Writing Goals for 2012

You know JA Konrath and a bunch of other writers have chiseled out their writing goals for 2012 (Check it out here). 

So I thought I would be a total follower and write up some myself. Besides, I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish next year and writing them down would be nice.

So let's take this goal setting for a spin:

1. 3 books will be published by the end of next year

I know that sounds like, "Woah! You're going to self-publish three books by next year?! Good gravy!"

But trust me, for the last few months I've been editing like mad and I was really hoping to publish two books before the summer and two books during the fall and spread them out.

Unfortunately, since I'm moving (that throws quite a wrench into things) I cannot spend the money I want to edit my books properly and even though it's tempting to release my books early without the critical eye of an editor, I have to wait until I can attain the money to edit then publish my books.

Quite a mouthful of disappointment, right?

Wrong! 

I'm tickled pink to be able to spend the time promoting my books and writing (not to mention teaching students how to spell properly and how to communicate effectively) and editing.

Now, the three books I have in mind are:

Everblossom 2: A New Breed 

Angel Diaries

Iwishacana/Acanawishi 2

I'm excited to release these bad boys out into the world. I'm thinking though, since I have all of this extra time outside of marketing, I can publish these books too next year.

V

Angel Diaries 2

Romance book/ Iwishacana/Acanawishi Anthology

I made a huge break through with V, so I'm hoping (thinking, praying, and wishing) that I can fix it enough to be seen by editors. I'm not sure but it'll be an amazing adventure. I can't wait to fully unleash V and see what people think. It's so interesting. :)

But without a doubt, I want to set a goal for 3 books published next year bare minimum. 

2. Write Faster

I know you guys have probably heard me complain about how slow I write. 

Or maybe you haven't.

Either way, it takes me quite a long time to start, write and finish a novel. Therefore, I have really struggled to come up with a way to balance quality and quantity. Until I found this post. 

Basically, this is about a writer who went from writing 2k words a day to 10k words a day.

Yeah, you are allowed to be wowed.

I was and at first, I was like, "Is that even possible?!" But as I read the post, it made sense so I'm going to try it with Angel Diaries 2. I'm going to try to write faster but with higher quality.

That is a definite goal of mine. 

3. Learn more marketing techniques

I know you guys are probably looking at me with frowns and reflect back at how many times I posted about me or my books getting featured.

But I could always learn more about marketing, especially since the more I market, the more I can reach readers who will want to read my book. 

Therefore, I would love to learn some more marketing techniques and become better at them. Additionally, I want to learn how to create email lists for my fans. 

I know, me shying away from technology? Psht! But I am kinda shying away from technology in this instance only because I don't want to mess it up.

Therefore, I will not be a coward anymore next year and I will use more marketing techniques.

4. I will participate and/or sponsor a Book Tour.

I really, really, really want to do this. I just wish I had the time to collect the authors, sponsor them on my blog and others and give them the support they need.

In other words: I want to give back to the indie author community.

And one of the ways I want to give back is to sponsor a Book Tour. And I know someday I will, hopefully next year or maybe in 2013. I just want to put the word out there that I want to.

5.I will start on editing my romance novels.

This is a tall order for me. 

I want to fix the novels, but at the same time, they are in such bad shape. I hate to talk about my books like that, but it's true. I know most of my romance books haven't been critiqued, edited, or even looked over by a friend. 

I know two of them aren't even finished!

One I know is going to be a novella and it's somewhat finished but I need to wrap it up. 

Anyway, too many details floating around in my head about what needs to be fixed. Like the historical details are going to kill me. I didn't do any research back then (except read other historical romance novels), so I know most of that stuff is historically inaccurate or stereotypical.

Anyway, I need to conquer my hesitance to edit those books and start on it. I started superficially on it by fixing the format but I really need to start to get my hands dirty.

6. I will research the options for self-pubbing romance novels and all that it entails

I already partially started on this, but I need to conduct more research since it seems like the options for self-publishing romance books are limitless. 

And I heard that getting reviews for romance is hard for some reason (and that some book bloggers don't even respond) and I know for erotica it's painfully hard to get a review. 

Therefore, more research is needed. 

7. I will stop hogging all the books at the library

I know this seems kinda strange, but I've been like renting out like a great number of books at the library and I feel kinda bad about that. Especially since I won't be able to read the large amount of books that I rent out. 

I actually had a handle on it until I got home. Then I went right back to renting 40 books.

Gosh! I have shiny ball syndrome with books that I will get under control again, therefore, I will work on my impulse control problem with books.

The good news about all this is that I mostly rent writer's how to books and very few YA.

So, there's the silver lining for all the YA book lovers out there . . . 

Okay, I admit it: I am ADDICTED to graphic novels and actually smiled when seeing the graphic novel section. And I may have whispered something along the lines of, "Now this is a graphic novel section!" 

It's just not the same at Hampton University. They have like a small graphic novel section, when I get back home, it's ridiculous. 

They have like the WHOLE Buffy graphic novel collection!

Yes! Not even half kidding!

Oh, I need to stop it! Gosh, anyway, I promise I will not carry out a basket at the library (and/or bag) and when I find the books I am looking for (no more then ten), I will run to the check out lane and out to my car afterwards.

So there. Those are my resolutions. What are yours?