How I’m Preparing for 2019 as an Author
I talked about preparing my blog for 2019 the other day, and all the pesky administrative details I need to deal with -like landing pages, content upgrades, and a new website in the works. While all of those things are important, in the next year, I’m really wanting to make a pivot to focusing on Laura Teagan more. My goal is to be a full-time author at some point, and I need to lay the groundwork for that now. While many things will be the same, here’s how I’m preparing or 2019 as an author and why it’s not quite the same.
How I’m Preparing for 2019 as an Author
1. Organizing All the Details for my books
I’m hoping to launch a new series in 2019 and return to my ongoing series. There are so many details involved with both – plot ideas, character quirks, the “what if I do this?” crazy ideas. You have to be able to organize all those details in a solid manner. I use Evernote, and this month, I’m working on my new book series. I’ll be building out an entire notebook in Evernote to get the details set up.
2. Focusing on My Mailing List
I, along with many other indie authors, buy into the notion that a mailing list is really critical for an author’s success. I want to build mine out to more than the double digits I have now. I want growth and engagement. I’ll be focusing on content I can provide beyond book updates every month.
I’ll be adding a new freebie to the list (probably my new short story) and I want to rewrite my autoresponder series for when people do sign up. Another thing to do is going through all my posts on Laura Teagan’s website and add a sign-up box to all the pages.
3. The Social Media Calendar
While my social media calendar for Ginger & Co. is pretty robust and always rolling out new things, I’ve struggled with ideas. This might be something that waits until January when I’m in my new house and have space, but I want to spend an afternoon planning out different ideas on the wall (using notecards or sticky notes). The wall is one of my favorite ways to plan things – books, blog posts, and goals have all made a spot on the wall.
I’ll be focusing on the major four – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. In fact, I have pins already scheduled out to April for Laura Teagan. That’s a pretty solid lead. By the end of the month, I want to have at least a plan in my head, and some of this content scheduled for January. Then we can look at something more substantial after the move.
4. A Production Schedule
I’ve written about this before, but I really feel like 2019 will be the year. Since moving to Austin, I’ve either had a super stressful job or a job that was a contract position, liable to end at any moment. Earlier this year, my contract was picked up from the company I’m at and I’m now a full-time employee with benefits and time off. I also happen to have some of the best stats on my team and I’m the newbie. If something happens where they decide to cut people, I’m hoping my numbers stand out and keep me on.
What does this have to do with a production schedule? Well, for the first time in my adult life I’m not worried about having a job. I’ve settled in and I can turn my freetime to actually writing and publishing. They just changed the way they pay us at my job, so I’m going to make more money doing the same amount of work, so I’m hoping to stay at my job at least through 2019 if not a little longer.
Not having to constantly look for a new job? I can’t begin to describe how amazing that feels, knowing that I will be okay. Getting rid of the stress means I can focus on writing and publishing and ramping Laura Teagan back up.
As I make this year-long transition back to being more Laura Teagan online, there are a lot of details to tend to. I want to be more active as Laura Teagan in public, online, not just in the background.
With all of this stuff done, I’m hoping to focus on writing and publishing in 2019.