Janalyn Voigt's Blog, page 41

Reader Notes ~ Featured Video: "Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More"

When a self-help book crosses your path at just the right moment, it can be a happy marriage of serendipity and desperation. Such was the case when I received a copy of Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More. Stever Robbins, thank you for writing this book. I've found it life-changing.

I tend toward organization myself, and I have a few systems working for me, but Stever's advice to put together a "Life Map" resonated. The book is worth its purchase price for this gem alone but it doesn't stop there.

Read my complete review on Book Readers Central.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Grace Notes: Standing

If trees need the wind to strengthen them,

can we expect less?

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Viral Notes: The End of Publishing?

This brief video gives an interesting take on marketing.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Novel Notes: Refuel

When a plane prepares to land, there's always that moment where the engines quiet and the forward momentum slows. The landing wheels come down and, at just the right moment, the back engines roar. A landing can be smooth or bumpy, depending on general conditions and how well the pilot prepares.

I'm about to bring my own "plane" in for refueling. In the past year I've pushed forward, often at full throttle. I haven't reached every planned destination, but I've touched most of them. I've learned a great deal about writing, editing and myself. Now it's time to gather my resources so I can start off fresh next year.

Towards the goal of doing more in less time, I've cut my work day in half. I'll take advantage of this time with my engines slowed to further simplify my processes. The landing wheels need to come down. I don't want to "crash." It's all too easy in these transitional times to lose focus and let go of discipline. And that's too bad, since this time, more than any other, feeds the soul.

Note to Self: Don't lose your focus when the back engines roar.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Novel Notes: Refueling

When a plane prepares to land, there's always that moment where the engines quiet and the forward momentum slows. The landing wheels come down and, at just the right moment, the back engines roar. A landing can be smooth or bumpy, depending on general conditions and how well the pilot prepares.

I'm about to bring my own "plane" in for refueling. In the past year I've pushed forward, often at full throttle. I haven't reached every planned destination, but I've touched most of them. I've learned a great deal about writing, editing and myself. Now it's time to gather my resources so I can start off fresh next year.

Towards the goal of doing more in less time, I've cut my work day in half. I'll take advantage of this time with my engines slowed to further simplify my processes. The landing wheels need to come down. I don't want to "crash." It's all too easy in these transitional times to lose focus and let go of discipline. And that's too bad, since this time, more than any other, feeds the soul.

Note to Self: Don't lose your focus when the back engines roar.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Newsy Notes: A Disposable E-Reader, Build Website Traffic with Backlinks, Barnes and Noble Sales Projections

Disposable E-Reader Projected

Imaginations are running wild upon news of a breakthrough that could lead to a low-cost and even disposable e-reader. Coining the phrase "E-paper on paper," electrical engineering professor Andrew Steckl and University of Cincinnati doctoral student Duk Young Kim have developed a method that allows colored text and video to be displayed on flexible, organic paper. ~ Fox News Tech Breakthrough Could Mean Disposable E-readers

Of interest to writers: A flexible and disposable e-reader that uses a process called "electrowetting" could drive future ebook sales.

Use Backlinks to Build Traffic to Your Website

Generating backlinks to your website is a highly effective way to build traffic. Backlinks are inbound links to your website. Search engines use the number of backlinks to a web page as one of the indicators for how popular that page is on the Internet. In this article, I'll review five ways to generate backlinks to your website. ~Kris Kiler Strategic Marketing for Driving Traffic to Your Site

Of interest to writers: This article suggests various ways to build backlinks to your Website, including viral marketing, link exchanges, social bookmarking, distributing free press releases and online articles.

Barnes and Noble Sales Are Projected to Increase

At the retail stores, sales were led by the Nook, children's products and non-book merchandise. Sales of books were softer than expected, and CEO William Lynch said the core book business remains "under pressure." It's clear, Lynch added, that the physical book market is flat and will shrink. Still, executives said B&N is committed to the staying in the bookstore business and Mitch Klipper said there are no plans to close more than eight to 10 stores in the year. But it is also clear that e-readers and, in B&N phrasing, "e-content," drove gains in the second quarter and will grow sales in the holiday season. ~ Publisher's Weekly Nooks and Digital Content Drive Barnes & Noble

Of interest to writers: Barnes and Noble's heavy investment in digital technology will drive its focus.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Novel Notes: My Year of Editing and Research

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With "edits" for DawnSinger complete, I plan to edit my elf story next. Now I think about it, I've focused almost entirely on research and editing this year with very few forays into creation of raw material.

I started out the year with the manuscript for DawnKing complete but for several scenes of medieval siege warfare, a subject I knew nothing about. I embarked on an epic journey of research and now know more than I care to tell you about man's inhumanity to man. My research spanned several months and delayed other projects, but DawnKing and the final book in the Tales of Faeraven trilogy, Wayfarer, will be all the richer for my research.

Once I added the missing scenes, I edited DawnKing over several months but had to set it aside so I could concentrate on DawnSinger edits. I'll finish my second-pass editing of DawnKing in December, and then give it a rest while I research and write part of Hills of Nevermore, my historical romance WIP.

I've learned a great deal about writing through editing and I've developed a good system for research, so I can't complain, but I'll be glad to work on a new story in 2011.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Quick Notes: My Crunch Time Cheat Sheet

Sometimes you don't foresee the workload that crashes down on you. Other times a simple error in judgment can put you in a time crunch. Having just gone through a tough stretch while working on "edits" for my novel, DawnSinger, I offer the system I developed to simplify my existence.

To start, offload as many priorities as you can, even ones you think you can't. It takes humility to ask for grace. Embrace humility.
Make a Master List that breaks your priorities into manageable chunks. Include both work and personal priorities. Make sure to build a little margin into this list. In my case, I don't work on weekends unless I haven't met all my daily goals for the week.
Each day, take a piece of paper and divide it into columns with a line down the middle. Now, list your work priorities on one side and your personal priorities on the other. Keep these lists as simple as possible. Make sure you have reasonable expectations of what you can do in a day. If not, revisit step #1.
Assign a number to prioritize each goal on both lists. You may want to accomplish all your work goals first, and then move to personal goals (or vice versa). Or you may want to go back and forth between lists. It's up to you.
Take brief mental rests and/or give yourself a reward whenever you accomplish a goal. If you've been sitting, get up and move around. Refresh your water glass or brew a cup of tea. Splash water on your face or step outside for a breath of fresh air to revive yourself.
Get enough sleep, even if you don't accomplish everything you planned in a day. If you've built margin into your schedule, you can always catch up later.
Do only what you have to do. You can catch up non-essential things you let slide once crunch time is over.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Reader Notes ~ "Here Burns My Candle" by Liz Curtis Higgs

Liz Curtis Higgs whisks us away to eighteenth-century Scotland for a spellbinding tale in Here Burns My Candle.

Lady Elizabeth Kerr, a highland beauty, possesses fine clothing, the love of a titled husband and a gentle life. But she is not all she appears, for she follows in secret the auld ways, looks to the moon and worships the Nameless One while outwardly displaying a form of Christian piety. Her husband, Donald, keeps his own secrets — secrets that make him the butt of the town's gossips and cause Elizabeth to question his fidelity.

Dowager Lady Marjory Kerr, Donald's mother, discounts such rumors. She clings to her two sons and her gold and hardens her heart to Elizabeth. But she can't shut out the whispers of her own guilt that beset her, a guilt buried with her husband in Greyfriars Churchyard.

The intrigues of the Jacobite cause press the Kerrs as… (Read my entire review at Book Readers Central.)

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Grace Notes: Lessons from Envy

Envy. It happens with appalling ease. A member of your local writing group signs a multi-book contract. Another lands a dream agent. One friend tells you her latest book needs no substantial edits while you're drowning in them. A friend wins an award you covet.

You swallow the worm of jealousy, brace yourself and offer congratulations. But inside you die a little. When you return to your desk, you find it hard to focus. Or maybe you throw yourself that much harder into your work and exhaust yourself in promotion.

But pause for a moment and consider. Your jealousy may tell you something of value.

First examine what your jealousy is based on. It may draw from feelings of inadequacy and fear. Would you experience it if you felt confident in yourself and in your writing? You may discover your feelings make sense on a certain level. If you were entirely sure of yourself, for instance, you'd be an egoist. With no guarantees in today's inconstant  publishing world and more people than ever seeking publication, it's not hard to feel less than confident and fearful.

Confront your emotional issues with kindness and truth and you'll find peace.

Now look at what your jealousy reveals about you. Doesn't it highlight what you care most about? For instance, if someone wins the National Fly Fishing Championship, you don't turn a hair but you go green when someone you know receives recognition for speaking, when a friend finds a mentoring client or when someone you know signs for multiple books. Don't limit yourself when you look for these revelations. Maybe you are called to hit the NY Times Best Seller List.

Delve into your disappointment to discover your path as a writer.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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