by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Happy New Year! Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.
One thing I like to do at the beginning of the year is planning. To me, setting up my year on my calendar isn’t really about goals–it’s just a way to help me visualize when I need to reach out to my production team for editing and design help (and to post upcoming releases on my website for readers to see my timeline). A reader once suggested that I have a ‘Coming Soon‘ page on my site to help her keep my releases straight, and I’ve found that works well.
Ways to stay organized:
Production calendar. I use my Google calendar and then I also put it on my wall calendar. First off, I know how long it takes me to write and revise a book from start to finish: three months. With that in mind, I know an approximate date to ask my editor for help with the book and to send ARCs to my ARC team. While my editor makes edits, I work on the outline for the next book in that same series. Then I contact my cover designer and ask her to make a cover for that book (a book that won’t come out for another seven months or so). I also start setting up my book for preorder online at Amazon, Draft2Digital (for Nook, Apple, Kobo, etc.), StreetLib, Ingram, and PublishDrive. I announce the preorder on social media and on my website. This process helps keep me on track and prevents any issues from arising that might result in the delay of a book.Continue reading