Although this week has been north of rough, it was still decent in terms of productivity. So far, I'm on track to break all kinds of yearly records for myself. And I might be moving a step closer to getting my office and warehouse space.
This goes to show what can happen when you don't give up on hopes and dreams. Sure, you'll have to maneuver over the speedbumps of life. But that doesn't mean you just pull over to the side of the road and give up the journey.
Speedbumps are merely delays. By taking them with ease, you can keep moving forward without grinding your undercarriage.
Getting WriterSanctuary.com Situated
I'm working on getting the blog back to a regular publishing schedule. Though, some of the topics I decided to tackle require a bit more research. This has kind of slowed down progress just a tad, but I want to make sure readers get accurate and actionable information.
Besides, I don't want to just regurgitate the same info everyone else in my niche provides. I don't like the idea of being a cookie-cutter website.
In any case, I hope to be back to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule soon for the blog. But I guess that really depends on client work. I have to prioritize those who are paying my mortgage, after all.
Planning Out More Videos to Come
Along with the blog, I'm also working on getting the YouTube channel back to a regular routine. I haven't been doing too bad for the past couple of weeks. However, today might get a bit short as I have to drive across Colorado to pick up my kids. So, I don't know if I'll have a video up in time today.
This is part of the reason why I want everything at least a week ahead of schedule. That way, I'm not hard-pressed to get something out. When you rush work, it often lowers the overall quality of the content. And like the blogs, I want people to gain something out of the videos.
Hopefully, I can get a few done this weekend and at least get a day or two ahead.
Keeping On Track With Despair
While I have been quite busy with everything else, I've managed to keep Despair somewhat regular. Well, aside from Comcast screwing me last weekend by making the 8-minute video take nearly nine hours to upload. Still, at least it was up and ready.
The hardest part about producing Despair is the editing process. It takes me much longer to make the videos for the audiobook than it does for the regular content. That's because I look for sound effects to play in the background. Still, it's one of the highlights of my week.
It's also giving me ideas about how to use Kindle Vella, something I'm interested in doing once the dust settles for all of the other projects going on.
Working on Kingmaker...Ish
I finally got some time to write my next book, Kingmaker. Though, I spent a lot of it rewriting a section that just didn't flow right. So, I wound up only gaining 330 words this week. Nonetheless, that section reads so much better than it did before. Technically, I put in several thousand words if you count the rewrite.
I'm glad I decided not to push to meet my self-imposed deadline. With everything that is going on, I'm sure it wouldn't have been nearly as good of a book. Not to mention the stress relief I felt as soon as I made the decision not to grind it out.
Taking the time to do a project well is far better than trying to crank it out as quickly as possible. I'm still in the mindset of being a writer on Textbroker, where I cranked out 8-10 articles per day for clients. That kind of mindset doesn't really work for me today because: a) I have too much going on right now, and b) I'm more focused on entertaining the reader.
I'm not just tossing out researched information, which is far easier than writing a novel, in my opinion.
The Vocal Media Experiment
I started the next phase of using Vocal.Media to make money. This time, I am pitting how much it pays for reads versus how much a blog post makes using nothing but AdSense.
I'm researching high-value keyphrases and then writing similar content for my blogs and Vocal. Though, I'm pretty sure I know which one is going to pay more. It's a 90-day experiment to see which one brings in the most money.
Don't get me wrong, I hope Vocal can turn into something that brings in a decent residual income. But I don't think it's going to be as effective as owning your own blog and using AdSense.
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing the data. Depending on when I finish writing the 15 test pieces, I could have some data available by August or October.
Can't Wait to See What Next Week Delivers
There we have it, a very long week of creating content and getting things organized. While I still have a ways to go, the progress is coming along. I'm looking forward to seeing what next week delivers, especially if I can keep all of the tops spinning.
How was your week in terms of productivity? What kind of greatness did you achieve for yourself?