Marathon Author: A creative career is a marathon, not a sprint

Marathon Author 40 - What's Your Workflow?

This episode is all about identifying the systems that help you produce consistent, quality work.

From identifying where you can write, how and when you work best, to keeping track of projects and backing them up so you don't lose files over time. I talk about lessons I've learned over time, as well as some tips I've learned from other successful writers.

Once you've got positive systems in place, how are you measuring your success or failures so you can look for places to improve?

Is this neurotic? Maybe, but I spend a lot of time thinking about it, since I only have so much time to get my work done.

Thanks for listening! Hope you have a great week writing,

James

Marathon Author 39 - Tools I'm Using in 2021

This list turned out to be longer than I expected. Discussed in this episode:

• 4thewords.com
• ProWritingAid
• OneDrive (Word/Excel)
• WriteTrack.Davidsgale.com
• Quickbooks
• Mailjet.com
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Audacity
• SparkoCam
• Youtube Studio
• Streamlabs

Gadgets of Note:

• Onyx Boox Nova 2 (https://amzn.to/2Or2KJM)
• Freewrite Traveler (https://astrohaus.com/traveler/)
• Canon M50 (https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/refurbished-eos-m50-ef-m-15-45mm-f-35-63-is-stm-lens-kit-black)

Thanks for listening!

Marathon Author 38 - Big Hairy Audacious Goals

I'm writing a million words this year, and there's a reason I'm talking about this goal so much, and I think you should do the same.

This episode is about goal setting as a way to set priorities in your life and work, and how to identify your "big rocks" so the little rocks don't crowd them out.

Sometimes you need to inspire yourself with a goal that pushes you to your limits, and you'll find that others are inspired as well.

Livestreaming is still working very well, but the same rules are holding true for me: when I do the pre-work on the characters and chapter outlines, hitting my 4k a Day is easy. When I don't know what I want to write, I flounder.

Mentioned in this episode:

BHAG concept by Jim Collins (https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/bhag.html)

Thanks for listening!

James

MA 037 - Finishing Projects and responding to "No One Will Read Your Book"

I had some awesome word counts last week thanks to livestreaming in the morning, finished a book, launched a book with M.D. Cooper, and also had to make a hard decision about a job I would have liked, but would get in the way of my work.

Without being overly negative, I respond to this article and point out where the author could focus on finding success in the current publishing landscape, and you can too.

"Why No One Will Read Your Book" by Elle Griffin at the Writer's Collective. (https://writingcooperative.com/why-no-one-will-read-your-book-caa0e77ed5aa)

Jeffrey H. Haskell's Youtube Channel and Watch Jeff Crash and Burn Live Stream Event, February 2nd at 0630 PST. Let's help him get to a hundred followers on Youtube so he can name his channel after me.

Please fill out the Keystroke Medium listener survey: KeystrokeMedium.com/Survey

You could win a copy of my new book The SF Novel Workbook: The Offline Guide to Getting Your Novel Done.

Thanks for listening!

James

MA 036 - Know, Like and Trust and hello KSM

The latest addition to the Keystroke Medium Empire is Marathon Author.

James S. Aaron hosts this weekly author diary and podcast to share what he's learned about paying the bills as a full-time author. You can find out more about James here: https://jamesaaron.net/books

This week is an intro show, as well as some thoughts on livestreaming and "Know, Like and Trust" in building your author brand.

Check out my SF Novel Workbook at https://jamesaaron.net/sfworkbook. It's only $5.

Thanks for listening!

MA 035 - Making it Happen

Hello!
We're in the second full week of 2021 already and it's time to assess how your goals are going and what tweaks you need to make.

I talk about my own lessons learned and shifts I'm making in my working process, including trying out live streaming to keep my head in the game.

Links:

Keystroke Medium: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Keystrokemedium

Word Millionaires: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WordMillionaires

All the Words: https://www.facebook.com/groups/487038162154895

Vivid Cover Design: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vividcovers

Write Track: https://writetrack.davidsgale.com

4theWords: https://4thewords.com (get 20 free crystals with this code: WESBB70639)

MA 34 - 2020 Lessons Learned turn into 2021 Goals

The retrospective episode you've been waiting for.

When I ask myself what I learned in 2020, my first impulse is to start laughing.

Sometimes you have to strike out into the hills, only to find out you ended where you started... but I learned a lot along the way, and I'm going into 21 with a good game plan and the experience to make it work.

My big goal for 2021: 1 million words of fiction. If I make that happen, I'll be well on my way to bringing my income up where it needs to be to make this a sustainable career.

That's 2740 words a day or 19,178 a week. Seems crazy in aggregate, but I can easily write a 1000 words an hour as long as I know the story I want to write. I bet you can too.

I hope you're looking forward to 2021 as well.

Thanks for listening,

James

MA 033 - Do You Really Want to Write Full Time?

In this episode I talk about a few lessons I've learned this past year when it comes to making a living off your writing, the stresses involved, and how that can change your work.

How do you create some breathing room so you don't feel trapped in a certain kind of work?

What's the reality of writers who are working full-time? Do they have a spouse adding income to the budget as well, and how are they paying for health insurance?

There are some misconceptions about the finances of the average full-time writer, and it's important to understand them if you're going to make a viable career out of writing.

Mentioned in the podcast:

SFF Con Panel on Podcasting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US3CzgAQpAQ

 

MA 032 - Rabbit Holes and Resilience

It's all about starting over.

We had a rough couple weeks here at the house, which made writing tougher than usual.

This episode is about not beating yourself up about it, and finding how your personal workflow, er, works. It's only taken me a year to get close to understanding my own workflow.

I've also been looking into some other income streams, and thinking about how getting out of the house might benefit my writing. Maybe I'm not an introvert after all.

Check out Write Track as a really useful tool for planning your book projects: https://writetrack.davidsgale.com/

Thanks for listening!

MA 031 - I'm Working with a Coach

After last week's discussion about motivation and finding my personal path forward, I decided to talk with an author coach. It was a great conversation and I'm going to give it a shot for six months.

This show is about how I made that decision.

Thanks for listening!