Anyone Else Been Uber-Productive During #COVID Lockdown?

At the start of 2018, it was not unusual for me to work for 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. After doing this for 8 years I was in danger of burnout so in mid-2018 I finally made it a rule for myself that I would not work on author's & client's book or accounting projects on the weekends. Really I was getting to a place where I didn't even want to open InDesign or Photoshop and I dreaded checking email much less Facebook.  When I looked back on it, I was spending more time telling my kids I was working than I was actually getting to spend quality time with them.

So I rocked along, blocking off weekends for myself to spend time with the kids, take care of personal stuff, socialize with my friends and in general just focus on more than just work. It worked out good too! Then cancer hit, I was going to daily radiation treatments which took an hour on top of the 2-hour round trip drive to the hospital. To be honest, those 2 month were horrible; I had just enough energy to shuffle to the car, then shuffle to the wheelchair at the hospital. We wont even talk about the 14 blood-transfusions and 5 hospital stays on top of the radiation treatments. I was totally wiped out - physically and mentally. 

Even though the treatment regime was just 42-days (weekdays) it took almost 2 months to complete and there were lots of emergency hospital admittings before during and after the treatment was completed. But I finally got to ring the bell signifying treatment was complete so I thought I would be able to bounce right back into my 18-hour days again.

Yeah, that didn't happen...

It was another 4 months of me just getting my strength back after being basically bed-bound for the previous 4 months of sickness. I could spend maybe 45-minutes at a time at the computer, 3 or 4 times a day taking 1-2 hour breaks between bouts at the computer.

Little by little, I recovered. It took 6 months but by Halloween I was recovered enough so that I could work on multiple projects at a time. Yay me!

And wouldn't you know, right about the time I am back to 100%, COVID-19 takes the World by storm, locking everyone in their homes, glued to Netflix and Amazon Prime, trying to home school and taking up day-drinking as if it was a gold medal event for the 2020 Olympics. 

Why buy a book when there are tens of thousands being offered for free; why release a book when people are too worried about their finances to buy a book?

With COVID-19, most Indie Authors noticed a decline in their income because all the readers of books (who were stuck at home instead of work) were worried they weren't going to have money to pay for toilet paper and hand sanitizer so they weren't buying books in the numbers they usually did. Add to that myriad of books being offered for free by authors as a way to give-back to the community and it was a vicious circle. 

So Indie Publishing professionals noticed a decline in their book projects. Can't blame authors or readers for this, it's just a result of the devastation that COVID-19 released on the world. Many authors can't get into the mindset to let their muse free, pouring heart and soul into a new manuscript. Most have seen their income - from writing or a day job - plummet so can't afford to have their books edited, covered, flowed and adapted into ebooks. 

Normally I have more ideas than hours, but I have been able to get lots of things accomplished since going on L ockdown for the Coronovirus. 

I didn't let this slowdown in the industry stop me though. I used the time to be productive and do many of the things I wanted to do but really hadn't had the time for. I always have more ideas than hours.

• I had a few book projects in various stages of process;
• I updated the Book Bloggers Master List for authors and put it online for all authors to access;
• I switched from Paypal as my invoicing platform to a complete cloud accounting program for my quotes, invoicing and expenses;
• I got a group of authors who were either former teachers, current professors and editors together to make study guides of some of the literary classics;
• I finished my website that I had been working on since December of 2019;
• I signed up for a few master classes in software programs so I could be more productive and better able to help my clients;
• I took care of all the administrative stuff for E-BookBuilders that I had been too busy to do before such as making a comprehensive freelancer contract, compiling my business brochure, organizing 8 years of electronic client files.

And I am proud to say I haven't binge watched a single thing so nope, I don't know anything about Tiger King except the memes I see on Facebook.

 To help authors get back into the business of publishing, E-BookBuilders is offering 25% off (at least) on any service we offer.  Just contact us asking for a quote (Request a Quote HERE). Once you receive the quote let us know you have this coupon and the discount will be applied to the final invoice.

Have a book you have written while you were on lockdown? We can help you bring it to market at a discount. 
Still writing a book but still need it edited before you can publish it? We can help.

These coupons are only valid until June 30th 2020. Even if you don't have your manuscript ready to be designed by that date, you can schedule your project, paying a deposit, to hold your slot and discounted price. 

Terms and Conditions:
To be booked on schedule, a non-refundable deposit of 25% down is required.
Half of project amount must be paid to start work on project.
​Remaining balance due before delivery of final files.