Accountability!

Wow, I’ve dropped the accountabiliball lately! Having the flu really knocked me off my game. I have been nothing but scattered ever since. I’m not even sure I’ve been faithfully logging all the words I’ve been writing, because I just forget.

One thing is for sure. While I had the flu, I somehow wrote 5,676 words. And that’s not good. I should have been resting and letting my body fight off infection. Instead, I was agonizing because the week I took off work, the week that my husband would be out of town, I was supposed to write. Not lay in bed sick. How lazy of me!

Seeing that total in the spreadsheet shocked the hell out of me. It really shocked the hell of out me. Now, on at least one of those days, I did really enjoy myself. I was super bored with being sick, and being able to use my brain again was amazing. But the other days? Why was I struggling?

It made me think of how guilty I feel if I prioritize any relaxation at all over writing. I go on vacations with my family and try to sneak little moments of work in the whole time. The other night, I wrote on my phone during the intermissions of a hockey game. It would be one thing if it was motivated from love of the craft, but it’s really just motivated by fear. I need to find a way to reframe things so that I’m concentrating on how much I like writing and blogging, rather than how terrible I am for spending a single moment not working.

In other news, my pre-orders for Her Billionaire Boyfriend are sitting at 49, just under my goal of 100. And I’ve made an accountability friend at my out-of-the-house job. She has a podcast and hasn’t recorded a new episode in forever. I told her that I haven’t recorded a YouTube video in forever. We agreed that we would both record them by Wednesday. So, there will be a new video for the Patreon soon, and I also plan on getting a video up that was a request from the Discord, about a truly disgusting book I read.

Word Count For 2025: 21221

Her Brother’s Billionaire Best Friend releases February 4 (I wish I could cross this one off, but I can’t until I’m happy with the paperback.)

Heavy, daily promo until release day (I did better with this release than I ever have in the past, promotion wise. I’m pretty happy with what I did.)Send out ARC emailsSearch manuscript one last time for “actually,” “clearly,” and “really”. Eliminate as many as I can stand.Format for Kindle and SmashwordsTable of ContentsFront MatterUpdate Book LinksBack MatterPre-Order link to Her Billionaire BoyfriendUpload manuscript to Smashwords by Jan. 15Upload manuscript to Kindle by Jan. 31Format PaperbackFormatCoverOrder Proof (This has been a continual thing.)Adjustments as needed, if any (Please, no more.) (We should, finally, be done after the next proof.)

Her Billionaire Boyfriend releases May 6

Combine into one file from original proofsStaggered promo with HBBBF from February 14Heavy promo from March 1CoverCover reveal February 14BlurbEstablish Pre-Order LinkFinal proofSend out ARC emailsFormat for Kindle and SmashwordsTable of ContentsFront MatterUpdate Book LinksBack MatterPre-Order link to Her BillionaireUpload to Kindle, SmashwordsFormat for PaperbackFormatCoverOrder ProofAdjustments as needed, if any

Her Billionaire releases September 30

Final ProofCoverBlurbStaggered promo with HBB from June 1Heavy promo from July 1Establish pre-order linkFormat for Kindle, SmashwordsTable of ContentsFront MatterUpdate Book LinksBack MatterFormat for Paperback

Alpha Queen Ascending releases April 15

One last read through just in caseCover (In progress) (outsourced)BlurbEstablish pre-orderFormat for Kindle and IngramTable of ContentsFront MatterUpdate Book LinksBack MatterFormat PaperbackFormatCoverOrder ProofAdjustments as needed, if any

The Vampire’s Willing Captive releases July 15

Fablemere promo campaign May 2Birthday campaign July 1Heavy promo July 1One last read through just in caseCoverBlurbEstablish pre-orderFormat for Kindle and IngramTable of ContentsFront MatterUpdate Book LinksBack MatterFormat PaperbackFormatCoverOrder ProofAdjustments as needed, if any

Books I Want To Finish This Year:

A Kingdom of Wonder and TerrorThe Business Centaur’s Virgin AssistantUntitled Sophie bookThe BreakawayThe TurningFilthy, Rich

Miscellaneous:

Get Abigail Barnette website upCall web providerLink ShopifyPromote ShopifyAdd ebooksPaperbacks of The Boyfriend and SophieDownload manuscriptsFormatCoverUploadOrder proofAdjustments as needed, if anyAdd to ShopifyLaunch ShopifyBlog postPromote across socialsAdd link to Trout Nation websiteAdd link to Abigail Barnette website