Okay, so it's the beginning of a new year. A new calendar year. I've decided to write a few goals down (mostly because I read this post by my good friend Ali Cross, spent at least 30 minutes feeling like a loser, and then decided to make my own--much less impressive--list), and I also decided to share them with all of you. Lucky ducks!
(I actually do a lot of goal-setting in August, when the new school year begins. I live my life from August - July most of the time.)
But anyway, here are some of my publishing and life goals for 2014:
Life: Continue my physical wellness pursuits. I've lost 20 pounds, which is a direct result of my healthy eating and gym attendance. I'm going to continue doing that.
Publishing: Successfully finish edits on RIFT, a YA time travel I'm currently revising for my agent.
Life: Renew my teaching certificate. I kinda have to if I want to keep my job, so...
Publishing: Draft 2 new books. I have one started, but the second? I think I'm going to have to pull up my 30-ideas-in-30-days file and see what I've got in there...
Life: Master 10 recipes for my pressure cooker. I've made a few things now--pot roast and pulled pork--and I think I've got the pulled pork down. It was delicious. The pot roast... not so much. Needs some more work there.
Publishing: Edit/polish 4 already-written novels and prepare them for either submission or self-publishing. Don't be impressed. All 4 novels have been through quite a bit of revision already. Maybe one more round? Maybe two...
So those are the goals. I think they're pretty do-able. I also have a couple of marketing strategies. I've been sort of, I don't know, burned out (?) on marketing in the past several months. I'm honestly just not sure what works and what doesn't, and I'd rather spend my time writing. Thus--
Marketing Strategy #1: Write and publish more books.
That's it. I'm not worried about posting on Facebook or twitter or tumblr a certain amount of time or every day. I'm looking to be more spontaneous and authentic.
So I'm going to spend my time writing, polishing, and publishing more books. Right now, I only have one scheduled (ELEVATED, February 18), but I may put out another one in the fall.
Marketing Strategy #2: Post entire works and excerpts on Wattpad.
Possession is already there, and I'm going to be uploading part of both SURRENDER and ELEVATED, as well as a new fantasy.
Marketing Strategy #3: Use my established newsletter.
I checked, and yeah. Not a good year in 2013. I think I sent 4 newsletters--the last one in June. So I'm going to try to be better about doing the newsletter thing, but I'm not going to go crazy. I'm thinking quarterly is a good start. I've already done the redesign, and the first newsletter went out yesterday.
And that's it. I hope to have a couple of books out this year, maybe some news of a deal (fingers crossed!), and most of all, a renewed enthusiasm to be an author in 2014!
Did you post goals for 2014? I'd love to go visit your blog and see them, so link me up in the comments!
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