JakeB

Just as I was giving up hope, I received requests for full manuscripts from 2 agents – hurrah! I’ve also received several personalised rejections. One from a top agent saying it was well written and original, but not for her. Another praising my prose style and urging me not to give up. I’ve taken great comfort from these because it means that the story is ok as it is, no rewrites needed quite yet. 7 agents still haven’t responded and I’m aiming to send out 4 hard-copy subs this week. In the meantime, I’m brainstorming the new novel until the end of May. Then I’ll start writing furiously.

The house took priority over everything else this week. We had 3 viewings – 2 positives, but they haven’t sold their places yet. Walked every day and slept moderately well. Need to finish the short story and sort out some social stuff next week.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Short story
• Socials

Manic week, especially as we were in London from Friday to Sunday. Mocked up the dossier in a spare hour and walked well over 5x. Determined to sort out the account this week & finish the short.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Savings Acc
• Short story

Moderately productive. Blog posts uploaded for the next 2 weeks, review written and published. Need to make final decision about the savings acc & mock-up the dossier template this week. Will finish the short story if there’s time.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Savings Acc
• Dossier mock-up
• Short story

April was manic and I suspect that May will be even busier. Lots of progress, especially on the writing front.

Writing

• Get repped by a great agent who loves my work & secure a significant book deal – ups & downs on this one. I sent out another set of queries. Stats so far: 5 rejections on partial (3 of these v.positive), 1 full request, 1 positive – waiting for agent to read, 6 waiting. Have a feeling that this won’t be the one, but may go for broke & sub to everyone anyway!
• Re-work current novel & re-submit to agencies & publishers by April – as above.
• Review 6 books for website – 3rd review still needs writing.
• Attend writing conference – will book hotel in May.
• Start a new book – written 1st 3 chapters + outline. Have sent this for editorial feedback.
• Editorial work (society) – still going strong. Need to plan ahead.

Health & Exercise

• Continue to nurture the secret goal positively, healthily & successfully – constant milestones. Hoping for a big one soon!
• Exercise 5 x per week (for 30 minutes) – going well. At least 5×1hr walks per week
• Think positively and stay present – this works best when I have enough sleep. Quality nightimes a must!

Work

• Find a fulfilling new job that fits my values & skills & also fits in with my other commitments – TBC.

Financial

• Live off one wage by budgeting and spending wisely – spending wisely, just not on one wage!
• Save monthly and build up good emergency fund – done.
• Sell house for good price & trade up to a bigger, better property with all the rooms/space we need – house how on the market. 4 viewings so far, no offers yet. We haven’t seen a property we like yet so no rush.
• Write wills – still need to make an appt.

Travel

• Celebrate 40th birthday in style with amazing trip – Istanbul still on the list.
• Visit friends and family – MiL came to stay for a week, saw old & new friends.
• Revisit hotel in the Lake District + week away self-catering in nice cottage – looking forward to the cottage in June. Off to London soon.

Secret goal and writing are priorities for May. Aiming to finish and send off a short story this week, then work on the next novel after the editorial meeting.

I managed to write a few words and patch together and outline for the new book last week. Started the review, but could do with spending an hour on this. Savings account still needs to be organised:

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Savings Acc
• Review
• Blog posts
• Dossier mock-up

My submissions have so far resulted in:

Like the writing, not the project.
Found your letter immediately interesting, genre saturated.
Not for me, but what about sending to xyz?

The replies have been personalised, but no one has requested a full manuscript. Unfortunately my predictions appear to be coming true on this one, but I’m going for broke anyway. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Help! Where is the time going? I seem to be chipping away at things very slowly. Determined to nail everything on the list this week!

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Savings Acc
• Outline
• Review

A duplicate of last week’s tasks plus an extra:

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Contact S
• Savings Acc
• Outline
• Review

After last week, the to-do list is now a lot shorter.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Contact S
• Savings Acc
• Outline

OK, this is a tad ambitious, but as I move onto my third book, I want to seriously up my game. This means not only using all the tangible skills I’ve acquired, but also channelling emotion to create voice and character. I need to reach deep into myself while sustaining a page-turning plot. Easy? No. Doable? Yes…just. Probably.

March was a good month, despite a couple of colds. I even enjoyed the bad weather because it forced me to write!

Writing

• Get repped by a great agent who loves my work & secure a significant book deal – I’ve subbed to 9 agents, heard back from one. As predicted, she didn’t connect with the story. BUT she does like my writing style and asked to see more work. This is reassuring even if it comes to nothing.
• Re-work current novel & re-submit to agencies & publishers by April – done.
• Review 6 books for website – sent 2nd review and am reading 3rd book. Aiming to send the review by next weekend.
• Attend writing conference – will book hotel in May.
• Start a new book – ideas are flowing and I’ve booked an editorial 1-1 in May. This will be a good incentive to create a plot + 1st three chapters throughout April.
• Editorial work (society) – time-consuming, but hugely interesting. The blog has got off to a brilliant start.

Health & Exercise

• Continue to nurture the secret goal positively, healthily & successfully – aiming to reach another milestone next week. Then onto the next one!
• Exercise 5 x per week (for 30 minutes) – walking 5x a week.
• Think positively and stay present – maintaining good mental attitude.

Work

• Find a fulfilling new job that fits my values & skills & also fits in with my other commitments – still pondering this one.

Financial

• Live off one wage by budgeting and spending wisely – not great, not bad. Spending fairly freely, but loathe to tap into savings.
• Save monthly and build up good emergency fund – realistically, I can’t see us adding to the substantial pot that we’ve already accumulated. Trick is not to spend it.
• Sell house for good price & trade up to a bigger, better property with all the rooms/space we need – this keeps on resurfacing. We want to do it, but so many variables at the moment. TBC.
• Write wills – still need to make an appt.

Travel

• Celebrate 40th birthday in style with amazing trip – tracking prices for swanky hotels in Istanbul. Would love an offer.
• Visit friends and family – still going well.
• Revisit hotel in the Lake District + week away self-catering in nice cottage – looking forward to the cottage in June. Lake District TBC. We’re now going to London in May.

Crack open the champers!

Phew – this one took a lot longer than I anticipated. I followed a structured method this time – countless critiques, one competition longlisting, agent feedback + editorial report.

Has it been worth it? From a learning perspective, definitely yes. I’ve picked up lots of new skills and am more aware of what works/what doesn’t. From a publishable pov, who knows? I’ve chosen a genre which is now over-saturated so this alone could scupper the book’s chances. However, I make no apologies. This is the novel I wanted to write and I’m proud of it. Now onto the next one!

I finally finished my manuscript this week and have sent a handful of submissions to agents. Because of this, the rest of the items on my list haven’t happened. This week, they will:

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Send cards
• Contact S, F & K
• Savings Acc
• Doctor
• Post features x 4

Ticked a lot off the list last week. My main aim is to complete the novel revisions & update my submission package by next Sunday.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Finish book + submission package to high standard
• Buy presents + equipment
• Contact S, F & K
• Saving Acc
• Doctor

I’ve started to play this daily with my MiL. I’m not always in the mood, but she really enjoys it so this one will stay.

Accomplished a fair amount on the list. Read 3 books, almost finished the novel and walked x5. Smaller tasks went by the wayside though. To dos as follows:

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 5
• Finish book + add extras
• House
• Conference
• Equipment
• Contact L,F & K
• Saving Acc
• Write review
• Doctor

I’ll be happy if I achieve 75% of this.

Caught a cold at the end of the week which scuppered a few plans. Determined to sort these out this week.

• Sleep + routine
• Walk x 4
• Rewrite chapters 26-30
• Read book
• Contact L about meet-up
• New savings account for M

Entered another 100 comps – including a short story contest.

Recently it’s struck me that although I know a lot of published authors and buy their books, I don’t always post reviews in public places such as Goodreads & Amazon. I’m going to make an effort to do this more frequently from now on.