Lessons Learned from Writing Failures

Discover key lessons learned from writing failures in this reflective video, where I share personal mistakes to help you avoid them and build a stronger writing career. From losing work due to inconsistency to overlooking marketing, these insights focus on recalibrating your process for better results.
For a deeper dive, check out the full post at https://dougfbooks.com/writing/organization/writing-failures/ right now, it's packed with actionable advice!

In this retrospective, I discuss why quarterly reviews are essential for spotting errors, especially in the often-neglected marketing side of writing. Learn how adapting to changes like AI in SEO is like planning for the weather, ignore the storm clouds, and you'll get caught unprepared. One major pitfall: inconsistency across devices leading to lost versions and wasted time, a simple fix with cloud syncing and habits.

I also cover the game-changer of sequential file saving (like YYYYMMDD naming), which saved me during an Amazon publishing scare after transferring books post-family loss. Without it, proving ownership could have been disastrous. Another hard lesson: always calculate ROI on your projects, spending years on a book without recouping opportunity costs (like $70,000 in foregone income) means you're upside down.

Don't skip building an email list from day one; I had bestsellers in sci-fi top 20 but lost my audience without it, turning a thriving sales stream into silence. Marketing is the third leg of the stool, without it, your writing and editing collapse. Drawing from Robert Kiyosaki's success, it's about creating a media constellation, not just social posts.

Going forward, focus on these five pillars: device consistency, daily saves, ROI tracking, email infrastructure, and full marketing (including future press releases). Whether you're an aspiring author or seasoned writer, these lessons learned from writing failures will keep your process efficient and profitable.

If this resonates, like, subscribe, and comment your biggest writing mistake below, let's learn together! Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro to Retrospective
1:30 - Adapting to Changes
3:00 - Consistency Across Devices
5:45 - Sequential Saving & Amazon Story
8:20 - Calculating ROI
12:10 - Building Email Lists
15:00 - Mastering Marketing
18:30 - Five Key Pillars & Wrap-Up

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