Showing posts with label Smashwords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smashwords. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2012

Procrastinate to Productivity

Productive procrastination sounds like an oxymoron. But I think I did some of it this past weekend. I have my excuses for not moving onto the rough draft of Book #4 of The Futhark Chronicles.

Number one is my relentless efforts to get Beneath the Mountain up on Smashwords. The site is incredibly busy. I get to a certain point in the process and I get that little spinning symbol and the old lie, 'one moment please.'  I think it is called Smashwords because so many people smash their computers or something else when they're trying to use it. I had a little trouble with this when I published my first book there but my second one was smooth as silk without a single wait.

Number two is my need to promote book #3, Beneath the Mountain to mega-heights to make up for the income I'll lose when I retire next summer. I tell myself that is a very important full time need. Here's today's effort toward my retirement. BUY!

Number three is the need to check my email every hour or so to see if my romance publisher has responded to my latest submission of the first book in a new futuristic romance series.  I checked at least once while I wrote this post.

Number four is my efforts to get to know my fellow authors at Crescent Moon Press, the publisher who has contracted the first book in my newest epic fantasy series. Lots of new websites and blogs to check out.

So those aren't terrible things to spend time on. But I also did even more useful procrastination stuff this weekend. I cleaned up my desk, shuffling the mess into neat piles. I made little stacks of things that went together. I filled up my trash can with some 'stuff' that had piled up with my intention to use it or file it at some point.  Later this week, I'll dive into each stack of things I think I have a use for and do some more productive procrastination.

Do you procrastinate? If not, are you really human or are you one of those robots word verification warns up about? Is your procrastination productive or just for fun? Care to give me a little sympathy for my Smashwords debacle?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Words I Need

I hate Smashwords. It's official. I spent a half an hour today with one of our school's tech teachers asking her what the heck a 'field code' is and how did it get into my manuscript?  Smashwords told me I need to fix it, but I don't know what the heck it is and can't see it.

So I've interrupted editing work on my next book to try and figure this out.  Major frustration and headache.  I enjoy the funny pictures and quotes I find on facebook. How am I relieving my stress?

Watching 'Revenge' helps. I love that quirky,creepy show. I'm feeling a little vengeful  A little exercise.  The last few weeks of stumbling through self-publishing has really increased the intensity of my workouts.  I feel so good about the weight loss right until I sit down at the durn keyboard again. 

Tonight I'll be putting on some music, perhaps the soundtrack for 'Lord of the Rings' since I feel kind of like the guys on the horses trying to break the siege of Gondor.  A little fight music, some hot coffee and I'll be ready to tackle the mystical problem Smashwords has told me I have.

Anything frustrating you lately? Have you ever heard of 'field code?'