Scheduling as Part of Your Writing and Publishing Process

I can procrastinate with the best. There are tasks I just do not enjoy performing and I am more than happy to put off completing these chores for as long as I can.

I also take a great deal of pleasure in achieving the goals I have set for myself, regardless of how big or how small the goal may be. My graduate degree is in Sport Psychology and I spent a lot of time researching and studying the goal setting process.

Goal setting is not rocket science but there are some definite elements that must be included or applied for goal setting to be truly effective. A couple of these elements are:

1. goals must be flexible
2. goals must be realistic
3. goals must be written down
4. goals must have DEADLINES!

There is something about a reasonable deadline posted on your calendar staring you in the face that can create a sense of urgency to complete a task.

Please note, in the four elements listed above the goals must be flexible, things happen. Goals have to be realistic. I am not going to start a book on Monday and have it finished on Wednesday. Writing things down makes them tangible, visible and somehow real. This is important.

Deadlines is what makes us start the effort to complete the task.

Working from a schedule that is realistic, flexible, written down and has appropriate deadlines scheduled in proper sequence during the entire process will go a long way to keeping an author on task, working to complete key tasks and producing finished books in as timely a manner as possible.

The same is true for the publishing process. Establish reasonable, flexible deadlines for getting the editing done, the interior produced, cover designed and the entire book assembled ready for print and ebook publication.

Include your marketing strategy in your scheduling process. You can never start marketing your next book too soon and it needs to be included in the schedule.

Cost and availability of funds must be included in the planning of the schedule. There is no sense in rushing the editing process if you won't have the funds to have your interior produced for another two months. So take your time working with your editor.

Calendars are a good thing. Buy one. Put it where you have to look at it all the time. Record your writing/production/publishing/marketing schedule on it. Work your plan and meet your deadlines.