Video Transcript: 

Welcome to another or writing vlog week. So I am here to catch you up on what I’ve been doing. It’s a new week. New goals are set and I’m ready to accomplish as many as I can .This week my main tasks are a lot of marketing tasks for my nonfiction book that’s coming out in August, 2021. I have not given too many details about this project yet, but I will very, very soon.

[00:01:03] So I have been sort of winding down the editing part of the book, it’s almost ready to go. It’s with my final round of critique partners, I have two more critique partners to hear back from. And then later this month it goes to my proofreader and then it’s ready to go. So as this is my first adventure with self-publishing, I’m very, very excited about the process, but there is literally so much to do. Being a publisher

[00:01:29] I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I am just every day constantly like, oh, I need to do this. Oh, I need to do that. And my list just keeps getting longer and longer and longer. So I am a big list person. So that’s fine for me, but I am hoping to streamline this process as I keep going forward self-publishing books.

[00:01:49] So I’ve been making this big, big template for launching a book, basically starting from the inception of the idea through after the book is published and any other promotion and things like that that I want to do after it’s already out there. And I’m so happy to be starting with this book, because it’s really a culmination of everything that I’ve been doing.

[00:02:13]It’s not necessarily a writing craft book, but it does have to do with publishing and something to do with publishing in that sense. That’s all I can give you right now. I’m sorry to be a tease, but I promise you we’ll be getting more information very, very soon. I would say within the next few weeks, so be sure to subscribe and ring the notification bell

[00:02:33] so you know the absolute first moment that I released this information. So this morning I have been working on creating, well, more finalizing a reader magnet. So a reader magnet is basically usually they’re at the end of a book where you say, especially with nonfiction, there’s usually like some sort of task list or checklist or something like that, that readers can download if they sign up for your newsletter.

[00:03:01] So that is something authors do to cultivate a list of readers who are very interested in their book. Obviously if they loved the book and they downloaded the checklist, hopefully they’re interested in you as the author. So I created a checklist. I’m not quite ready to finalize it as of yet, because as I said, I do have critique partner feedback and the checklist sort of follows the structure of the book.

[00:03:25] So I want to make sure that everything is in place, but I have been doing a lot of things to set it up. So if I do need to make any changes, it’s going to be really easy changes. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. And also I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and they’re at the similar point in marketing their book as I am.

[00:03:43] And we were talking about media kits and I’m like , which is, could also be a press kit. And I’m like, oh, I didn’t have that on my list. So I started working on that this morning as well. So my checklist is in Canva and so is the press kit. I want to make it look all pretty for any promotional type opportunities that come up.

[00:04:04] I can just quickly send it to them. It has all the information about the book, all the information about me, my socials, my YouTube channel, my podcasts, things like that. So once I create it, it’s pretty much done. And then I would just update it with all my books as I keep publishing. So yeah, I just I’m so overwhelmed with everything, but I’m so, so excited and I’m so excited to reveal the topic of this

[00:04:27] book and also the cover. And just to put this out in the world, because I really think at least based on my research with this topic, that it will help a lot of authors, a lot of hopeful, aspiring published authors, and also authors who have published before it is getting so hard to be very vague.

[00:04:51]But I may throw a spoiler or two in here. So keep an eye out. Yeah, so that’s where I’m at this week. And I always get to a point in my publication process where like the draft is done and the edits are done and everything. And then it’s like marketing mode and I just. I feel like I’m not doing as much, but all of it is still important, but I am to a point where I’m like, hmm I’m not as busy, but I know when I get back to drafting or editing or things like that I’ll be like, Hmm, I wish I had more time to do marketing.

[00:05:23] So I’m just taking this a step at a time as this is my first time doing this. And I’m just trying to not feel as overwhelmed. So in that vein, as we are getting to the end of the quarter, I think my main focus for this week, other than doing a few preparatory marketing tasks and dealing with any critique partner feedback that comes to me is that I’m going to be working on my quarterly goals for quarter three of 2021.

[00:05:49] So I’m a big quarterly goal person. I absolutely rave about the HB 90 course that Sarra Cannon puts on every quarter basically. And I think it’s actually happening next week the live version, but I may just go through it on my own. I just get very overwhelmed, and I like to do things at my own pace.

[00:06:09] And also too, since I’ve taken the course twice already, because you get full access forever once you buy it. There’s a lot of preparatory things that I don’t think I need to do. And I did put out a video last quarter about Joanna Penn’s book, ‘Your Author Business Plan’. And I have incorporated that into my process as well as

[00:06:30]the HB 90 method. So I sort of cobbled them together in something that makes sense to my head. And I’m going to do that this week because next week I will be posting a video all about my recap of quarter two and also what I’m doing for quarter three. And as I am releasing a book in the next quarter, and the quarter after that, I think my list is going to be a lot bigger than it used to be.

[00:06:52] And I really, really want to dive into the minutia of what I need to be doing every time I release a self-published book, because I don’t want to forget anything. I want to streamline this process. I want to make it as easy as possible so that I do have more time for the writing, but I also do understand that the marketing aspect of marketing a book is important as well.

[00:07:13] So that’s all I have for you right now. And I’ll check in with you soon. So I’m back. It’s much, much later in the day and kiddo is in bed and I’m going to work a little bit on my goals video. As I said, I am incorporating it into my author business plan. So I reviewed the previous video I did, and something is sort of bothering me.

[00:07:38] Like, I feel like sometimes when I do these videos, it’s like a totally different person doing it because this quarter has been so different than my initial plan and that’s okay. And I feel okay when  things like that change, but there was one goal that’s like bothering me, cause it’s not really a goal, but I think I had just been like super overwhelmed at the time.

[00:08:03] And it was like, I need to do three goals. That last one, wasn’t really a goal, which you’ll see next week, which I will explain. But as I go into review of next quarter I only have two goals. And I think in previous quarters that might’ve scared me to say, you don’t have enough going on. You got to do more.

[00:08:22] But I think with my non-fiction release, I have a lot on my plate. So I am going to really, really focus on that one . And then more of the initial release of ‘Soul Taken’. So that is releasing October of this year, crossing my fingers, that that’s still the case. I will have a majority of the production slash marketing done by the end of quarter three.

[00:08:47] So having these two goals will, I suppose, help keep me on track. It’s a very strange year. And with self-publishing for the first time first and second time this year, I am trying to really take it slow as slow as I feel comfortable with. And I think all of the things will come together. In the past, I’ve had goals with YouTube and socials and things like that, but like, other times that I released books, I really don’t focus on the numbers as much because the books are the things that bring the numbers.

[00:09:27] And I can’t worry about that. I can’t worry about subscriber count. I can’t worry about followers and things like that because I’m here as an author and I’m here to spread the love for books and reading. And I just need to focus on that. I need to focus on the thing. You are not here to just be another number you were here to possibly learn, or just be a part of the journey when it comes to my books right now, I’m taking a little step back from a lot of the socials part of it.

[00:10:02] And I, as I mentioned before, with the ebb and flow of writing and editing versus marketing, I feel like there is a natural ebb and flow to what’s important in terms of community versus like really focusing on the project. And I can’t do both at once. And I think I learned that from watching my previous quarter video that I can’t, I can’t do all of the things and that’s okay.

[00:10:31] It’s constantly a learning process and I’m totally fine with that. I’m always excited at the end of a quarter to look back at my goals and just see where I was and then how I changed throughout the process. I don’t know. It’s very exciting to me. I know I’m nerding out about planning and goals and stuff.

[00:10:51] This last quarter has been quite an eye-opener for me, and I’m very, very excited about future prospects with the books I’m publishing. And I also had some bit of a crisis this afternoon about my publishing, nothing crazy, you know, it’s first world problems author world problems in terms of what I want to release next after ‘Soul Taken’..

[00:11:17] So I’m still figuring that out. I’m not going to include it in my quarterly goals because I have a very, very clear focus on what I want to do next quarter. And it’s finally fitting my schedule and it’s finally fitting me, and I feel overwhelmed yet not overwhelmed because I usually would just put all of these things on my plate

[00:11:43] and then not be able to do everything or just do part of everything. But I know because I only have two goals and I know because I am going to achieve these two goals, that all of the things that I’m planning will come to fruition. And I think this is the first time that I’ve like, publicly put quarterly goals out there that this is going to happen.

[00:12:06] So I’m very excited. So I’m going to work on my script for that video, more of an outline, just the recap and the review, and really try to dig into the minutia as much as I can, because even though I’m putting up the goal’s video, the actual video will not give away too many spoilers. It may give away one or two things.

[00:12:29] So I’m going to work on that right now. And I’ll check in with you saying.

[00:13:01] Well, hello, we’re back at nighttime again, because I just have no time to do anything. So I wanted to catch you up. I filmed a little bit this morning and I wanted to catch you up on a few things. First of all, the elephant in the room and the elephant on my face. I had a sunspot lasered off my face today, so it’s probably going to be

[00:13:21] not great looking for a little bit. They said about seven to 10 days before it maybe looks normal. So there’s nothing wrong, not cancerous, anything like that. But I did want to point that out because in the last clip. I did not have that going on. This morning, as you saw in the previous clip, I worked on some critique partner feedback for my non-fiction book.

[00:13:43] I was so, so excited to get it back very early from my critique partner, Julie. She had such wonderful things to say about the book, which really gives me a lot of confidence with this book as it is my first nonfiction. I just go back and forth on like, who would ever read this book? Who cares? And she’s very genuine in her feedback.

[00:14:03] And obviously there was critical feedback as well, which I always expect. And there were things that I completely agreed with and things that I missed. So that’s so, so awesome. So I ended up sending a revised version to my last critique partner, and hopefully I’ll hear back by the end of this week or early next

[00:14:21] week so that I can get it all ready for my proofread. I can’t believe I’m so close to publication, but I can’t think about that too much or else I might explode. So that crisis sort of author-ly situation that was discussing last night, I sort of figured it out. It’s not 100% perfect in my mind in terms of reverting some of my backlist as I will continue to do since some of my backlist

[00:14:48] is not selling as well as I want. And I think I can find a way to combine those books into a current series that I’m doing. It’s so up in the air right now, it may change from day to day. But I think I figured out that crisis that I was discussing yesterday. So that’s very freeing to my mind right now, but it’s one of those things that is not going to occur at all

[00:15:14] probably in the next, the rest of the year, at least. So it’s just one of those things I keep in the back of my mind, and I’ll move forward as I move forward. Another thing I did today, I was just scouring the internet for press kits or media kits. I had previously had done them in word, but some of my self-published author friends have these beautiful media kits that they did in Canva.

[00:15:41] And I want to incorporate that into my process. I want to have really nice PDFs that I can send to other podcasts and YouTube channels and things like that, so that I can appear presentable when it comes to my books and myself. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what template I wanted to have for my backlist titles.

[00:16:02] I’m not going to necessarily do what’s called a tear sheet or a one sheet. So that’s basically one sheet that gives an overview of a particular book. And I didn’t want to do that for all of my books. My backlist titles, I love them and everything, but they don’t need to have as much put into them as that, because usually I’m not marketing my back list because

[00:16:29] front list sales back backlist. So I’m moving forward. So anything moving forward, I will create this one sheet or tear sheet, especially for my nonfiction book, especially because I do want to be pitching podcasts and YouTube channels and bookstagrammars, and influencers in the writing community to talk about this book.

[00:16:49] So I just want it to come off as professional as possible. So I finally. I figured out this template. I don’t know why it was killing me. I’m a very visual person and not artistic. So when I have a concept I want, I need to look at other people’s visuals. And I had found a media kit from  another author in the past

[00:17:10] who had pitched me for being on my YouTube channel and also some examples online, but I ended up with a beautiful template that I really like, it’s very, very simple, but it does the job, and it gets me moving in this process cause I hate feeling stagnant where it’s like I’ve been working on a media kit for a couple of days now and it’s like, all right, just let’s figure this out.

[00:17:33] So that’s pretty much all I did today. Right now I am going to continue working on that media kit. I am also going to be watching The Handmaid’s Tale because a new episode came out today on Hulu and I just cannot get enough of this show. I’m going to work on that. I’m going to watch some Handmaid’s tale and then I’m going to go to bed.

[00:17:51] So I’ll probably see you in the morning. Yes, we’re in a time jump and yes, I am still wearing the same clothes as I was last night. Don’t judge. I have a sick kiddo at home today, so I have not really done a lot, other than all of the caring stuff that goes along with that. This morning, I ended up finishing my media kit.

[00:18:12] I added a bunch of reviews from previous reviewers and Net galley, things like that, bloggers. I added all the ISBN’s  to all of the information. I prettied it up a little bit. I am waiting on several blurbs or testimonials from my critique partners, and I have a whole page for those. So that’s all I really had time to do this morning.

[00:18:39] To be honest, I don’t have anything else planned to do this morning. And thankfully not because I had to take care of kiddo. So my next task, and probably will finish out this week is working on my resources list for this book. I love the idea of other books that I’ve read, where you access the resource list.

[00:19:01] Yes, it’s in the back of the book, but when you have a paperback, it’s really difficult for people to move from the paperback and look up every single resource on their own. So what I wanted to do is create a resources page on my website, and so I’ll be able to update it whenever I want and just keep that link in the paperback or any physical copies that I have, and then be able to update it on my website.

[00:19:26] So that’s on my agenda. So it’s not really a lot going on. As I said, I’m in that sort of weird area where my book is out with critique partners. So it’s not like I can go in and do formatting or anything like that. It’s just a waste of time, basically, since it has to be fixed any issues that the critique partner brings up

[00:19:44] I have to fix, and then it goes to the proofreader, and I know there’ll be things I need to fix there, there is a live stream today that I didn’t think I was going to be able to make, but kiddo is sleeping right now. So it’s happening very soon in case you hadn’t seen this video. I absolutely love the newsletter ninja and I joined their Facebook group and I’m so, so excited that there actually will be a newsletter ninja two

[00:20:12] book coming out soon and it’s all about automations. And that was the biggest thing that I was anticipating after a newsletter ninja one, I’m very excited for that. And these live streams happen once a month. And it’s more to talk about questions that crop up in the group, but they’re very targeted toward newsletters.

[00:20:28] And I think this is just something that I’m constantly learning. I’m constantly trying to figure out. So I’m excited for that and to learn a little more, I haven’t made any of the other live streams, so I feel like if a question popped up that I wanted to ask. I can just ask it outright and not have to wait for another month.

[00:20:44] I’m very excited for that. So I’m going to go, I’ll check in with you soon. Hey, so it’s a couple of days later and I wanted to catch you up on things that I’ve been doing. My weekends, I just totally lose track of time with my family. So I figured I would give you an update right now really quickly. So I finished my author business plan.

[00:21:07] I reviewed it for this quarter, and I looked over all my goals that I want to do for this next quarter. And it is quite a list and I’m very, very excited to start going through it. For some reason, when I do these long-term plans, even if it’s just a quarter, I like to work on paper. So I have a quarter three printout, and I have been switching back and forth, which is why I love my Frixon erasable pens, because I have been racing and rewriting a lot.

[00:21:37] I have a plan in place, and I am so, so excited to start the next quarter, even though there’s a little bit left of this quarter as well, but since I’ve already planned all of that, I did want to mention one of the plans that I had for this quarter was to finish my nonfiction book. I’ve had all of my critique partner feedback.

[00:21:57] I have implemented it all and I just pressed send to my proofreader. So it is so close, and I did it about a week early. I don’t know if they’re able to squeeze me in and if not, that’s totally fine. I have other things I need to be doing. I’ve been updating my website with my resources lists. And also creating some extras as part of the book.

[00:22:19] So it was just a lot of little things. So next week you will be able to see a culmination of all of my goals for recap from this quarter and also a review for next quarter. And if you enjoyed this video, do you give it a big thumbs up because it really helps me out, hit that subscribe button and the little notification bell next to it

[00:22:36] so you know the next time I upload, and I’ll see you next week.