In today’s Publetariat Dispatch, author and publishing consultant Joanna Penn looks back on her experiences as an author in 2012, and looks ahead to her plans for 2013.
We are all on the writer’s journey, and each year marks another way-point. I think it’s important to stop and reflect on the goals we set for the year, celebrating what we achieved and also being accountable for what didn’t quite happen.
I also love being honest with you here, as [The Creative Penn] site keeps me accountable. I hope it also helps you. Here’s my goal-setting post from Jan 2012 [and my updates for each goal].
Fiction
- Write 2 novels and a novella. I did publish Exodus (ARKANE Book 3) and I have 28,000 words of a new book which I started during NaNoWriMo. I also have 2 novellas under another pen-name. But I didn’t quite make my fiction goals and this is something I need to fix next year.
- Sell 50,000 copies of my fiction books by September. I tipped over 50,000 copies a little later than Sept but I made it by December, so that’s not too bad.
<< J.F. Penn with Lee Child at Thrillerfest
Go on a writing course/ invest in expanding my fiction skills. I did the Guardian Fiction weekend but primarily I went to Thrillerfest in July 2012, so that was definitely the best investment in my skills. Plus I met some amazing authors!
The Creative Penn, my business
- Change the site focus to more on the business and less on free (since I pay my bills with this site now). I have focused on more copywriting skills. I did rewrite the Author 2.0 Blueprint. I changed the Home page to reflect what is on offer. I will be doing more of this in 2013.
- Release 3 new multimedia courses. I produced 5 new courses this year: 4 ProWriter courses with NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons. If you want to take your writing seriously, then check out the ProWriter courses here.
- The other course was Turn Your Ideas Into Cash
