Update Day

The Big Dreams blogfest is hosted by myself and Misha Gericke.
We set goals and each month we meet to discuss our progress.

In July I accomplished NOTHING!!
Yep. I'm supposed to be writing 2 Woman's World Stories/month.
I wrote 0.
I should have one book edited and half way through writing the next.
I'm half way through editing one.
I'm supposed to be blogging at least twice a week and commenting on 10 others. You guessed it. 0.

But there is ONE thing.

I've been working on my thesis manuscript for a year. I finally made the hero--probably one of the most hated people in history--likable. I guess that's an accomplishment.

Goals for August (Bet some of these sound familiar--since they were goals for June)
read book RIG
crits for CP
revise thesis
revise His First Lady
revise Before Hope Dawned
write 1 Womans World Short
Sub Woman's World Short
blog 2x/week
visti 10 blogs/week
Get off candy
work out 3 days a week

How did you do in June? What are your goals for August?

Update Day: The Real Update

The Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by myself and Misha Gericke.

I put up a dummy post yesterday saying I was drafting like a maniac hoping to report I had a draft today. Yeah. That didn't happen. I wrote a whopping 200 words and spent most of the day getting life in place. I've been working a temporary day job since January which ended yesterday. The good news is I'll have more time to write. The better news is I've got things in order so that I can take a few months to find a job. The not so great news is it's going to take me even longer to be able to hire a publicist which I desperately need.

My goals for 2016:
Increase my count to a million by two hundred thousand words. (I estimate I've written about 50k this year. I'm going to have to write like mad through December which will be hard with everything going on.)
Get romantic fiction published in woman's world ($800/short would help with next goal)
Make $1,500/month writing at least one month this year.
Get my thesis novel through the first pass
Complete 20 graduate hours (I've completed 10. This will happen by December.)
Find a new job (I quit the day job due to migraines). (I did this, but it was temp so now I have to do it again.)
Get off Coke-Cola
Find a better writing/life balance. (I either don't write at all or abandon other parts of life.) (Not happening)
Make $500/month writing at least one month before June (This did not happen.)



Goals for June:

1. client edit
2. read book for res
3. crits for res
4. outline 2nd Pennsylvania Avenue book
5. revise His First Lady
6. revise Before Hope Dawned
7. Write 10,000 words
8. write 1 Womans World Short
9. Sub Woman's World Short
10. Get off candy
11. work out 3 days a week

How did you do in May? What are your goals for June?

Big Dreams Blogfest

It's update day for The Big Dreams Blogfest hosted by Misha Gericke and myself. Update Day is the day we all meet to share the progress we've made toward our goals.

My long term goals are to write a million words and sell 500 ebooks a month. To help me with this, I set smaller goals each month.


My Goals for March Were:
Get through a second round of edits on thesis novel (I put this aside).
Sub 2 stories to Woman's World (I wrote and subbed 2 stories but 1 subbed story was from last month & one story from this month remains unedited).
Make Hope Button for Blog
Hit 1000 Twitter followers (This didn't happen but I realized it's hard for me to engage on Twitter because my feed is a giant ad. I'm working on finding readers instead of writers to add to my feed).
Get Mailing List Going & Sign 50 Subscribers (This did not happen and sadly it's probably the most important).
Publish Before Hope Dawned (My cover artist is not responding to me but I did get edits made and sent it to my editor. It should be ready to go once I have a cover).
Write a free short for mailing list (Didn't happen)
Write submission package for So You Think You Can Write (I wrote an outline but I'm missing 2 plot points. I'm 20 pages in, but I won't sub until I have 50 solid pages).
Visit 25 blogs/week (This rarely happened)
Loose 10 lbs. (Actually, I gained weight)

Writing that helps me realize I accomplished a lot in March, although I didn't accomplish everything.

My Goals for April Are:
1. Do Pilates EVERY day.
2. Get off candy. (I've been off Coke-Cola 10 days)
3. Finish a draft of His First Lady (50 pages of this will be sub package for So You Think You Can Write).
4.Get Mailing List Going
5. Sub 2 woman's world stories
6. Get this client edit done
7. Visit 15 blogs/week.

What did you accomplish in March? What are your Goals for April?

Big Dreams Blogfest

As you know by now, the Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by Misha Gericke and myself. Each moth on the last Friday, we meet to discuss progress (or the lack thereof) and goals.

Goals for February

Finish a round of edits on thesis novel
Add needed scenes to thesis novel
Sub 2 stories to Woman's World (I only wrote 1 story and haven't subbed it yet).
Get 100 blog hits/day. (This didn't happen).

Goals for March
Get through a second round of edits on thesis novel
Sub 2 stories to Woman's World
Make Hope Button for Blog
Hit 1000 Twitter followers
Get Mailing List Going & Sign 50 Subscribers
Publish Before Hope Dawned
Write a free short for mailing list
Write submission package for So You Think You Can Write
Visit 25 blogs/week
Loose 10 lbs.

How did you do on your goals for February? What are your goals for March? Does anyone have suggestion for hitting 1000 twitter followers?

Big Dreams Blogfest Update Day 2016 #2

As you know by now, the Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by Misha Gericke and myself. Each moth on the last Friday, we meet to discuss progress (or the lack thereof) and goals.

My goals for last month were to get through one round of revisions on thesis novel, add 2 scenes, submit 4 stories to Woman's World and get my blog traffic up to 100 hits/day.

After  a week long residency out of state, breaking my tailbone and my glasses, and starting a new job, I didn't quite meet my goals. I only managed to get 1 scene added to my novel and it wasn't a scene I was intending when I made the post, so those still need to be added. I got through edits on the first five chapters of the novel, but not through an entire round. My blog traffic is fluctuation lots of days I'm close to 100. Some days I'm close to 200. But some days are really low, and I'd like to change that. I submitted only one story to Woman's World.

Goals for February

1. Finish a round of edits on thesis novel
2. Add needed scenes to thesis novel
3. Sub 2 stories to Woman's World
4. Get 100 blog hits/day.

Did you meet your goals for January? What are your goals for February?

Big Dreams Blogfest 2016 #1

The Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by myself and Misha Gericke.

This  blogfest is as much about accountability as it is dreaming. In one way, it gives us a place to set goals each month and in another it's a place to talk about the steps we took--or didn't take--to get there.

When Misha and I started this blogfest in 2013,  I had two goals. 1)Make a million dollars writing in a twelvemonth period 2)Write a million words.
I've all but given up on one goal. At this point in time, I find it unreasonable to think I will ever make a million dollars writing, but I'd be happy just making a living writing now. I still recognize the need to write a million words. (This is the point at which an author is said to become an expert, and being an expert would likely make profitability easier).

My goals for 2016:
Increase my count to a million by two hundred thousand words.
Get romantic fiction published in woman's world ($800/short would help with next goal)
Make $1,500/month writing at least one month this year.
Get my thesis novel through the first pass
Complete 20 graduate hours
Find a new job (I quit the day job due to migraines).
Get off Coke-Cola
Find a better writing/life balance. (I either don't write at all or abandon other parts of life).
Make $500/month writing at least one month before June


Now what I've accomplished this year:

1. Not as much as I would have liked
2. I wrote a draft of my thesis novel! (57,834 words)
3. 10 grad hours
4. Romantic short to submit to woman's world (969 words cut to 800).
5. wrote a picture book 5,000 words

Goals for this month:

1. Get blog traffic back to 100 hits/day (I was getting 200 before going back to work)
2. Add 2 scenes to thesis novel
3. Get through 1 round of revisions on thesis novel
4. Write four shorts for submission to Woman's World
5. Find 3 other mags to submit to regularly 

Steps I'm Taking to Get There

1. I've introduced a DIY MFA series in which I give away tips I'm learning at $7100/semester. Traffic has already gone up since introducing the series last week. I'm also opening to guest posts again, provided the author give some useful hints on craft in the post.
2. I've thought out the scenes to be added and will be adding them Sunday/Monday morning.
3. As I'm currently unemployed I'm writing in the morning before doing anything else. This ensures I get writing time, but may have to change when I find a job.
4. Saturday morning is my "Market Place day." The writing I do on Saturday morning is for a short I can quickly submit.
5. I do not have a good way to find 3 other mags to submit to. I have found a couple of resources but need free resources!

I will be hopping around a little bit later. Must do some cleaning first. Do you know of free resources to find mag/online writing opportunities? What did you accomplish in 2015? What are your goals for 2016? What steps are you taking to get there?

Big Dreams Blogfest

Are you reading this? Probably not. This blog had died a slow and painful death, much like my writing life.

When Misha Gericke and I started this blogfest, I had a goal of writing a million words and making a million dollars. Specifically, making a million dollars in a twelve month period. At the time it seemed possible. I seemed on top of the world. I had just signed with a well known agent. My book was being published by an imprint of Harlequin. And then things fell apart.
The thing about digital imprints is they're not that different from self publishing except that you're being paid less because you're splitting royalties. A year and a half later I separated from my agent, and while it was my decision and we separated on good terms, it still feels like a huge step back to once again be in the slush pile. And somewhere in there, my husband lost his job and I was faced with the necessity of going back to work. While he quickly found a new job better than the last one, being faced with the peril of no income--I was a SAHM--led us both to think it's better for me to work even without the need. At this point, I'd be happy to make $1500/month writing. That would allow me to quit my day job, which would allow me more time to write. Ironically, because the day job takes so much time I'm barely closer to reaching that million word goal than I was when I started.

Progress? Well, I'm about 22,000 words into a new manuscript. I suppose that's progress. I'm also working on an MFA and I'm almost done with my first semester.

Goals? I have no idea. Keep on surviving?

Best of luck to all of you out their conquering your goals and living your dreams.

Big Dreams Blogfest: Getting Back to the Basics

The Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by Misha Gericke and myself.

My goals are to write a million words and make a million dollars. And I feel like every Friday of this year, I've said the same thing. No progress. 2014 has been a chaotic year for me. I sold a house I was in less than six months moved across state (and TX is a big state), and worked a horrid temp job until the house was sold. I'm also trying to finish my teaching certification while going to grad school. (The two programs are not related).
Recently, I feel like I have a burn out. And I probably do. I think it's important to pay less attention to my goals, and focus more on getting back to the basics. For writing and blogging to be fun again. I did nothing for rewrites this month, nor did I write anything new. I got my mentor and program director to accept my MFA syllabus after something like five tries. I'm writing a workbook on narrative fiction for my major project this semester. And that's where I am. Hopefully, next month I have more to share. I kind of doubt it though. I changed teaching certification schools this week and while I was intern eligible earlier this week I have to retake several classes to get there again. The good news is I can do so at my own pace, and we all know I'm fast paced.

Did you accomplish your goal this month?

Big Dreams Blogfest

The Big Dreams Blogfest is hosted by Misha Gericke and myself. Misha's goal is to ear $7500/month in royalties. My goals are to write a million words and make a million dollars (on words).

And it's another depressing update day. This whole year I've added 3000 words and 70 unusable pages to my word count. Impressive right? *hits self in head* And the thing is, I only make deposits to my word count bank once first draft is completed, so those words aren't even in my bank! No closer to the goal.
I got thirty pages of REALLY harsh feedback from my prof at the end of the semester, but I did learn from it. I've stopped editing to write character shorts and I'll continue rewriting later. To get out of this slump I seem to be in, I asked a friend to schedule a girl's night months in advance for the purpose of celebrating subbing Perfect Harmony (a book that has been drafted since October) to my agent. I figured motivation might help.

What about you? How are your goals coming?