The Essentials of a Writer’s Office

Writer Wednesday

In order to be productive, you need the correct tools to perform your job.  This is no different for writers.  An ideal office environment includes the tools authors need to research, write, submit and market their books.  Here are some items every writer should have on hand:

·         Notebooks and pens for writing down ideas, reminders and tasks.  Ideally, you should use a different notebook for each of these.

·         Laptop and/or desktop.  Laptops are convenient for taking with you when you travel or want to work elsewhere in the house.  Desktops are not portable, but the monitors can be much larger.

·         A printer.  Because most of what you print will be manuscript pages, look for a printer whose page output is high, rather than photo quality being good.

·         A desk.  Purchase one large enough for your electronics, but small enough to fit into your space.

·         An ergonomic desk chair to provide support during the hours that you are sitting in it.

·         A file cabinet or drawers for storing research, ideas, finances, organizations, etc.

·         A good internet connection.  While your writing is done offline, your email, research and newsletters all require an internet connection.  Make sure it is fast enough to handle loading graphics and pages to make the best use of your time.

·         Word processing software.  Most common is Microsoft Word, but any software that provides the same functions would be suitable.

·         A notebook or software for tracking submissions and royalties.

·         Bulletin board or whiteboard for posting notes and ideas.

·         A red pen for editing.

·         Notecards, stationery and envelopes for writing thank you notes, cover letters and mailing promo materials.

·         Writer’s Resource books.  Select a variety of books, including characterization, plotting, marketing, etc.  For a list of suggestions, click here.

Contact Management program.  This can be used for setting up business contacts and a fan newsletter

Keeping Track of Contacts

As a writer, you come into contact with many different people—editors, agents, fellow writers, book store owners, etc.  They may stick around for a while, but they may change positions or leave their place of employ.  As a writer, it is important to keep up to date on these changes.  You don't want to make a bad impression by submitting a manuscript to an editor who no longer works for a publishing house.

It is imperative that you keep track of people in the industry, including the company they work for and their contact information.  So what's the best way to do this?

One way is to use Outlook.  You can add as much detail as you want for a contact, including birthday and department they work in.  You can then categorize your contacts accordingly.  Perhaps you want all readers in one category, booksellers in another, etc.  You can also create a group, adding names and emails to the group for mass email distribution.  When you have an announcement to make, such as a book release, you can send it to the group with one click of the mouse.

Another way is to use an online service such as Plaxo (plaxo.com).  This online service syncs with all your email accounts and devices to keep everything updated.  It also deletes duplicate records.  Another site is Flexadex (flexadex.com).  Both these sites allow online access from anywhere in the world.  So you never lose contact information when your computer crashes or you trade in your phone.

A database program such as Access can collect this information also.  Fields are customizable, so you can add info like where you met the person (at conference, perhaps) or editor's preferences (genre or length).  The database can be exported to mailing lists for mass email distribution.

A simple spreadsheet works, too.  You can create your own headings and fields.  Data can be sorted by column, so you can add and delete easily without worrying about the order of entries.

Finally, if you are truly old-fashioned, there is always the paper version.  If you like to work with paper and pen, select a notebook or address book with pages that insert and remove easily.  These are limited in space, though, so you may not be able to collect all the information you want about your contacts.

Whatever method you choose, make sure it's the right one for you.  Use it on a trial basis to see if you're comfortable entering the data and customize the entries.  Once you find a system you like, then start entering all your contacts.  Or hire a professional organizer to do it for you!  Prima By Design, 847-955-1822