So it’s already February and I still haven’t done a re-cap of last years goals and whether I achieved them.
Well, lets start by taking a look:
Okay, how did I do?
1. I did finish the first drafting the first book of my time travel trilogy so that’s a a good start. I haven’t looked at it again since this time last year, but I may leave it until I’ve drafted the other two parts.
2. I’m going to skip this for now as its a long story.
3. & 4. Done. The Siren Song has had numerous edits and a title change. It is now titled, The Impoverished Countess, and I’m currently waiting for feedback from betas. I have to be honest and admit I’m nervous because really love this one, and hope they like it.
5. I am trying my hardest on social media and I made the rookie mistake when setting this goal. I forgot to make it SMART. Sorry, a bit of jargon from when I worked in marketing, but still relevant. All goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. I forgot to make a note of how many followers I had to start with, and how many I wanted to gain by the end of the year.
I think I had in the region of 1600 followers on Twitter and about 78 likes/followers for my Facebook page. I’ve increased my Twitter following to 2590 so not bad, considering I try to do it organically, rather than the endless writers lifts. My FB author page has also jumped to 132. I’m useless at social media, so any increase in following is good in my book.
6. I just want to say thank you to everyone who subscribes to this blog. In 2020 I started with about 1700 subscribers and this has jumped up by about 1000. Thank you all for staying with me over the last year because I can’t deny I failed at number 7 – to post more varied things. Lets hope I can improve this year.
8. I didn’t pitch The Siren’s Song, now known as The Impoverished Countess. I will explain why when I cover goal number 2.
9. That new historical romance blog site has unfortunately been a victim of the pandemic. The admins have not had time to really develop it further. It’s on hold at the moment, hopefully to return in the near future.
10. Well, this has been another fail. I can honestly say that 2020 was one of the most stressful years I have endured. Not necessarily the writing side of my life, but my day job. Working in early years education has not been easy.
So, back to number 2. Did I find an agent? No.
However, I did sign a four book contract with Scarsdale Publishing for my Men of Trade series: The first being The Whitney Heir; the second, The Impoverished Countess; the third, The Reluctant Earl (which I’m currently putting through a first structural edit); and the fourth still untitled.
At first I was unsure about signing without an agent. I sought advice from various sources. Some said go ahead without one, while others recommended retuning to agents I had already queried. The general consensus was that they would jump at the chance if I already had a book deal on the table. The sad truth was they did not. Whether that was because at the time the pandemic was beginning to impact everyone, or they just simply were not interested, I will never know.
So, I’m winging it. My first book deal and I’m flying by the seat of my pants, trying to establish a good relationship with my new editor and not worry about what could go wrong without the support of an agent.
All in all, I can’t say 2020 has been a poor year in terms of my writing goals. Success in more than 50% of them should be celebrated, especially after the way the year hit us all like a freight train in general.
Here’s to my goals for 2021, which I hope to post next week.
