Setting a Foundation For the Coming Year

I am very pleased to be able to say that the book that I am working on for decision making has grown new legs! I have been working on it n and off for almost a year now - life interfered, momentum was lost - but yesterday I had one of those little "Aha!" experiences that grounded and centered my focus, brought back the joy in the project, and gives me hope that the project will finalize in the positive form that I originally saw it in.

Aside from writing books and articles, I also write reviews. That generally ends up being feast or famine - i just finished two reviews, and have one more to do this weekend. I also have what I think will be an amazing book winging its way to me. That, and an article for an upcoming print magazine, are on my plate.

I would like to share a couple of links that I have come across that I feel will be of help to writer's. Dana Lynn Smith has a wonderful site on marketing books - Savvy Book Marketing. Sharethis.com   is a wonderful site that offers links for sharing content on social media sites. AddThis.com has some wonderful web site add ons. Last, but not least, is a very interesting article by Jorge Olson on having a low tolerance for BS, This is important in networking, but to me it also applies to content.

(c) 2015 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written consent from the author.

2015 - The Year of Organization

 

I am starting out the new year by creating an environment of organization around me. I am bringing (by choice) a writing project from 2014 that, had life not interfered, would have been finished and published. I also am determined to publish my first mystery. The 2014 project has several chapters already finished, and its structure in place. My new mystery project has a structure, or I should say had a structure. I decided today to toss that out, and restructure the story entirely. Two factors will remain - that the main character is a female, and the environment is Las Vegas. I am going to work on the two projects simultaneously.

I have two events already scheduled into 2015 - both from my Tarot world - one in March, and one in, I believe, August. At least one writer's conference will be added to that in 2016. I will also be choosing two professional writer's organizations to join this month (January 2015).

The next thing that I will be doing to organize my resources better will be to go through my bookmarked pages, delete those that I don't need, and arrange those that I intend on keeping into better categories.  

This is a start - and only a start. But it helps me to feel less overwhelmed, and that helps to get the work done!

(c) 2000 - 2015 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of he author.

Year End Roundup

This is where I am right now - allowing myself to enjoy the holidays. As far as my writing goes, this year was very uneven. I did get one of my books spiffed up for holiday sales (Surviving the Holidays), and am starting to promote it. I co-wrote another book (Seek Joy ... Toss Confetti), that I will promote again after the New Year. I am only a couple of chapters into my book on decision making - I had hoped to have it out for holiday sales too, but I am now aiming for some time in January. My mystery book - that will be my 2015 major project!

I think we have to learn to flow with things - certainly all that I had hoped to accomplish in 2014 did not get done. One project I had to let go of, others were delayed. Life interfered, and I had to be okay with that. I have (more or less) kept up with my Tarot blog, and have started writing flash fiction and placing it on my Facebook timeline. I may go back to doing that blog in 2015. Even once a month would keep it going, and I do love writing them. A bit of a chore sometimes to get a beginning, middle, and end in under 100 words!

I never did join the writers organizations that I had intended to in 2014 - that will be taken into 2015, and accomplished. If I want to move into the world of writing as something to pay the bills, then I need to network in any and all ways possible. Plus, I can look for professional gatherings that are taking place in warm climes!

For those that are still shopping for holiday gifts, I have two other books out - Tarot, Birth Cards and You , and Tarot, Rituals & You.

Wishing you all a joyous, safe holiday season!

(c) 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

What Determines When You Let Go Of A Writing Project?

At the beginning of 2014, one of my defined projects was to write a book on decision making. The chapter outline was defined ... yes, the chapter outline was defined. Self imposed deadlines passed, and not much writing was done. I was not enthused about this project, but I did not want to let it go. The introduction and the first two chapters are finished, which gives me hope that I can finish it by the end of the year. I did make the ultimate decision to add a chapter that some people may feel does not belong there. I am going to show how the Tarot can be used in the decision making process.

How do we know when to leave a project - not just step away for a short time, but let the project go completely? I thought about that with my book on decision making. I knew that I had some things to say, and I felt they would be of benefit to others,  The deal was that I had no sense of joy about writing this book. I could get as far as chapter outlines, which showed me that I was not imagining that I had something to say. I even perked up a bit when writing the first chapter. I also knew that I would not be happy letting the project go, and that just setting it aside for a short time wasn't working.

Part of the issue was the other issues in my life. Some things were going well, some things were not. Life was collapsing in on me at times. I was struggling to find the flow in life. Sound familiar? I finally realized that I was fighting my shadows, and those shadows were appearing in many forms. Resolving our shadows is better than fighting them, so this is what I set out to do. Resolve some things. Make peace with other things. Major change. And this book is part of that process.

My work was still viable in the market place. We all make decisions every day, and getting a fresh look at how to do that is  valuable marketing tool. One of the reasons that we might let go of a project is that there is no market for it. That did not apply to me.

It also fits into where my personal life path, and my career life path, are headed. If your project does not fit into your life path, that is another red flag to just let it go. Even if it is running away in the market place, it is not worth your time to work on thing that do not fit in with your life. Another thing that writer's need to look at here is genre. Are you tired of staying within the confines of a single genre? Would it be better to spread your wings? My aim is to make cozy mysteries my primary genre, but I no doubt will, from time to time, write about Tarot, personal empowerment, and other self-help topics. It all fits in with who I am.

Take a very careful look at any project that you are bogged down in, or are considering releasing. Look at why it is not working, whether it can be fixed, and what shadows within you it is releasing. We find out a lot about ourselves when we ask the why of something, and when we ask ourselves how we really feel about it. We are the ones that have to answer to the individual in the mirror every morning!

(c) 2000 - 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written consent of the author. 

Time To Rev My Writing Engines Again!

I usually check for an image before I start writing my blog. This was the first image Google showed me, and I loved it! I remember the "way back when days", and we were taught in grade school how to write, using fountain pens. I am quite sure that was a bit of a mess! I still adore pens, and writing. I visit the Mont Blanc site every so often, drooling over their pens, and deciding which one I will gift myself with when I have the money. And yes ... owning one of their pens is a priority!

I have managed to update my book on Surviving the Holidays. What a trip ... including having to change the cover, because the image that I had used the first time simply wouldn't take! I used the template that Create Space offered, so all is good to go there. At the end of October I am going to use a new marketing technique that fell into my lap just today. A free PDF was offered on getting 63 reviews on Kindle over a three day period. Promoting the contest (yes, a contest was involved) was basically free (use e-mail and the social media to spread the word).  The prize offered (that I will have to buy) is to be a Kindle Fire. I am having a hard time promoting my books, so I am going to take a one time risk, and do this. Stay tuned ... the price of admission is 99 cents (the cost of my e-book, offered over a three day period), and a review of my book. Reviews are hard to come by, so I am looking forward to this!

I lost a month in the shuffle, but I am committing to writing this blog once a month. I may very well begin doing flash fiction again, but not on any set schedule. I am looking for a way to present my flash fiction in e-book format. That is a little dicey! (I do the 100 words or less version of flash fiction, so one story to a page would look a bit ludicrous!)

I am still working on my decision making book, which will be out in January 2015. I was going to push to get it out before the holiday season, but I felt that tying it into the New Year, and all of the decisions that we make around that time, was a better bet.

Once that is out, my focus is on my first mystery book! I have learned to say no this year, and that is a good thing. I am finding that I need more and more time for myself, whether I am writing, reading mystery's, or watching a bit of TV. (I record my shows, and watch them when I want to. the TV schedule rarely agrees with my schedule!)  And I have to have time for my beloved Formula One races!

I am committed to two Tarot conferences for next year (and more than likely, for coming years): The Northwest Tarot Symposium in Portland Oregon, next March, and the Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS), which is held in August in San Jose, CA.

Wishing you all fabulous writing!

(c) 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

Summer Solstice

 

Sitting here listening to Rose Royce, and deeply lost in "Memba when " time. What a year this has been. My major accomplishments seem to have been in saying no (with a few exceptions). I am getting better at that no word! I never thought that it would be so hard to move from one world into another. (For me, that is leaving the public world of Tarot reading, and moving into the world of (for the most part) fiction writing.) And moving even further into the Hermit world. I seem to do better in that world.

Two projects that I am focusing on will be done by the end of the year - redoing my book on surviving the holidays, and writing a book on the decision making process. My mystery novel will have to wait until next year. Not putting it off ... this is just the reality of the situation. I am still working a "pay the rent" job, and have other responsibilities. I am also starting to put together the holiday promotions for the three books that I have written, as well as the book that I co-wrote.

I am looking closer into Google + and Linked In as marketing avenues for my books. I know more about what I do not want to do (guest blogging, or blog hops) than what I want to do. Fine tuning my blogs for SEO, and getting my act together to start doing videos for my blogs, and for You Tube.

From Google +, Linked In, and Facebook, I have gathered some incredible resource material. From Social Examiner, we have "7 Ways To Increase Your Blog's Social Media Shares". From Tim Brown, we have "The One Thing You Need To Generate Great Ideas". From Cate Baum at Self Publishing Review, we have "Eight Most Common Editing Errors In Self-Published Books". From Kristen Lamb we have "Five Mistakes Killing Self-Published Authors".

I was shocked this past week to read a post on Google + from a lady that does financial blogs focused on women and business. She will no longer be doing these blogs. Her focus is going to be on other areas of her life. However, she is graciously leaving them up on her site for reference. When I got over being socked, I realized that she was in the same space in her life that I am in mine. Both of us can and will make the transitions that we need to make to create the present and future that we are envisioning.

This is what I am taking into my Summer Solstice. What are you taking into yours?

(c) 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without the written consent of the author.

 

Reinventing Life

 

It has been a while since I blogged here. Too much life happening ... part of which is me getting involved too deeply in projects that, while I believe in them, don't move me forward. And it may have been that I was more bothered than I thought with the loss of a major project very early in the year. I do have plans for the work that I did on it ... I started on the plans, but did not continue them. This is something that I can do ... a positive, if you will.

I set a new deadline for my second project ... to have it out by the end of May. This is doable, and will allow me to have my third project out there in time for the December holidays. That project will be a series, if it goes well!

For now, I would like to share some things that have come my way. From Social Media Examiner, we have 16 Blogging Resources To Improve Your Blog. Blogging is a great resource in and of itself. It allows us to connect with other writers, and with our prospective readership. This article talks about brainstorming ideas, being more productive, getting organized, and much more!

This one I have not used, but I did find it interesting - a way to organize your e-mail! Called SaneBox, it is all about prioritizing e-mails ... ans summarizing the rest!

I am a huge Google fan so this article made me smile! Why Google + Is A Key Tool In Your Online Marketing Strategy. Marketing is my least favorite activity, so any help I can get is worth it!

Along marketing lines - 5 Copywriting Tips To Entice Customers.I can get lost in writing this type of content, so I appreciated the commonsense advice here!

Wishing you all happy writing!

(c) 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited withour written permission of the author.