After a productive 2018, I’m looking forward to seeing all I can get done in 2019. Since I want to move along my *fingers crossed* career as an author, I want to set some very specific goals for myself this coming year. I’m presenting them here and will be getting back to you at the beginning of 2020 to let you know how I did.
Writing
Read-through of first draft of This Book is a Disaster (2017) completed by end of January
Second draft of Disaster finished by end of April
Beta Readers for Disaster – hopefully finished end of June
Begin drafting query letter while Disaster is being Beta-read.
Final corrections for Disaster by end of September
Begin querying Disaster by October
New novel first draft for NaNoWriMo in November
Write an average of 12 new short stories/poems (taking into consideration NaNo and December, I’ll need to double-up some months).
Submit at least 12 short stories (some may be prior rejections submitted somewhere new).
Social Media
Website: Blog at least once a week, hopefully twice. Establish newsletter. Get site secured (ugh, I hate dealing with technical issues!) Add/Expand new sections to blog:
Book reviews (linked to Goodreads)
Author Interviews
New Book features
(Possibly) interviews with aspiring young authors.
Facebook: Double likes (goal 310). Share more about upcoming authors
Twitter: Pass 1500 followers (currently 1052). Post Daily Haiku. Interact with other authors. Possibly participate in #pitchwars
Instagram: Double followers (Goal 374). Post image of every book I read.
(Possible) Start YouTube Channel.
Reading
Read at least 26 books (yes, that number is fairly low, but I’ve got two kids and a business and a lot of writing to do. I want an attainable goal). Of those 26:
10+ should be Indie authors (and I need to review them on Goodreads and Amazon after)
10+ should be “classics” I’m trying to check off my list.
4+ should be writing/editing books (gotta hone my craft!)
2+ should be non-fiction or Christian
Beta Read at least 4 books for fellow authors.
Again, instagram every book I read (even if it’s on Kindle), write reviews for all Indie books, and add/rate ALL books on Goodreads.
