It's that wonderful time of the year where we sit down with holiday treats and make plans for next year. I'm sharing my cookies, if you'd like one.
2017 Goals
1. Write and published the TOTEM books. Done! A nine novella series. Yikes! I had a lot of fun with it, but I don't think I'll take on a series as long as that again. Trilogies sound perfect in my mind right now.
2. Self-publish the nine books I had with my publisher. I did that at the beginning of the year. Will I be writing more in the erotic romance genre? I don't know. I might if I'm in the mood for something light and funny.
3. Write the first drafts of the second two books in the Of Blood and Sorrow trilogy. I didn't do this one. My feet have been dragging these past few months. I will finish one before the holidays. I'm right at the big climax, but I won't start on the final one until January.
4. Read and review 100 books. I'm right on track with 93. Only 7 more to go!
5. Write and submit six short stories. Done. I'm constantly learning and improving. I wrote a lot of speculative fiction this year.
6. Study and try various marketing techniques. Ugh. This was my big time suck this year. I lost a lot of writing time to trying to figure out how to market my work. The only lesson I learned that will work: write more books.
7. Improve my writing speed and focus. I started the year off well with word sprints, but it got lost under my worrying about marketing.
2018 Goals
1. Write and release the second two books in the Of Blood and Sorrow trilogy. I haven't set release dates yet for my own sanity.
2. Read and review 100 books. This is a good number for me. I will try to do it every year for the rest of my life.
3. Write and submit ten short stories. I'm upping the number for this coming year. I can do a flash piece in an afternoon. It will be a nice break from the dark world of my trilogy when I need it.
4. Write more, market less. This year, I only wrote in the afternoons... if I had any time left. Next year, I'm making time in the morning and afternoon. Marketing will be scheduled for very limited times. Hopefully that will decrease my anxiety over it.
5. Take up the word sprints again and increase my writing speed. I'm hoping I'll write more with less marketing anxiety to weigh me down.
6. Work on new project. I have several written down I want to write. I'm not going to name one right now, because I might come up with something new and want to work on it! I'll go with what I'm feeling passionate for in that moment.
Did you meet your goals this year? What are yours for next year?
I'll be back on Christmas Day with a special surprise!
Wow; thats a lot of writing, publishing, and reading. I'm lucky to get through three audio books a month, no reviews, and write three short stories a year.
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome.
Thank you, dolorah! I still put pressure on myself to do more.
DeleteI'm in awe over how much you wrote and published this year. You are a time management master.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alex. I try hard. There are still procrastination moments that I need to whittle away.
DeleteWow. Whilst you might not have achieved every goal, you nearly did. You should be proud. I’m totally in awe of how many books you’ve read. I set a goal of 52 books, and I’m just about to finish my 45th. I’ll be happy if I can make it 50, but we’ll see. Here’s to 2018!
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome goal, Ellie. I've included books I've read with my son this year. That's the only way I managed to hit my goal! Here's to a great 2018. Cheers!
DeleteAnd the sanity of your critique partners too! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou did awesome this year, even if you didn't meet all your goals. Best of luck for next year!
Hehehe! Yes, I need to do that too. :D
DeleteYou are an inspiration, Christine. I am blown away at how much you accomplished. I better get to working on my goals...but maybe I could have a cookie or two first? :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the holidays!
Oh yes, please have cookies. :) Happy holidays!
DeleteOmg, you killed it with the being productive this year! It gives me hope. ^_^
ReplyDeleteI think I did pretty well on my goals in general. I'm currently finalizing my 2018 goals. I'll meet my reading goal this year, but I really want to read more next year.
Thanks, Krystal! Good luck next year. You can do it!
DeleteCongrats on meeting most of your goals this year! And good luck with next year! For me, in 2018 I'd like to finish Changers 2 and "Faebourne" and write "Epiphanies." Possibly get one more short story written and published too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, M! Here's to a great 2018 for both of us. :)
DeleteH Christine - you achieve a great deal and are obviously on the right track - here's to a successful and happy 2018 ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteCheers, Hilary! Happy holidays and thank you for all your support.
DeleteImpressive, lol, you are an inspiration. Wishing you much success in 2018. Happy Holidays.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Juneta! :)
DeleteCongrats on all your accomplishments! Writing a series as long as Totem is impressive on its own, but all in one year, too? Wow! Not surprised you want to stick to smaller series after that, though. I've been the same way with my own projects lately and always try to think of ways to make them shorter, LOL.
ReplyDeleteAnd wow, 2018 sounds like a busy year for you. Best of luck with all your new goals!
The whole Totem series wasn't written in a year, but time sorta blurs. You know how that goes! Thank you, and good luck to you too. I can't wait for more Echo Effect. :)
DeleteWow! I am so impressed by all that you achieved this past year and your goals for this coming year. Well done. You should be so proud of all that you've accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI did well with my goals for 2017 and have written out what I hope to achieve for next year. Good luck to both of us.
ReplyDeleteSo many goals! I'm sending vitamins and all the best to achieving them. Have a wonderful holiday.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you plan to cut back on marketing. I feel as though I should do more, but I wonder if it would really do me any good? I hate it and get stressed about it and I'm not even sure any of it works.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDelete