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Does this scenario sound familiar? We've all been here, hunting like crazy, scrambling to track down a missing document or file. If we're lucky, we gave it a sensible name and can use the search function on the computer to locate it. If not, we're in for aggravation and headaches.
I've worked in numerous occupations and am now the owner of my own business, so I know the importance of getting and staying organized. There's nothing more frustrating than spending valuable writing time searching for a file or working with jumbled, messy documents.
Here are a few tips to help you get and stay organized.
Create folders. Make one for every project you work on, then put everything related to the project in that folder. Everything. Emails, pictures, documents, it all goes in here. You may never need most of the contents of the file, but it will be there if you do, and it will be easy to find. Also, it's much quicker to save and back up a whole folder rather than many pieces of work. If your folder is getting full, make sub folders within the main one.
Back up your work. External hard drives are relatively inexpensive and will be worth their weight in gold if your computer crashes. You will only curse and scream for a short while, secure in the knowledge that much of your precious data is saved.
Save emails. You may need to refer to them, and it's a real pain to search through days and days of deleted email. When you save one, rename it with something easy to find and sort. Don't save it as is, with your name or book name as the first word. Rename it with the person or company that sent it, or who and what it pertains to.
Name your documents appropriately. Use at least one word you will remember, so you can use the search function to find it if you need to. This takes a little practice, but soon you will create a naming system that works well for you.
Start an Excel spread sheet with review sites and the date you sent them. If you request reviews from review sites, you will want to see where and when you sent the review. It's good to keep notes, such as which sites worked for you, or word and content requirement. It's also handy to have the exact URL to get right to the submission page of the site.
Start an Excel spread sheet with your promotion events. You are doing a lot of self promoting, right? Having a spreadsheet makes it easy to see what you've done and what's coming up. Develop a system so you know when you need to send guest blogs, when you need to update your website for a blog hop or other event, etc. Then, and this is important, make sure to put the dates on your personal calendar, datebook, or Outlook, whatever you use, so you don't miss an event.
Keep a list of contest winners and their email address. If you give out books and other goodies as prizes at contests, you'll want to keep track of who got what. To be really organized, list what book you gave and what format. I give Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, All Romance and also PDF books as prizes, and I like to know what I've sent.
Implementing these tips will free up your time to write more, and that's what we really want to do!
I will soon have templates for sale of the documents I mentioned above. If you are interested in purchasing them, please let me know and I will notify you when they are ready. Thank you! naomibellina AT live DOT com.
A charming fairy and a diligent security professional both claim rights to a precious sapphire, the Starry Night. Raya needs the stone to save a valuable lake, and Max needs to make sure the gem stays in its proper place for a private showing at the museum.
Chasing Raya and the stone, Max travels between Earth and Raya’s planet, and while Max starts out with only one goal in mind, to return the stone to its home, he ends up on a lively adventure, interacting with several races of exotic beings who once resided on Earth.
Though captivated by the lovely Raya, Max has sworn to stay away from women after having been deceived by a beautiful but unscrupulous girlfriend in his past. The more time he spends with the enchanting fairy, however, the more he wants her. Raya is different from anyone he has ever met and even a man with iron willpower will have a difficult time resisting a determined fairy with her own secret agenda!
Seducing the Stone buy links:
https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/387/Seducing-the-Stone
http://www.amazon.com/Seducing-the-Stone-ebook/dp/B0075N7JKY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329859610&sr=8-3
Her interests include dancing, hula-hooping, drumming, and creating healthy meals. She takes the opportunity to play, have fun, and indulge in the pursuit of passion whenever possible. She hopes you enjoy her stories and would love to hear from you at naomibellina(at)live(dot)com. Visit her website at http://www.naomibellina.com/
Her motto: Never pass up the opportunity to have an adventure!
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