Goals for 2018

Happy New Year!

We're a week into 2018 and those initial resolutions (wake up earlier, eat better) have already been thrown out the window, I also have some goals laid out for the year. They are written down in a few different places on paper and in FB groups, but I thought it would be a good idea to share them here more publicly/widely.

These goals are based on my experience this past year, so it's also a nice little recap of my 2017 results/earnings.

Writing/publishing goals:

- Publish 2 novels (1 already in editing), 3 novellas (1 already done), and 2 short stories (1 already in editing). This seems reasonable, since in 2017 I published 3 short stories and 1 novel in 2 parts. It's a stretch goal based on how fast I know I can write.

- Audiobook of I Dream of Fire

- French translation of I Dream of Fire

- Possibly submit a few short stories (not the same as above) to competitions

- Possibly write a third novel

- Possibly start posting monthly shorts/flash fiction on this blog

Reading/personal goals:

- Read one craft book, one business book, and one book in my genre per month

- Start running again (I didn't do it at all in 2017, but lots of yoga)

- Keep doing lots of yoga

- One week per month "off" from author/podcasting stuff

Podcasting/Writer Mom Life goals:

- Reach 500 downloads per month. Currently ranges from 113-240.

- 26 regular episodes and 6 bonus episodes. While reaching the 500 goal would be easier if we did weekly episodes, we simply don't have time for that. But I should have time to do a few bonus ones.

-Grow email list, FB group, and Twitter. There are no specific numbers on this because I am not sure yet what a good benchmark is. Our current numbers are 17, 25, and 27, respectively, so this first year will be all about seeing what works!

Financial goals:

- By the end of the year, have between $100-300 monthly PROFIT (not income) through a combination of the books and WML website, where I started using affiliate links.

I think with the increase in my backlist, and my growing understanding of marketing, this is a reasonable goal. In 2017, I had 1 book and 1 short for sale (the 2 other shorts are permafree). I made a total of $99.09 from April to December, which is an average of $9.91/month. With expenses taken into account, I'm at a loss of something like -$1400. I still need to go back and add it all up, but there was very little additional marketing done in November and December besides Amazon ads, so my numbers from a few months ago haven't changed much.

I've decided to start 2018 from 0 and not worry about making up that loss. 2017 was all about learning, and I am in the enviable position of not needing to worry about this making a profit, since I have a full-time job I enjoy. That changes how I approach marketing and writing, for sure, but I am also someone who doesn't like to fail. So I will still put everything I have into this! But having that mental distance from the urgency to perform will be very liberating in 2018.

This is all still very fun and I love it a lot, and I want it to stay being fun for as long as possible. Which, in my case, may mean not having very high profit goals, but setting other personal growth/influence goals in service of a larger community.

What are your 2018 goals?