Monday, January 4, 2010

The 'New Year' Blog

It's not New Year's Day, but it's my Manic Monday - which is perfect for this post.

Some general "already done" accomplishments:

CLEAN DESK!!! Or, at least as I can get it.

Business plan with Christy (including deadline dates!!)

I decided to move my fire ritual to the New Moon, mainly because we've needed the fire for warmth and Scott's beaten me to it every day. That's ok, I've got two boxes to burn for this ritual. (For more on my annual fire ritual, check EFA's The Freelancer newsletter archives.)

Anyway, here goes my compare/contrast + goal setting:

2009:

Fiction

Short Submissions: 24, better than 2008's 18, average 2/month.

Acceptances: 0, maybe 1 (awaiting firm info re: BAF3)
Rejections: 21 (awaiting 2 more + BAF3)
Completed Written Shorts: 4 ( 1 Co-written w/ Christy, 1 Co-written with Aimee)
(three more than 2008!)
Incomplete Written: 5 (It went UP since 2008?!!??)

Mostly better than last year (save the more incomplete short stories - sheesh, I used to be able to crank those babies out in 1 sitting -well, here's to better quality with more time!)


Novels:

Written/Completed New:
1.5 (The latest co-novel with Christy is ALMOST done; Yesterday's Shadows is, er, done but still needing revision)

Incomplete Written:
… What did I mean with this section? That I've worked on? I'm still working on Algorithm, but I've got a bunch of "back burners" that I fiddle with here and there.

Revised Completed:
Another crappy "section." I'm not done revising Kyra, but Yesterday's Shadows has had about 4 major revisions this year.

Novel Queries:
A LOT - with a lot of learning on proper queries. We did have 3 partial requests, though!

Novel Pitches:
I believe I was referring to live pitches with this one, so a big fat goose egg for 2009 on THAT.


Poetry:

Put out a chap book, sold half of what I published, and wrote 3 new poems! Huzzah! Also, started some sketches for a second chap book.


Non-Fiction Writing

Total Non-Fic Paid Articles:
86 (HO-LY CRAP! That is double of last year!) Granted, most weren't big payers, and I lost a client - but damn, that's good for me!

Total Pro-Bono: Very few… some for MA Horse “Overherd”



Editing:

Massachusetts Horse Proofs: 2, + the Benefit Show Book (Pro-Bono for BSER)

Online Courses: 1


Tutoring:

Maintained my Lead schedule & duties, plus a few extra projects.

Other Sales:

Gack - I'm really behind in tallying my book sales. I'm down to only 3 of each Bad-Ass Faeries and Bad-Ass Faeries 2 in my own stock, though, and I sold about half my chap books. I haven't had the $ to buy any new stock of the re-releases, but I'll negotiate that with Danielle before Arisia.

Misc. Accomplishments:

Presented paper on Neil Gaiman at Worldcon… and met Mr. Gaiman himself - without making an ass out of self. J Yes, I am VERY proud of this!

Conventions attended (total): 8
Conventions attended as
guest or participant: 6
Conventions attended as dealer/volunteer: 7

Release parties
for something I wrote or co-wrote: 0


How did I do for my plans last year?

3 short fic/ submissions/month – Not quite, but better than last year

7 Conventions, 3 as guest/participant/volunteer - HELLA exceeded!

Polished & sent out Yesterday's Shadows – Yes, but back to editing based on feedback.
Polished & sent out A Silent Starsong - um… still in progress.

4 non-fic articles/month: EXCEEDED!

5 non-convention events – EXCEEDED!!

2 Major Editing Project outside MA Horse - No, but I'm ok with that.

Regular website updates? - Not quite once a month, but pretty regular.

Blog at least twice a week - Difficult start, but have EXCEEDED since September.

Send Family Newsletter 1/month - Mostly.

Create/send Business Newsletter 1/month - Um… we got 6 out, but it's realllly nice!

Maintain 15 hours of Tutoring/week (save summer break) - eh, yup!

Unquantifiable:
More horse training / riding - not sure if I did this or not, but I'm ok with what I've done.
1 Horse Clinic - EXCEEDED - gone to about 3!
Do NOT squee all over Neil Gaiman at Worldcon - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Present a proper academic paper at Worldcon - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Attend Hugos at Worldcon - No, threw a KILLER party instead, Mwahahahah!!!
Do a better job of tracking expenses/profits THROUGHOUT the year… possibly quarterly - er, yah-no.
Organize WRITING TIME better - somewhat, at least since September
Figure out how to make better use of social networking stuff like Twitter & Facebook & LinkedIn - I <3 Twitter - and I'm definitely better at Facebook, but I need to catch up on Linked in.

SOOOOO…

Despite losing a major client and having less work in this crappy economy, 2009 has been an overall good year. I'm sure that I'm not in the black as far as earnings go, not with the convention expenses - but I'm a better and more productive writer for the year.

On top of what I mentioned, I've become part of the Motherboard for Broad Universe and am the go-to Broad for rapid fire readings and the new Broad Pod. And there is so much more that I simply cannot fit into this blog.

I am happy and content.

So, what's in store for 2009?

Average 3 short fiction OR poetry submissions per month (same goal as 2009).
Get Yesterday’s Shadows polished and send at least 10 queries or submission packages (carryover from 2009).
Get A Silent Starsong polished and send at least 10 queries or submission packages (2009 carryover).
Finish draft of 2nd Christy project, edit, send out to beta readers, prepare for submission.
Submit 2nd Christy project by July
Attend at least 7 conventions, 5 as a guest/participant/dealer/volunteer*
*Calculate 2009 convention expenditures and spend 25% less.
Attend at least 10 non-convention events
Set business goals with Stefanie for Aurelio project.
Finish: Western Faeries
Puhka-Shire Pond Castle Story
1st Android Novel/Novella (?) Rough Draft
Wings & Fire

Edit: Max
Manipulation
Cemetery Angels
E-Hell
Pony's Guide
Full Withdrawal
Oprah Funds End of the World
Nonny

Send regular monthly website updates to Del
Blog at least three times a week
Blog at trishandchris.blogspot.com every other week
Send Family Newsletter 1/month
Create/send Business Newsletter 1/month
Submit 6 Paid Non-Fiction/month
Maintain 15 hours of Tutoring/week (save summer break)
2 Major Editing Projects
Raise more than $500 for Bay State Equine Rescue
Submit more than 75% of articles at least one day early.

Unquantifiable:
More horse training OR riding
1 Horse Clinic
Do a better job of tracking expenses/profits THROUGHOUT the year… possibly quarterly.
Answer questions on LinkedIn
Write useful Tweets and respond to people more on FB & Twitter

And, I think that is good. J

Relaxing more and losing some weight is also in there. Scott is still scheduled to leave for Taiwan, though end of 2010 or 2011 now (thanks to site conditions), so you'll hear my trials and tribulations with that.

Believe it or not, I actually have far more notes outside of this - hard copy and on word files and spreadsheets. I feel more prepared than last year - and I hope that displaying all my plans gives you an idea of the life of a professional writer, occasional editor, tutor… and helps you achieve your own dreams and goals.

Good luck - and Happy 2010!!

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