|
Take
the 2003 WOW Challenge! WEEK FOUR |
|
Welcome to Week Four!
Let's get going....
Thought for the Week
- The Construction Zone
Have you ever noticed how frustrating a construction zone can be? The traffic slows to a crawl, the road is bumpy, and the drivers are grouchy. The orange caution signs are everywhere distracting you. This goes on and on
for weeks or months because it takes so long to rebuild a road.
Then, finally, it's all done, and you sail through the new road. It's smooth, and there's hardly any traffic. You're glad they fixed the road because now it saves you so much time, and you can't quite remember why the construction part
was so annoying.
Investing time in your writing business is a lot like a construction zone. It's such a pain to set up your new filing system or your writing space. But once it's done, you're always asking, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" You sail through the weekly chores just like
a car on a brand new road.
This week I've got tons of ways for you to invest. It's mail, accounting, and taxes week. Don't worry if you quit the 30-day plan a few days back -- just jump back in when something appeals to you.
I'm so excited about Sunday's Write and Market Your Book! You're in for a treat - an interview with Shirley Jump, freelance writer of over 3000 articles, nonfiction author, and fiction writer who just released her first novel, The Virgin's Proposal. I loved this book and included a review for you below.
|
|
Happy Writing!
Julie Hood
julie@organizedwriter.com
|
|
|
|
|
Mon, Jan 20, 2003
Day Twenty - Quick Queries by Mail
|
If you didn't catch it last week, here are my favorite solutions for sending snail mail:
Spend less time waiting in line at the post office.
1. Buy a postal
scale.
2. Order stamps for a small service charge at 1-800-STAMP24.
3. Use the online postage calculators for US
postage or for all
calculators:
4. Save time by dropping your queries in the mailbox instead of standing in line at the post office!
BOOK
Day 20. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, p. 121. Paper p. 115.
Read about ways to send queries more quickly:
1. Create a Query Template.
2. Print the Query Checklist to makes sure you don't forget anything.
3. Learn how to make four different snazzy letterhead styles in Word.
4. Learn the difference between full block, modified block and semi-block letter styles.
|
Tue, Jan 21, 2003
Day Twenty-One - Email Queries
|
Have you heard of Spam Assassin? It's a fairly new software used by many email providers to filter a lot of the junk that comes in your email. It performs a bunch of tests against your messages and rates each one on the likelihood it is
spam. Your email administrator sets a spam level, for example, a 5.0. Then any messages that rate higher than a 5.0 are declared
spam.
The rating is less than scientific, however, and sometimes good messages are thrown out with the spam (if you're interested, here is the
technical list of tests performed against the
messages).
Several companies are providing a content checker service to let you test your messages against the SpamAssassin software. I checked the Writer-Reminders newsletter against them and was very pleased with the result from
Lyris. Writer-Reminders rated a 2.4:
http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker/
BOOK
Day 21. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, page 127. Paper, page 121.
1. Create your Query Cheat File.
2. Create a Query Template.
|
Wed, Jan 22, 2003
Day Twenty-Two - Track Your Submissions
|
When did you contact that editor? What did you send them? When should you follow-up?
Add just a couple rules to your life and all this frustration can be eliminated.
1. Every time you send a query, list it on the Submission Tracker form that came with your planner. Assign it a number.
2. Pick a follow up date, and list it on your calendar as "Follow up on query #12." When that date shows up, all the details are listed on the Submission Tracker form.
BOOK
Day 22. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, page 130. Paper, page 124.
1. Find out about three other electronic solutions for tracking your submissions.
2. Find out what a tickler is and how to set it up.
3. Get a sample letter for removing an article from consideration.
|
Thu, Jan 23, 2003
Day Twenty-Three - The Perfect Manuscript
|
How readable are your manuscripts? Did you know
Microsoft(TM) Word can give you a summary of your readability?
It's a bit of a challenge to find it, but here's how in Word 2000:
1. Click on Tools > Options.
2. Select the Spelling and Grammar tab.
3. Select "Show readability statistics" at the bottom.
4. Then run the Spelling and Grammar checker with either F7 or Tools > Spelling and Grammar... Your readability statistics should be listed at the bottom.
I ran The Construction Zone essay through the readability option and came up with grade 5.8! It also lists word count, character count, number of paragraphs, number of sentences, and average lengths.
If this doesn't work for your version of Word, go to help and type in "readability" for instructions.
Monthly task:
___ Do you need to register any copyrights? See http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
BOOK
Day 23. Acrobat p. 134, Paper p. 128.
1. Print a proofreading checklist for each manuscript.
2. Learn how to create a manuscript template.
3. Find out what you should do to keep an editor happy.
|
Fri, Jan 24, 2003
Day Twenty-Four - Show Me the Money
|
Today it's time to invest some time in your accounting system! I know what you're thinking....paying bills, sending invoices, reconciling statements... I'm a writer, do I really have to do all those left-brain, business-y tasks? Yes, but I promise to try to make it as painless as I can!
First, determine how you are going to keep track of all this stuff -- paper or electronic? If you're going to use paper, you've got an Income and Expense Records form in your planner. If you buy my book, you get three forms, Expense Records, Credit Card Payments, and Income and Deposit Records.
I prefer electronic and bought Quicken Home and Business last year because it can send customized invoices. (They've since changed the name to Quicken Premier Home and Business). Here's the link to more info on the
Quicken site
and you can purchase it from OfficeMax.com.
Do you file your bills by type (credit card bills all together, bank statements in one file, etc.)? This is too time-consuming! I prefer to file by month. Everything that happens in January goes in the January folder. All the receipts are in their own envelope in that folder. I can always determine what month a transaction occurred, and then find the paper in that month.
Set up 12 folders - one for each month of 2003 (in the book, print page 171 for a hanging folder label for each month of the year). Now you have an easy place to file all your receipts, bill and statements.
The last trick is to make sure you stay on top of posting and reconciling. It's so easy to push this off when you get busy. I know I'd rather write! The weekly checklist below will help you remember, or set aside one day a month to deal with all these accounting tasks.
Monthly Accounting Tasks:
__ Post receipts.
__ Balance checkbook.
__ Pay credit card.
__ Reconcile credit card statement.
__ Send invoices.
If you aren't worn out yet, put together your Spending Plan for 2003 (doesn't Spending Plan sound much better than budget?). Make a column for each month of the year, estimate what your expenses are for each month, and determine the minimum number of books or articles you need to sell to break even. Then estimate how many you need for the income level you want. Don't forget your taxes!
BOOK
Day 24. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, p. 140. Paper, p. 134.
Read about quick and easy accounting rules for writers:
1. Learn the first thing you need to do to make it easier to do the accounting for your writing business.
2. Learn how to send professional invoices.
3. Determine what you need to track for taxes.
4. Review the eight questions to ask a potential accountant.
|
Sat, Jan 25,
2003
Day Twenty-Five - Taxes and More Taxes
|
It's 80 days until your taxes are due! Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Let's make sure that your taxes are done ahead of time this year, OK? No running around on April 14th trying to gather everything together. The focus for March is accounting and taxes, and I'll repeat last year's very popular one-week plan to finish your taxes.
What do you need to do today?
Start by having a place to keep everything. You should be getting lots of tax documents in the mail this month. Where are you keeping them? If you don't have it yet, make sure you have a Taxes 2002 folder. Here's a
checklist to help you gather
materials.
One last thing, put together a 2003 mileage log. If you can keep one in your car, and update it -- go for it! This is a fabulous system for tracking the mileage for your taxes, but unfortunately, it's too left-brain for me. I never remember to write stuff down in the car.
Here's what I do - On January 1, I write down my mileage for the beginning of the year. Then, once a month on the 25th since that's my taxes day, I look through my planner and jot down on my mileage log all the places I went over the past month that are business-related. Every once in a while, I go
to MapQuest.com, and get the mileage from my house to these different places. Then at the end of the year, I just add up all the visits.
Of course, ask your accountant how much detail and what kind of records you need.
Taxes Tasks for January:
___ Do you need to pay quarterly sales tax? Mine are due by the end of this month.
___ If you or your spouse have "regular" jobs, do you need to make any changes to your W-4 for 2003?
___ Do you have any life changes this
year? See
___ Review your calendar, and update your mileage log.
___ Watch the ads for specials on tax and accounting software combinations. For example, check out
OfficeDepot's tax
center.
BOOK
Days 25 and 26. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, p.144. Paper, p. 138.
1. Learn what five forms are commonly used by writers for their tax returns.
2. According to the IRS, is your writing a hobby or a business?
3. Read the basics about depreciation, the Section 179 deduction, home office deductions, and car expenses.
4. Determine if you need to pay self-employment taxes and/or make estimated tax payments.
5. Review the year-round tax planning calendar.
|
Sun, Jan 26,
2003
Day Twenty-Six - Write and Market Your Book!
|
My favorite part of this week's newsletter is perfect for Sunday! Have you heard of Shirley
Kawa-Jump? She's an incredibly talented writer who has written over 3000 freelance articles, non-fiction books, and just released her first romance novel, The Virgin's Proposal. She also teaches writing classes and has a fantastic web site for writers called
Writing Corner.
Find out how she juggles motherhood and her writing career and how she markets her books in her
interview with
OrganizedWriter.com.
|
Don’t you just love it when you get a new book, and it’s practically attached to your hip because you just can’t possibly wait to finish the whole story? You know the books... you read a paragraph at a stoplight, and you let the dishes wait, and the laundry piles up... just so you can find out what happens?
The Virgin’s Proposal by Shirley Jump is one of those books.
|
The Virgin's Proposal
(Silhouette Romance)
|
The heroine, Katie Dole, had me rooting for her from the very first page. She’s one of those women who survives a tumultuous past (is there anything worse than being left at the altar?) and a failing business only to have the man of her dreams pushing her away. The story is funny, touching, romantic, and with just enough twists to keep pages turning and the vacuum cleaner waiting.
Jump does an excellent job of hinting about Matt Webster, the rebel-turned-hero who returns home to Katie’s small town just as she vows to change her life. What happened to Matt eleven years ago? What happened to his baby? Why did he leave? Will he ever quit pretending?
Find out in The Virgin’s Proposal, now available from Silhouette Romance.
Read the chapter
that had me hooked or visit
Shirley's site to enter to win a copy of the
book.
You can buy the book from Amazon
or BN.com.
The best part? We can look forward to more fiction from Jump. Katie’s brother Matt stars in the sequel to The Virgin’s Proposal in December 2003. He’s up against the girl next door in a race to win an RV. She doesn’t play fair... and he doesn’t play games.
Only four days left! I can't believe how this month has flown by. I hope you feel at least a little more organized! We'll finish up next
week! Julie
Continue
with Week 5 ....
|
For
more tips, subscribe to the weekly newsletter: |
|
|
|
|
Buy
the ebook now - instant download - for only $14.95!
|
|
"The
information in The Organized Writer will
help you maximize your space and time –
and preserve your sanity....Although
it is difficult to form new habits and
even the idea of 'getting organized' can
seem painful, this book makes it sound
almost, well…fun. Give it a try!"
April Chase, eBook Reviews
Weekly
http://www.ebook-reviews.net
|
|
|
|
|
