Goal Follow Up and New Goals Set

I took the time to look up my post that I wrote last year on the goals I wanted to accomplish in 2013. All I have to say is WOW! Things didn’t really go as planned but I think they went AWESOME! This was my list last year and my follow up:

To have my Dream Keeper Series contracted by a traditional publisher. Well I did. I received a contract by a traditional publisher and then turned it down opting to indie publish it. Probably the hardest decision I have made thus far in my writing career. Was it the wrong choice? Heck no! In fact, I couldn’t be happier with the way The Dream Keeper and The Dreamstone have done. They both have hit the bestseller list on Amazon and I have an audiobook! I am excited to get reviews, to talk with kids about the things they learned, and just darn happy to see my name on the spine of a real book. Goal met!

Finish the third book and prequel to the Dream Keeper Series, and finish one other full length book (not a picture book). This goal took a little turn. I have the first part of the book 3 of the Dream Keeper Chronicles done and I will be working on it soon. I did write more books. I wrote The Stone of Valhalla which will be released in March and The Witches of Roosevelt Elementary, which I have with an agent right now. I also did a collaboration picture book with my wife, ABC Adventures: Cooking with Kids, which will be out in Spring. So I finished 2 full length novels and a picture book. I’m adding The Dream Keeper books to my goals this year—after all it’s scheduled to come out this summer.

Be a full time writer/illustrator by the end of the year. This goal came with a twist. Last year I was diagnosed with crippling arthritis as a side effect of having Crohn’s disease. It put me on disability which then forced me to stay at home. I now work full-time as a writer and freelance illustrator and cover designer. So I am doing what I love. God just put a little spin on how I was to get there.

Write and illustrate four picture books, two in my ABC series, one in the Bean’s series, and one more fun and fantastic picture book. Obviously I didn’t remember how much effort picture books take to produce. This is an example of setting too BIG of a goal. I have one I finished in the ABC series and I wrote a new story I plan on doing the art for this year. I don't think I understood how much time marketing books takes.

Obtain more author clients for my freelance illustrating business. I am proud to say that I have been working my butt off on this goal. I started my own freelance illustrating and cover design business shortly after the start of the year and it has bloomed. I have over a dozen covers under my belt and a bunch more scheduled for this year. I am so happy to use my talents I have. It is truly my dream job. I’m always looking for more clients. They equal more opportunities for me to create magic.

Attend more than just one writers conference. Last year I attended THREE! Life the Universe and Everything, Write Here in Ephraim, and LDS Storymakers. I am also proud to say that I was a presenter/panelist at LTUE and WHIE, something I only dreamed would happen.

Be actively involved in my writers group. I said goodbye to my old writing group and started a new writer’s group with some members of the Authors’ Think Tank. I learned the value of having a great critique group. They have helped me improve so much as a writer.

Be able to be myself around other authors that intimidate the crap out of me because they are more successful. I’m still working on this but I have done better. It helped that when I went to my first conference last year people started to know who I was. It sure does help the inner critic to shut up when people come to you for advice.

Share my dreams with the world. I am continuing to do this. I have had my book read by people all over the world. I’ve received reviews from people all over the US and some from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, and South America! I am spreading myself everywhere. I only hope I can reach even more this year!

I am glad I had this time to reflect on the goals I made. I have learned some things in reading this. One, I should have my goals written down in a place where I can see them all the time. I’d forgotten some and glad I accomplished them. Two, my goals should be obtainable. Setting a goal to have three novels plus four pictures books completed was not a very obtainable goal. I know that if you want a goal to be met you need to have it reachable. The last thing I learned was that I had a plan. It is important once you set a goal to create plan for executing it. If you don’t plan, you won’t achieve.

Okay. Here are my writing goals for 2014.

• Indie Publish 4 books this year. I already have 3 scheduled so adding one more shouldn’t be too much work.
• Get an agent. This is something I have worked on for years. I want to be a hybrid author, using both the traditional publishers and indie publishing.
• Finish 2 picture books. I have 1 written—not illustrated. I plan to do one more. This is kind of a harder goal because the art can take a long time to complete, especially with the arthritis, but I will do it!
• See my books once again on the bestseller list. To do this I need to first write a bestseller and then market it productively.
• Set up more school visits. I plan on having at least one a month during the school year.
• Present at more conferences. I already plan on presenting at two this year.
• Help other writers achieve their dreams.
• Write at least 2 more full length books this year.

Those are my goals. Now I need to go write a plan for how I am going to accomplish them. What else am I going to do? I am going to print my goals and post it up where I’ll see them all the time. What are your goals and your plans on accomplishing them?

Is Publishing Worth it Anymore?

Recently a small independent press decided to close their doors. This really saddened me because I have so many of my friends that have books with them. It got me to thinking once again about the publishing world and how unexpected it is. There have been so many small publishers to go under over the past few years that it seems almost not worth it to be with a small publisher. The risk seems too high. The publisher that recently announced their closer actually asked to review The Dream Keeper book when I was shopping it around. I don’t know how I would have responded if I had been published with them and just a few months later they made this announcement. What would have happened to the remaining books in the trilogy? What would become of my rights?

image courtesy of Stewart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This got me to thinking more about the goals for myself as an author. I want to be successful and I crave the support of a publisher, but a small press, unless it’s self-sustaining, cannot make that happen for me. I need a large publisher. So really, I need an agent. With the regulations on unagented manuscripts there is no way I will sign with a large publisher without an agent. In order to get an agent, I need a great book that is sellable—intriguing and market driven. So, first step: write a killer book. Next, I need to find an agent that I know will get the job done. Not just anyone. I need someone who has proven to be successful and who knows their business—that’s not asking too much right? Of course not! But that means I am going to have to do my homework. Submit only to the agents that I feel are a good match for me and my work. Submit to agents that I know will work as hard as I will to sell that book. Okay, I have found my agent, now I need to get the agent’s attention. I need to write a query letter that will have them requesting the book in a matter of seconds after reading it and not put it in the “maybe” file and be forgotten. After I bleed the query letter onto the keyboard I send it out and wait. Once I get an agent the process begins again, this time with publishers. In a few years I might see my book printed. This sounds like a lot of work right? You bet it does! What’s the other option?

The other option is to self-publish, or as the hip new term goes, turn indie. This is going to be less The Dream Keeper on my own I knew what I was getting into. I spent two years researching the playing field before I even attempted doing it. I started with picture books, just to see how they did. I found the work, hard, frustrating at times, rewarding at others, and over all a full-time job. Did all the work I put into it make me successful? No, it didn’t. Am I still working on becoming successful? Yes, I am. An overnight success takes about ten years, so I feel I am on the right track. Self-publishing or indie-publishing, however you look at it, is not going to give you a quick way to publishing a book and making it big. I am not saying it won’t, but it will come with a heck of a lot of work. As an indie author I am the cover artist, cover designer, formatter, editor, line editor, copy editor, proofer, marketing expert, budgeter,  publicist, distributor, financial backer, and on top of it—writer. That’s a lot of roles, not to mention all the ones you have outside of your book, spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, child, employee…the list goes on and on. Self-publishing take a lot of work. Heck, publishing a book period, takes a lot of work. Let’s not forget what it takes just to get an agent and even that’s no guarantee you’ll sign with a large press.

work and more rewarding anyway right? Ah…no, afraid not. Rewarding yes, but less work, heck NO. When I gave up my contract with a small press to publish

I hope I am not sounding all Johnny-rain-cloud. I just want to remind myself and maybe you what authors are up against. Whichever road we take to get our books into the hands of readers will be well work the time, effort, risk, and heartache (yes there is plenty of tears shed over rejections and bad reviews). But guess what? It’s really worth it in the end. The best moment of my writing career was when I saw a picture posted online of a kid reading my book—my book!! It took over a hundred and twenty rejects from agents and publishers, hours and hours of editing, illustrating, formatting, sweating, planning, launching, and smiling to see it all happen. It was hard work, but that one kid made it all worth it. Will it be the same with a big publisher, heck yeah, and I am ready for the ride, but I think I am done with small houses. It’s either go big or go indie for me…maybe I’ll do both.