Let’s Do This Thing!

I started a career mentorship the week school started and Hurricane Dorian skimmed by. It’s been a busy couple of weeks around here.

Part of this month-long mentorship with Crystal Lake Publishing is taking a look at my goals and doing the work to achieve them. And boy is there a lot of work to be done. I need to “brand” myself, and keep my online presence up-to-date. I need to look into search engine optimization, build my email list, and market, all while working on my projects. I’ve started some of the most basic groundwork for these things over the past few days. And I mean basic. It’ll be a long road, but I’ll get there. I have been slacking big-time with my website, so this post is one of my first steps to getting back on track.

In addition to working toward career goals, I am working with two editors: Monique Snyman and Kenneth W Cain. They have been looking over my stories and giving me feedback on some problems with my work. Their insight has been eye-opening.

I’ve had so many files to read over, educating myself on branding, marketing, story structure, and self-editing. On top of these things, I will be working on putting together my first short story collection. There’s a lot to be done here. Each story needs to be edited (some are old and need a full revision/rewrite). It needs to be laid out, interior artwork considered, cover art, etc.

Each day, I dedicate a block of time to education, writing/editing, and career-building. This update is eating a chunk of time out of my “career-building” block, so I’m going to wrap it up.

Perhaps this writing thing can earn me a smidge of supplemental income someday. I don’t know how successful I’ll be, but I know I won’t get anywhere if I don’t do the work. So here goes!

I welcome you aboard my writing journey.