I wrote this in response to an "Ask Our Members" question for our New England Outdoor Writers Association newsletter as to what happens after you sign a book contract. Some ideas follow here . . .
DON’T talk about your book too much. Write it.
DO follow your book proposal’s chapter outline. It will keep you on task.
DON’T put the project off. To craft 60,000 words on contracted deadline—often a year’s time—you have to write more than 1,000 words a week, every week.
DO keep a three-ring binder of printed chapters as you complete them, and refer to this as reference material.
DON’T put off shooting photos to support your text.
DO assign target dates for monthly word counts and chapter completion.
DON’T think a book project will let you rest. It won’t.
DO relax once the copyedited manuscript is completed, and the project is in production. Then again, that’s the time to work on your next book’s proposal.
—Steve Hickoff
