It’s that time of year again where we’re caught between looking back and looking forwards.
2011 was a very special year for me. It was the year when all my hard work over the past five years started to pay off and I was able to quit my day job and venture into the unknown murky waters of being a full-time writer. So far, it has paid off, partly because of my own focused determination to succeed and continue to publish top quality paranormal romance books and partly because I have the most amazing readers, and some of them are awesome enough to help spread the word about my books to their friends, through reviews, or through sharing posts on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you to everyone who has done something for me in 2011, has been a friend, or supported me in some way. Without you, I would be sitting here writing for myself.
It was also a year where I achieved more than I had dreamed possible as an author, and now that I know what I’m capable of, I can set crazy targets for the coming year. Here’s a few of my goals for 2012.
I read 24 books in 2011 through the Goodreads challenge. Considering I probably read around 3 the year before, this was a substantial and welcome leap for me. I joined the challenge late in March, but still managed to reach my goal.
In 2012, I am upping my game and challenging myself to read 36 books. That’s a lot when you’re a writer too! I’ve already read one, and I’m on my second. There’s a huge TBR pile on my bookshelf just screaming at me to read them all.
My goals as a writer are quite big this year, and some might think they’re a bit crazy, but I think with a little grim determination and hard work they are completely possible.
- Sell 250,000 books in total in 2012 (not including free books)
- Write 400,000 words, and track progress on my blog in sidebar
- Achieve a NY Times / USA Today best seller
- Win an award for my books
- Overhaul the Vampires Realm series website
- Create the Her Angel series website
I think those are quite straightforward and achievable. I have other goals too, but not the sort that people will be interested in.
I also intend to change my Vampires Realm series over to my main author name of Felicity Heaton to help promote sales of my books and make it clearer that they’re both by me, and remove some of my older books from sale so I can read them and decide whether to do a second edition of them, or whether to just trim the fat on my backlist a little.
The other thing I want to do is really get my brand sorted and working for me, and put together a three year plan for my business.
So, what are your goals for 2012? I already know that some of you plan to read a huge amount of books that has left me in complete awe!
