I’d argue that becoming an independent author isn’t much of a choice. It’s something we’re compelled to do for one reason or another. But how an independent author chooses to spend his or her time, well, that’s something that absolutely requires consideration.
When I started adapting Naughty Week from a screenplay to a novel, I knew it would take time. My plan was to wake up at 5:00 AM every morning and write for a minimum of one hour. In that time I could write anywhere from 500 to 1000 words. At that pace, I figured the first draft would take at least three months.
I didn’t let that crush my ambition. Though I didn’t consider myself an independent author at the time, I had the right mindset. I knew if I took it one day at a time, then eventually the novel would get written.
That’s how I approach everything now. Being an independent author means that I constantly need to audit my time management. There are only 24 hours in a day, and typically I’m asleep for approximately a third of those hours. I also have a full-time job, which accounts for approximately another third. That leaves a maximum of eight hours a day in which I can focus on the tasks and duties of being an independent author or a television writer. And either can chew away a lot of time.
My TV writing partner and I may take on a new manager. I’m wary about signing on with a new manager. Why do we need this? It could be good to have someone else shopping our stuff around. Right now, we’re unrepped. Any representation is better than no representation.
I looked at some new TV ideas. None of them excite me. I don’t want to commit to anything I’m not excited about. I also don’t want to commit to anything that will eat up my days with no promise of a return on my investment of time.
Again, I’m making serious considerations when it comes to how I manage my time. I already have three television projects in various stages of development, a good amount of interest, but still no guarantees. There’s always so much to consider, but for now, I think it’s best to see what happens with these projects before committing any time to new television projects.
I had some serious anxiety yesterday because I thought I was going to be driving back from Ontario in the dark. I drove about two hours all the way out to Victorville for a follow-up meeting with a for-profit church. That went long, as I expected it to. Then I drove the 45-minute trip down to Ontario, where I had a 3:00 PM meeting scheduled with an optometrist.
I got there about an hour and a half early and grabbed two McDonald’s chicken sandwiches because they’re cheap and then went to Starbucks to finish the report from the first meeting.
Around 2:45, I walked over to the optometrist. I waited until the client came out. He was working with a patient. I said I was there about the website. He told me he thought it was tomorrow, that he wasn’t prepared. I didn’t push. I told him we should reschedule. He was okay with that.
I got back in my car, contacted my office, then headed home, relieved to be driving back to LA during the sunlight hours.
The office invited me to stop by for pizza and drinks. I declined. I wanted to get back and make an exercise class.
I got home with enough time to check my numbers. Not much had changed. Maybe I had an extra sale in there. But during the time I was at the gym, I sold two more copies.
This new campaign has landed me seven sales in a matter of three days. All I did was switch it from Kindle to paperback, raise the minimum on some of the bids, and scale up the daily spend. I took some time to cross-reference a handful of keywords on Publisher Rocket, which might have done the trick. I suppose the other thing that’s happening is that we’re getting closer to Christmas. It’ll be interesting to see how it progresses.
