Scrivener

What’s New for 2018 Part 1: This Site and New Groups

I’ve been taking my time assessing last year and planning for this year, partly because I’ve been sick but also because I’ve been assessing what directions I need to focus my efforts for 2018. Today, I’m addressing changes to my website/blog and tomorrow, I’ll get more detailed about my writing plans for the year than I did in my previous post.

Site Plans for 2018

I have a number of goals with this site that I’d like to address this year. I have previously posted a lot about Scrivener on my blog which has been great. However, since I’m contributing over on Story Empire with similar content, I’m going to post most of my new Scrivener tips there, leaving my site for more content around fiction – mine and whatever I run across.

As far as the site, I think I’ve outgrown the current free-hosted model so, as the year progresses, I’ll likely migrate toward a self-hosted site. I simply need the ability to do more with this site than in previous years which requires the flexibility to work with more plug-ins and widgets than currently available. WordPress’s free-hosted model has been an incredible help for almost 4 years now but it’s time to grow and develop the site further.

Regarding content, my plan is to offer more news about my writing as I have several projects in the works (more about them tomorrow). Additionally, I want to post more commentaries about my published books and other fun tidbits around them. I plan to post these types of blogs on Thursdays much like this one though with some variety. Also look for plenty of posts from my feature, “Fantasy Authors Unplugged” as I am able to find guest posts or interviews from other authors or people related to speculative fiction. I hope to have a few starting this month as time allows.

On Tuesdays, I want to take some of my short stories and post them as serials for readers to enjoy. I have a number of stories just lying around doing nothing and gathering digital dust so they may as well be brushed up and posted to be read which is what was intended for them. Look for one to begin next Tuesday.

I’ll continue post the Fun Friday feature where I’ll mix in some polls, writing ideas and a few, fun oddball notions otherwise.

Other Developments

Also this year, I’m starting a couple of groups for readers to join for preview content of books and even some ARC opportunities. One group is under development on Facebook. I’ll announce that as soon as I have it ready to go.

The other group is underway as a Q&A group on Goodreads which I posted about last week. This is a place where anyone can join and ask me questions about The Bow of Hart Saga. I’ll host Q&A’s several times this year as there are new developments with books and releases. If you are interested in the current on just click the button on the right for more information.

Additionally, I may host a more private group on Goodreads like the one on Facebook where readers can enjoy alpha/beta content, provide feedback and receive ARCs and other freebies.

Overall, the year should be busy and fun with a number of new developments with my website, blog and groups. Join me tomorrow as I reveal my specific writing plans for the year. Thanks for reading today. Feel free to leave you questions and thoughts in the comments section and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

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More Project Tracking in Scrivener with Meta-Data

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

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I’ve written about the Inspector a number of times over the last few months. Just to re-cap, the Inspector is the bar on the right side of the editor. Once turned on, the Inspector allows you to work with various forms of meta-date in your project. What’s meta-data? It’s a way of making comments about your work for tracking purposes. Examples are the synopsis, document notes, document references, keywords, snapshots and comments & footnotes. But there are a few more aspects of meta-data to explore.

How to turn on the Inspector bar

The General Meta-Data and Define Meta-Data Fields panes in the Inspector

First, on the Inspector, the General Meta-Data is almost always available (except in Snapshots and Comments). You can label a document with color or indicate the status of your document based on a number of criteria. Below you indicate when the document was created or modified. Use the check boxes to include the document in compile, set a page break before the document or compile it as-is. All this is pretty straightforward – use these settings to mark your progress. These can be viewable in different ways from the Outliner, Corkboard and Binder.

Next, there’s customizing Meta-Data which allows you to add categories to label and status lists. Clicking over to the Custom Meta-Data button on the Inspector menu reveals a button named Define Meta-Data Fields. From this window the Status and Label lists can be managed in addition to your custom meta-data. Again these are valuable for how you track progress in your projects.

I’ve found general meta-data useful for updating the progress of any document including a chapter, short story, blog post, blog tour and anything else on which I’m working. It’s a useful and easy way to track your work and customizing is even more useful. It’s one more way the Inspector is as powerful as the Binder.

Customize Meta-Data

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

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Just as a note: I now have a marketing affiliation with Scrivener. For support questions, pricing, licensing and other concerns please contact the vendor. As such a buy ad for Scrivener appears on the sidebar. I’ve started this program　since I like the product so much and want to offer readers the chance to obtain this software. I’m not required to write about Scrivener to be an affiliate; I just like it that much. You can also find my FTC statement on this site’s sidebar.

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Promote Your Writing With Scrivener

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

Writing is easier than every with Scrivener. But with all that production you’ve got to release some work to the public. When you launch your book you need to hit the road and do some marketing.

One of the most used marketing tools is the blog tour. Why not use Scrivener to develop your blog tours? Much like a blog template you can use a blog tour template to write for all your stops and keep them organized.

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Try setting up a project for your book release and organize it by blog tour. Get a head start as tour ideas come to mind and write them down. Then when it comes time to release your work and do frequent blog tours you’ll have plenty of material for all the stops.

I’ve modified a blog template to use specifically for with blog tours which you can download for free here. Organize your binder, use the table in the calendar container to track your schedule. Use the document template or create new ones for your various needs as they arise.

Want to develop your own templates? Here are instructions on creating and managing project templates. Need to know more about making document templates? Click here to learn to create a document template and here to learn more about what to put in them.

Are you looking for a way to organize your blog tour ideas? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information.

Interested in more of my writing? Just click one of the retailer banners on the sidebar to see more.

About the Author

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Just as a note: I am not affliated with Scrivener in any official capacity. For support questions, pricing and other concerns please contact the vendor.