I have reached a point of fatigue on a current project. I don't want to call it writer's block because it is not. This is not a creative work of fiction, it is simply another non-fiction book designed to share information based on years of experience and research. I am just tired of working on the project.
It is in all likelihood the best book I will produce and have the widest potential to help the most individuals who might be interested in the topic. I plan to release it in both a POD print version and a Kindle and Nook version at the same time, a first for me. I also plan to use everything I have learned about promoting my books to provide this title with the best possible send-off into the world of books for sale I can.
If I ever finish the book.
The wife has been preparing records to do our taxes and has noted with interest that 2010 was a good year for our tiny publishing empire, based on our financial goals for the business. Kindle sales have been a pleasant surprise and a couple of titles that had been duds have started selling.
So she takes a peek at the files for the aforementioned project and wants to know why the book is languishing. "I'm tired of working on it" was not the response she wanted to hear but it is the truth. I got a very nice, polite, yet firm reminder this was no longer a hobby (not that it was ever a hobby in my mind) and I needed to keep cranking out stuff to publish. Rather than descend into an argument I simply said sure, I'll get back to work on it.
Eventually.
I really want to finish it. I think it will be the best seller of any non-fiction book I could possibly write for the niche market I write for. I also think it will help a lot of the individuals who purchase the book in their careers and the young people they work with.
I am simply too tired to want to finish it. January and February are long months for me and I am always tired by March. Like many people, my beloved wife is not totally convinced that writing is real work. Explaining to her that writing non-fiction is a draining mental experience just gets me an odd look.
Part of the problem is how much writing I have been doing. I try to post on two blogs, this one and a coaching blog, each week and I find writing for this blog much more pleasant. I also write a free e-newsletter for the 2,000+ coaches who have subscribed to it every 10 days.
If that is not enough, I write a one or two page e-mail to every player in our program Monday through Friday call Hoop Thoughts which more often than not has little to do with basketball but a great deal to do with life lessons, dealing with adversity, goal setting and motivational material with a little basketball thrown in.
It winds up being quite a bit of writing. Yes, I know you can take material written for blogs and convert it to a book. I may in fact do just that in the future.
I find the constant writing to promote the books I have and help the young individuals under my supervision to transition into adulthood is draining me of the energy I need to focus on finishing the book that I will actually be able to sell!
The season will end soon and the need to produce the regular e-newsletter and daily e-mails to players will end. Perhaps after some time the energy needed to set and meet a deadline to get the manuscript done and off to an editor will appear this spring.
Hopefully while the editor is working I will be able to muster up the needed energy to generate the needed promotional effort to send the new title on its way both as a POD print title and an ebook title.
In the meantime, I need to think of new and more creative ways to keep my loving wife off my back about the unfinished manuscript.
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