Writing Goals for Remainder of 2019 – Weekly Report 3

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fantastic weekend and that you’re looking forward to all the writing wonderment that lies in store for you this week. Like clockwork, here’s weekly report 3 (October 13, 2019 – October 19, 2019) for progress made on my 3 goals for the remainder of the year:

1. Create an audio book for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult (my debut book).
2. Write and self-publish my second book.
3. Research and set-up some future public speaking engagements.

And, here we go . . .

1. I’m continuing my research on ACX/Audible, regarding the audio book process for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult. I keep going back and forth on whether or not to be exclusive with ACX or to go with Findaway Voices who can open up my book to more distribution channels. Findaway Voices will be the focus of research in week 4. I’m also indecisive on where I’m going to do my audio recording. Last week, I went by the public library and visited the audio-visual room. Instead of a tour, it was more like peeking through the glass window and looking at the room from the outside. It appears to have the equipment necessary to do the job and I can bring in the additional tech equipment it may be lacking, but I’m not really jiving with the location and make-up of the room. It’s not actually sound proof like I expected and it’s in a centralized area of the library with glass windows partially surrounding the room. So, you can put a check next to “no privacy while recording”. Plus, I’m not entirely sure how much sound would float to the outside or how much sound from the outside would seep in to the recording area. I’m still going to check out the studio at the local university, but I already know that route will probably be an expensive one. A home studio is sounding more and more promising . . . if only they weren’t putting up houses in my residential area. We have construction mayhem going on and there’s no way I can control the outside noise pollution, even if I could control all the inside-the-house noise. Okay, I’m not whining; I promise. Just trying to wrap my head around this process. I think I have too many irons in the fire, but I’ll keep researching. I have a feeling that the best option will stand out by process of elimination as I get more educated on the creation of an audio book.
2. Woe is me. Woe is me. I haven’t been receiving much traction on my first book . . . ahhhhh the struggles of a newbie writer. But, I’m hopeful and definitely not discouraged. Let’s face it. It’s just been slightly under a month since I self-published Playground, and I didn’t really think a no-name in the writing industry (like me) would start selling oodles and oodles of my book right off the bat, did I? Well, the optimistic side of me says, “Why not think that way.” However, the realistic side knew that things would be somewhat slow coming out of the gate. Anyway, I’m not here to tell my sob story; I’m simply excited for what the future holds and more determined than ever to take a hold of my writing reins and make a success story out of this love of content creation that I have. And, that affirmation brings me to book #2. While I’m not giving up on book #1 (quite the contrary – book marketing is in full force), I am forging ahead with my writing goals for book #2 and very happy with the progress thus far. The book is gelling and I sit in amazement, once again, at how my thoughts are coming together in written form. So, here are the particulars for book #2:
   • I’m on track with my word count goal. I should be sitting at 12,800 words and I was at 12,510 words last night. Not too bad for playing catch-up once again. And yes, I’ll admit that Sunday seems to be the best day for playing catch-up with my word count. Although it took Sunday for me to finish typing the words to get to the 12,510 count, I actually had all of the words snuggled comfortably in my recorder for the week reported. So technically, I almost made my goal for last week. Who knows? I still have several minutes of recording that I haven’t transcribed yet, so I may have not only made my 12,800 word goal but surpassed it. I’ll finish typing up the remainder of last week’s recordings today and see where that lands me.
   • My book is organically taking shape as I type. The outline created my chapters and two of the chapters were combined into one because it didn’t make sense to leave them as stand-alones (wouldn’t be enough meat to them individually). Furthermore, the order of my chapters has moved around again to make the process, described throughout the book, flow more smoothly.
   • The writing process is a blast, especially when you’re writing on a topic you’re truly passionate about. And time is flying as I’m having fun doing what I do. Yikes! I have 10 more days to get this manuscript wrapped up.
3. My efforts will be centered around bringing my message to those in the local community that can use the information. While I believe that my book would be beneficial to any adult audience looking to make home improvements in their personal and professional lives, audiences don’t know how to access what they don’t know exists. So, I think it’s crucial to make sure that the world-at-large audience is aware that the book even exists. And what better way to jump start the book marketing engine than to work the channels of communication in my own local community. It’s a start, anyway. Hence, the reason for my interest in public speaking in order to educate, inspire, and motivate with the material in my book(s). Public speaking opportunities will be the focus of the month of November. To get the word out about Degrees of Maternity content, I’ll start here locally, do what I can online, give it some time, and keep hope alive.

Okay, Accountability Partners, where you at? I certainly would appreciate it if those of you, who have received value from this blog, would check out Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult. You must know that I’d love to hear what you think about the book. A review with your honest feedback on the Amazon site will let me know what you like and what I need to improve upon. Or, you can hit me up on this site with your comments. I can’t grow as a writer if I don’t know what is and what’s not working.