The Busy Mom's Guide to Writing Giveaway

It’s our first reader contest here at ASFT! Be sure to comment below for a chance to win a free copy of The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing by Suzannah Windsor Freeman.

Trying to find time, make time, have time, for the things we love in the midst of a busy family life can sometimes feel like a war.  I’ve written a bit about the struggle to weed out what doesn’t matter and how hard it is to find that Good Day Guarantee, to get to a place where we manage to accomplish at least some of the things we want to (in addition to all the things we have to) each day.  Like most of life, it’s an ongoing process.

Fortunately, there are allies in the battle.

In her new e-book, The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing, Suzannah Windsor Freeman shares her experience and insights on finding time to write in the midst of a busy life.

In the last three years, in addition to having her second child AND then a set of twins (for those keeping score that’s a total of four children, three under three) she’s also;

• Established a popular blog, Write it Sideways

• Gained five short story publishing credits in print—four in literary journals and one in an anthology—and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2011

• Wrote a 75,000 word draft of a novel

• Sold several freelance nonfiction articles and interviews

• Wrote 30+ guest articles for well-known writing and lifestyle blogs

• Co-created a 31-Day Better Writing Habits Challenge (with Jennifer Blanchard)

• Created The Read Better, Write Better Workbook for Aspiring Novelists as a free gift to Write it Sideways subscribers

• And wrote The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing!

Suzannah is a stay at home mom who does all the usual mom stuff with her kids, runs her household and volunteers in the community.  She writes a lot, but she lives a lot, too.  And she does all this in a region of Australia where most homes don’t have dishwashers or clothes dryers.

I feel overwhelmed just thinking about all that.  For a minute.  Then I feel HIGHLY MOTIVATED because I see what can be done with a little planning, prioritizing and hard work.

In the guide, Suzannah discusses how to set goals and priorities that fit into your family and life and she shares suggestions about how to move efficiently from mom to writer and back again throughout the day.  She also provides an array of practical, easy to implement tips to make more time for writing, including a FANTASTIC list of suggestions to streamline housework routines. (This is particularly helpful for those of us who are domestically challenged).

She shares insights on rewriting, blogging and building your portfolio, provides specific examples for reference, recommends plenty of additional tools and resources, and she ends each section with a list of action points and a worksheet to help jump-start implementing the information as quickly as possible.

Like I said, it’s all very practical, very useful stuff. Of course. A mom wrote it.

Using some of Suzannah’s suggestions, particularly a time tracking tool, several of the streamlining tips and the ‘short-burst’ method of working throughout the day, I’ve found even more time each week for writing.  I’m also more productive during those work hours.  And although the book is primarily geared toward writers, the efficiency tips can be applied by anyone running a household.

We are thrilled to be able to offer a free copy of this valuable resource to one of our blog readers!

For your chance to win, comment below and tell us something you’ve done (or plan to do) to make more time for what you love in your life.  We’ll randomly select one commenter to win a fee copy of The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing!

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

**Contest Details**

Comment deadline is midnight ET 05/11/2012

Winner will be drawn at random and notified via the comment stream.  Specific delivery arrangements will then be made via email.

Winner has three days from notification to claim prize. Otherwise it’s forfeited and another winner will be chosen.

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