2018 Review & 2019 Outlook

Hi, I hope you have had a great start to your 2019, I started drafting a review of last year and then just went ahead and recorded it on my podcast. I thought I would share the transcript here with you.

If you would prefer to listen rather than read pop along to anchor or search in your podcast catcher. 

Hi, it's Nige here from the Sunday lunch project. I've decided to do a little recap of last year on DA. My outlook for what I'm doing for next year. None of this is meant to be a boast, but it feels when I wrote it, it felt like I was braggadocious a little bit. So, hopefully, it doesn't come across that way. I just kind of wanted to just recount and think about what I did over the year. And there's a number of different things, both from the project management podcasts and writing etcetera. 

In January I had set my goal with Project Management: The Sketches, I'd started writing that in 2016, in the January of 2016, so obviously it's taken a while on. I set myself I was going aim to get it published by the end of June and get it, a stretch goal, as I call it, for March to try and get something done by then. it didn't quite go to plan, as some of you will know, much of the writing that revolved around getting myself an acceptable version through February and March, with bits of tweaking here and there and through that period and get a great deal done on it. 

By the end of April, I kind of threw myself out, and I got what I called the first draft done, which was, was great. Part of the reason why I didn't get it done I was playing around with a new sort of attention seeking skill, which is around the Amazon Alexa and you can create skills. And I decided to start playing with those and I created a skill for people to learn their judo syllabus that was done during March and April went live in May. Which was the second or third skill that I done, cause I did some on project management in 2017. 

Another reason why I kind of took my foot off the gas during that period was as part of my judo, I entered the European Veterans judo competition in Glasgow, which was an amazing day, a real highlight of my judo career. And, um, that the feeling, I can't explain really the feeling of stepping out onto a judo mat with an announcer, you've got GBR on your back and the announcer saying, representing Great Britain, Nigel Creaser,  it kind of still sends a chill down my back. The same month I launched another skill called Plank Timer. That one was to help people do planking. And obviously, during June that hot weather and the World Cup frenzy, was brilliant, brilliant love. Love that that June, it felt I felt like euro ninety six all over again for those people old enough to remember that.

In August I launched another Alexa skill called the daily Workout flash briefing where, a random exercise program is given each day for people using them. And, I mentioned that as well, because my my third book, was commenced in that month as well in August because and I've skipped July. I'm gonna go back to July now, because in July it was quite an amazing month as well. I climbed Snowden with my wife, which is a wonderful day. And obviously, we had the hotter weather. and then the World Cup frenzy. I managed to attend a Star Wars convention. Ah, and created another skill called Where's My Drink? Which was a bit of a tongue in cheek skill, but fun anyway.

I started in August doing the Alexa skill for the daily flash workout, as I mentioned before and that one gave him my idea for the third book. Cause it was, it's a book about being able to help small businesses getting and dipping their toe into the Alexa and the voice first world andI'm hoping that will be out later this year. 

September biggest part of that was, my wife and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary, which it's quite an achievement for her to put up with me for this long and all my repeated jokes. What's brown and sticky? A stick. The first edit of the Project Management: The Sketches was completed, so I kind of had my draft early on summer and was messing around really and I suppose I got that draft and I kind of got in my head when I, I was I was getting fed up with it. To be honest, and wanted to just get it done. I had sent out a draft version to a few close beta readers, as I called them, friends more than anything, um, and I also reformatted and added some more content to my previous book, When I Were a Project Manager and quietly relaunch that and launched in a paperback edition as well. To my surprise, I sold a few without doing any promotion of it all. Um, another big part, my eldest daughter started, secondary school, and over the summer appeared to have started the Kevin the teenager transformation, maybe exaggerating a little bit there, but again, it was a major part of the year. 

And then in October, that's when I launched Project Management: The Sketches on Kindle, albeit accidentally, about three weeks earlier than I planned. I learned quite a lot through that check the date you've got in the pre-order date, and I had three pre-orders. Some of the people I knew there were some I didn't, so that was brilliant, that book got launched having had nearly three years in the creating. The rest of the month was filled with trying to promote the book and run round as you would have heard on this and seen on a number of different channels maybe.  I also go back to my judo and I fought in the British Masters competition and achieved a couple of bronze medals in that which it was the ambition that I had when I started in 2012, to be a member of the British Masters Judo Squad, which I achieved in that month, which was another a big target item and a major achievement for me.  Another amazing thing was that the Oswestry parkrun started. Which parkrun i have been passionate about since I have got introduced a few years ago. Love doing and my seven year old and I, ran the first one with great delight and volunteered later in the month, having a fantastic time, making as much noise as we could to encourage people along. I launched another Alexa skill In that month on the first draft of the Alexa book was completed. 

November was another great month. Project Management: The Sketches hit number one in the Amazon's Hot New releases in the Project Management arena list, which I was shocked at and it became available on Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes Noble, Kobo and, When I Were a Project Manager, became available in Waterstones in Great Britain. Which, again another milestone. And Project Management: The Sketches paperback was released on Amazon.   And to Alexa skills were launched as well in that month, one called Sympathetic Ear, and again another milestone on project management. The Sketches paperback was released on Amazon and to Alexis. Skills are launched as well. In that month, one called Sympathetic Ear, um, on another one called Were's that Flipping Elf, just in time for Christmas.

On to December, Project Management: The Sketches became available in Waterstones and I released Project Management: The Notebook on Amazon for a giggle. 

Then to wrap up the year that the scores on the doors really the total sales for Project Management: The Sketches for the year was forty-four copies, a mix of paperback and E book. And I was astounded that I that I sold that many and twelve copies of When I Were a Project Manager were sold as well. Kind of leading back. The mix of formats was a surprise as well, thirty-five paperbacks and twenty-two E books, i had expected it to be the opposite. Marketplaces around the world in the US, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. although UK was leading with eighty-one percent.  I'll share that I got total book revenue through sixty-three pounds and eight pence. I spent a few quid on advertising and proof copies, though, so I've not placed an order for a yacht yet, Ah, I think I can summarise the year on those things. When I looked back, I thought I have had a few difficult times, few health issues and someone to uncertainty around a few other things as well. But when I look back on that, it was a very productive year and a year to remember. 

I'm hoping 2019 is going to continue to be the same. I've got a few goals in there. I've got Project Management: The Sketches, I'm hoping to push and promote and get some more sales of that and part of the method for doing that is try and create more content on this channel. And so later in the month, I've got an interview on my first proper interview. I'm not going to tell you who is yet but its a big hitter in the project management conference scene and book writing, scene and I'm hoping to get one a month for that. So that means I get a bit more regular on this podcast so you'll get better content. 

I'm going to finish my third book, which will be the Amazon Alexa small business, project that I started. And I'm hoping to do that published that sometime in March. Ah, though again, these things don't seem to go as smoothly as anyone would have always expected them to.

I've got a novel I'm working on. I've had this idea in the back of my head through the whole of last year and being scribbling notes, and I want to by the end of the year have written the first draft of that. Although I did know that when I was scribbling some things down the other day, I was expecting to try and do it by the end of the year and get it published. I think that's a bit ambitious when I look at it with a bit of, um ah, less wine in me. I think, and onwards from that, I've got a few The Sunday Lunch Project, The Book needs to come out in 2019 / 2020, so I need to start working on that as well. 

I'm hoping to increase my Alexa skills, Ah, coverage and get a few more of those out there. From my judo point of view, I've got a few more competitions to go there, and maintain what have I got.  Those are the main goals I've got at the moment and obviously spending as much time as I can with my family, enjoying them, growing up and time with my wife. So that's it, really. Those were my big goals. I wanted to share this with you. It felt when I wrote the note down and it felt like I wanted to share it. 

As I say I hope I'm not boasting too much. Um, I just feel quite proud of what's happened in the year. Surprisingly so as usually, I'm quite down on myself on things like that. So that's it, really. So I hope you have a great day and I look forward to your comments on the next podcast and on this one.

If anyone is out there and is looking and thinking yes, I'd like to contribute and help, expand the podcast. I've set a patron page. It's at the usual patreon.com/sundaylunchpm. The books are still available on Amazon,  Kobo,  paperback Ebook, so please, if you are looking for something to put a smile on your face in the dark, dingy January days, then I couldn't recommend it enough. Really? So that's it. That's Nige signing off and as I say always project management is funny."

All the best,
Nigel
The Sunday Lunch PM
Check out my Amazon Author Page

Click here to enable the Alexa Skills - Scrum Guide Facts or The Sunday Project Status Update

To consume the podcast click here https://anchor.fm/s/191c9d0/podcast/rss/