Back Up or "It Will Never Happen to Me"

Don't forget to back up your files!

I was scrolling through a thread in one of the writers’ communities I belong to, and someone was super upset, howling in pain and gnashing her teeth. She explained that after a surprise power outage, she lost portions of the manuscript she was working on.

What struck me was she is no newbie to writing. She’s an accomplished author, with several titles under her creative belt and lots of recognition. A very smart and talented lady! I imagined her dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't' of her authorpreneur business with ease. So, what happened?

Nothing dramatic! She simply got out of the habit of backing up her work.

As she explained, for a very long time she didn’t experience any computer or online problems. So, she cut a corner. She stopped taking the extra step to make sure she had additional copies of her up-to-date manuscript backed up. When she heard scary stories about losing work, she put the subject in her mental parking lot, planning to revisit it one day, but believing it would never happen to her.

I thought to myself that this author could be me (gulp) or any writer out there. 😮

That’s why I decided to do a brief post with links to three terrific descriptions of how to back up your work. Whatever method you choose is up to you, but the point is: Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll be the exception and never lose your work. Be sure to back up your works-in-progress on a regular basis, including your published works and business-related files. You never know when you’ll experience a technology, app, platform or energy failure that will hurt you. Check out:

• Safeguard Your Writing from Indie Author Magazine

  
  

• Backing Up Your Author Business from Learn Self Publishing

  
  

• 3-Tier Backup for Writers from Writers in the Storm

Please share this back-up reminder with your writing group or community.

Do you back up your materials? Do you have any tips to share? Add them to the comments below!

P.S. I was in a writing sprint yesterday, and guess what! When we got to the break, one member of the group said she had a computer problem and 100 pages of her manuscript were gone. She had no backup. Yikes! Don't let it happen to you!