Product Description

Organization, time management and motivation continue to plague the lives and hinder the dreams of all writers. In this lively, inspirational, browsable book, Aslett and Cartaino provide a plethora of easy-to-find, easy-to-use tips for organizing and managing the writing life and for staying motivated. From organizing a desk to tracking submissions to creating realistic schedules to making and following a master plan, they cover every important topic. By following the strategies in this book, writers will not only become more productive; they greatly increase their chances of publication. They will generate more ideas, complete more projects and systematically submit their work to editors and agents.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #672368 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Amazon.com Review
Before settling down to write about this book, I checked my e-mail. I searched for a vintage pedestal sink on eBay. I looked at the weather forecast for the weekend, and I glanced at my town's electronic message board. I even contemplated cleaning off my desk. And all the while, I imagined Don Aslett, in his ordered universe, typing away at one of his 40 books-in-progress. Aslett is best known as the author of Clutter's Last Stand, published in paperback in 1984. In Get Organized, Get Published!, Aslett, along with co-author Carol Cartaino, brings his theories of efficiency to bear on the writer's life. If you de-clutter every aspect of your life, he reasons, you'll have a lot more time to write. Sleep less, eat more simply, eschew vanity, and convince your plumber to give you an actual appointment time and you will have more time for your writing. Streamlining your belongings, exercise regime, and work area ("out, route, doubt, sprout" is Aslett's mantra) will buy you even more time. For Get Organized, Get Published!, Aslett and Cartaino offer advice on creating a writing agenda and a "getting published action plan"; they'll help you organize your workplace, research, market attack, career, even the writing process itself. It's hard to imagine when Aslett has any fun (crossword puzzles, videos, chats with the neighbors, and the like all take time away from writing, you know), but considering that--as quoted here--the average American will spend 12 years watching television, eight months opening junk mail, and one year looking for misplaced items, it's hard not to sit up, listen, and get writing. --Jane Steinberg

About the Author
Don Aslett is the author of 28 books that have sold nearly three million copies worldwide. He is a well-known specialist in the field of organization. Carol Cartaino collaborates on all of Aslett's books as a co-writer and editor. She has edited nonfiction books for thirty-two years, including ten years as editor-in-chief of Writer's Digest Books.

Customer Reviews

Perfect for Writers of All Experience Levels
I don't have enough time. I don't even know where to start. I don't know what to write about.

The list of excuses is endless. The remedy can be found in "Get Organized, Get Published!"

No matter what your writing experience, you've probably encountered organizational problems, time constraints and a whole host of other writing-related issues. Now you can learn how to get the most out of your day, office space and how you can make effective use of your writing sessions.

Sample chapters include:

* Finding the Time to Write

* Making Your Master Plan

* The Big Step: Getting Started

* Organizing Your Work Area

* Organizing the Writing Process Itself

* Time Management Tips for Writers

* "Just a Minute": Outwitting Interruptions

If you struggle with any aspect of your writing - whether it be a cluttered desk, personal battle with time or even if you feel creatively empty - this book is designed to give you the extra edge in your writing venture.

"Get Organized, Get Published!" is a powerful motivational tool. Each page will help you capitalize on your writing dreams. This comprehensive guide to organizational strategies contains everything you need to "Get Organized, Get Published!"

Time Management for Writers
Does your writing come first or last?

Many writers like to set aside a few hours for their writing each day; they establish a schedule and stick to it religiously. A few have the luxury of writing full-time or of getting away to concentrate on their writing. They find marathon writing is more fun and avoids the challenge of getting back to the manuscript each day. Still others have to fit in their writing whenever they can.

Nat Bodian decided to write his first book in 1979. Finding time was difficult because he worked full-time as a marketer at a New York publishing house and commuted from New Jersey. He did some writing on the bus to and from New York, some was done on a pad of paper walking across Manhattan and some was done during his lunch hours. Then, evenings after his kids were in bed, he continued in a basement typing room until the wee hours of the morning and on weekends.

The Book Marketing Handbook was published by R.R. Bowker 20 months later and it is still selling. This and several more industry books led to his nomination to the Publishing Hall of Fame.

Subscribers to Writer's Digest magazine spend 12.64 hours writing each week. Beginners spend seven hours a week and advanced writers spend 30.5.

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King wrote powerful articles and books about their activities or causes while behind bars. Make effective use of your most valuable asset: your time.

Get Organized, Get Published! Is all about finding and making time for your most important project. With the authors' easy-to-attack exercises and strategies, you will discover how to write all the time, virtually anywhere. This book is packed time-management tips and secrets to help you get back to your writing.

Don Aslett is the author of 28 books on getting organized and time management.

Carol Cartaino has been an author and editor for over 30 years. Don and Carol have teamed up on books for 17 years.

As a publisher, author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles and a consultant to the publishing industry, I recommend this book to wordsmiths everywhere. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

A Must!
This book overflows with helpful and "do-able" advice for eliminating distractions to writing. For someone who publishes quite frequently, I hate writing and will find nearly any excuse to avoid doing so. Perry Mason re-run? Cleaning the diffusion bowls (you know, those things around the lights on the ceiling)? Nearly anything becomes more attractive than writing. Aslett and Cartaino cut away all of life's frippery to help you get down to writing.