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.
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).
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:
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.
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
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!
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
Your privacy is very important to me. Your email address will never be
sold by Writer-Reminders. For more on Yahoo's privacy policy, visit http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/
Copyright 2002-2004 Finally Organized LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. This
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professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be
sought.
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