These free novels are just for you.
Take some time out for yourself. You deserve it.
New Zealand or England. Where will you go first?
Take some time out for yourself. You deserve it.
New Zealand or England. Where will you go first?
On Writer’s Log, Day-12 I’m running over my business plan for 2019. You’d think I would have done this last year but…I didn’t. My parents visited from the UK, my son got married, Christmas descended followed by New Year and then I was into working as a #fulltimeauthor
I should’ve known better. It’s obvious now on Day-12 as I’m looking at a carefully crafted plan of action. Don’t get me wrong, last year was good. I spat out four full-length novels, battled the Amazon algorithm like a pro and muddled along just fine. I rolled with the punches and ducked and dived like a heavyweight boxer.
When Amazon removed my books from sale in November, along with those of hundreds of other Australian and New Zealand authors – just because – I reacted. I built a sales funnel on my website and sold my books myself. I already sell through five other platforms and have done since 2013, but I decided to go all out and advertised through them too.
So, in 2018 I was mainly firefighting through disaster. And I got a heap done.
But I didn’t plan it.
That’s okay. I’m selling my own books and keeping the lion’s share while still publishing on the other platforms. Business as usual. I’ve also started my own merchandise store selling hoodies, tee shirts, mugs, necklaces and other paraphernalia targeting readers who love my books. Who wouldn’t want to drink their morning coffee looking at a quote from Logan Du Rose? Or wear a swanky necklace with the Du Rose crest emblazoned on it.
The average full-time employee does 1600 hours of work every year. I’ve driven myself harder than I thought possible. Husband asked me last week how I handled social media interruptions or the stuff that just crops up as a consequence of breathing and being alive. I told him the truth. I deduct that time from my weekly total.
He looked slightly alarmed and then impressed. As someone who’s managed large departments for the last twenty years, he could recall many employees who wasted at least half their time in the workplace on things unrelated to their jobs…
I worked 2055 hours in 2018. That’s an average of just over 51 hours per week. I won’t tell you what I earned per hour as it’s embarrassing. But I’ve never been so happy. And that’s pure productive time. No social media. No bathroom breaks. No long lunches.
I know, I know. I start at 7.30am after 2 hours of exercise and sometimes don’t finish until after 10pm. It sounds terrible. Complete slave labour. And I love it.
For 2019 I needed a plan, something to make all that productive time even more worthwhile. It took me 5 hours to write and I’m really proud of it. It’s given me focus and a clear direction. Yes, there will be more disasters and many more hours of firefighting. There will be days spent on the phone to my web host while they spin my head with tech speak and charge me a fortune. And there will be moments when my personal life eats into my writing time and steals my muse.
But I’ll find out if I’ve got what it takes to pay the bills doing something I really love.
2019. Year of the Plan.
For anyone in a similar situation, I’ve included the Table of Contents for my business plan. I borrowed it with permission from Denise Grover Swank about 5 years ago. Yep. I know. Should’ve used it. Feel free to copy the headings and create your own goals for 2019.
