Twenty-sixteen! What fun shall we get up to in this brand new year? Like the thick blankets of fresh white snow we’ve received in the past few weeks, 2016 lies ready for new footprints. For snowmen, snow angels, and (snowy?!?) books!
When I made the decision midway through 2014 to go indie, I found a business plan for authors that I could make my own. I revised it quarterly for the remainder of 2014 and twice in 2015. I’ve just completed the 2016 version. Will this iteration last for an entire year? Hard to know! I love having a business plan as much as I love these annual goals posts (see the previous post for 2015 in review). These tools help me analyze where I’ve been and where I’m going. I can then make micro-course-adjustments (or macro, as needed) to keep pointing forward.
What are the long-term strategies? To write more books and release them more often. To write better books. To find more readers in more places. What that boils down to is continuing to write in 5-6 book series, to focus on both quality and quantity, and keep the vast majority of my titles on all major e-book platforms with paperbacks and audiobooks where possible.
With that in mind, here are my goals for 2016:
1. Complete and release Berry on Top, the sixth and final Farm Fresh Romance.
2. Write, edit, and release 2-3 novels in the next series, the Garden Grown Romance series, which will be a spin-off of the Farm Fresh Romance series and is also currently planned for six books. Fans will be pleased to see cameos of their favorite FFR characters!
3. Re-release More Than a Tiara (my half of Snowflake Tiara) as a solo book in e-book and paperback in September.
4. Write and release Other Than a Halo in October, the sequel to More Than a Tiara, and also a Christmas story. A third Christmas story in this series is planned for the fall of 2017.
5. Release Dandelions for Dinner, Plum Upside Down, and Berry on Top in audio (also release them together as an audio bundle). Re-evaluate audiobook sales and make a decision whether to continue investing in this format.
6. Work on a Top Secret Project for 2017, the timing of which will play into how many GGR books get done this year.
7. Continue to blog regularly at Inspy Romance and carry on my administrative duties.
8. Continue to blog weekly here on my own site.
9. Continue to send a monthly email to my newsletter subscribers, with more content and more contests.
10. Choose one of the nonfiction titles I’ve had on the back burner for several years and publish it already!
What does 2016 hold in “real life?”
It’s hard to know in advance, isn’t it! I wasn’t planning on a health setback in 2015, yet it came anyway. So I recognize that strength of will alone isn’t enough to bring my goals to fruition. I want and need to get stronger again, so am committing myself to getting back to daily walks, working out on my home gym machine, and eating healthily. I’m hoping to have the strength to grow and process a garden again after a fallow year.
My husband and I are also looking forward to a ten-day vacation in Florida with my sisters and their spouses in late spring. Plus, of course, as much grandgirl time as we can wrangle! The two youngest will turn four in 2016, so we hope to start stealing them all for a few days here and there for camping or other excursions.
Life is short. My relationship with God must take top priority, then my physical health, then my family. But that should all leave plenty of brain cells and energy for writing and publishing 4-6 books in 2016!
What about you? Did you meet your goals for 2015? What does 2016 look like for you?
1) I too had health setbacks in 2015. I am being more diligent in making sure I eat less sugar, no gluten and getting more protein in my body. I have had stomach issues my entire life and recently discovered I have Celiac issues.
2) I have had a book series in the works for over 10 years. I will endeavor to complete at least one if not two in 2016. No more thinking I will fail, am not good enough or that no one will read it. I will finish for myself and my family who have urged me on for years.
3) Get out more with my husband. Have special dates and projects to be closer than ever.
4) Continue to be an open vessel for God to use. Volunteer to share His love. Continue to have a personal relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
5) Start my website back up and share more of myself and God.
Thanks so much for sharing your goals, Dee! If you want to talk about indie publishing, feel free to shoot me an email. 🙂