It’s the end of 2016 and I think it’s a great time to look back and reflect on the year. For me, I want to see what business goals I achieved and what I didn’t, and also look at ways I can improve in the year. I break up my goals by categories and have been relatively pleased with the results. I do think I need to start thinking more long-term and more strategically, so I’m going to write a 3 year plan this year.
In terms of writing, I published four books and a novella this year, which I’m secretly quite impressed with.
I also wrote the fourth book in The Flanagan Sisters which is out next month, and I sold a short story to Serenity Press which will be in the A Bouquet of Love Anthology next year.
I ran a number of writing workshops and seminars for the Rockingham Writers Centre, as well as taking part in the Perth Writers Festival, Write Along the Highway and giving a library talk at Armadale Library.
In addition to this, I was president for the Vintage Motocross Club of WA until the end of October, and I took on the role of Secretary for the Romance Writers of Australia in August. Some would say I’m a glutton for punishment!
I tried a whole bunch of things to market my books including Facebook Ads, Kobo Promotions, Apple Promotions and myriad newsletter and blog advertising, which had varying degrees of success.
There were some things that I didn’t get done this year though. I have a romance novel sitting on my computer which I was going to split up into two novellas, as it has two heroes and two heroines. I can’t quite decide if the quality is there to do that, but I might look into doing it again this year, and perhaps using them as freebie promotions if the story is good. I’d also really like to get back to writing fantasy. I was going to write the second book in a series, but I haven’t been able to sell the first book as yet. I reread the first ever fantasy book I wrote and realised it will need rewriting if it’s going to be publishable, but I do still like the story, so I might look at doing that in 2017. Finally, I was going to write two books in The Beginner Writer’s Toolkit series, and I only got the first draft of the second novella completed.
I had a lot of trouble finding an accountant or bookkeeper who could help me with my accounting software which was incredibly frustrating, and even now I haven’t found a solution, so that’s definitely on 2017’s to-do list.
So now that I’ve looked back on 2016, I feel like I know the areas I’m doing well in, and those that need a little bit more focus. Now I need to write my 2017 plan and I’ll share that with you some time in January.
