It is almost the end of June ... and how the time has flown by quickly! In a week and a bit we will celebrating July 1st (Canada Day) and July 4th (US Independence Day) and will be entering the 3rd quarter of 2022.
Have YOU accomplished what your wanted to? Have you accomplished what you planned on doing in the past six months?
If you haven't it is time to take a serious look at what you are planning to finish the year with. It it time to sit down with pen and paper and plan out WHAT you want to accomplish and HOW you will do it.
Whether you are a full-time or part-time author, one of the challenges is maintaining your writing schedule AND keeping your blog and mailing list current. I know from experience that when you are in the middle of a writing project, interrupting it to write a blog post or send a newsletter can really throw you off your game. Coming up with ideas of WHAT to write, writing them, finding images and posting and scheduling--everything takes time.
The great thing about this list is that it covers all of the major and minor events throughout the month of July. AND, what I really love about it is that there are some "real life" live examples you can get more ideas and inspiration from.
Here's how to use the list:
Decide right NOW which events interest and intrigue you. Choose however many you need ... if you send a newsletter every week you need four newsletter topics. At least one of them should be about your book(s). Maybe one could be about a favorite book or author leaving you with two newsletter spots to fill. Choose one major event from the July calendar and one minor event -- something that captures your interest or makes you laugh like a crazy person. Your monthly calendar is now filled with what you are going to write about.
IF you send out two or three newsletters a month ... just adjust the instructions to fit. IF you only send one newsletter a month, my advice is to seriously consider sending two ...now that you have some ready-made ideas it is much much easier!
NEXT - pick a day between now and June 30th.
Take one day --write and schedule all four newsletters. Turn at least one of the topics into a blog post -- add an image and you are DONE for the month.
Your newsletters can be short ... they don't have to be 2000 words, nor do they have to be "perfect" (though perfect grammar is always a good goal ( I recommend ProWritingAid ).
Unless you are about to launch a new book, try to choose an "evergreen" topic for your blog post. For example writing about one of your favorite authors can be appropriate at any time ... and two years from now you could update and re-publish it.
I LOVE July's list. For me Canada Day is the BIG celebration of the month. All the neighbors in my crescent get together and create one BIG Block Party ... all day and well into the night. Just before midnight many of us pile into cars and go to a nearby vantage point to watch the fireworks, which will actually BE an event once again this year!
Two other events that I will be celebrating are:
Ice Cream Month: In most places July is hot and sticky, that’s why July is Ice Cream Month! It’s the perfect frosty treat to cool down during summer.
I am diabetic and have found dozens of great NO sugar recipes. I can literally whip up a batch of home made ice cream in less than 10 minutes. LOL waiting an hour for my ice cream to freeze "seems" like a lifetime. What a wonderful treat!
Both my Grandmothers have long since passed. BUT if they were still alive I'd be celebrating Gorgeous Grandma Day on July 23rd with a bouquet of yellow daisies.
Here's the JULY EVENTS LINEUP again.
