Introduction
Our April 2020 journal is our second for the year – Welcome! It’s quite amazing that we have kept this commitment, because posting is not in our DNA!
As mentioned in our first quarterly journal the goal was to record, review and plan our quarterly activities. Furthermore, quarterly format was preferred as it provided time to conduct activities before review. Once again, this has worked as we have been able to get some stuff done!
The big event since our first quarterly Journal has been the arrival of the Coronavirus or CoVID-19 and the subsequent self-isolation. Being grounded has caused a re-evaluation of our priorities because we can’t travel. The big casualties have been our intended travel into the Wide Bay – Burnett region and planning for our trip to the UK in September and October 2020. Consequently, our focus has switched to posting and eBook preparation (see below).
Surprisingly, we are going to use the same framework as presented last quarter, namely: eBooks; Our website; Posts; Travel; and Other activities. However, we might re-arrange the order to better reflect the current emphasis in our activities and plans.
So, without further ado, let’s get stuck in:
April Journal 2020 – Posts
January – March
Quite remarkably we managed to publish five posts since our first journal (and including the journal). This is outstandingJ, unbelievable is more like it. The posts included:
- The first quarterly journal
- Our Queensland travel choices
- Our eBook Self-publishing Approach: Part 10 – Self-publishing a print version of our eBooks
- Our eBook Self-publishing Approach: Part 11 – Review of the Self-publishing process
- Our eBook Self-publishing Approach: Part 12 – Summary of our Self-publishing process
April – June
One of the weaknesses in our series of posts about our approach to self-publishing was eBook marketing. We never really understood it and didn’t have a sustainable strategy to address it. So, during this coming quarter, we plan a short series of posts about eBook marketing which we hope fixes our problem. Keep an eye out for them.
During our last trip to the UK we visited Aberdeen. The prime motivation was to soak up the architecture of the “grey” city. Consequently, we have some photographs of that wind swept and chilly city which we intend to post during this quarter.
Also, during our travel up the Queensland Coast in 2015, which resulted in the eBook: Queensland Coastal Towns – A Road trip, we concentrated on heritage-listed buildings. So we will resume posting abut that trip. For example, about the heritage-listed hotels we photographed.
Our eBook: Six Days in Prague can be found on:
Amazon (Kindle US), Amazon (Kindle UK), Amazon (Kindle AU), and Amazon (Kindle CA)
Smashwords (EPUB), Smashwords also distributes to Oyster, Scribd, Yuzu, Blio and Inktera (formerly Page Foundry) and reaches OverDrive (world’s largest library ebook platform serving 20,000+ libraries), Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Gardners (Askews & Holts and Browns Books for Students), and Odilo (2,100 public libraries in North America, South America and Europe)
Kobo; Apple iTunes; Barnes and Noble
Note: Also available in print and PDF format from Blurb Bookstore
April Journal 2020 – eBooks
We’ll focus on the preparation of two eBooks during this quarter.
Self-publishing
One of our long-held goals has been to publish an eBook on self-publishing. At the beginning of 2018 we wrote a draft eBook which was eventually published as a series of posts about our approach to eBook self-publishing. One of our projects for the remainder of the year will be to review, update and expand that series into an eBook. The short series of posts about eBook marketing will kick start the process.
Queensland Heritage-listed buildings
Another long-held dream has been to publish a “coffee table” quality book of Queensland heritage-listed buildings. As a first step along the path to achieving this goal we’ll compile an eBook (in EPUB format) of some Queensland buildings.
To select the photographs to include in the eBook is the first step. Listing on the Qeensland Heritage Register, the number and quality of available photographs, heritage value of each building, and building aesthetics will drive the decision about the type of eBook – quite a process. For example, should the Ebook be about post offices, pubs (hotels), banks, schools of arts; about coastal towns (e.g. Townsville, Rockhampton); or just an eclectic selection of photographs (current preference).
April Journal 2020 – Travel
Queensland has been in virtual lock-down for the past few weeks. This seems likely to remain the case for the next few months until the Coronavirus (CoVID-19) is under control. Therefore, travel has not been an option and our two major projects relating to the Wide Bay-Burnett region and Cornwall in the UK have been put on hold.
Activists from the business and the civil rights sectors are starting to put pressure on the state and federal governments to start planning on easing restrictions. The most optimistic scenario appears to be a gradual easing of travel restrictions within Queensland by September and further afield during the beginning of next year.
We do not plan to travel internationally until a vaccine is approved and readily available.
Our website
To some extent our website (our most important resource) will take a back seat to producing more content (eBooks and posts) across this quarter. Most website development activities will align closely with our emphasis on eBook marketing. This means incremental improvements to search engine optimisation, speed, security and email list components etc.
The final word…
We’ve known for decades that a quarterly approach to activity management works best for us. Why we haven’t pursued this approach with our self-publishing activities is beyond us! We’re quite happy with the way this first quarter (two journals) has progressed and we hope to keep the process going.
Please Comment
Please leave your thoughts on our Journal, for example: content, structure or priorities etc
We’d like to hear from you.
Before you go…..
Would you like to catch-up with our January Journal (#1)?
How about our preparation for Cornawall?
Or our series on Self-publishing?
Visits: 334
Leave A Comment