I've found something that works for the ever-common, ever-insidious Internet-itis. It's the Last 15 Minute Lifehack, wherein you wait till the bottom of the hour to succumb to such follies as Facebook, MySpace, Gmail, MyYahoo! and Nerve Scanner. And even then, you try to keep working if you can.
The way I see it, if you only really suck for a quarter hour every hour, you're doing pretty damned well.
Now the challenge is to set up a system to create targets during the other 45 so that I'm definitively rolling forward with my myriad writing projects. Call these targets artificial deadlines; they're still a work in progress.
Erica, this is priceless. PRICELESS!
ReplyDeleteI really think you have a platform here... All the work-at-homes, work-at-Ravens, wannabe-selfstarters -- no shit, a PLATFORM. And that's what it takes to become an infopreneur!
So now all you need is to come up with maybe four other tips, turn it into the outline of an infoproduct, and boil everything down to the three-sentence pitch: Angle, hook, concept.
Look online for the other infoproducts on keeping your freelance ass in gear and resisting the allure of the internet, write your 5-word comparative survey, what distinguishes your book (not "it's better than Idiot's Guide to Procrastinating," but "takes up where IG to P left off.")
Then hook up with a bunch of peers... do it as a kind of forum, at lunch or a barbecue, don't let them know you're writing a book. Collect their wisdom for when you will actually be sitting down to write. This will also help you get specific about who your audience is, that goes in your pitch.
Check the acknowledgments pages of similar books, get names of agents, also publishers. Send them your queries, and your future is all set!
Ya know, you could do the speaker thing first, or you could do the book thing. Apparently it doesn't make a shitload of difference.
(Um -- be really honest with me here -- do you think I'm infected?)
Lovies,
C
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ReplyDeleteOk, if you've read my November 13, 2008 post, you'll know that I had to ditch this hack in favor of full Internet austerity. I still think, however, that this hack has lots of good applications. Use it up!
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