n the first of three blog posts covering Production, Development and Growth, I wanted to share some of the ways I’m going to grow (or in other words, produce more), in my creative business in 2022.
Some of this is a mindset shift, but some of it is based purely on the thing that brings me most joy, creation.
I want to make sure I document what I’m planning because a) it holds me accountable, and b) I have way too much paper littering the house with my lists and tick boxes.
So here we go.
Production Goal One – Writing
High Level
Write at least 20,000 words by the end of September 2022
Macro steps and why
Schedule time into my quarterly plan for writing
- Add in times for days off as based on my current situation, and this is the most feasible time for me to write
- Get up earlier and go to sleep earlier, because if there aren’t any words, there’s nothing to sell and generate income from
Monitoring
- Make sure I have longer blocks of writing on days off, and make sure I do this before designing book covers and/or sewing
- Keep monitoring output on production tracker to I can see what trends there are in my creativity and when I am most productive
Remember
- DO NOT have a word count goal, as this can be detrimental to my sense of achievement if I don’t hit that word count. Just aim for those 20,000 words overall. Any time and any number is an achievement
- Monitoring progress now I’m part time means I’m going to be able to be more strategic when planning future quarterly goals
Production Goal Three – Designing Premade eBook Covers
High Level
Design 20+ ebook covers for sale
Macro steps and why
Schedule in design time into daily/weekly/monthly schedule
- Monitor dates created and keep a tally so I can keep track of progress and trends
- This is going to be useful to have for quarterly planning sessions
Scheduling
Writing comes first
- Make sure I have written the words before jumping straight into designing on the days I have planned writing, as novels are another stream of long-term income for a creative entrepreneur
Remember
- Monitor and track what covers take more or less time and use this to plan for future creation and pricing strategies more effectively
- Be strategic with designs e.g., when doing non-fiction, remember that some covers could be sold individually, rather than part of a series
- Be strategic about what categories I can design in. Now it appears to be thriller and non-fiction for authors, but are these markets that I can easily or successfully break into?
- Use time in the evening for designing, as it’s less mentally draining than writing, which I am better at
In summary
So, hope you enjoyed that. I know it’s not a long post but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that I understand what I want to achieve, and how I want to get there. It’s my production goals, and the next two blog posts are going to be development and growth. Make sure you look out for those.
Over to you now. What have you got planned for the rest of the year? Is there any aspect of your life, either professional or personal, that you’re aiming on developing further? Do you have any specific tips about developing skills, products or personal habits?
Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me on Instagram.
Speak to you soon!
Robin
