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by Julie Hood

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  Writer-Reminders > 2004, Issue 16

 

 

Writer-Reminders

May 28, 2004 - Tabulate Your Time
Volume 3, Issue 16

    
The weekly ezine with a road map for sidetracked writers.

"Be better writers today than we were yesterday."


Thought for the Week - Tabulate Your Time

How do you think you spend your time? 

Are you sure?

I'd like to challenge you this week to track how you are spending your 168 hours for the next week.  (If you've bought The Organized Writer ebook, use the Time Map on page 48.)

Every time I do this exercise, I'm surprised when I see just where my time is going. 


If you spend a lot of time on your computer, the online time tracker at
http://www.stcassociates.com/lab/timetracker.html
will help you track your time. I added this to my Start > Programs > Start Up menu so it will automatically open when I turn on my computer each day. 

Then hop out to Pace Productivity at
http://www.getmoredone.com/tabulator.html
and compare your stats to other profiles. 

They use 11 different categories:
employment, family, meals, chores, television, spiritual/community, me time, commuting, personal care, sleep, and spouse.

After you fill out their survey, you can see graphs comparing your time to your ideal and to others in your same demographic. I was pretty close to my ideal -- with a few too many hours spent on household stuff and not nearly enough time on employment (including writing this newsletter! Hence, the delay in this month's issues. Thanks for understanding).
 
Let's Write More in 2004!

Best, 
Julie
julie@organizedwriter.com

    

P.S. How do you determine how to spend your 168 hours each month? What do you use to set priorities? 

Tell me at the link below, and you have a chance to win a copy of my ebook or $15 off coaching services. To enter, enter your answer and your email address at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=83715506044

For authors... Broadcast Your Events

Are you doing a book signing? Or teaching a class? Maybe you are appearing on the radio or on TV?

Use NetRead's EventCaster(sm) to get details about your event sent to editors at newspapers and magazines across the country, as well as Web sites with online calendars such as Yahoo® and Digital City:

http://www.netread.com/calendar/index.htm

 
For freelance writers... Book Review
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments by Jenna Glatzer

"According to a National Writers Union survey in 1995, the median income for freelance writers was only $4,000 a year. Just 16 percent of freelance writers pulled in more than $30,000 a year." 

Yikes. What is a starving freelance writer supposed to do?

Author Jenna Glatzer provides the answers in her new book, Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments. My favorite parts of the this book include:

1) Insightful comments from tons of writers and editors like this one about queries, "'Sell it to me in the first three lines,' says Chandra Czape of Ladies' Home Journal."

2) Plenty of example text, letters, wording, Glatzer's queries and even what to say to editors when negotiating. She includes both good (what to write and say) and bad examples (what not to write) and often rewrites of some of the examples. 

3) The tone is playful to make a potentially dull topic much more interesting to read. 

4) Loads of internet links including my new favorite dictionary, OneLook,
(Use the reverse dictionary as a thesaurus.)

Glatzer takes you through the entire freelancing process from ideas to markets to queries and making the sale. In the seventeen chapters, she shares her considerable experience on interviewing, sales, getting paid and becoming a favorite writer for editors.

If you're serious about joining that top 16% (or maybe even top 5%!), you'll want to buy Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer

It's available from Amazon.com  

Monthly Checklists
Monthly Accounting Tasks
__ Post receipts.
__ Balance checkbook.
__ Pay credit card.
__ Reconcile credit card statement.
__ Send invoices.
__ Update your mileage log.
__ Check income and expenses against spending plan.

Freelancers: Query Ahead
___ Send queries four to six months ahead (September, October, and November). 
For a list of calendars and holidays, click here.

Freelancers: Writer's Clips
__ Review your Clips Index and Clips Detail Sheets. Add new clips and fill in any missing information.
__ Next, dash to the copy center, and make copies of the
clips you have on paper. Or, as one very organized Writer-
Reminders reader suggested: scan and print your clips.
__ Update your web site with the most current clips (with
permission first, of course).

Freelancers: Submissions and Copyrights
___ Glance through the Expected Response Dates
on your Submission Tracker form. Is anything late? Do you
need to follow-up?
___ Do you need to register any copyrights? See http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ 

Happy writing (and organizing) this week! Julie

Like Organized Writer.com?  You'll love the ebook..... 


"Julie, I love your book. I have read (or at least opened) more than a trunk load of books about writing over the years. Yours is the first I have seen that gives readers so much in one place. For me, the Master List and putting that together was more than worth the cost."

-- David Stoddard
Motivational writer, trainer and publisher of the
Terrific Life Concepts ezine.
http://djstoddard.net
PRINTABLE CHECKLIST 
Click HERE for a separate screen for printing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRINTABLE CHECKLIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DRAW daily (Declutter-Read-Assess-Write)
What is this? 

M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)


Weekly Checklist

For freelance writers: Use this weekly checklist to find, write and send a query every week of 2004!

Monday
__ Make notes on a new idea.


Tuesday: Accounting Day
__ Post your accounting records.
__ Pay bills.
__ Follow up on outstanding invoices and queries.


Wednesday
__ Find a new market using links below.


Thursday: Errand Day
__ Make copies.
__ Return books to library.
__ Make deposit at bank.


Friday
__ Finish query and submit.
__ Match your query to the market.


Saturday Weekly Review
__ How was this week?
__ What's up next week?
__ Review your Projects list in your planner and check the
status.
__ Jot the next action steps for your projects on next week's
calendar.
__ Backup your computer files.
__ Virus scan your computer.
__ Update windows software at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
__ Update Microsoft(R)  office software at http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx


Sunday
__ Relax and enjoy!
__ Do something fun today!

JOB/MARKET LINKS 

Organized Writer's Guideline Database
Absolute Write's Market Archives
Writer's Weekly Jobs
Writing-World.com guidelines
Writing-World.com writers wanted
Funds for Writers - Jobs and Markets
Paying Markets List
Freelance Job Bank 
Writer's Write Writer's Guideline Directory
Writer's Digest - Market of the Day
Writer's Market.com (subscription only)
Writer Gazette Job Board
Writer Gazette Call for Submissions
Sell Writing Online
Writer's Crossing

 

Thanks for visiting Writer-Reminders! If you have comments,
success stories, or suggestions, reply to this message or e-mail
me at :julie@writer-reminders.com

- Julie


Writer-Reminders.com: reminders for all writers who want
more time to write. http://Writer-Reminders.com

OrganizedWriter.com: tips and tools for your writing
business. http://OrganizedWriter.com
 


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2004 Calendar

Did you get your 2004 Writer's Calendar?  

It has inspirational quotes, my monthly routines, and places to record your monthly writing goals. 

Print it here and please telll your writing friends and discussion groups to help spread the word about OrganizedWriter.com.  Thanks!

  

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