One Healthy Choice can Completely Change Your Day

One Healthy Choice Can Completely Change Your Day, Jill Kemerer

Has this ever happened to you? You wake up, moderately ready for the tasks ahead, but by the time you have your coffee and get ready, your motivation has dissolved to nothing? A feeling of dread creeps in, and excuses march through your mind. One healthy choice feels like too much work. What started as a decent day now seems impossible to get through.

Lately the birds singing outside my window wake me up before my alarm. Not every morning, mind you. But yesterday I woke up a full hour and a half before my alarm went off, and I could not get back to sleep.

I didn’t fret. Just got up, made some coffee, did my Bible study, and scrolled through my phone for a bit. I had my workout planned–a DVD in our basement–and I was already dressed for it. I just needed to put on my shoes and get my butt down there.

But did I get my butt down there? I think we all know the answer to that!

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How I Distribute Digital Review Copies

Distributing Digital Review Copies. Jill Kemerer

Distributing digital review copies–where to start? One of the many struggles authors face in today’s publishing world is how to get advance copies of our ebooks to reviewers.

In the early days of having my street team, I would put out a call for anyone in the group willing to read/review my book. I would then gather their email addresses and send them a digital copy of the book. As the group grew, it became more difficult.

A street team is a group of readers who help promote your books by reading/reviewing ARCs, sharing book news/graphics with their social networks, or by generally getting the word out about your book.

An ARC is an advance review copy or can be referred to as an advance reader copy.

Distributing digital review copies. Jill Kemerer

Problems with individual distribution of ARCs:

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Let’s Set Goals {April 2021}

Let's Set Goals April 2021, Writer Productivity, Jill Kemerer

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly goals. At the beginning of each week I break them down into daily tasks that will work within my current schedule. Do you know how great it is to finish projects? Of course you do! For me, setting monthly goals makes it all possible.

Every month I share how I did the previous month as well as my new goals. Let’s get to it!

How Did I Do? Jill’s March Goals

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Is Improvement Automatic {Aspiring Writers}

Is Writing Improvement Automatic? Jill Kemerer

Way back when I submitted my first novel for publication, I was certain getting published would happen quickly–a year, tops. I believed talent would take me places.

Confidence is a good thing. It pushed me through a lot of hard times.

But reality came knocking quickly, and with it came humility.

When I realized getting published might take longer–much longer–than I thought, I questioned if I had any talent at all. Had I been lying to myself?

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Building a Cushion into Deadlines

Building A Cushion Into Deadlines By Jill Kemerer

You’re crushing your goals, on track to meeting your deadline when disaster strikes. A week later all you can think is well, that didn’t go as planned.

I lived this last week. On Sunday, I woke up with a killer migraine, and I didn’t feel better until Friday. A five-day migraine might be a record for me (and not one I particularly wanted!). Anyway, I had to throw my goals for the week out the window. I do not like missing my goals. I really don’t like missing them AND being sick.

Meeting Deadlines

It wasn’t catastrophic for me. I try very hard to work ahead, and I always build a cushion into my deadlines. Migraines can hit me out of the blue so, in order to meet my deadlines, I have to be smart. I cannot wait to the last minute to finish a book, especially since that last minute might be spent on the couch with a cold cloth over my eyes.

Meeting deadlines is easier if we plan for the unexpected.

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Maintenance Marketing for Writers

Maintenance Marketing For Writers By Jill Kemerer

Promotion and marketing are ongoing tasks for writers. What’s the difference between them? I’m not a marketing major, but I’ve been doing my own marketing and promotion for years. I have my own way of defining them.

I promote my books. I market my author name/brand to build my platform.

For me, marketing is the overall strategy of building my platform. Promotion, on the other hand, is the overall strategy of selling a particular book.

There isn’t anything technically accurate about this definition. It’s just the way I separate the two in my mind.

There are things I do on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis that I call maintenance marketing for writers.

The goal of these tasks is to provide content to my platform on a regular basis as well as attract new readers to find and follow me. Then, when I’m promoting a new book, the additional book-centric content is a natural continuation of what I’m already doing.

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Let’s Set Goals {March 2021}

Let's Set Goals March 2021

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly goals. At the beginning of each week I break them down into daily tasks that will work within my current schedule. Do you know how great it is to finish projects? Of course you do! For me, setting monthly goals makes it all possible.

Every month I share how I did the previous month as well as my new goals. Let’s get to it!

How Did I Do? Jill’s February Goals

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Release Day! Hers for the Summer

Release Day! Hers For The Summer By Jill Kemerer

Release Day! Happy day! Hers for the Summer is in stores now! Whee!!

This is the fourth and final book in the Wyoming Sweethearts series. I’m sad to see it end!

If you’ve read any of the other books, you’ll recognize Eden Page, Ryder Fanning and his adorable identical twins, Harper and Ivy.

Ryder’s back in Rendezvous, Wyoming, and this time for good. He recently purchased the ranch Eden grew up on, and he needs a loving babysitter for the girls for the summer. Eden’s the only one who will do.

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Slowing Down for the Details

Slowing Down For The Details, Jill Kemerer

It’s no secret I like to get things done. If I have a to-do list (and I do!), I’m continuously working to check things off of it. I work hard to manage my time well Monday through Friday–and I love the loose unstructured feeling of the weekend.

But sometimes I crave less noise, and I find myself slowing down for the details.

On Monday morning more snow arrived and with it a winter storm warning of 10-16 more inches in the next twenty-four hours. Great. More snow. Here in NW Ohio, snow storms happen. No big deal.

I try to be a once-a-week grocery shopper, and I needed to stock up so I headed to the grocery store. Most of the store was well-stocked, but I noticed the entire cooler of eggs was nearly empty. In the produce section, a long shelf sat bare except for six lone bananas. The bins underneath, usually full, had nothing in them. There wasn’t a carton of strawberries (on sale this week) to be found.

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Let’s Set Goals {February 2021}

Writer Productivity, Let's Set Goals Feb. 2021

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly goals. At the beginning of each week I break them down into daily tasks that will work within my current schedule. Do you know how great it is to finish projects? Of course you do! For me, setting monthly goals makes it all possible.

Every month I share how I did the previous month as well as my new goals. Let’s get to it!

How Did I Do? Jill’s January Goals

  • Writing
  • Draft rest of Wyoming Ranchers Book 2 (roughly 42,000 words) CHECK!
  • Outline nonfiction book for writers CHECK!
  • Prep for speaking engagement CHECK!
  • Set up promo for Hers for the Summer (releases February 23!) CHECK!
  • Health
  • Exercise 5 days/week CHECK!
  • Keep mini-habits: add one vegetable and one fruit each day and get off the couch for one minute in the evening. I’ve been doing this for two months, and it’s been great! MOSTLY CHECK: I had a few weekend days where I failed to add the fruit and vegetable, but overall I stuck with it.
  • Other
  • Continue reading fiction for a minimum of 20 minutes every weekday CHECK!
  • Continue online class for drawing (a primer/basics tutorial with assignments) CHECK: But my enthusiasm level is low 🙂
  • Clean out file cabinet CHECK!

January was cold but mild as far as weather goes around here. I was able to walk outside 2-3 times, bundled up, of course! I had a great writing month, too. While I generally met my health goals, I noticed I’ve been slipping into old habits, like eating more processed foods instead of vegetables and fruits. Just being mindful of it helps me make better choices. As far as my down time, it’s pretty boring here in the winter even without a pandemic. I’m looking forward to warmer weather and being outside again!

Jill’s February Goals

  • Writing
  • Content edit and redline Wyoming Ranchers Book 2
  • Draft proposal for Wyoming Ranchers Book 3
  • Write one section of nonfiction book for writers
  • Promote Hers for the Summer (releases February 23!)
  • Health
  • Exercise 5 days/week
  • Keep mini-habits: add one vegetable and one fruit each day and get off the couch for one minute in the evening.
  • Drink minimum of 72 ounces of water every day. It’s so dry here in the winter. I need the hydration!
  • Other
  • Continue reading fiction for a minimum of 20 minutes every weekday
  • Finish final section of lesson one and the homework assignments for online class for drawing (a primer/basics tutorial with assignments)

That’s the plan. Now I just need to get to it!

What were your January goals? Did you meet them? What would you like to accomplish in February?

Thanks so much for joining me each month! It’s fun to see what you’re up to!

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