By Beth Groundwater
I'm sure many of my fellow Midnight Ink authors are going to relate to this post, because most of us are writing a series and many of us are writing more than one series. What that means is that at any given moment in time, like the juggler above, we have multiple balls (book projects) in the air, that all demand a piece of our attention.
Right now, I am frantically editing the third manuscript for my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, that I am calling Cataract Canyon. It is due in April, and I have multiple critiques to respond to. My critique group has been giving me feedback a couple of chapters at a time, and has four chapters to go. Also, my agent and a trusted fellow mystery author are reading the full manuscript. My agent has already sent me some suggestions, and I'm expecting more from her and those from my author friend soon. Then, I'll somehow have to merge all of the fixes from all of those critiques into one coherent manuscript in less than a month. Eek!
At the same time, I have another ball in the air, the release in May of the second book in the RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, Wicked Eddies. For that, I need to design and print bookmarks, prepare blog posts for blogs that I'll visit to promote that release, schedule booksignings at bookstores and whitewater festivals and get those appearances listed on my website, plan travel to mystery conferences and writing workshops and prepare panel presentations and speeches, and much more.
How do I manage? Every morning, I look at my long, long to-do list, find the long-pole items that need to be completed first for other things to happen, or tasks that take a long time and should be chipped away at, or tasks that are due very soon, and put those on my daily to-do list. For instance, here's what I did yesterday and the day before.
I need to get an email newsletter out soon to my subscribers. But for that to happen, I need to list my appearances on my website because I'll be referring to those in the newsletter, which means I need to finalize them. So, phone calls to bookstore owners went on the list, as did finalizing travel plans to the Malice Domestic conference and the Festival of Mystery. And, I emailed the latest winner of my email newsletter subscriber contest, because the announcement of her win will go in the newsletter. Also, I edited the first two chapters of Cataract Canyon (again) based on my agent's feedback, and I will edit the next two today. Lastly, I had to write this post, because it was due today. Then there's the daily email and social networking to get through. And there's the rest of my life--laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and a couple of hours of skiing for exercise.
Every day I have decisions to make, too, about promotion opportunities, requests from fellow writers for advice, blurbs, blog visits, etc., and other demands for my time. I've learned to never say yes right away. Instead, I let the request lie in my inbox or in my voice mail for awhile. Then, when I get a breather between my scheduled tasks, I go back to my to-do list and calendar and make a realistic assessment about how important the request is and whether I can cram the new task into my schedule.
You may think that after May, I get a breather. But no. Hovering in the air are two more book project balls. I need to do a final edit of the third book in my Claire Hanover Gift Basket Designer mystery series, that I'm calling Basketful of Troubles, by its due date in August. Then, there's promotion to be planned for the re-release of the second book in that series, To Hell in a Handbasket, in November. Then the cycle begins again for the RM Outdoor Adventures series!
Many of my non-author friends think that because I can schedule my own time, I have a lot of free time. That's not the case by a long-shot. My writing career is a full-time job, and I work at least forty hours a week at it. That means that if I go skiing in the morning, I'm writing a blog post at 9 PM, like I'm doing now.
So, what about you? How do you keep those balls in the air in your life?
17 comments:
Wow!! Um... you ARE busy! I'm just starting out, working on getting the first Mallen book finished by mid-May. There's a large part of me that would LOVE to be working on multiple series (something I'm aiming for), HOWEVER, your post is overwhelming with all you have to deal with. I'm learning so much! Right now, I'm starting to find that juggling my day job with my writing job is a lot, as my writing job is (happily!) taking off. I tip my hat to you!
Well, RK, the big time advantage I have over you is that I don't have a "day job." Writing IS my day job.
I have the same problems, Beth. Have one book ready to come out so am busily promoting and planning promotion, reading another to my critique group and fixing as I go along, and writing a brand new one in my other series. And yes, I do all those social media things too. Phew! It wears me out writing about it.
I've dropped the ball on a lot of my projects but after reading this post it's time to dust my keyboard off.
Pam
Marilyn,
I've always admired your ability to juggle your series. You've been at it a lot longer than me, so I'm sure you've got some useful tips to share.
Pam,
Yes, dust that keyboard off and get writing!
I agree that prioritizing what MUST be done each day helps keep things rolling. There is so much to being a working writer that takes time away from WRITING! But I'm not really complaining~
I'm not multi-tasking for two series, but for two genres. I have to pull my head out of history and plug it back in for contemporary suspense. My historicals are light and my contemporaries rather dark at times. It's not so much time to organize, but the jumps from 19th to 21st centuries that do my head in.
Yes, Marni, you've got to prioritize daily, and you've got to make sure the healthy stuff is in there, too. One thing I know I need to schedule more of is exercise!
Yes, Vonnie, I find the jump between a 27-year-old river ranger and a 47-year old gift basket designer to be disconcerting. I don't know what I'd do if I was also changing time periods! At least both of my series are set in NOW.
Well, honestly, I don't juggle very well. But I do have a good attitude and enjoy watching the colorful balls bounce when they hit the floor.
You are doing a great job Beth. I see your fingerprints all over the web.
My novel, Vagilantes, published this month. I hope I can learn to juggle as well as you. Thanks for the reality check.
Great post, Beth. I can relate. I don't have to worry about juggling fiction genres, but I do have to juggle my novel, my books about project management and QuickBooks, and other assignments. Being a project manager, maintaining a prioritized list complete with which tasks depend on which other tasks is second nature.
I use an electronic sticky note that stays on the right side of my right-hand monitor. I keep the bulk of my to-dos on there and move items up to the top for "today's" list. Seeing the tasks on a regular basis helps me remember that they will be due sometime soon.
Thanks, Julie & Unknown, for your comments! I, too, used to be a project manager, a software project manager, and that organizational skill is ingrained in me by now, I guess. It's just liked editing--you first see problems in other people's writing before finding them in your own. And, after managing other people's work, you can finally manage your own. ;-)
I have to admit that that boggles my mind, Beth--I admire your ability to work in multiple fictive worlds like that...
Unfortunately, I can completely identify, Beth. I'm currently working on my third novel for Berkley Prime Crime while about to start the editorial cycle on the second while trying to market three self-pubbed novels, and intermittently taking on investigation and editing contracts. Oh yeah, and trying to have a life, getting a little hiking & kayaking in when I can. When I absolutely have to get something done at a certain time, I write notes on my bathroom mirror in eraseable marker. Hard to ignore those, especially at eye level. Other than that, I just put my butt in the chair and try to keep my fingers on the keyboard as long as I can.
I've been moaning about how busy I am and totally frustrated with all the juggling, but now I'm feeling like a total slacker. I need to lie down and take a nap - something I never ever do. :-)
You authors who are juggling two series are incredible. It's all about doing what you love and setting priorities, and I know you love every minute of your writing life, Beth.
Well, at least its comforting to know other authors have a frantic life I can certainly relate to. I appreciate your sharing. Is it all too much? In the early morning, (around 5:00), no. But when I finish a day with stuff still on the "to-do" list, it sometimes is. Unlike you, however, I wouldn't be writing my blog at 9:00. I shut work down around 5:30 and spend the rest of the evening fixing supper, doing a few other chores, spending time with my husband watching PBS, and reading. I'm often working, even then, however, with story ideas chasing each other inside my head.
Beth, you're preachin' to the choir, here, lol. I have to promote both my books and my day job as well as the classes I teach at a local bookstore, plus find time for writing, seeing clients, preparing class materials, etc. Sometimes, I have to remind myself which hat I'm wearing...but I'm ever so grateful to be doing(or, at least, trying to do) it all!
Post a Comment