I can't do it all

It's true, folks--I can't do it all. Yes, I completely missed the deadline for Blurb's Photography Book Now contest. I prepped most of my images, but when it came down to it I realized that in order to really give my edit and layout the consideration they deserved there was no way I could get it in by the due date. Around the same time I had to head down to Philly for the funeral of a good family friend, so giving my sadness some time to sink in, and being gone for a couple of days also put quite a few things on the back burner, or made me miss the latest round of submissions altogether. In all honesty, I haven't even had a chance to look at the books that have hit the Blurb site. And I think I may avoid checking them out until I've put my own together (which I'm still planning on doing at some point) so that I won't be overly influenced or fall into the subconscious imitation trap. I'm trying to give myself a break and recognize that just because the Blurb buzz is all over the blogosphere doesn't mean that there won't be buzz about the next big thing, and that next big thing may be more do-able for me when life is a little less hectic. In the meantime, Shane Lavalette has created a list of his PBN favorites here, so even though I may not peruse them just yet, that shouldn't stop you from taking a look.

On a related note, I appreciated reading this post over on Burns Auto Parts blog. Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua writes: "The most important take-away for us, I think, is that you can’t do it all and you really shouldn’t anyway. Pick which tools will help and devote some effort to them, and let the others fall...Remember that no matter what you do, you won’t ever reach every potential target and/or get every opportunity that might be a potential project for you. There is just no way to cover all the bases–even with a team of geeks working every system out there. Choose what you will do, put in good effort there, and stop regretting what you choose not to do." Good advice, that.