My Writing Day - Salvaging Something

This morning threatened to turn into a bit of a disaster before I even managed to get started.
And there's the problem.
I've managed for the best part of the last 4 months since being forced to give up the day job to be disciplined enough to be at my desk by 8A.M. every weekday - with 1 or 2 minor lapses in between
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The chest infection laid me low and has knocked me out of my routine, and I managed to sleep through the alarm again this morning
It was 9 o'clock when I finally got up
I had a cup of tea and a biscuit in place of breakfast ans got to my desk as soon as possible
Usually I feel dreadful for the rest of the day when I sleep in, but I'm quite alert
I didn't get much done on the cover design because I ran well over into that time, reading just one book -
All 115 pages of it
BOOK MARKETING IS DEAD, by Derek Murphy
I'd glanced at it previously, but not read it fully simple because of the sheer scale of it
Following the old adage of only touching any document a limited number of times, I decided to spend however long it took to read the whole thing
I'm glad I did, and I took copious notes
He basically (I hate when people overuse that term) says that the 'indie' author's mantra of "look at my book.'" and just plugging your work everywhere is counter-productive
We should be focussed on delivering quality content and value to attract readers and potential buyers, and building relationships
Especially with people who can help to grow your business
Give something to book bloggers that will help them before asking to be featured

Provide free excerpts, chapters, and even short stories on your site and social media to give readers a taste of your writing
He also gave great advice on how to build your personal author story
That was a light bulb moment for me
My previous employer may think they've thrown me on the scrapheap - but I'm a long way off being ready for that

Digging Deep For Those Writing Nuggets

I was literally banging my head against the wall yesterday to eke out something for my W.I.P. plot, but finally dragged out some good ideas - once I stopped thinking about it
This morning's writing session was a late start, and a struggle
I realised I was writing myself into a dead end so opened up a new page
Writing the same scene
Ideas flowed then, and some new and interesting things flowed out

At first glance anothe few hundred words doesn't seem much, but I've pulled myself out of the 'quicksand' and will spend more time plotting later
The whole thing is becoming a little clearer and I'm more focused and determined
I said yesterday that I'll probably put back most of the words I edited out of Destiny's Daughter III, and I need to
But the story's going to flow better for that
Now, about that 6:30 alarm clock