SHOW YOUR WORK: Make the time   

Technically, there wasn’t time for work today. That doesn’t mean I didn’t work.

I drove three hours south to our tiny cabin in VA, where I’ll be for the next ten days. We are in the final stages of finishing renovating it and preparing it to become a rental (which makes me sad because it is my favorite place in the world these days). The next ten days are the push – put on new steps/deck, deal with a water issue once and for all, build an entry path from parking area to house, plus a million little finish details inside and create the website to start renting it.

That will all get done. It will. But my book’s release date is only getting closer, so at the same time, I have to find the time to do the work to promote it.

So today I got up at five and took care of house/animals/garden chores so that I could be at my desk by 6:30. I got two hours in before packing and making lists for the animal caretakers (who live here these days and should know how to take care of the animals), squeezing in one more hour of work, and then jumping in the car for VA.

During those morning hours, I worked on my marketing plan, pitched a few more reviewers and a podcast, communicated with my editor about my HUGE worries about this launch, emailed another writer about my book asking for his support, pulled an appropriate excerpt from the book and sent it to a shelter director who wanted it (that took much longer than you would think it would), came up with a proposal for a blog series for another Faceboook group, and squeezed in a little time tweaking the website and the new book’s Facebook page.

After I hotfooted it to VA, I set up shop on the porch because the house was too hot (AC was not on), queried some more reviewers before meeting via Zoom with a writer friend I know only online who supports my book’s mission to brainstorm how my launch team will work, how to reward them, how to find them, plus more ideas for getting the book’s message out. (If being on my launch team for 100 Dogs is something you’d be interested in, please email me!)

Now I’m working on all the ‘missions’ for my launch team, crafting the ‘ask’, and figuring out where to sit for the ZOOM bookclub in Florida I’m meeting with in twenty minutes! So posting this with no edits – sorry!

My point, though, for today (I’d never want to waste your time) is that if you are serious about writing and you have a busy life, you have to make time, find time, even create time to move your dream forward. There will never be enough time. What you have to do is accept that fact and find a workaround. Otherwise, your dream of being a writer, will always be that – a dream.

Hey, thanks for reading. I know you’ve got lots of options, so thanks for sharing a few of your minutes with me.

Honored,

Cara

If you’re curious about what I’m up to, check out my website, CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like to subscribe to my (sometimes) monthly e-newsletter, click here.

And If you’re a dog lover, check out my other blog, Another Good Dog. And if you want to know what is really happening in the animal shelters in this county, visit, Who Will Let the Dogs Out.

I’d love to connect with you on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, and I’m thrilled to get email from readers (and writers), you can reach me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

COMING JULY 2020 from Pegasus books (available for preorder):

Available now:

Find out more about fostering dogs at AnotherGoodDog.org!