September 24, 2018
What tools do you use to organize your writing life? Keep track of deadlines, blog appearances, guests appearing on your blog, etc.? What have you tried that didn’t work for you but might work for someone else?
If you’ve come here hoping I have the magic button to organize your blog visits, Facebook posts, and personal appearances, don’t hold your breath. I struggle with it too. Which amazes me, because I know how to organize. I once set up a three state, twelve city business trip over the space of four days. That included flights and rental cars and hotels. And accomplished it successfully. But keep track of a blog tour for a new release?
Now, I don’t do as many personal appearances as I would like, so they aren’t a problem. I welcome the opportunity to get out and meet people, even if I don’t convert them into new readers. And I’ve gotten good about keeping a stock of my books on hand so that I don’t go into a last-minute panic needing to order more.
But blog appearances are my downfall, especially multi-author ones that are several months in the future. I’ve tried a variety of methods to track due dates for both appearance on other blogs and people appearing here, but I can’t get it right. In fact, the last exchange I took part in, I tracked with a series of post-it notes stuck to my desktop. It worked, but it wasn’t very efficient.
I tried a spreadsheet another author designed, and it just didn’t ‘feel’ right. So, I tried designing one of my own. And it was better, but I found myself ignoring it. It wasn’t ‘in my face’, annoying me, so I didn’t have to look at it.
I tried a pocket calendar that I could carry around in my purse. The problem was, my purse never makes it to my writing desk. I keep it on a different floor of the house. So the calendar didn’t do me any good.
And I tried the calendar tied to my google account. I’d get the alerts reminding me of appointments when I was at work, not when I was at home. By the time I got home, I’d forget I had a task. And sometimes I didn’t get the alerts at all, or I’d set them wrong. Not helpful.
Why not try a wall calendar, you ask. Good question. The wall behind my desk is windows on the upper half. Covered my blinds. Can’t hang a calendar there! And I don’t like desk calendars. I have this nice glass desk, and I hate cluttering it up. I like the feeling the clean open desk gives me. A desk calendar would make it feel too much like work.
So, I’m looking to my fellow authors and anyone who reads this blog. What am I missing? What haven’t I tried? If you’ve got a magic button, please tell us about it! Or if you are as frustrated as I am, you can tell us about that, too.
Now I’m headed over to read everyone else’s entry this week, in hopes of learning their secrets.
September 24, 2018
What tools do you use to organize your writing life? Keep track of deadlines, blog appearances, guests appearing on your blog, etc.? What have you tried that didn’t work for you but might work for someone else?
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