The 5 Secret Steps to Re-Boot 2018

August can be a second start to the year for those that have children because the little ones are headed back to school.

Whatever you put on your new year’s resolution list you made way back in January that may have gotten pushed to the bottom of your to-do list, well, now is a great time to bring it back up to the top. Authors wear many hats and authors who are also parents have an additional rather important one. So, now that the unstructured summer days are behind you, things can get back into a routine.

Here to help you are the 5 secret steps to re-boot 2018.

1. Celebrate. Take a moment to celebrate the things you have done so far, even if they weren’t your original goals. Maybe you didn’t write as much as you would have liked, but you did write some. Maybe you got your book cover designed. Maybe you connect with a new author group. I know you did something these last 7 months, so feel good about those successes. We all need to show ourselves some love from time to time. You may enjoy a quiet cup of coffee or another beverage of your choice. You may take a long bubble bath. You may sleep in. Whatever feels like a reward for you, do it.

2. Evaluate. Look at what got in the way of you accomplishing what you set out to do. Evaluate whether you what caused you to not keep pushing towards your goal was because you got side tracked or because it no longer was your goal or because it was too difficult to do, so you let it slide. If you need to learn something to accomplish it, sign up for the class. If you need a coach, find one. Now is the time to do whatever you need to in order to make your writing and publishing goal a reality.

3. Replace. If the goal no longer fits for you, that’s okay. Let it go, but replace it with a better one. One that is reachable. One that matters to you. You feel excited to pursue. Find your passion.

4. Envision. Now, place your goal front in center in your mind and envision you have reached it. Studies have shown that visualizing a thing makes it more likely it will happen. Remember vision boards? There’s a reason for them. Envision holding your completed book in your hand. Envision signing your book at a release party. Envision signing a book contract. Whatever your goal, not only envision it in your mind’s eye, but using your creativity that you use to describe a scene, invoke all your senses. What does it feel like, smell like, sound like, who is with you, where are you, etc.?

5. Create. Finally, create a list of steps to get you to your goal. What’s the very first thing you need to do? Once you’ve completed your list, ask yourself what may stand in your way. And then make steps for handling those obstacles.

If you need help, seek out another author or a group of authors who will encourage you and maybe even be a resource to help you get where you want to be by the end of 2018.

Wanda Luthman has her Masters of Arts in both Mental Health Counseling and Guidance Counseling from Rollins College located in beautiful Winter Park, Florida. She has worked as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Adjunct Professor, and Hospice Counselor for teens. She’s currently a Guidance Counselor at a local High School. She is an award-winning, best-selling, international author who has self-published 5 children’s books (The Lilac Princess, A Turtle’s Magical Adventure, Gloria and the Unicorn, Little Birdie, and Franky the Finicky Flamingo). A former National Pen Women Organization in Cape Canaveral. She belongs to the Florida’s Writers Association; Space Coast Authors; and Brevard Authors Forum. She presently resides in Brevard County Florida with her husband of 23 years and 2 dogs. Her daughter is away at college, like Little Birdie, she has left the nest. To download a free ebook, visit Wanda Luthman’s website at www.wandaluthmanwordpress.com and follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wluthman.

How Many Are Visiting Your Blog and Web Site

This is a reprint from a how-to article for writers that appeared in my Sharing with Writers newsletter.

Some people are infatuated with figures.

I'm really not. I'm a big-picture girl. I don't believe that if a blog draws "only" 50 or 500 it's of no value. Where is the cutoff number anyway? Ask instead, how does that blog work with the other promotions you're doing? It's how things work together--mostly--that makes a difference.

Still, it's sometimes nice to measure what we're doing—especially if we remember not to let low numbers (or what we perceive as low numbers) discourage us but instead use them as prompts to do something to get them up there. So, here's how I set up and use Google Analytics the super-fast and super-easy way.

1. You probably already have a Google account. If not, get one. Go to Google.com to do it. They may ask you to set up a Google gmail account. Don't worry. You can use it or ignore it.

2. Set up your profile. Find the "Add New Profile" and click. It works about like profiles everywhere--from Amazon to Facebook. You'll be lead through the steps. And having it will make it easy to comment on blogger or blogspot blogs.

3. Find your "Google Analytics" link. Click. There you will get some code that you copy and paste (the fancy name is HTML code) at the end of the Web pages you'd like to track. You can also add some code to your blogs. You'll want separate code for each place you want to track.

4. Add the analytics codes to places you want to track at your leisure. This is not a marathon. Give some thought to what figures will be most indicative of your success and add them one at a time.

5. Go back to your Google Analytics every so often. Not every day. Not every 10 minutes! You want to have time to write, not analyze numbers! Nose around the links you find there. One gives you a pie chart of where your visitors are coming from (direct, links or whatever). Another tells you what country your visitors are coming from. It's like a mini geography lesson!

Happy tracking!
------
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

Writers who seek information on promoting their writing careers and the craft of writing may sign at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Look in the left column for a signup window. The newsletter even includes a tips for poets each week.