Back up your work, right now!

So.  You've been hard at work, revisiting old writing you put aside when you suddenly can't find a file on your computer anymore.  Things happen in the digital life, so to start your New Year off right, how about you zip down to Walmart or Staples and pick up a zip drive to back up your work?  You might even want to get two of them.  Work with them sparingly, I have had two zip drives fail within days of one another, from being bumped or jostled while they were attached to the computer, getting the data on them restored is a nightmare.  Be gentle with them!

Make sure all of your books and covers are in one place and write the date you originally put them on there on the zip drive with a Sharpie.  You never know when you may have to go back to an original, it's better to know what date it is that you may have to rebuild your work forward.  Use that one as a backup in case of disaster, use the other as a day to day working copy. 

It only takes a minute to avert a potential loss of everything you are working on.  Keep the first one in a safe place, a fire safe box would be the best choice.  Carry the working copy around with you in case you need it out and about.  You've just been warned, don't wait for a zip drive to come in the mail, unless you have Amazon Prime, it's hard to get things around the Christmas Holidays!  Be encouraged!