I've made a two week task list to keep myself on track. Down below is a picture of prototype notebook that will be included with creativity bundles. (custom designed notebook is separate and different). Your next quick update will happen August 22 or 23.
I'm just now emerging from two weeks of Gen Con prep, attendance, and aftermath. I'm staggering around and trying to remember what was going on before the convention took over every waking thought. If you'd like to know how the convention went, I wrote about it in my Newsletter that I cross posted to my Patreon. Today I am re-engaging with this book project, remembering what I was doing, and making a task list for myself so that I can stay on track with getting everything done.
Two Week Task List
In order to keep the task list from feeling too overwhelming on a day when I'm picking up the dropped pieces of multiple ongoing projects, I'm keeping it focused on the tasks I want to accomplish between now and the next time I give you a quick update in about two weeks.
Mon - Tues next week:
Use the filled out form to contact those who have consulting as part of their pledge to set up individual appointments.
Use the filled out form to schedule the first group mentoring meeting and send out an email to each of those backers about that.
I've got edit notes from the developmental editor. I'll read them and start thinking about how to implement them.
Wed - Friday next week:
Set up an appointment with developmental editor to ask any questions I have about the notes.
Draft Project management chapter and Believing in Self chapter.
Schedule appointments with myself to record the lectures: Caregiver's Guide and Introvert Community
Get samples for sticker sheets
Week of Aug 19-23
Work on setting up surveys in Backerkit (planning to send in early September)
Draft chapters
Record at least 2 presentations
Chatty Details
The edit letter arrived three days before I was due to jump into the car for my big Gen Con trip. Reading an edit letter is often an occasion for a huge attack of imposter syndrome or self doubt. I knew that I did not want to potentially unbalance myself right before a big and stressful effort. So I've let the letter sit with the plan to dig into it starting next Monday. I need to know what my editor thinks, but I'm setting myself up to receive those thoughts in a constructive way instead of stressing over them. I'm a little bit anxious. What if everything I wrote is terrible? What if I can't fix it? What if... I could come up with a lot of those. But next week I've cleared a space and I'll just get to work.
Other than writing up this post and sending some emails, I'm taking the rest of this week to unpack, do laundry, set my house right side up, send emails to follow up on conversations at Gen Con, and remember where I was on multiple ongoing projects. But I do have one happy thing to show you!
I got a sample of the notebook that comes as part of the creativity bundle: There is still design work to do around the image, but this test was to find out the general quality of what the supplier can give me. I love it. I'm going to be able to let people choose blank, dot grid, or lined pages. It has a pocket in the back, an elastic closure, and a ribbon. In the final version I may make the image smaller and include a quote from the book as part of the design. If I do, I'll let you all vote on what the text should say.
If you didn't get a creativity bundle, you'll have the chance to add it or to just add a notebook when you fill out your surveys in September. by then I also want to have some images for the stickers and the custom designed notebook as well. I have lots to do on a tight timeline, but I'm excited that I get to do it.
