Operation Author - week 2

I've reached the end of week two on:

 

Operation Author - 365 actions to succeed as an author

On my log for this week I've been pitching for guest blogs and making new connections. 

Here's what I've up to:

Day 1 - Sunday 12th January - I sent a proposal to Your Cat magazine (http://www.yourcat.co.uk/) for an idea I had for an article about the perils of owning and elderly cat.  I've already written the piece and I think I'll try sending it on spec next week as I've not heard from them.  I'll buy the physical magazine first and make sure I'm following their submission guidelines.  I won a 'star letter' prize from them  about 18 months ago, which is why I chose them, plus, obviously, I love cats!

Day 2 - wrote a review for a book I used to research Solomon’s Secrets http://amymorse.co.uk/Docs/Solomon%20Preview.pdf 

The book was: Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession by Craig Childs (http://www.houseofrain.com/)

Day 3 - Submitted The Bronze Box to Book Muse (http://www.bookmuse.co.uk/) for review – It has been accepted by a reviewer from Words With Jam (http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk)

Day 4 - added images to Amazon and followed up the free offer with a special offer bargain of 77p for the eBook. 'sold' 248 eBooks to date as a result of the promotions.

(meet Sasha Blake - the heroin of The Bronze Box and Solomon's Secrets)

Day 5 – I went to a Social Media Cafe https://twitter.com/BristolCafe at a really cool cafe bar, The Birdcage, In Bristol (http://www.birdcagebristol.com/) and met some really interesting folks.  One was from Bristol University and has given me contact details from someone in the Archaeology department so I can set up an event

Day 6 – I sent a proposal to guest blog on Socialmedia4writers - It has since been published: http://bit.ly/1dE3P6X

Day 7 –I've sent 2 more guest posts to Prowess 2.0 business magazine.  My first article for them was one of their most popular http://www.prowess.org.uk/Pinterest-market-research

Whenever I mention anyone on this blog, I've been finding and following them on Social Media so that I can share links to increase my audience

What do you think I should follow up next?

Operation Author - Week 1

I've reached the end of my first week on my next 365 project

 

Operation Author - 365 actions to succeed as an author

I've been diligently keeping a log of what I do, partly so I can share it with you all, but also to monitor what's working.

 

So far I have:

Day 1, Saturday 4th January - I wrote a blog post reflecting on my previous project and announcing that I was starting this project 

Day 2 - I offered my book, The Bronze Box, free on Kindle for 3 days and promoted it through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and my blog 

Day 3 - I beefed up my Linked In Profile, adding links to articles and publications 

Day 4 - My book has reached number 15 in the Amazon adventure charts - publicised this milestone through my networks and asked people to write reviews in exchange for a free book 

Day 5 – I sent a proposal to Prowess 2.0 for a couple of blog posts

Day 6 – I wrote a blog post and sent it off to prowess

Day 7 – I got organised and set up a file for the project where I can collect ideas, images etc

Whenever I can squeeze in some time, I've been writing  passages of my next book Solomon's Secrets 

What actions have helped you to raise your profile?

 

Operation Author

One of my first acts on my 365 actions to succeed as an author, I am offering the eBook of The Bronze Box for FREE - Who doesn't like a freebie?

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? 

January Sale - get The Bronze Box on eBook for FREE for 3 days only:  

http://amzn.to/1f5kUrT

I hope you enjoy it - please leave a review in exchange for the free book offer - Thanks :)

Book365 – A retrospective

The end of another year and I have now completed my 365 day art project - ProjectBook365 (https://www.facebook.com/ProjectBook365)

Around about this time last year I was mulling over a mechanism by which I would make myself do something creative every day in 2013.   

I needed a theme, and as I was writing the last few chapters of a novel, ‘books’ seemed to make sense.

Part of taking on a project like this is that you need to share it with others, if you don’t, there is no accountability, except to yourself, and that’s not enough to stay motivated.  I started a Facebook page for the project and it’s amazing how encouraging it is getting likes and comments on your work, it kept me going. Here are a couple of my favourite days:

Day 228 - I call this one 'Cultivating Innuendo' It's amazing the suggestive phrases found in a book on garden machinery!

I also reached a couple of milestones in the year:

• Day 330 - Finished NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org)

But the most exciting of all was finally realising my dream of seeing my first novel in print

• Day 197 - I am a Published Author! The Bronze Box is now available in paperback from Amazon: http://amzn.to/132zwk3

•  I also started writing my next book - Solomon's Secrets (http://bit.ly/1avRoUv)

My house and garden have bunting draped all over the place

Day 230 - Outdoor bunting made from a book on caring for roses

I have little piles of homemade books dotted everywhere - there's never a shortage of note paper in our house!

 

Day 82 - Notebook

 

The problem with doing something like this, however, is not so much finding the energy to do it, but spending the last few days wondering what project I’m going to do next year.

I’ve been giving it some thought – here were some of my ideas:

• 'A Book in a Week’

I keep saying I should read more and I never allow myself the time.  It’s also a bit of a challenge, read a book every week.  However, realistically, I decided that I would have to sacrifice too many other activities to do this as I’m quite a slow reader

•  ‘A Fiver a Week’

I had this idea about having a fiver every week and in that week I have to convert that fiver into more money by doing something entrepreneurial.  I decided that this didn’t inspire me enough and would involve a lot of energy and time 

•  ‘From idea to publication – a novel in a year’

I’ve already started my next novel so this was a bit of a cheat

But I have since made a decision about what my next project will be.

If writing is something I am serious about, and one day I’d like to make a living from it, I need to put more energy into it – So my 365 project for 2014 will be:

Operation Author: 

A daily commitment to succeed as a writer with 365 actions

Wish me luck and watch this space…