Well. 2020 sure didn’t turn out anything like we all thought it would, did it?!?! The Year of the Coronavirus has certainly thrown a monkey wrench in the way the world operates. It shattered our travel plans for the year and threatened to derail my writing career completely, since I barely wrote a word in March. As you can see, I more than made up for it, though. At some points, all I felt I could do was write. So I did.
These were my goals/plans for 2020.
In 2020, I wrote about 335,000 words of fiction and published about 275,000 words. Yep, that puts me a bit ahead for 2021, which isn’t a bad thing!
Written in 2020:
• The Cowboy’s Reluctant Bride (55,000 words — Saddle Springs Romance 6)
• Lavished with Lavender (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 9)
• Marry Me for Real, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboys Romance 1)
• Ruby Radiance (40,000 words — Pot of Gold Romance 2)
• Cadence of Cranberries (55,000 words – Urban Farm Fresh Romance 10)
• Give Me Another Chance, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboys Romance 2)
• Joys of Juniper (about 20,000 words of Urban Farm Fresh Romance 11 — will finish in 2021)
I planned for five novels written and released in 2020, and I did write and release five. But I also got a jump on 2021 by writing Ruby Radiance around our summer vacation, knowing it wouldn’t release for almost a year, and a head start on another novel I plan to finish in January for an April release.
Ruby Radiance will release in Love’s Treasure Collection, a multi-author box set, next June. It’s nice to have it out of the way early.
If you’re paying close attention, you may have noticed some book titles changed from January’s “goals” to December’s “completion,” though the stories didn’t. I didn’t even have a clue a year ago what titles I’d use for the Cavanagh Cowboys Romance series. Also, I changed the name of the tenth Urban Farm Fresh Romance novel again. It’s released now, so I can’t/won’t change it again!
You can always follow along with what I’m currently writing by occasional peeks at my Coming Soon page or, of course, being a newsletter subscriber.
Published in 2020:
• February: Glimpses of Gossamer (55,000 words – Urban Farm Fresh Romance 8)
• April: The Cowboy’s Reluctant Bride (55,000 words — Saddle Springs Romance 6)
• June: Lavished with Lavender (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 9)
• September: Marry Me for Real, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboy Romance 1)
• December: Cadence of Cranberries (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 10)
Series Bundles Published in 2019:
• October: Saddle Springs Romance 4-6
Audiobook Goals
Getting more of my titles in audio is semi-permanently on hold.
Communication Goals
I planned to maintain a regular blogging schedule here and on Inspy Romance. I bombed here on my blog badly, but continued to blog monthly at Inspy Romance. I also planned to send a newsletter out 1-2 times per month, and achieved that, also. Possibly over-achieved, since I sent 2-3 per month. I planned to stop by my Facebook Reader Group 1-2x a week, and that’s another goal I over-achieved on. It’s become a great place to hang out!
I’ve been posting my annual goals to my blog for quite a few years, if you’d like to have a look. Before 2009, my reporting was a bit haphazard, so after poking around for a while, I decided “back then” wasn’t relevant! Still, if it would amuse you, here’s the list:
2018 goals | 2018 in review
2017 goals | 2017 in review
2016 goals | 2016 in review
2015 goals | 2015 in review
2014 goals | 2014 in review
2013 goals | 2013 in review
2012 goals | 2012 in review
2011 goals | 2011 in review
2010 goals | 2010 in review
2009 goals | 2009 in review
Do you set annual goals? How did you do keeping them in 2020?