Review in Practice: Million Dollar Productivity

I have to tell you, Kevin J. Anderson is the most prolific writer I know, but there are others. I met many of these incredibly productive authors through my studies under Kevin J. Anderson. I think they all hang out together. And honestly, when I first began to see what KJA does, putting out at least five novels a year, plus co-authoring books and screenplays adapted from his books, run WordFire Press, orchestrate his SuperStars Seminars every February and his classes at Western Colorado State University, and go to numerous Cons and writing seminars throughout each year, all I could say was, “Wow!”

Million Dollar Productivity, by Kevin J. Anderson is the book where he reveals all the tips and tricks which make him into the most prolific writer I know. So, when I received a digital copy of Million Dollar Productivity, for the 9th Stretch goal met in KJA’s Dragon Business Kickstarter Campaign last January, I had to give it a read. (I had already read the companion reward book for this stretch goal, On Being a Dictator. You can read my review here.) As I had suspected, I already knew and practiced many of the tips given in this book. After all, I studied under the author. But there were others that I either didn’t know about or hadn’t tried.

One of the ones I think have been most helpful to me was to set goals and stick to them. In class, we were required to create business plans and set goals for the coming year. I began to employ this strategy in the fall of 2021, a year in which I had published two anthologies, one poetry and one short fiction, and nothing else. When I am listening to people in the business who are telling me that you need to have a large inventory of IP (intellectual propeties), be prolific enough to put out several books each year, and have multiple streams of income to make a sustainable living from your writing, and looking at the couple of books per year that I was putting out, I knew I was going to have to do better, and I planned accordingly. I found that making a plan and setting some goals which keeps me moving in a forward progression.

As a result, in 2022, I published five anthologies: Ask the Authors 2022, Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships, Once Upon an Ever After, Refracted Reflections, and Visions. Anthologies probably aren’t as helpful as novels would be, but it was a start. In 2023, I will publish two anthologies, Poetry Treasures 3: Passions and Midnight Roost, plus two books of my own, Delilah and The Rock Star & the Outlaw, and of course, my debut poetry collection, Small Wonders. And I’ve already begun to plan out the books I intend to publish in the coming year. You have to admit, four to five books per year is an improvement on the one or two per year that I was producing previously, so that one suggestion, which is offered in this book, helped to make me a more prolific publisher.

Working on different projects at the same time is another tip which I have found helpful, although this is something that I have done for several years, but it is included in Million Dollar Productivity, and it is an effective strategy for getting a lot accomplished. I’m not talking about multi-tasking, but more like time-sharing – you work on your latest manuscript for a time, but when you seem to tire of it, you set it down and go work on the editing for the anthology you’re working on, and when you get tired of that, answer a few emails and then back to writing, for instance. Of course, KJA suggests an approach that is a little less haphazard, but it’s good advice none-the-less. He also points out other modes of writing, which can be used in various places.

Letting the first draft be bad and edit, goes hand-in-hand with knowing the difference between writing and editing, tips which most writers have heard many times in their writing careers, but that doesn’t make them any less true. These are both tips that I will have to work at incorporating into my writer’s toolbox. I am notorious for editing as I go, which takes extra time, but turns out a top quality draft with little editing required.

This book is filled with lots of writing tips and advice for busy authors who want to increase their productivity. These are the strategies that worked for the author, Kevin J. Anderson, and they could work for me or you. Whether you’re a full time author or one who writes on the side while working at some other job for your livlihood, this book will have something helpful for you. It’s one of those books I will have to go back and visit time and again.

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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