Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and are looking forward to the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018! So I thought, as a follow on from the other week's piece about writing around the holidays, I would do a piece about how as an indie author, the Christmas period can be filled with stress and strife, but you can also have a lot of fun with it. I'll get you some of my tips for that. When it comes to the end of the year, there is so much to be done. Something that I find a little stressful. You have the end of year royalties to get together, the sales to track. You have all that fun of checking off goals and planning for the new year. So here's some tips of how to get through the end of the year fun.
#1. MAKE A LIST
A bit like Santa, you wanna be making a list. That way you can cross off everything you get done when you get it done. So downloading royalty reports, making sure everything to do with the end of 2017 is done, filed away and ready for when you next need it. Some places won't have an end of year report until January, but others will have one on the 31st so it's a good idea to check and make sure you get the ones you need.
#2. DON'T RUSH
The last thing you want to do is rush, so I'd advise checking what you need long before we hit that last week of 2017. I've been slowing gathering what I can in the weeks of December already past. That's simply because I'm a planner and leaving things to the last minute make me anxious. It also means that if I do forget something, I've got time to correct the issue
#3. WHEN MAKING GOALS, BE REASONABLE
As you all know I do both monthly goals on a private blog as well as yearly goals that I post about in a vlog towards the end of the year. I also post it here on this blog to make sure everyone knows what I'm planning to do in the coming year. If you're someone who does quarterly goals or bi-montly goals, you'll also be starting to make those goals around this time as well. Just remember to be reasonable with yourself, know your limits and while you shouldn't aim too high, don't go too low either. Make sure that they are things you could reasonable do in that time period and be honest with yourself if no one else.
#4. TAKE TIME TO RELAX
I know it seems like it's a lot of work. Hell, it more than seems, it is a lot of work. But you should also plan to have some down time as well, simply because it's supposed to be a fun time of year all around. I know it's hard when you have deadlines looming, kids or family running around, but you should also take some time to breathe. Make sure that you set aside, even if it's just an hour here and there, for you to do something you enjoy. I work most days, and yet I always have a couple of hours in the evening to read a book and enjoy that down time. It helps you stay productive and stops your from burning out.
So those are my tips of the end of year fun. There's a lot that needs doing and that's not even going into sales and other promotional stuff that seems all amped up over the holiday period. Overall, I like to think that no matter how much stress this time of year brings, it's usually a good experience. I had Christmas at home with my best friend and her daughter. My mum came over along with my brother and his girlfriend and today I'm headed off to see my dad and step-mum. These two days are blocked off as complete days of rest, so other than posting this blog post, I'm doing nothing but relaxing.
Tomorrow I'll start back at writing, and will also be getting those final bits and pieces ready for the end of 2017. I won't speak to you all again until the new year so I hope you have a great one. As always, if you wanna leave a comment about your Christmas, or any tips you have for the end of year, let me know!
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