Now that I'm relatively caught up with all I fell behind on, I was reflecting on my goals for this year. I have to say, with last year's successes I'm feeling pretty ambitious. Not to mention I'm facing the big FOUR-OH this August. Keep moving forward, right?
1. Goal numero uno is to put out a book a month. What's that you say? That's crazy! Not really. I'm not talking twelve full-length novels. More like one novel, four novellas and seven shorter works. The wonderful thing about being part of the e-publishing world is I don't have arbitrary word counts imposed on me because an 85,000 plus word book looks better a display shelf than a 50,000. This gives me the freedom to exercise a whole range of storytelling skills--vignettes, short stories, novellas and, yes, the occasional novel.
Gone are the days when an author could put out one or two books every couple of years and rest on his/her laurels. It's truly publish or perish and I'm going road warrior this year! I've got some plans for several works with my main publisher,
Ellora's Cave, plus an anthology of short stories with some wonderful authors (**Cindy waves to Jacqueline George**) and also I'm delving into self-pubbing some of my previously published work that I've recently reacquired the rights to. It's going to be an adventure, I'm sure.
2. Goal number two...okay, this might sound a wee bit silly, but given my recent weight loss (45 pounds and counting!) it occurred to me that I might, for the first time in decades, have a shot at wearing a bikini this summer. I'm not talking about the two pasties and some dental floss kind of bikini, but something classic and retro...something Marilyn would've worn. With that in mind, I started my customized Nike+ training today on the Xbox. Okay, so day one was really, really hard. Yep...it kicked my ass, but I think a new fitness regime is in order to keep challenged and motivated. I'll keep y'all updated as I keep things fit and slim in 2013.
So I'd love to hear what y'all have planned for the new year, please share! Happy 2013, may it bring you luck and happiness...or at least if life gives you lemons, make whiskey sours ;)
Cheers,
Cindy
6 comments:
I actually think shorter novels/novellas are often more interesting to read.
I've got to agree with the book length thing. Many readers prefer something they can finish in one sitting, or a least in a couple of evenings. I am working on a sequel to one of my full-length books that will come out in instalments. After all, that's how Dickens etc put their books out.
More importantly, I am disappointed to hear about the two pasties and dental floss. You would certainly have turned a few heads dressed like that.
Great goals for this year, Cindy! I plan to get back to my bikini-friendly size by summer, too.
And I hope to get two books out there this year. Your goals put mine to shame! :)
I agree, Fiona. I've always been a big Agatha Christie fan and she did a wonderful job telling twisted tales without all the wordiness :)
Ha! Jacqueline, you're too kind, but I assure you my pasties and dental floss days are over, LOL.
As for the word counts, I agree, I much prefer a tale I can finish in a day or two during my afternoon relaxation time. There are some novels that exhaust me just looking at their girth!
Goals are goals, Cari ;) And I think two books is very respectable, especially since--if I remember from your blog correctly--this is your first couple of years as a full time writer. I've had six years to build up my bag of bones so while a book a month sound ambitious, some of them are already well on their way to completion or have been completed and languishing in hard drive purgatory while I work on other things.
Good luck and let me know if I can help, okay? HUGS!
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