A Time For Everything

I spent some time yesterday contemplating the new hat I'm wearing...or planning on wearing. That of publisher. No, I'm not planning on becoming the next Avon Books or Bantam Dell or anything. I'm not going to be publishing other author's books, only my own, but creating a personal publishing company will open some doors that an indie publisher on his or her own cannot enter (at this point in time).

Being a published author as well as a publisher are both business endeavors, therefore I researched writing plans and business plans. I have to write books if I want to publish books, hence the writing plan. Publishing books is a business, hence the business plan. Even if I never need to approach investors or a bank for money, a business plan will be a useful tool in helping me make the best decisions in order to reach whatever vision, mission, and goals I establish for my little feifdom.

I found several different websites dedicated to writing plans and a slew of them dedicated to business plans. Now to read and compare and decide what the best way to go about creating these plans are.

Part of me feels a bit anxious that I'm behind the eight ball even though I know I'm not, and I don't want to rush and make mistakes--although I've learned that rarely are these kinds of mistakes fatal. I'm not a brain surgeon. I'm an author, writing books I want to read and putting them into the world for others to find and enjoy. I can make mistakes and then make corrections as needed.

DH is part of this advertising and promotion group specifically for IT companies and MSPs (managed service providers), and the head of the group says just to do it--whatever "it" might be at the time. Take a website for example--all it needs to do is serve its purpose. It doesn't need to be pretty, it needs to get the job done. You can go back later and give it a face lift when you have the time or the money.

The author/publisher who's put all these crazy ideas in my head says the same. So...while there's no rush, I guess I shouldn't worry overmuch about getting it wrong either. I can revisit and adjust--which I think businesses do on a regular basis anyway as time passes and things change.

My anxiety stems more from getting the four, five, six books ready to publish in June, July, and September and juggling all the tasks involved in that. I've decided to put the cart before the horse a bit and set my deadline for the business plan for December of this year...if I get it done sooner, great. If not, then I haven't busted any of my goals.

The publishing company however will be official in the next month or so...lots to do to get ready for the big release day. I've got the plan for that started. Just need to add some target dates for the various milestones and I'll be all set.

So...what'd you do this weekend??

So I took on my writing group's newest biggest project--a writing contest for published works. We had a former board member who suggested it, the board discussed it, and we (**I**) researched other similar contests and decided to go for it.

For various reasons, I then volunteered to be the coordinator. Luckily, our group has been sponsoring an unpublished works contest for many many years and we did not have to re-invent the wheel for most processes. The gal who has coordinated that contest for more years than not is still a member and has been an invaluable resource for me. She's also a dear friend--THANK YOU, ANGI MORGAN!

Anyway, Feb. 14th was the big moment for our contest--the closing to entries and the sending of same to the judges. It was a daunting task, assigning entries to judges and judges to entries based on the judges' preferred romance category and heat levels. I started with the categories that had fewer entries, but discovered I should have started with those that had more entries and more judges. Note made for the next coordinator.

Once I made sure I had final round judges selected and entry/judge assignments set as well as I could for my first time, it was time to email all the judges with the books. There were over 260 judges and over 130 entries. About half the possible entries and half the necessary judges if we'd had a full complement of entries. Some judges received more than one panel of entries.

I spent four days, as much time as I could spare or handle, emailing out book panels to the judges.

That's what happened to last Friday's post...I was busy and exhausted and just didn't get to it.

But the bulk of the work is done and it's all downhill from here. Thank goodness!

I've created FAQs, recommendations for next and future years, I've broken the jobs out into small chunks so hopefully others will take on some ownership and responsibility.

So my reward to myself for making it through last week is this purse:


I can hardly wait for it to arrive. I'm not really much of a purse person, in that I use them, and I'm picky about them, but I just have one. I don't have a closetful and I use the one until it falls apart and then I have to go in search of a new one. I hate that part.

Is it me or what??