to purchase it through The Five Day Writer website or on Amazon initially. I'm also planning on getting it on Smashwords, but that will mean reformatting, so might take a while.

Enjoyed the exert? Then go across to The Five Day Writer and tweet/facebook/share the love!

Sometime You Just Need To Have Faith and ROW 80

Believe In Yourself, Before It Seems Possible

Whenever you send off a new lot of agent queries, there are a series of stages you go through, a bit like grief.

1. Usually within a day you get a bunch of immediate 'no's. Hopefully this will be because they are no longer taking submissions, or haven't even bothered to open your file (sad, but better than they read it and thought you were .... not so good.) It can be traumatic, but at least you got a response, which is slightly cheering. 

2. A few days later you start getting the 'no's which have taken a bit more time about it. At first this was exciting to me, because I thought the messages were personalised. I then realised that no, it just sounded that way, and they were all stock standard.

3. If you are lucky, you then get a few messages a few weeks later saying they are 'reviewing'. 

4. If you are very, very lucky, you will get a email asking for a proposal or partial manuscript. 

5. Then you start getting a new round of rejections from these.

6. Finally, after about three months, so a quarter of a year later, you realise that the other half of the agents you queries are just never going to get back to you. 

So you start all over again. 

And with every new beginning, you get the same excitement, that this might be the time, and the same slow, drawn out, drip-fed rejection. 

Having just sent off a new bunch of agent queries last Saturday (Sunday?) I have already got two rejections, and 5 I haven't heard from (which, in a week isn't too bad. Hopefully it means the 5 might actually be reading the query). 

I still have that outstanding 'We are reviewing' which I haven't heard back from, so there is a bit of hope there.

But on Wednesday was feeling a bit down about it all. 

So, I decided it was time to have faith in myself. Time to show the world that I believe in my book, no matter what!

As a result, I have bought a bottle of Rose Sparkling Wine (Zibbibo by Brown Brothers, a favourite with a long story behind it for my sister and I, which might have involved running around London on Christmas Eve trying to find a bottle shop that sold Australian wines...) and it's in my fridge, waiting to be popped. Because it will happen! I will get an agent and then a publisher for Sally Hunt, my Young Adult Christian series!

Also, I found this website through a post on Nathan Bransford blog, and I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a bit of procrastination:

http://thrilling-tales.webomator.com/derange-o-lab/pulp-o-mizer/pulp-o-mizer.html

The results of 5 minutes of playing around on it:

 

How awesome is that? So many things you could do with it! 

Totally made my day. (Along with the thought of sparkling Rose.)

So ROW80 Goals:

This week hasn't gone as planned, but it never does. I didn't check in on Wednesday, for the first time this round (which is my first round ever). I was just exhausted, and that sort of continued. 

I did get an article written and submitted to Unique Article Wizard (aff). 

I got only 1 good post per blog, and only spent 1 strong session working on the theology book, so a bit behind there. But at least I'm further ahead than I was this time last week. Forward is always a good direction to be going in.

I also finished editing The Five Day Writer's Retreat, worked quite a bit on editing the webpage, and preparing for the launch in a week's time. 

I just want to say, it will feel so fantastic to have something out there. My book, for sale, on Amazon (and my website, and Smashwords, and through affiliates, etc.). 

So This week's Goals:

It's all about the launch. 

I want to create Buzz. 

I want to get people excited.

I want to get the word out there!

Practically, how am I going to do that?

- mock up a full version for advance release for people to review and promote (anyone interested?)

- beg other kind bloggers to let me do a guest blog, to review it, or even run giveaways with the book (happy to provide free books, if you are prepared to run the giveaway.) 

- write more articles linking back to The Five Day Writer website. 

- Keep promoting my promotion: buy the book and receive a personal proposal or sample chapter appraisal.

Also, in there I'll be organising my 30th birthday which will be a combined book launch/birthday party. 

Exciting times, no?

And after the launch, when it is all running smoothly and the book is out there, then I'll be focusing on my two blogs and breathing life back into them. Just you watch.

So, anyone interested in reviewing The Five Day Writer's Retreat, acting as an affiliate selling it (am offering 50% commission), or happy to run a giveaway on their blog about it? 

Just let me know!

Let Me Help You!

Dear All,

First of all, a big thank you to everyone for your support of my upcoming book launch. The Five Day Writer's Retreat is still set to come out on the 10th of March (even if I'm slightly greyer by then). I've been a bit distracted this week trying to arrange different things.

Particularly, I've been thinking about ways I can offer THE MOST value to the readers of my ebook.

I've been umming and ahhing over the pricing of the book. Very originally I wasn't going to sell it, it was just going to be for those who signed up for my newsletter.

However, as I wrote the book, I realised how much great content was in it. I'm stilling offering it for the first week to anyone who signs up to my newsletter, but decided to sell it as well.

But I want people to be dedicated to the program. I want to reach people who are at the stage of actually wanting to invest in their personal development as a writer, and are prepared to actually follow through with the book. I want people that CHOOSE writing.

So I've priced it the same as a movie and a cheap dinner for one. If you aren't prepared to give up one night's entertainment, you aren't yet at the stage of committing to your career as a writer that will get the most of out of the book.

The RRP is going to be $34.95.

However, I still want to offer as much value to my readers as possible. So therefore, I'm offering a pretty amazing bonus (if I do say so myself).

As a tertiary writing tutor, I get paid a rather large amount (much larger than $35, or even double, triple that) for teaching groups of four or more students.

However, as an Oxford trained tutor, though, I'm very conscious that one on one consultations are much, much more effective than group classes. That is why the Oxbridge system is famous, each student has a one on one tutorial every week where they present their writing and their tutor rips it apart, then they come back next week with another essay, and the tutor keeps pushing them to become a better scholar and a better writer.

So, to encourage everyone that is ready to take the next step with their writing, everyone who buys the book (either from Amazon, Smashwords or directly from The Five Day Writer) I'm offering a bonus of a half hour personal critique of their writing proposal or sample chapter. 

I'm sorry, I'm not offering this to those who get the book through the newsletter, but you at least get the book! And if you want, you can buy a copy for someone else, and use the special offer for yourself :D

So, for the price of a cheap night out, you get a week of retreat and teaching to improve your writing, and then personalised help.

I might eventually have to put an end date on this offer, and people might need to be patient in waiting for their review, but I want to offer it for as long as I can.

Sound like a good deal? 

Finally, to help me spread the word, I'm offering 10 free advanced copies for 100 First Drafters who would be prepared to review it in Amazon/Smashwords and/or on their blog (writing platform of choice). You don't have to say only nice things, I want truthful appraisals (though maybe you could give me the negative feedback before the launch so I could try and fix it up!)

It might not be the fully formatted version, and you might only get it a few days before the launch, so preferably you would have time to read it this weekend, as I would love some feedback and perhaps some testimonials to go on the sales page. 

Interested? Email me at buffy@thefivedaywriter.com and let me know why you would like a copy of The Five Day Writer's Retreat.

Also, anyone have any great ideas for launching your own book? All advice kindly sought!
 

End of the Weekend, Already?

Saturday morning always has so much potential, Friday night even better. And then suddenly it is Sunday evening!

And what do I have to show for it?

Well, since I last checked in:

-  I've not written anything on my theological book. Bad Buffy, bad. (Writing theology has a lot more issues associated with it than writing historical romance. I'm just saying, they tend to get annoyed when you make things up, or get stuck so add in a tall dark handsome stranger.)

- Have edited another 1/3 of the Five Day Writer's Retreat, which is great.

- I've also sent off to a few more agents (I also got a 'Thank You. We are reviewing' reply from an agent I queried at the beginning of Feb. This is pretty exciting, as it's not a straight out no, and they took the time to tell me, even though they could have just waited. Well, a girl's allowed to dream :D).

- I did do an epic post on how to do google keyword research, which I was proud of (if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.) 

- Finally got the post on choosing barefoot running shoes to publish on my fitness blog (with a bit of help).

- And the rest of the time has been on doing The Five Day Writer website adjusting.

 

So what are my goals for this week? 

Was sitting in church tonight and got convicted about ignoring the theology book. It was actually kind of freaky, as it was like the sermon was focused on me and what I was writing about, saying how necessary it was for people to hear this message. (This used to not be so freaky. When your Dad is the minister, sometimes you do get subtle hints which are more directed at you than other members of the congregation, but I'm now in a church of about 700, and my pastor doesn't even know what I'm writing about!) So, okay, I'll get around to writing it then.

And then there is Kait's call to do 5-10% more than we have been.

So, this week I'm going to get serious about the theology book. I want to try and write 3,000 words a day on it to come up with a chapter by chapter summary, and the first 3 chapters written by the end of the week.

I've also been slack with my blogging, so want to do two fitness and two strong content writing posts by Wednesday.

Add in there finishing off editing the last 1/3 of The Five Day Writer's Retreat, and I think that's pretty much all of my time used up.

(Except that I'm now in the middle of Alan Bradley's 'The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie', which I'll need to finish, obviously, and I've ordered from another library Cassandra Clarke's 'The Clockwork Prince' as I just finished 'The Clockwork Angel' and as much as it annoyed me, I have to find out what happened... hmmm, will see how it all goes!)

Finally, a big thank you to everyone for supporting The Five Day Writer. It is two weeks today until my 30th Birthday, which is scary for completely unrelated reasons! I'm excited about turning 30, just scared about getting everything done for the book launch in time! Well, it's one way to take the focus off aging ;)

If you still haven't done it, but want to receive a copy of The Five Day Writer's Retreat when it comes out as my gift to you, go to www.thefivedaywriter.com and sign up for the newsletter. 

ROW 80 Update

Things have been moving, which is always exciting. 

If you care to venture over to www.thefivedaywriter.com, you will see that I've started up the webpage for my writing series, the first of which is to be released in just under 3 weeks! (The exclamation mark is partly to get you excited, and partly because I'm horrified at how close it is and how much I feel I still have to do!) 

The website is still in the development process but at least it is there, which is a huge relief. Keep a watch on it for as it becomes super cool!

As to the specific ROW 80 goals I set for this second half of the week:

1. write at least 1,500 words a day, 6 days a week on my theological draft. 

- I have 5,500 done, so not quite 1,500 for 6 days. A bit behind on that, but plan to sit down and keep hacking away at it. 

- Is actually a lot more fun than I originally thought. Making it less academic, more colloquial, and to keep myself motivated through this first draft stage, I'm allowing myself to say all the rude things about certain ideas and scholarship that need to be said, and I'll probably take them out later.

2. By Sunday, read through full draft of Five Day Writer's Retreat and work out what needs to be done. 

- Forgot that this is what I said I would do, and instead have been working through it more slowly fixing up what I need to do. 

- Have convinced a good friend of mine who has studied editing to go through it for me, so said I would get it to her by Wednesday. Deadlines, don't we all love deadlines?

3. Write 2 in-depth posts for both blogs.

- Wrote 1 in-depth post for this blog, see Identifying Your Niche Area.

 - Annoyingly have spent probably a collective 3+ hours trying to post for Fitbusters a review article on Barefoot Running Shoes (yes, I think we all see the oxymoron-ism there. And no, I'm not sure that is a word, but I'm happy to go with it all the same). Unfortunately (for everyone around me, as I became reasonably irate after the first few hours spread over three days) blogger is just refusing to publish or save it. I think it has something to do with the images, but it just keeps doing this to me, and will eventually publish it, you just have absolutely no idea when that 'eventually' will be, and my computer keeps crashing in the process. Yes, the brand new Mac Book Pro I bought about a month ago. Not Happy.

 

4. Write 3 articles for submission to get traffic to my blogs.  

- In the same vein, published one article and wrote a second one before my computer crashed and only saved the first two paragraphs. By this stage was not in the mood to continue writing. 

So, the goals were a mixed bag. At least I definitely did something, but not as much as I wanted. However, that will not slow me down! (well, in fact it did, but I will charge on from where I am not where I hoped to be.)

Goals until Wednesday:

1. 4,500 words for theology draft.

2. finish initial edit of The Five Day Writer's Retreat in order to send to my friend. 

3. Write and publish at least 1 article.