Monday, January 20, 2014

Baby steps forward

January 2014 is the month of positive action on the book front. The month of commitment, and no going back.

Positive steps this month...
  • Submitted application for business license. Waiting for that to be processed before I start registering for tax etc.
  • Met book designers and discussed the project, what I'm looking for, and what services they can offer. I've decided who I want to use, just need to confirm with them and commit hard $$.
  • Shopped around for photographers for author headshot and got some recommendations. There seems to be a fairly consistent "going rate" for a session, so it will likely boil down to who I feel comfortable talking to.
  • Researched web site hosting and domain name registration. Again, it looks like I've made my choice, now need to set aside time to sign up and start putting together a simple site.
I mentioned in an earlier post that there's a psychological watershed involved in laying out hard cash for the first time. You'll notice that, although all of these steps involve expense, nothing has actually been paid out yet.

But today I made my first legitimate business expense.

In getting a book ready for publication, especially a first book, there are many strands of activity going on all at the same time. For a while now, I've been trying to guess which of these many strands would lead to that first tangible expenditure.

And the winner is ...

Art materials!

Now, off to do that cover art...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gotta spend it to make it I've heard..it will all be worth it in the end..

David Batista said...

Good luck in your endeavor! Sounds like you're man with a plan! :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You've made the investment now!

Botanist said...

Delores, I do hope so :)

David, I do have a plan. It's just taking a while to execute, but it is moving forwards.

Alex, there's more investment to come, but that first step is significant!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Ian .. well done - it will be lovely to have some art work bringing your words to a visual representation ..

Good luck and enjoy the process .. cheers Hilary

Johanna Garth said...

It seems like your plan of writing goals and taking steps to achieve them is pushing you forward. That's awesome!!

Botanist said...

Hilary, I'm enjoying the process. It's fun, if a little scary at the same time :)

Johanna, that's the idea, and sharing my plans helps keep me on track.

Ellie Garratt said...

Some great goals and sensible decisions. One thing I would say is that even if you do a lot of research, you don't always find the right fit the first time round. I worked with one editor I thought was perfect, only to be disappointed. Thankfully, I love the editor I chose afterwards. The important thing is making progress, which you're doing!

bazza said...

I am so full of admiration for what you are doing. To keep going with an uphill struggle and still to be full of enthusiasm is brilliant after so long. Good luck!
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

Botanist said...

Ellie, I think the key to progress is to allow that mistakes will be made along the way. That is a difficult mindset for me to adopt :)

Bazza, I think I can stay enthusiastic because it is progress, and it's an exciting exploration of new terrain!

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