Kelly – Page 9 – Red Door Sentinel

File Organization

There are a few paths you can take to keep your files backed up and organized.

Google all the way

If you setup a Google email account, then it’s easy to begin using Google Documents along with Google Drive. If you do not own a computer, this is the best option.

Once your Gmail (Google email) account is setup – go to Google Drive, add a new document and begin writing. You can add as many documents as you need. They will always be in the Google cloud which means they are safe and you can access them from anywhere.

If you are unfamiliar with Google products, here is a training page that will help you get started.

Dropbox

If you have Microsoft Office or will be using a program on your own computer to write, then get a free Dropbox account. This will create a folder on your PC that will sync with Dropbox server constantly. No one will see this online except for you unless you give others permission. You will keep your working files in this directory so that they are immediately backed up as you work on them.

Once you get an account you will see a Dropbox folder on your computer. Create a folder in this folder titled “book.” In that folder you might create other folders as you need them (ie: photos, references, etc.).

Open a Word Document, save it to your Dropbox/book folder and start writing!

Money Matters

You may have begun to write… or not. But you know there’s a book in your future. These are just a few quick and dirty things to do. If you end up with a book in hand, you’ll be happy these things were done. If that book never materializes, there is no harm done.

Open a savings account that is only for your book. Doesn’t need to be a business account, just a plain savings account. Put any money that you get toward writing (donations, sales, etc.) into this account.

Keep track of all income and expenses. I use MS Money – it’s easy to use and it’s free to download.

Get a state tax ID number. If you decide to self publish, then use your publishing company name. If you don’t self publish then use your author name. Do a search online for your state and “tax ID application” to find out how to do it online.

Techie Stuff

Once you get the first little spark to write a book, there are a few things you should do right away…

Sign up for a free email account that incorporates your name. I recommend gmail because it’s reliable and easy. You can use your name in a number of ways – for instance if KellyJeanWhitaker@gmail.com is already being used by someone else, I could go with Kelly.Jean.Whitaker@gmail instead. From here on out use this account for everything that has to do with your book.

Choose a domain hosting service and buy a domain name that is your author name.** I use HostGator, but there are many other good services to use. It should be less than $15 per year to get your own domain. Mine is www.kellyjeanwhitaker.com.

Checkout the Author Website page for more information The reason for this? Check out billjohnson.com. You will notice that it’s not actually a website of belonging to the pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. I can only assume that once Bill became well known, someone bought the domain hoping he would pay them an exorbitant amount for it.

It’s not hard to setup a web site and there are lots of ways to do it. If you use Google to create an email account, then I recommend using Google Sites to host your site. Once you have it done, do an online search of how to connect your domain name to your new Google Site.

Once you are 100% certain of your book title, buy a domain name for the title of your book too.** Have it point to your author page .

** Don’t do an online search for any domain name until you are ready to buy. There are sniffers who keep an eye on what’s being searched for and will buy domains that they think will make them money.