This handy guidebook offers tips and advice on how organize your writing career as efficiently as possible. Whether you are a full-time freelancer or trying to balance writing with a day job, the information in The Organized Writer will help you maximize your space and time – and preserve your sanity. 

Designed to be used as a daily workbook, with a different organizational task each day, the book uses six very important rules as background. The first rule, "Work With Yourself, Not Against Yourself," is a terribly critical concept which organizing systems often overlook. There is no point telling someone to put all their piles of paper in file folders if really, they prefer piles – and Hood recognizes this. "Organizing is a skill that can be learned and should be adapted to fit the way you think and work," she writes.

Hood mentions another very salient point in Rule 3, "Invest Your Time." Although we often try to cut corners time wise by putting off unpleasant tasks (human nature!), she encourages writers, "Be willing to invest a block of time if it will save you hours of frustration later." This advice is particularly important in regard to the tasks she assigns for days 23 through 26 of her program – organizing your billing, payment and tax records.

In order for writing to be considered a business, rather than a hobby, you must pass certain tests designed by the IRS to weed out those less-than-serious dabblers. Hood offers some excellent pointers on how to make sure you meet these criteria, but make no mistake - this is work! For most writers, the ideas and queries and actual writing come much easier than sending out late payment notices and filing receipts. However, to get the maximum financial return on your considerable investment of time and effort, all those "business-y" tasks must be done. Hood attempts to make it as painless as possible.

Her final rule, "Work Forward," is another deceptively simple but crucial point. Don't beat yourself up over what you used to do, just move forward. And don't exhaust yourself trying to fix all your old files and old manuscripts and so on. Work forward. See how much guilt and anguish this little gem could potentially save you?

The book has forms for all the tasks assigned, from a master list of organizational categories, to daily calendars, query tracking pages, lists of books to read and office supplies to buy. There are even pre-printed tabs for hanging folders that follow her system. But if you already have a planner, never fear, her system will still work – you don't have to start over. In fact, there are many similarities to the more popular planner systems, with writer-specific touches added.

There are several worksheets and quizzes, plus references to other books and websites for further information.  All in all, the format is fun, interactive and easy to follow. The whole program is very down-to-earth and reality based – for instance, if you can't afford a fancy desk, Hood suggests two file cabinets topped by a hollow-core door as a cheap alternative. How many other time management programs accept the fact that not everybody can afford Napa leather folders for their papers and a designer armoire to stash their computer away?

There is a companion website and email newsletter for this book, offering additional tips and weekly encouragement. Although it is difficult to form new habits and even the idea of "getting organized" can seem painful, this book makes it sound almost, well…fun. Give it a try!

Sherry Ramsey, TheScriptorium.net, and author of Everything a Writer Needs to Know:

Sometimes it seems like we're always trying to get more organized. Organize the house better, or the office, or even just the desk. Organize the finances, organize your household's schedule, organize your closet. There's lots of help and advice out there to assist us, if we need it--but do we need organization to be better writers? Aren't writers supposed to be free-spirited, creative, messy types?

Well, maybe. But serious writers know that writing is also a business, and to run any business properly, there has to be a modicum of organization. Julie Hood's excellent e-book, The Organized Writer, can help you achieve the organization you need to be more productive as a writer, and it even takes into account that creative spirit.

The book sets you on a 30-day path to better use of your time--an hour each day--so it magically makes you begin to feel more organized from the very start. You have a goal, and you know when you're going to arrive there. Among other things, you'll create a flexible, customizable planner to help you get organized and stay that way, and the book includes loads of printable forms to fill it with. Quizzes and workbook exercises help you define areas in which you need more organizational help, and there are plenty of practical suggestions and sample forms you can use to help you get there.

You'll also create and learn to use a time map, develop a workspace conducive to actual work, learn strategies for working more efficiently on the web, and keep yourself organized no matter how many projects you have underway. As a companion to the book, a free weekly email reminder list is available at http://www.writer-reminders.com/.

Throughout, Julie Hood's style is friendly and encouraging, and continues to emphasize using all these tools in ways that best suit your own writing and organizing personality. By the time you reach the end of this book, you still might not be the most organized writer in the world--but you'll be the best-organized writer you can be, and you'll do it in a way that suits your personality and style. If you really want to organize your writing life (and maybe the rest of your life, too) this practical and positive e-book is a must-have!

What's the most common complaint among writers? "I never have time to write!" They spend their time reading, researching, generating article ideas, writing queries, following up, filing, note-taking, doing their taxes, making phone calls and hundreds of other time-eating tasks... and none of that sounds like actual writing, does it?

If you make your living as a writer, all that administrative time and energy can mean a serious loss of income. After all, the less time you spend writing, the less money you make.

With short, easy-to-digest chapters for each day of the month, The Organized Writer shows you how to streamline your day, your writing process, and your life, allowing you to do more of what you love...writing." - Julie Hood, The Organized Writer

If you need help getting your writing life organized then The Organized Writer is for you. Author and mom to an infant, Julie Hood knows firsthand the challenges of trying to write while being a mother, wife and having a household to maintain. Hood also understands being organized is a key to productivity.

Packed with practical tips and suggestions The Organized Writer is not simply a book to read, but rather a workbook designed as a map to guide you into becoming better organized, ultimately increasing your productivity and income.

In this book you'll discover your 'organizational personality' and the methods that will best work for you. You'll receive numerous types of forms designed to streamline your business as well as reducing clutter. Some of the forms include:

• Idea Grabbers
• Clip Detail Sheet
• Submission Tracker
• Project Detail Sheet
• Publication Analyzer

For $14.95 this e-book is a great product to help you organize your writing life.

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