Another month past, and another (slightly late) post. In my defense, it’s finals week at school, and I have a bunch of papers due. On the plus side, I’m hopefully sending one of the papers out for potential publication, and the pub I’m looking at pays pretty well, which would be great, because I need a bit more of a cushion to cover household costs over the summer. Fingers crossed!
This month’s Groundhog Day Resolutions recap is below the break:
Goals:
- Make regular money from writing
- Subgoal: Small press solvency
- Schedule self-care and practice self-love
- Solidify my graduate degree path, and apply to grad school
Month in Review:
What worked? What didn’t?
1) I’m still working as a regular contributor to Black Girl Dangerous, which is super great. I didn’t realize how great their editors are and how much I like that process until I started working with other editors. Since the last post, a piece I wrote about local Portland activists was published in the Portland Observer, both online and in print. I’ve submitted another piece to the Spectrum, one of PSU’s student publications, and that’s gone to print, so I’m waiting for that to hit stands on campus before I can invoice them.
•) Subgoal: The fundraiser has ended, and I’m getting ready to launch sales of After Ferguson: In Solidarity. I’m also working on internal design and cover design for the print edition of My Body Asunder, a quarter-life memoir by recent Marylhurst University graduate Darwin Rose Riviere.
2) I’ve taken a self-care day each of the last 3 weekends, and that’s been pretty great. Even when I didn’t get enough sleep, the chance to relax and not worry has been good for my health, which is especially great, since I ran out of pain medication this weekend. I need to contact my pharmacy and see what’s happening with that, because I rely on that to function, basically. It’ll be less vital when my classes and job end this Friday, but it’d still be nice to not be in pain all the time. I’m continuing to take it easy as possible.
3) No update.
Planning the Next Month:
What am I working on going forward?
1) I have another piece to send out for potential publication. I also need to organise my pitches and submissions again — I have been slacking on this, and it’s actually super important to track all this (for tax reasons, and for efficiency, and because it’ll get pretty unmanageable pretty soon if I don’t. Hoping to sell some more pieces over the summer. Find reviewers for all books. Looking at small business grants.
•) Subgoal: I need to set up sales portals for the next two books I’m putting out from the press, finalise all the design stuff, and order proofs.
2) I’ll be able to take a lot of rest time next week, so that’ll be really nice. It’s also my birthday on Tuesday, and I’m gonna give myself permission to take the day off and do a bunch of things that’ll make me happy.
3) Stasis.
See all of the Groundhog Day Resolutions posts here.
Tessara Dudley, Poet-Publisher-Educator-Activist 