Plotting a course
A change of name, what I've been reading, and some thoughts for the next quarter
Sometimes, the things we want come easily. Maybe there’s well worn path to follow. Other times, we get flung wildly off course and have to decide if we want to go back to the path or forge a new route. And there are times when we reach our destination, only to find it’s not actually that great.
I still love to set goals — they give me a rough idea of the direction I want to be heading in — but increasingly, I am trying to focus on the actions I am taking to reach those goals. So much of life is spent in the pursuit of where we want to be, but how can we enjoy where we are now more? How can we make the pursuit itself feel enjoyable?
How can we take more satisfaction from the doing and how we’re feeling now, and focus less on the end result?
Whenever I work with clients, I try to get them to lean in to the things that they enjoy. This stops marketing feeling like some awful chore, and starts to make it feel a little bit fun — more like a challenge you’re trying to puzzle together. If there are things you hate doing in your marketing, how can you change the way you do them to make them more interesting? Do you have to do them at all? Is there something else you could try?
I want to use this newsletter to help you plot out the next step in your marketing, and to enjoy exploring new marketing territory. I also want to continue to share my own journey and the successes and failures I experience along the way.
With that in mind, a name change for the newsletter. Welcome to Plotting.
I love the connection the word plotting has to both travel and writing, and hope these emails help you plot your own — more enjoyable — journey through your marketing, as I share what I’ve learned from my travels so far.
If you upgrade to paid, you’ll also get exclusive articles and your own personal travel guide (hi!) who you can reach out to every week to get support along the way.
I hope you like the new name!
Other things I want to share this month…
Books I’ve read
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman [aff link]. I’ve heard a lot about this book, but kind of still assumed in fell into the usual ‘how to be more productive’ category. It does not! A brilliant book about the quality of your life, not about increasing the quantity of what you can get done. VERY much in line with ‘the journey is the destination’ (aka: THIS IS YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW, not in a year’s time or when you finish x, y, z project). If you’re goal oriented like I am, this is a must-read.
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid [aff link]. A dark reimagining of the Macbeth story, with witches chained up under Macbeth’s castle. This takes inspiration from Shakespeare and adapts it in a hugely imaginative way, which I love for the author — I expect it was fun to write — but as a reader I felt a bit disconnected from it. Maybe because Macbeth is the one Shakespeare play I’ve read multiple times (and was in, as a witch, in year 8 or 9). I kind of wish more of the details of the plot were the same, or that they’d called it something completely different. But still - gripping and highly readable.
The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben [aff link]. I mean - if you want a gripping, twisty thriller, Harlan Coben is always going to deliver, isn’t he? Political thriller mixed with a pair of teenagers gone missing, mixed with an investigator with a mysterious past. Tick, tick, tick, easy fun read.
Articles, podcasts and TV
I’m really enjoying the In The News This Week podcast, from the team behind Have I Got News For You. Sadly, the season just finished, as the show will be back on TV soon, but definitely one to subscribe to, as there’ll be an election special in November I’m sure is going to be great.
This piece from
about what’s going on in people’s heads is FASCINATING. I find it so interesting how differently our brains work. You mean some people don’t have a running commentary happening in their heads at all times!??? Super interesting.This series from
, featuring different authors sharing their paths to publication, looks like a must-read for authors just starting out.On TV this month, I LOVED The Perfect Couple. My perfect tv. If you know of other ‘rich people doing bad things, one gets killed, one of them did it’ shows (outside of Poirot), please let me know.
I also really enjoyed Kaos, although crikey it was violent! I usually turn off if there’s so much as a paper cut on screen (previously mentioned cosy murder mysteries rarely actually feature on screen violence), so this took some getting used to…
I watched Emily in Paris and… I think me and Emily might be breaking up. I really enjoyed the previous series because they are pure lighthearted fun, but this one was so bad. Two love triangles I could not give even a tiny shit about, and Mindy’s AWFUL performances kept interrupting every episode. I ended up not finishing the series.
Finally, I enjoyed, but found myself very frustrated with Nobody Wants This is a rom-com starring SETH COHEN (aka Adam Brody) as a rabbi who falls in love with an atheist. Side note: I realised, while watching that Seth Cohen is my version of the Disney Hero (forget Prince Charming! Can any man in real life live up to Seth Cohen or Pacey from the OC? Please introduce me, if so.) It was funny and sweet and I was rooting for them, and I liked the ending a lot. However, I thought the portrayal of Jewish women was VERY negative. All the Jewish guys were so cool, and the two white, blonde women were like, SO FUN, and all the Jewish women were nagging and mean. It was so noticeable, it really took me out of the story. It felt like there should have been one of those ‘This TV series contains negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures’ lines that you get at the start of films like Aladdin now. Did anyone else find the same?
(ALSO: THE IDEA THAT SOMEONE WHO GREW UP IN LOS ANGELES HAS NEVER BEEN TO A BAT MITZVAH IS RIDICULOUS)
Most read articles this month
Life, lately. A round up of life after the summer months.
The magical book marketing formula. This is a great time of year to see the Big Book Marketing Plans in action. Live cover illustration at the Sally Rooney Intermezzo launch party, anyone?
Tackling professional grief. A new way to think about professional jealousy, by
.How professional envy drove me to write fast. Love this story of how seeing someone else’s success drove
to write her first book.- shares some coaching techniques for dealing with the jealous feelings that can arise from time to time.
When to advertise [paid]. Advertising can be an effective way to get new readers, if the circumstances are right. In this post I’m sharing a little bit about what those circumstances are, and when it might not be a great time to spend money.