Productivity

Supercharging Your Productivity

By Julie Tollefson

Amanda Flower knows productivity. The author of more than 50 mystery novels in 14 series (contemporary, historical, magical, children’s — she’s written in all these subgenres) publishes multiple books a year, maintains an active social media presence, blogs, hosts an Etsy shop and a newsletter, and supports a cat rescue mission. Her Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off (Amish Matchmaker Mystery #6) came out in November, Truffle Trouble (Amish Candy Shop Mysteries #10) released last month, and First Ladies’ Guide to Murder (first in the First Ladies’ Murder Club series) will be out in November. Here, Amanda offers five tips for boosting your productivity in pursuit of your writing goals.

1) Protect your writing time — The only way to finish your book is to write it, and that means first and foremost devoting most of your energy to writing.

“Saying ‘No, I can't do that. I have to write’ is perfectly acceptable even if you are not published yet,” Amanda says.

Though she may have multiple books in various stages of writing and editing on any given day, Amanda works on only one book during a 24-hour period. “It’s too hard to head jump from character to character or book to book midday,” she says.

She writes best in the morning, and her dream schedule would be to write from 8 to 2 every day. “Most days don’t go that way, though,” she says. “I have a lot of responsibilities, so I do my best to squeeze my writing in a very odd schedule.”

Amanda sets a word count goal every day and every week. She tracks her countdown to the finish in a notebook that goes where she goes, crossing off the number of words she’s written in thousand-word increments.

2) Don’t compare yourself to others — Give yourself a break and find the writing path that works for you. Think critically when anyone proclaims “writers must do x to be successful,” whether it be outline or blog or publish a newsletter or any of the multitude of other things cast as vital for authors. Do these things only if they work for you.

“I don't outline, and for a long time, I felt inferior to other writers who went into their writing with a plan or outline,” Amanda says. “It just seemed to me to be the better method, but it's not my method. Believe me, I have tried to outline, and it's a disaster. That does not make my method bad — just mine.”

3) Let passion guide your writing — “I think writers should write about things that interest them,” Amanda says. Her series touch on bookstores and libraries, farm-to-table cuisine, magic, gardening, cats, and more. “I have turned down projects from publishers in the past because I didn’t want to write about a certain topic. You are living with this book for at least six months to a year of your life (and if a series much longer). It's preoccupying you. You should enjoy what you write.”

Beyond words on the page, your passions can feed your creativity in other, equally important ways. In addition to the three traditional novels she publishes each year, Amanda has launched an indie series — the Cat Rescue Mysteries — with all proceeds earmarked for a cause near and dear to her heart: cat rescue. She’s also turned her longtime hobby of making jewelry (“it’s creative but uses a completely different part of my brain”) into an Etsy shop, Amanda Flower Designs, that features merchandise that complements the themes in her books.

4) Promote your work, but not at the expense of writing — Though writing comes first, other writing-adjacent activities — think promotion, newsletters, blogging, social media — require time to do well.

Amanda’s main avenues for promotion are her newsletter, distributed about once a month, and social media, primarily Instagram and Facebook.

“My goal with those and all promotion is to connect with my readers. I want to create a community,” she says.

She doesn’t have an official strategy, but she has established loose routines related to the content of each promotional tool. She posts a recipe to her blog once a month. Her newsletter features information about new and coming books, coming events, and an occasional free excerpt. On social media, she shares writing updates and lots of pictures of her cats and garden. But she doesn’t jump on trends that take time better spent reaching her number one goal.

“If I spend hours editing a video that lasts one minute, it takes me away from writing. I don't want to do that,” she says.

One unconventional promotional opportunity that Amanda takes part in regularly is her local farmers’ market, where she sells books and builds community.

“Writing can be a lonely job, and sometimes I am starved for human interaction,” she says. “The farmers’ market fills this for me. It's in my town, and I get to meet so many people. It's also made me feel more connected to my community. Overall sales are good, but more important than that, it's so much fun!”

5) Try not to be discouraged — Publishing is not easy, but don’t let the challenges drag you down.

“Writing has a lot of up and downs, even for authors who are well established,” Amanda says. “If being a published author is your dream, don't give up. Keep moving forward.”