Y is for Yearly Writing Goals- Check In (Rome Construction Crew Update #1)

Back in January I published my writing goals for the year 2013. I posted them here so I could hold myself publicly accountable. Since we are nearing the fifth month of the year, its a great time to revisit the list and see what progress I’ve made. It is also good timing because I’ve recently joined the Rome Construction Crew, and most of my goals involve writing.

1. Publish The Storm and the Darkness (Book 2 in the House of Crimson & Clover series)–Started the first round of final edits. Will be sent to beta readers by end of May/early June. 
2. Publish to this blog often (weekly at a minimum), including finishing my Travel Series for all travels thus far–Success so far! I publish daily right now, and will probably move to a minimum 2-3 times/week.
3. Participate in and complete Camp NaNoWriMo in April & July–Completed April (5 days early!), and I am already preparing for July.
4. Participate in and complete NaNoWriMo in November–Still planning to do so.
5. Start editing the as yet untitled Book 3 in the House of Crimson & Clover series—This is probably a Q3 goal. Won’t start the edits until Book 2 is published. It does finally have a name though: The Illusions of Eventide.
6. Start speccing out my fantasy world for the fantasy series I want to write–Ehhhh…okay I’ve done nothing with this so far. This one might have been a little ambitious, given all the work I need to do on my series.
7. Launch the House of Crimson & Closer Newsletter and keep it alive– I’ve created the template but won’t start distribution until The Storm and the Darkness nears publication.
8. Publish St. Charles at Dusk in more places, and make it more accessible–Done! It is now available on ALL major mediums, including Amazon, BN, Itunes, Sony, and Smashwords.
9. Learn more about marketing my work, and apply several new techniques–Expanded my social media presence by joining Twitter and Pinterest. Going to look at doing giveaways and other events once I get ready for The Storm and the Darkness to be published.
10. Come out of my shell a bit and become a more active member of the indie writing community- Definitely on the right track! I’ve met a lot of really awesome people through blogging, and I’m enjoying the social aspects of this a lot more than I imagined.

This is a big deal for me, being on track to hit most of my goals. I’ve spent so many years putting my writing in the backseat, and I’m not going to do it anymore. If I want to be a writer, I must write, I must network, I must market, and I must, most of all, make time for it.