Writing Goals for Remainder of 2019 – Weekly Report 4

Happy Monday, All! I hope you had a blessed weekend and got to do something just for you (even if it was to veg out at home and rest a ton). We are thigh deep in the last quarter of 2019. In hindsight, I say this all the time, when this time of year comes around, but I can’t believe how fast the last three months of the year go by. Is this truly the last week of October? Yes indeed, dear Jana. Wake up! For me, this eye-opener means that I should be done with my very rough manuscript. What?! It’s not like I didn’t see this coming. I have access to a calendar just like you, but it’s absolutely bewildering how you can be at the beginning of the month and it seems like you have loads of time to work on your manuscript (when looking at what’s ahead of you). And then, the next time you look up, you’re in week 5 of that month and the deadline for manuscript completion is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!

Well, things were a little quiet for goals 1 and 3 for weekly report 4 (October 20, 2019 – October 26, 2019). Remember, I did announce that I would be gearing up for public speaking opportunities in November. So, next week will start my real work toward that goal. As far as the audio book research, it was slim-to-none last week. I really intended to bust a move on this effort, but I spent the majority of my goal concentration on writing my second book. And good thing too. I HAVE UNTIL THURSDAY TO COMPLETE MY MANUSCRIPT, if I want to be successful with the timely completion of this part of my self-publishing goal for book #2. Since the majority of my time was spent on book writing, today’s post will focus on progress made on my second goal 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.

Here are some of my ideas and intentions for the self-publishing of my second book.

• I did well with the word count for last week. I was just a little shy of the 16,800 words I should have been at or exceeded. I think I was between 16,100 and 16,200. With progress made on Sunday (while still slightly under my word count goal), I clocked in at 17,180 words. I’m anticipating that my second book will be around 20,000 words.
• The workbook will be formed from all the questions and action items that are formulated in the book. So, I’ve reserved workbook work for after my manuscript has taken its final editing lap.
• I’ve decided to take more of the self-publishing pieces into my own hands instead of outsourcing them to others. I’m still going back and forth on which pieces. I’m going to come to a determination in the very near future, as it takes time to work with outside help and their schedules. So, time is of the essence here.
• Recording my book writing thoughts and then transcribing the words into my Word doc has been a more efficient way for me to do book writing this go-around. I think this method of writing will be my go-to for the unforeseeable future.
• Although I realize that my very ROUGH draft will go through some major editing in the month of November, I do prefer to completely write my manuscript all the way through (incomplete sentences, typos, out-of-order paragraphs, and all) without self-editing it along the way. I self-edited while writing my first book and I think that can somewhat mess with the free flow of getting thoughts down on paper (or on the computer after transcribing them, in my case). I figure that there’s plenty of time to edit in November. My main goal for October was to give my full attention to the concepts I wanted to get out of my heart and into this book before tweaking them to death.
• I’m currently exclusive with Amazon for my first book (may look at going wide soon). However, I’ve already determined that I’d like to look at wide distribution for this second book. I’ll probably look at IngramSpark initially as another distribution network for the book, along with Amazon. I’d like my second book to be available in educational institutions, catalogs, libraries, etc. I think it will be a great learning tool to provide to live audiences. So, I’m looking to share content from my second book (and the first book, too) in public speaking realms.
• This second book is also a non-fiction, self-improvement, personal/professional development book. Through my book writing, I’m sharing my thought processes and action steps taken toward reaching my full potential in different aspects of my life. Although my journey is unique to me, I strive to hone in on aspects of my life that are universally relatable to all people. My hope is to positively impact others by providing the nurturing encouragement and doable action items that assist others in walking in their purpose and living their best lives.

The month of November will be jam-packed with all of the self-publishing odds and ends items, along with the other two goal initiatives (audio book and public speaking) I have on the agenda. And, I’m trying to get these things done by the end of the year. Right now, I’m wondering why I thought I could get all of this done by year’s end; but I’m excited about the challenge. One thing I do know is that I’m not going to let the quality of what I’m trying to accomplish suffer in order to meet a deadline that I’ve set for myself. I do know that much. But, I think it’s good to give yourself stretch goals every once in awhile. You might amaze yourself at what you’re able to accomplish when you put your all into it.