Project management is just what it sounds like; managing a project from beginning to end. Every title published is a project. If you write and sell multiple titles per year, you will have multiple projects to manage, and their milestones will overlap.
Right in your contract, you have your project and milestone dates defined for you. When the book is due, how long you have to complete and return your edits, how long you have to complete and return your proofs, your publication date, and when your next proposal is due. Each of these stages: complete manuscript handed in, completed edits handed in, proofed and corrected galleys returned, and next proposal written and handed in, and title’s publication are milestones. And they are usually tied in some way to the next advance payment, hence providing incentive to get the work done.
Things get tricky if you write for multiple publishers or do multiple releases with the same publisher, because that’s when milestones and projects begin to overlap. So having some way of keeping it all straight will help minimize the confusion. I use a calendar on my computer that synchronizes with my Palm and this worked really well until Leap Year made it lose its electronic mind. I also use desktop electronic post-it notes that help me keep track of what’s going on each month.
Just remember that no matter what you do, there will be long periods of time with nothing due followed by times when three milestones are due in the same month (or the same week), but keeping track will still help you cope. And take advantage of those open periods to get ahead whenever possible.
Start by noting due dates or how much time is allowed for each milestone. This will save you paging through your contract trying to look it up later. And utilize your broken-down goals to work towards each milestone with daily action. You already know how to write a book. You use the same approach to break down working through revisions, proofing, or working on the next proposal into daily actions you can take to stay on track. Example: you have 10 days to revise and return your 400 pg novel. 400 divided by 10 = 40 but add a margin of safety and aim for 50 pgs a day to be done on time.
Know that things will go wrong. You’ll get sick, your kid will get sick, the water heater will break and the house will flood, and it will all happen at the worst possible time. Just get back on track as quickly as you can when these things happen.
From a creative perspective, when you shift from project to project, you have to learn to be flexible and shift gears. This isn’t always easy. There’s an inevitable loss of momentum when you change direction. Just accept that and try to find ways to work with your creative needs to make the transition as smoothly as possible.
My favorite trick is creating a playlist for each project and listening to it before beginning my work session or in between sessions. This keeps the project working in my subconscious. When I have to drop the book I’m writing to work on revisions of the previous book, switching the playlist helps me make the change in mindset. Novelist Susan Wiggs uses collages to help her quickly get into the project at hand. Experiment with different things and do what works for you.
You can do funky flowchart things with business software. Really good for people who like to SEE what they have to do in the next quarter to a year.
We hates flow charts, preciousss. But if it works for you, hurrah! I prefer lists and dates. Then I just do the math (must do so much per day to stay on track) and it’s easy to see by week or month if I need to pick up the pace.
Having a system is vital, though, whatever system works.
I guess my progression from sticky notes to an excel chart is something. That’s just for submissions thinking positive, I can see the need for having it all in one place later. Great Topic!
A calendar might be low-tech, but it works. *g* Yes, you do need it all in one place, whatever you use!
I remember my Project Management course in college. Just the name makes me break out in hives. *g*
I do have to calendar everything though. Otherwise…gah. Who can remember what’s what and when, ya know?
Flowcharts? Really, May? Hmmmm….I do love visual aids….
Project management? Schedules?
I think about stuff and ponder it seriously, tell my friends and now and then look at the calendar or ask dh what day it is.
Sometimes I play with numbers like that, you know, like, “if I do ten pages a day”… but anyone who knows me knows I’ll probably do 50 one day and then none the next. 😉 I never missed a deadline, never had an assignment late through college (including 3 grad degrees), so I guess I have an innate sense of time or something. Whatever it is, it works.
My husband once bought me one of those fancy organizers…I can’t remember the name, they’re pricey… Franklin something? Maybe something else. I looked at him like he was a stranger…or he had bought this for someone else. Had I ever done more than written something down on a piece of scrap paper and then lost it? I think I did eventually pull out all the pages and use them as scrap paper for notes, etc. LOL
I tried all the collaging, lists, brainstorming, journaling… nothing works for me except sitting down and just writing… Anyone tries to get near me with a chart, something ugly could happen. *G* And yet, people who know me will say I’m organized. 😉 Which I am. I just don’t write much of it down. 😉
Sam
Jaci, there’s also Microsoft Project. Lots of options if you want software! Like you, I love my calendar.
Sam, you clearly have a genius for keeping it all in your head. *g*
I love the idea of flow charts 😉 but find lists where I can check things off work best for me – although a scrap of paper (or half a post-it, b/c I can’t bear to waste a whole one…LOL) is usually what functions as my to-do list.
Ah, well…one of these days I’ll get organized. I swear.
Carolynn, I lose paper notes and post-its, which is why I use the electronic kind. Your solution is easy to implement, and there’s a lot to be said for that. If you make ‘getting organized’ too complicated, it tends to not happen. Or to take too much time, instead of making things more efficient.
“Just remember that no matter what you do, there will be long periods of time with nothing due followed by times when three milestones are due in the same month (or the same week), but keeping track will still help you cope.”
Amen, Charli. Seems as if everything happens at once and derails all your plans. I have a calendar by my computer where I pencil in all my obligations. I also keep track of my word count. July sucked. LOL Too many other things got in the way, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
NJ, July wasn’t my personal best, either, but at least I went off and did some badly needed self-care. I’m in much better shape for this month now.
Great post!