6 Routine and Productivity Tips

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you're all enjoying your new year thus far. Today, I'm talking about how to stick to your routine and be productive no matter what you're doing. I won't bore you with a long introduction up here, so grab your coffee or tea, and let's dive on in!

As you all may know, when the pandemic hit, my characters ran from Covid like the bulls in the streets of Pamplona, abandoning me to the woes and worries of the world with nothing to distract me and the very real possibility of getting trampled by depression. It was touch and go there for a minute, but I managed, through the power of flour, to pull myself out of the trenches and keep forging ahead. I created my baking channel and companion cookbook.

My biggest assets have always been my ability to schedule myself for maximum productivity and form routines to keep myself focused. I changed gears so fast I'm surprised my transmission didn't fall out, but here we are, nearly a year later, and I'm still going strong. Below, I'll share a few of my most helpful tips for achieving something you wish to do.

1. Take the time to learn everything you can about the thing you're trying to do. Whether that's using a video camera, editing reels, or proofing dough, find out the how and the why. You'll be better prepared when you get to the action stage of this list.
2. Use a calendar and be realistic. Don't set yourself unobtainable goals a year in the future. Start now (or as soon as humanly possible) and start small. There's no need to go crazy. 100 words every day for a year is 36,500 words. Things add up. Pick a date and just start!
   
3. Plan ahead. Grab yourself a day planner with the hours of each day outlined (mine was $20 at Michael's). Spend an hour each Sunday planning your week. If that's not realistic, loosely outline targets you want to hit then segment and figure out how many hours you need to use to achieve them. Find those hours. For my YouTube channel, I plan a whole three months ahead, and I know exactly when I need to start taping recipes for the next quarter to get them all done in time. Then, I break that down by days then by hours (photo below). Usually, I have lunch breaks planned out, too, but I've been horribly lacking in that area lately, choosing to eat what I film instead. :)
   
4. Stick to your planned routine as though your very life depended on it. Don't let anything get in the way. If you have other obligations, schedule around them to begin with. If something pops up that you can't avoid, reschedule your action item right away. Don't put things off with the intention to "get to them" later and not making a firm plan to do so. You'll never get to them.
   
5. Tell people what you're doing, and ask them not to disturb you during that time. Turn off all your ringers if you need to, and step away from the computer if you can. If not, disable your internet while you write or film or hammer or knit, whatever you're doing. Be as protective of your time as a mama bear is with her cubs. People interrupt? Maul their asses. You now have permission. :) Aren't I generous? haha
6. Be a finisher. If it matters to you, you'll find a way, and if not, you'll find an excuse. Close your eyes, dive in, and give it everything you've got. Even if nothing comes of it, you gave it your all, and that makes you a winner every time. Celebrate those successes of finishing. Even if it's only forty-five minutes all to yourself (if you get this reference, you're now my bestie-haha! I'm totally kidding, Tia. You'll always be my bestie!).
   

Above all, don't be hard on yourself. Enjoy whatever it is you're doing, because if you don't enjoy it, what's the point? You don't have to be what everyone else considers perfect. Be your own version of greatness. Yours is the only opinion that matters.

I hope you all got something out of this and forge ahead with new energy in this year of 2021. Our future is what we make it. Let's make it great.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Baking, Cooking, and Recipe Submissions

Welcome back, everyone! I know the blog has been silent, but I've been busy learning... stuff. Since all this COVID-19 crap started, my brain has been in Dug and squirrel mode. I haven't been able to focus on anything much, so I turned to learning. That's always been my go-to fix. I believe I could've been a professional student. I love to learn. ALL THE THINGS!

Since the pandemic, I've gone through tons of bread flour. Practicing, reading, and filing information away for later use. Check out some of my bakes:

Now is later. I've launched a YouTube channel where I'll be sharing the following:

• Recipes of my own.
• Recipes submitted by folks.
• Bread recipes.
• Recipes I find on the web.
• Bonus videos when something interesting is going on (like a new food hitting the market)
  

As far as recipes I find on the web, they'll be stuff I want to try and/or want to see how long they really take from start to finish. Yes, all the bread in the image above is coming. I'm planning one video a week on Mondays.

I WILL take requests, too. If you have a recipe you've never been able to nail, shoot it my way, and I'll give it a go. Describe the issue you're having during the making. Maybe together, we can figure it out.

I also leave in my crazy bloopers. Ha!

If you'd like to join me over there, here's the link to my channel: 

And here's my most recent video:

Next week, I'm doing basic bread, so that should be entertaining.

I hope to see you all over there. Let's relax and do some cooking and baking!

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, BAKE ON!

Jo

YouTube for Bloggers and Authors

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna talk a little bit about You Tube and how bloggers and authors can use it to their advantage. Ready? Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

You Tube. I bet most of you have watched a video or two hundreds of videos from this little channel, either via your Facebook feed or by browsing for something you were interested in, right?

Well, I invite you today to expand your horizons and look beyond browsing and watching; let's go into making.

If you've never made a video, you're not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people just like you in the world who either don't have time or have no idea how to get started. So, first, I'm gonna walk you through a quick lesson on creating and uploading that video, then we'll get to how you can use the platform to your advantage (what you might consider recording to share).

You'll (possibly) need the following equipment:

• Something to record yourself with (this can be an iPhone, iPad, computer camera, or other camera that captures video)
• A video editing tool (on Windows, you have Movie Maker - FREE, and I'm not sure about Mac, but I believe they come with something similar)
• An image editing tool (Paint will do fine)
• A noise cancelling microphone or headset (if you plan to only speak)
• This link for music (if you want to add some beats - these are FREE for YouTube use)

Now that you have those things, we're ready to create an awesome video. Here are the steps:

1. Create a script (this is what you want to say once you're on camera) so you aren't stumbling all over the place
2. Set up your recording device on a stable surface so there isn't a ton of camera shake (if you're only doing audio, this is where you strap on your headset or affix your freestanding mic to something)
3. Get your screen grabs (if you're doing a walk-through to show someone how to do something, you'll want to go step-by-step through the screens - Use Ctrl+PrtScr then open Paint and use Ctrl+V to paste the shot in - be sure to save them with labels like Screenshot1_tutorial1, Screenshot2_tutorial1, etc...) You can skip this step if you plan to record yourself talking.
4. Get to recording. Lay down all audio and video tracks now
5. Open Movie Maker and create an intro section (it's pretty self-explanatory), then drop in the other images you plan to use and set their run times.
6. Add your audio where you want it and tweak the video where necessary. Be sure and save your project often in case of a crash.
7. Render it (again, it kinda walks you through it), and save to your hard drive.
8. Go create a YouTube Channel.
9. Upload your video, add tags, and click publish.

You're done!

I bet you're thinking: That's awesome, Jo, but what the hell do I have to record that people will give two craps about?

Everyone has a skill, and most people know something they can share with or teach others. If all else fails, read a portion of your novel so people can have a taste of it, or do a book review. You can also create a cool book trailer. Once you graduate from Movie Maker, you can get into more technical editors that might cost a little money, but produce studio grade results. But cut your teeth on something easy to use first.

Here are a couple of little videos I did with Movie Maker:




So, you can see the possibilities are there. Crafts, books, technology, marketing, allathat and more!

What are you waiting for? Get going!

Do you have a YouTube channel? Share the link!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Meta-Data for Books, Videos, and a Chance to Pick My Brain

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna talk to you a little about meta-data for your books, show you a couple of videos, and tell you about a chance you have to ask me a question about writing, editing, self-publishing, or marketing. So grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Meta-Data for Your Books

What is meta-data? Namely, it's data that you can't see but has an impact on web search results. It's part of SEO (search engine optimization), and not something you should be skipping over when creating your novel. We're all familiar with tags and keywords on Amazon, Smashwords, Createspace, etc... But! Did you know you have keyword (description tags) available to you in MS Word? Best of all: There's no limit to how many you can use!

Screenshot time! I bet you're all familiar with this:

Now, that's awesome, right? You put in the document title, click save, and off to the races you go! But look a little closer and pay attention to the arrows:

Each of those is a field you can put meta-data into. Just click on them and they'll open like this:

Best part? If you've used certain tags previously, it suggests them. All you have to do is tick the check-box. Once you're done with the author name (it will auto-populate your user name on your computer), add tags and a title. When you're done, it'll look like this:

Then you can click save and all that beautiful, digital information will be embedded in the book file. How cool is that?

See? You had a tool and most likely weren't using it.

Why does it matter? Well, we all know what tags are and how they function on Amazon, right? Think about how many more you'll get with this function. Roll that around in your mind for a moment.

Ahhhhh, I can see the lights upstairs come on from all the way over here! Now you know.

Moving on...

Videos!

I promised you a couple of videos, so here you go:





Those were fun, huh? Yeah, that's a book trailer for I, Zombie and one for Chasing Shadows.

Okay! On to the next topic!

Your Chance to Pick My Brain

Natasha Hanova is hosting a Q&A session with me on her blog. I've agreed to take five industry related questions from readers. This is your chance to get an answer to a question you have (that you can't find the answer to here).

If you'd like to put a question in the hat, either comment below or DM Natasha on Twitter. You can find her here:
Natasha's Twitter Page

How about that? Did you all have fun?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Video We Need to See

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your weekend went well. Today, I'm sharing this cute video from YouTube I think you'll all enjoy. So sit back, grab a cup of Jo (ha!), and watch. Hopefully, this will clear some things up grammatically.

Literally.



Any questions?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Quora is Questioned - Day Eight WABC

Happy FRIDAY, good people of the blogosphere! Sorry I was late with yesterday's post. My daughter has been very ill this week and yesterday we ended up in the ER - twice. But she's all good now and bouncing around like a regular seven-year-old ought to be. With the weekend starting today, I'm glad to see her on the mend. Today, I'll be discussing something I'm not familiar with (but intend to be here shortly) called Quora. Here's the prompt from the challenge:

Are you using Quora? If you aren’t familiar with it, Quora enables users to ask questions and receive answers from those who allegedly know something about the topic. This is a phenomenal way to demonstrate your expertise – and even if you’re a novelist, you have an area of expertise – perhaps it’s simply “publishing your novel.” Unfortunately, it seems you’re required to have an account before you can dig around – UNLESS you know a person’s profile link. Here are two you can check out:

http://www.quora.com/Seth-Godin

http://www.quora.com/Laura-Orsini

Yes – I just put myself on par with Seth Godin! Here’s your challenge: What’s the one question you would like to find an expert to answer? And conversely, what’s the one question you would feel most comfortable/confident answering? If you’re on Quora, please be sure to give us your link!

I looked around, created an account, and invited a couple of people over to join me. My profile is here: http://www.quora.com/Jo-Michaels

At first glance, it seems you can become an authority in your field on Quora rather quickly by answering questions others post. I'll need some more time to explore it, but I can see the potential of being involved in such a website. Both professionally and business-wise, it seems like a good investment of time to pop over and answer a question once or twice a week.

As a bonus, it let me link all my social networks right up with the click of a button. Perhaps I'll gain new followers and new readers that way. What an awesome tool!

Just in case you missed yesterday's post (that I wrote this morning), I'm giving you all the video once again. Enjoy! I better see your toes tapping!



Whatcha think?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

GooglePlus is Purdy! - Day Seven WABC

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today's post is all about Google+. Without further ado, the prompt for today:

Have you jumped into Google+ yet? If you are a regular user, you are still considered an early adopter, and that’s a great place to be in order to make a name for yourself – especially if men are among your target market, as most users right now are male. As marketing pro Linda Sherman puts it, “GooglePlus can give you access to influencers (i.e., other early adopters) who might not notice you elsewhere.” This is a CHALLENGE, so here’s my challenge with this prompt: If you’re USING Google+, tell us about your experience. If you’re NOT using Google+, don’t just write, “Blah, blah, blah I’m not using it …” and call it a post. Do a little research. Learn one thing about Google+ that you find interesting, that might make it worth your time and effort to explore. No – I’m not suggesting you be on every social media platform, but the goal of this Challenge is to explore the various social networks, so let’s do that! And if you are on Google+, be sure to give us your link.

Using blogger (a Google based blogging service) I get some really cool features with Google+. When I'm typing up my blog, if I want to mention someone in my circles, I just type + along with their name and poof they show up and are tagged on my blog. How frikkin' cool is that?

+Jo Michaels

Now, if you click on my name above, you'll be taken to my Google+ page.

My experience has been excellent! I'm a member of a couple of groups over there with oodles of bookish folk in them. I haven't tried hangouts yet, but I intend to for Indie Books Gone Wild. We already have a freakishly awesome calendar to help us stay organized via Google+. Check it out. The link is on the top left-hand side of the IBGW page. Best of all, it was totally free.

Speaking of calendars and Google+, if you have a calendar on there, folks can invite you to events (or you can invite others) and it shows up automatically when you accept. Best of all, the event is added to your agenda and syncs beautifully with your wireless devices if you have a gmail account. I also get a daily e-mail with my agenda on it; so I can see my day at a glance.

With all the wonderful tools gmail and Google+ have to offer, if you're not on there, you're missing out on a lot.

Because of a prompt earlier in the week about YouTube, I made a short video. Check it out and tell me what you think!



It's only about 61 seconds, but it packs a fun punch!

Have you begun to use any of the tools mentioned in the challenge?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tube Tops - Day Six WABC

Oh my goodness! It's Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! That means just two more days until the weekend arrives! Get through today and you're golden. Still rolling along with the Winter Author Blog Challenge, and today's prompt is all about YouTube. That golden beacon in the sky, calling our names like a siren. It draws us in and holds us fast for hours. Without further ado, the prompt for today:

With more than 800 million unique visitors a month, YouTube is one of the most popular search engines. Do you have a YouTube channel? Have you made a book trailer for your book? If not, what kind of book trailer would you like to make for your book? Do you have a video camera? If you do and you’re not posting short videos, you’re missing out on a huge marketing opportunity. It’s especially useful if you’re trying to reach a global audience, as 70 percent of YouTube viewers are in countries other than the U.S. If regular video posts are still on your To-Do list, what are some of the most clever video posts you’ve seen, and how might you do something similar to promote your books or yourself as an author? Be sure to give us the link to your YouTube channel.

I've done one video on YouTube and made it private. You can only get to it by clicking on the link: http://youtu.be/ydqAJmVNa5Q I'd just woken up and look a bit like crap, but it was fun and a good learning experience. My idea was to figure out just how to do something like that from my iPad, and it went off without a hitch. YAY!

I attended a webinar last week called Book Marketing is Bull$h*t. At the start of the session, the host asked us to answer a poll. His question was: What avenues are helping you in your sales? Guess what the only option was that didn't get any votes. That's right, book trailers.

Like Pinterest, I think perhaps we're using them the wrong way. Instead of a trailer for a book, perhaps we should be exploring other options. YouTube is video, man! It has a billion (with a B) possibilities. As authors, we just need to figure out a way to tap into it and use it at its highest potential. I don't go to YouTube to find new books to read.

Ah! There's the million dollar question, huh? Where do readers go to find new books to add to their list?

I use:

• Recommendations from peers (Facebook and Twitter).
• Browsing the bookstore (I love a book sale!).
• Reading reviews on Goodreads (I read the ONE and TWO star reviews. If they're complaining about how the book made them feel, in a bad way, I usually enjoy the hell out of it. If it's talking about the bad writing, I know to avoid it).
• Keeping up with my favorite authors and jumping on it when they release a new book.
• Blogs that write reviews (I recently picked up Splintered by AG Howard this way).
• Winning giveaways (Jamie McGuire became a favorite of mine this way).

And, I ended up being a fan of a couple of authors from the last Author Blog Challenge. Tia Silverthorne Bach, Crystal Lee, Heather Topham Wood, and Ms. Sandi Tuttle (she's working on her book, but I love her blog!).

So, utilizing YouTube may be more about reading your book to your audience while they enjoy looking at the cover (please, for the love of Pete, comb your hair - unlike me - if you're going to use your face). I'm planning to work something up so I don't have to be on-camera but can still hook readers with an interesting story. I'm a photographer, too, so maybe imagery is the way to go. Something that compliments the story being told.

Being a graphic designer who's in LOVE with Typography, here are two of my favorite YouTube videos:
Font Conference
Font Fight
Confession: I watched them again after I linked them. Hehe

What have your YouTube experiences been like?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo