2013 Goals: January Status Report

1) Complete final draft of Novel #2.

This month, I continued the revision process and I’m on track to achieve my sub-goal of completing revisions within the next 2½ months. In the middle of January, I crossed the halfway mark!  I expected to hit this milestone at the end of January, so this is a major victory on multiple fronts.

Overall, revisions are going really well. Those who have kept up with my Novel #2 Progress posts know my beta reader has given me some great feedback. I am so encouraged to keep plugging along on this project!

Lastly, in conjunction with another sub-goal, I am keeping track of progress via a bar graph on my sidebar. This widget tracks my progress as I work my way through Draft #1. As I work through each section, I keep track of how many words have gone through my radar.

Start Word Count: 27,507
End Word Count: 40,103
Total: 12,596

2) Work on converting Novel #1 into first person.

Novel #2 continues to occupy my attention, so this remains shelved until revisions are complete.

3) Submit 5 pieces of writing.

I love it when an opportunity presents itself in the most unexpected of places. While perusing Facebook I came across a post from Simon’s Cat announcing a poetry competition. I jumped at the chance to enter because it sounded like so much fun, but also because it would hit two of my 2013 goals at once:

• Submit one series or piece of poetry
• Submit one item out of my element

Earlier this week, I submitted a poem that my readers voted as their top choice. While this is a small competition, I think its a nice place to start the year.

4) Submit three query letters for Novel #2

I made a few more adjustments to my query letter, but I’m hesitant to do much more until revisions are complete on the manuscript. Then, I can devote my full attention to polishing the query.

5) Continue building author platform

While I was very present on Facebook, I spent the majority of my time exploring Goodreads. I’ve joined two groups, one focused on reading and another focused on writing. The writing group offers multiple opportunities to submit poetry to the Goodreads monthly newsletter, so I’m looking at that as another possible submission outlet. In addition, I’m making it a point to write reviews for the books I read and join in conversations.

Overall, it was a good month for growth in followers:

My Facebook Page has grown from 241 Likes to 262

On Twitter, my followers have grown from 462 to 504

As I revise, my musings often end up on either venue of social media. There’s nothing more entertaining than a writer who’s had waaaaay too much caffeine. See my sidebar to join in the fun!

6)  Read three books on the writing/publishing process.

For Christmas, I got The Writer’s Compass by Nancy Ellen Dodd. It’s nearing the top of my “to read” pile.

7) Inspire others to keep writing.

As always, I can only hope I am a positive presence!

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c.b.w. 2013

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