Keeping up is tough
Sitting here writing this, I’m kicking myself. I sat down at 6:45, after dinner, to work on editing, but marketing has taken top billing. It’s now 9:15 and I haven’t even opened the document. That’s not to say I’ve been sitting here playing games or surfing the web. No, I’ve been in the social grind instead. One could argue that social media is just as important as the editing at this point. I’m not sure if I am going to make that argument, though.
It started with me updating the early access .pdf I put out for readers. Allowing them to dip a toe into the water of Leithu. It’s a 4-chapter, 30+ page document I am sharing to gain some early insight on the general pacing/structure of the book. A mini beta read, you could say. Well, in starting to edit that, I realized I also had an error in my MailerLite form too (I use MailerLite for my mailing list… MailChimp started charging too much, so I bailed.)
So while editing my mailing list forms, I realized… I don’t have a FEEDBACK form for my beta readers to provide me with solid feedback. I was reminded of this when Trev and I went back and forth on TikTok messenger this weekend, carving up chapter 2 (Well done, my friend, thank you). So I drove headlong into Google Forms to build out a fairly quick sheet for readers to provide me feedback on. I used this page from Stacy Claflin to start me off, and then added a few specifics for my needs. Since this .pdf is only 4 chapters (and zero romance), I had to update her list quite a bit.
Once the form was ready, I figured the easiest way to deliver it to readers of the early access document was to integrate it into a workflow in my email campaigns. I set up a few triggers, worked in some timing, and set up a condition for those who read (rather, clicked the link to read) the document to be invited to share their feedback. Perfect.
Then, while I was working on that workflow in the email campaign, I realized… I need to bolster a few of the other emails within the workflow and make sure they are all up to standard. In checking on how I could build them up a little better, I recognized that I could inject single blog posts or sections of multiple posts, right into my template. This excited me…until I realized I hadn’t posted a blog post in a while.
So here I am. I am now finishing up a blog post so I have a “new entry” checked off on my massive “social media and marketing things to do so I touch every point possible” list. It is 3 hours past when I started with not a single word typed or edited in the manuscript. My goal was to cruise through chapters 18 and 19 today because they were short and be in bed early. Nope. It’s now 9:53 and I’m just about to begin the editing. Looks like another post-midnight evening in the world of this aspiring author.
Keeping up is tough, especially for this caffeine fueled ADHD gen-x writer with no idea what he is doing. Wish me well.
-Chad
