Tools for the business of writing

by Julie Hood

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"This is a book no writer should be without..."  
---
Michael Knowles,  WriteThinking.net.

A Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly Bestseller!

The Organized Writer's 
30-Day Plan

Section One:  Let's Get Organized
Day 1 Your Organizing Personality
Day 2 Your Master List
Day 3 The Sidetracked Writer's 
Planner
Day 4 What Works for You

Section Two:  Time
Day 5 Make Your Time Map
Day 6 Goals? Who Me?
Day 7 Assign Your Activities

Section Three:  Workspace
Day 8 Your Writespace
Day 9 What's in Those File Drawers?

Section Four: Online Workspace
Day 10 Your Most Time-Saving Tool
Day 11 Communicate on the Web
Day 12 Writer on the Web
Day 13 Books and Magazines, EVERYWHERE
Day 14 Find Your Favorites

Section Five:  Idea to Query
Day 15 Capture Those Ideas
Day 16 Research and Clippings
Day 17 Target Your Market
Day 18 A Guideline Database Just for You
Day 19 Writer's Clips
Day 20 Quick Queries
Day 21 Email Queries
Day 22 Track Your Submissions

Section Six:  Manuscript to Payment
Day 23 The Perfect Manuscript
Day 24 Show Me the Money
Day 25 Taxes Made Easy
Day 26 More Taxes?!? Self-Employment and Estimated Taxes

Section Seven:  What Else?
Day 27 Update Your Skills
Day 28 Make Your Household Hum

Section Eight:  Go Forward...Organized!
Day 29 Rework Your Time
Day 30 What's Next?
 

 

  Read Reviews


The Organized Writer:  
30 Days to More Time, More Money, and Less Frustration 
   
Dallas Franklin, Sell Writing Online

Whether you already consider yourself to be organized or not, Julie Hood's 'The Organized Writer: 30 Days to More Time, More Money, and Less Frustration' will take you by the hand and simplify your writing life. Julie leads you through everything; from implementing files to research and then all the way through from that 'published' word to taxes. No doubt the most comprehensive guide I've read on getting organized and staying that way.

This is all done on a day-to-day basis until a month later you're set up and living a life that's clutter-free. It's not a book to be read straight through, but rather laid out so that one can implement each procedure daily until it's completed. When you've completed the book on day 30, believe me, you'll be organized.

All the hard work has been taken out of it as Julie provides all sorts of templates and calendars and even captured images of various computer windows to lead you through with ease. It's definitely user-friendly. Those of you who aren't of the organized type who often say 'Where do I begin?' will be shown from start to finish and you'll never have to ask that question again. Even if you are organized I know you'll still find many valuable pointers she offers. Julie is most definitely organized.

And she doesn't stop there. Julie also provides you with links to help you set up an author's page, buy a domain name, plus links that help you do html editing. But those things are just icing on the cake. She shares tips on setting up your workspace to make it comfortable and also work for you. Julie even suggests having some fun toys around to help you reel in those creative muses.

Get your printer ready because you're sure to find many things to print off that are provided in the guidebook. These are excellent time-savers. Everything from ideas, clips, manuscripts, and even accounting made easy. Julie makes organizing easy without feeling like it's a chore. Once you're set up, you're free to let your mind do what you love to do. Write! Then checking your daily planner keeps you on track and increases your publishing sales. What more could a writer ask for?

I highly recommend this guidebook and give it a top rating of 10!


©2003 Dallas Franklin

Rating Scale: 1-10 (10 being the best)
Rating 10

 

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More Comments

"The Organized Writer is a must for writers finding themselves buried in piles of paper.  Hood has broken down the steps of organization in an easy to understand format just for us."
-- Diana Brandmeyer, author of Inspiration romance and children's books

Read more....

 


April Chase, Ebook-reviews.net


This handy guidebook offers tips and advice on how organize your writing career as efficiently as possible. Whether you are a full-time freelancer or trying to balance writing with a day job, the information in The Organized Writer will help you maximize your space and time – and preserve your sanity. 

 

Designed to be used as a daily workbook, with a different organizational task each day, the book uses six very important rules as background. The first rule, "Work With Yourself, Not Against Yourself," is a terribly critical concept which organizing systems often overlook. There is no point telling someone to put all their piles of paper in file folders if really, they prefer piles – and Hood recognizes this. "Organizing is a skill that can be learned and should be adapted to fit the way you think and work," she writes.

 

Hood mentions another very salient point in Rule 3, "Invest Your Time." Although we often try to cut corners time wise by putting off unpleasant tasks (human nature!), she encourages writers, "Be willing to invest a block of time if it will save you hours of frustration later." This advice is particularly important in regard to the tasks she assigns for days 23 through 26 of her program – organizing your billing, payment and tax records.

 

In order for writing to be considered a business, rather than a hobby, you must pass certain tests designed by the IRS to weed out those less-than-serious dabblers. Hood offers some excellent pointers on how to make sure you meet these criteria, but make no mistake - this is work! For most writers, the ideas and queries and actual writing come much easier than sending out late payment notices and filing receipts. However, to get the maximum financial return on your considerable investment of time and effort, all those "business-y" tasks must be done. Hood attempts to make it as painless as possible.

 

Her final rule, "Work Forward," is another deceptively simple but crucial point. Don't beat yourself up over what you used to do, just move forward. And don't exhaust yourself trying to fix all your old files and old manuscripts and so on. Work forward. See how much guilt and anguish this little gem could potentially save you?

 

The book has forms for all the tasks assigned, from a master list of organizational categories, to daily calendars, query tracking pages, lists of books to read and office supplies to buy. There are even pre-printed tabs for hanging folders that follow her system. But if you already have a planner, never fear, her system will still work – you don't have to start over. In fact, there are many similarities to the more popular planner systems, with writer-specific touches added.

 

There are several worksheets and quizzes, plus references to other books and websites for further information.  All in all, the format is fun, interactive and easy to follow. The whole program is very down-to-earth and reality based – for instance, if you can't afford a fancy desk, Hood suggests two file cabinets topped by a hollow-core door as a cheap alternative. How many other time management programs accept the fact that not everybody can afford Napa leather folders for their papers and a designer armoire to stash their computer away?

 

There is a companion website and email newsletter for this book, offering additional tips and weekly encouragement. 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!

 

 

Sherry Ramsey, TheScriptorium.net, and author of Everything a Writer Needs to Know:

Sometimes it seems like we're always trying to get more organized. Organize the house better, or the office, or even just the desk. Organize the finances, organize your household's schedule, organize your closet. There's lots of help and advice out there to assist us, if we need it--but do we need organization to be better writers? Aren't writers supposed to be free-spirited, creative, messy types?

Well, maybe. But serious writers know that writing is also a business, and to run any business properly, there has to be a modicum of organization. Julie Hood's excellent e-book, The Organized Writer, can help you achieve the organization you need to be more productive as a writer, and it even takes into account that creative spirit.

The book sets you on a 30-day path to better use of your time--an hour each day--so it magically makes you begin to feel more organized from the very start. You have a goal, and you know when you're going to arrive there. Among other things, you'll create a flexible, customizable planner to help you get organized and stay that way, and the book includes loads of printable forms to fill it with. Quizzes and workbook exercises help you define areas in which you need more organizational help, and there are plenty of practical suggestions and sample forms you can use to help you get there.

You'll also create and learn to use a time map, develop a workspace conducive to actual work, learn strategies for working more efficiently on the web, and keep yourself organized no matter how many projects you have underway. As a companion to the book, a free weekly email reminder list is available at http://www.writer-reminders.com/.

Throughout, Julie Hood's style is friendly and encouraging, and continues to emphasize using all these tools in ways that best suit your own writing and organizing personality. By the time you reach the end of this book, you still might not be the most organized writer in the world--but you'll be the best-organized writer you can be, and you'll do it in a way that suits your personality and style. If you really want to organize your writing life (and maybe the rest of your life, too) this practical and positive e-book is a must-have!

What's the most common complaint among writers? "I never have time to write!" They spend their time reading, researching, generating article ideas, writing queries, following up, filing, note-taking, doing their taxes, making phone calls and hundreds of other time-eating tasks... and none of that sounds like actual writing, does it?

If you make your living as a writer, all that administrative time and energy can mean a serious loss of income. After all, the less time you spend writing, the less money you make.

With short, easy-to-digest chapters for each day of the month, The Organized Writer shows you how to streamline your day, your writing process, and your life, allowing you to do more of what you love...writing." - Julie Hood, The Organized Writer

  

 

Kim Wilson, WritefromHome.com:

If you need help getting your writing life organized then The Organized Writer is for you. Author and mom to an infant, Julie Hood knows firsthand the challenges of trying to write while being a mother, wife and having a household to maintain. Hood also understands being organized is a key to productivity.

Packed with practical tips and suggestions The Organized Writer is not simply a book to read, but rather a workbook designed as a map to guide you into becoming better organized, ultimately increasing your productivity and income.

In this book you'll discover your 'organizational personality' and the methods that will best work for you. You'll receive numerous types of forms designed to streamline your business as well as reducing clutter. Some of the forms include:

  • Idea Grabbers
  • Clip Detail Sheet
  • Submission Tracker
  • Project Detail Sheet
  • Publication Analyzer

For $14.95 this e-book is a great product to help you organize your writing life.

 

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