• Yuwanda Black
  • Self-Publisher's Writing Tournament (Days 9, 10 & 11 Progress): Write. Get Published. Start Making...
Self-Publisher's Writing Tournament (Days 9, 10 & 11 Progress): Write. Get Published. Start Making Money.
Contributor
Written by
Yuwanda Black
October 2016
Contributor
Written by
Yuwanda Black
October 2016

Following is the update report I sent to tournament participants ...

Good Evening/Morning) Fellow Writing Participants:

We’re falling off. Let’s get back on it people! We can do it. I’ll be a writing fiend this weekend. Speaking of, have a good one.

MY PROGRESS FOR TODAY

My word count for today (officially Day #13) is 0; I’m about to start writing now (after I send this out … and Judge Judy goes off). :)

Got sidetracked by putting together a proposal for a freelance writing job. It could be worth 2K to start (writing 10 pages for a new site), and an ongoing $1,100+ per month for social media account management and content curation.

OBSERVATIONS

As you’ll see below, one of the participants had two big writing jobs come in, and that seems to be the way things go. One of the reasons I got back to romance writing is because I was in a (much welcomed) dry spell with writing jobs. So, I thought, “Hmm, let me bang out a few romance novellas.”

Now, things are picking up again. You’ll find that this is life, which is why you have to prioritize your writing if it’s something you really want to succeed at.

Turning Down a $4,000 Freelance Writing Gig?

I’m almost sure that I’m not going to get the freelance writing project I pulled together the proposal together for. So why did I do it and why am I telling you about it?

Because they’d proposed a rate, which was nowhere in the ballpark of what I charge. I pulled together an official proposal so that they could see what actually goes into producing what they want.

I could have taken the job – it would have been a decent amount of change for 8 weeks of (a lot of) work – about $4,000. But they wanted me to dedicate a set number of hours per day to their site/SM needs.

Not only do I not work like that, I also would have been short-changing myself by putting my writing on the back burner – writing that produces regular income into perpetuity, mind you.

As I was preparing the proposal, I thought, “If they accept this, great; it’ll be worth it to push back my writing for a couple of weeks” (they wanted 8 weeks; I can produce what they need in 2).

The bottom line: I put priority on my writing. There will always, always, always be something that will get in the way of your writing – if you let it. Your job … don’t let it. Now, following is how we’ve fared with our writing this week.

DAY 9 (MONDAY, 10/24)

Participant #1 (Yuwanda). Daily Goal: 3750 words.

My word count was 0. I finished the proofreading and editing of the book I finished last Friday.

Participant #2. Daily Goal: 500 words.

Word count for today (Monday): 502

Participant #3. Daily Goal: 1600 words.

Ugh, today was rough. I'm with my in laws and I always, always fall behind because they tie up a lot of my time and it's nearly impossible to meet deadlines. I only hit 469 today. 

Participant #4. Daily Goal: 1500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #5. Daily Goal: 3,000 words.

2130 – it was a good writing session today!

My feedback to this participant ...

Love it when that happens. :)

Participant #6. Daily Goal: 3500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #7. Daily Goal: 1,000 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #8. Daily Goal: 3000 words initially; changed that to 1500 after the first day.

Did not report in.

Participant #9. Daily Goal: 2200 words.

Did not report in.

DAY 10 (TUESDAY, 10/25)

Participant #1 (Yuwanda). Daily Goal: 3750 words.

Wrote 0 words. Spent the entire day formatting book, creating the cover, and uploading book I finished last Friday (A Taste of Tara: Part IV) to AMZ, B&N, All Romance Ebooks, Draft2Digital and Google Books. Also did a little social media marketing and wrote a post for InkwellEditorial.com.

Participant #2. Daily Goal: 500 words.

Word count for Tuesday: 591

Participant #3. Daily Goal: 1600 words.

I spent 10 hours driving today, so no words added. Seriously! Back on track tomorrow - setting a 2,000 word goal.

Participant #4. Daily Goal: 1500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #5. Daily Goal: 3,000 words.

3,010 words.

My feedback to this participant ...

Wow! Banging writing day. :)

Participant #6. Daily Goal: 3500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #7. Daily Goal: 1,000 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #8. Daily Goal: 3000 words initially; changed that to 1500 after the first day.

Did not report in.

Participant #9. Daily Goal: 2200 words.

Did not report in.

DAY 11 (WEDNESDAY, 10/26)

Participant #1 (Yuwanda). Daily Goal: 3750 words.

0 words written today. Uggghhh, so frustrating. Between fighting this cold, getting my website redesigned and keeping up with freelance writing duties, it all adds up to one big setback ... for now.

I was back and forth with my web designer a lot today, so that took up a big chunk of time. I'm also still suffering from a head cold I have (thankfully today was a LOT better than yesterday).

But you know why I really didn't write today? I worked from around 9 yesterday morning until after 1 am this morning. My goal was to get everything off my plate so that I could clear the decks and write the rest of the week. But guess what? Fatigue caught up with me, esp since I'm already sick.

Lesson: You will almost always pay in some way when you over exert yourself. Time you think you're gaining, you lose on the other end. So just keep that in mind.

Participant #2. Daily Goal: 500 words.

Word count for Wednesday: 490

My feedback to this participant ...

You’re rockin’ and rollin’. Good for hitting your word count every day this week.

Participant #3. Daily Goal: 1600 words.

I'm slipping- I had two clients book $10k projects very suddenly and unexpectedly, so I've been swamped getting organized for that. I've only written 369 words today- catching up on the weekend? I hope so.

My feedback to this participant ...

Two 10K projects … now THAT’S a good excuse not to write. Congrats! :)

Participant #4. Daily Goal: 1500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #5. Daily Goal: 3,000 words.

1,798 words.

Participant #6. Daily Goal: 3500 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #7. Daily Goal: 1,000 words.

Did not report in.

Participant #8. Daily Goal: 3000 words initially; changed that to 1500 after the first day.

Did not report in.

Participant #9. Daily Goal: 2200 words.

Did not report in.

Have a great weekend!

Yuwanda, Author/Publisher
http://InkwellEditorialPublishing.com

P.S.: You can find all of my romance novellas  at http://InkwellEditorialPublishing.com

P.P.S.: Get these 5 romance novellas for 99 cents each! A Lover for Beth (http://dld.bz/d5Wd9); Ruthless Love (http://dld.bz/dBGpT); Priced Out of Love (http://dld.bz/d8UXH);Return to Me (http://dld.bz/ecCqA); and A Taste of Tara (http://dld.bz/fapMf).

Let's be friends

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