My Goals for 2016

I had a lot of goals for 2015 and I worked my heinie off in an attempt achieve them. How did I do?

Goal #1 – Finish and Publish Don’t Call Me Kit Kat

Goal achieved! And as of today, Don’t Call Me Kit Kat has review averages on Goodreads (4.57) and Amazon (4.8) that make my heart swell with joy. This book is very near and dear to my heart, and based on the majority of responses from readers, it conveys the messages I was hoping it would.

Goal #2 – Stop Obsessing Over Click Date Repeat

Hmm. This one is iffy. While I managed to stop checking my sales stats every day, I faltered on resisting the urge to constantly check for new reviews after Don’t Call Me Kit Kat was published in May. Because I wanted to keep tabs on how Kit Kat was doing, I ended up checking in on CDR more than once a week as well. So this goal continues to be a work in progress.

Goal #3 – Finish the First Draft of Click Date Repeat 2

MAJOR fail. But, I have a really good excuse! During November, I participated in NaNoWriMo and completed a good chunk of a YA suspense novel.

Goal #4 – Stick to a Blog Schedule

Another iffy one here. For the most part, I managed to post one book review per week. But I kinda fell off the bandwagon as far as posting a personal/professional post every Wednesday. I won’t abandon this goal, but it definitely needs to be revised.

Goal #5 – Remember What’s Really Important

Goal achieved! Not only did I set time aside for hanging out with my family without writing, I took the entire summer off to do things with my kids. Honestly, this goal may have been overachieved. 😉

And now for my new and revised goals for 2016…

Goal #1 – Revise and Complete SPIN

SPIN is the YA suspense novel I worked on during NaNoWriMo. The manuscript has been through one round of developmental editing, and I can’t even describe how excited I am to see this one through to publication. My plan is to send it off for one more round of developmental edits some time in Feburary. Then, if I succeed at making this book into what I think it can be, I just might be querying agents come spring.

Goal #2 – Finish and Publish Click Date Repeat 2

As of right now, I have about a third of this book completed. However, the entire novel is outlined, so I know exactly what needs to be written. I plan to work on it intermittently for the next two months, but as soon as SPIN gets sent in for its second developmental edit in February, I’ll finish this one up. I’ll aim for sending it for it’s first developmental edit in March with the ultimate goal of publishing in late May.

Goal #3 – Stop Obsessing Over Book Stats

I will only check my sales stats and for new book reviews once a week. This might seem like an easy goal, but it’s not!

Goal #4 – Limit Social Media Time

Last year, this goal wasn’t necessary because all I had to maintain was Click Date Repeat’s Facebook page. Now I also have an author Facebook account, an author fan page on Facebook, a Twitter account, and an Instagram account. This is a lot to maintain and often turns into hours of wasted time each day that I should have spent writing. My plan is to limit my time on social media to one hour per day. (This does not include time posting book reviews and writing blog posts.)

Goal #5 – Post Regularly to My Blog

Instead of committing to personal/professional posts on Wednesdays and book reviews on Sundays, I’m only committing to posting something at least once a week and it could be any day of the week. In addition to personal/professional posts and book reviews, I’ve also started participating in cover reveals and blog tours.

Goal #6 – Write Every Day!

Even if I don’t feel like writing. Even if I’m busy with family commitments all day long and can’t write until after the kids are in bed. Even if I’m feeling under the weather. I will write at least one page of something every day. That something could be complete gibberish, but even gibberish can be turned into something meaningful. And baby steps are better than no steps at all.

Goal #7 – Remember What’s Really Important

I won’t be taking the summer off this year due to Goal #6, but I will continue unplugging every Friday night (and holidays) to spend quality time with my family.

What are your goals for 2016?