So the New Year is in, and it’s time to get on with hitting those goals.

What are mine? In writing it is to draft, edit, and publish The Killer and The Dead by the end of October. That’s a tough, but doable ask. I stand in awe of folks who boldly declare they will write two or more books this year. I’m not built for that kind of speed.

Of course, there is so much more to the writing life than just writing your newest opus. Would that were the only task at hand! There is so much more to do, like promoting, advertising, and selling my first book: The Thief and The Demon. (Kindle version on sale right now at 75% off!!) Embracing the new project cannot mean abandoning the old. (Which isn’t even old – it was released last October – it’s a veritable baby!) I have these blogs to write, Facebook presence to maintain, advertising campaigns to write and curate, decisions to make on paperback distribution, which then leads to the need to speak to book sellers, gaming stores, libraries, anywhere that might have an interest in my book. There is even discussion of a YouTube channel. Oh, and narrating an audible version of The Thief and The Demon. No problem, I’ll get it all done by Tuesday!

Most importantly I need to pursue the epic quest for reviews. Writing to bloggers and vloggers who might be a fit, asking if they have the time to read a copy of The Thief and The Demon that I shall most happily supply them with! (A variety of formats are available, including paperback! If you are a book blogger looking for a fantasy novel to review, please get in touch, I’ll be delighted to chat with you!) In addition I must try not to constantly, boringly, cajole those who have read my book to do me that most solid of favours by writing and submitting an honest review. But I still bug them, you know, a little. I need those reviews! On Amazon preferably, as it can help drive sales and hopefully boost my algorithm visibility, but frankly, any book friendly site will do now!

I’m a first time self-pubbed author. I knew before I started I’d make mistakes, and promised to be forgiving of them. I’ve made a few I know of and moved on, probably made others without realizing it. This is life when you try new things. This is a glorious learning curve. I’m getting a little better with each experience. Of course so many of these new things I’m doing require research, reading, watching, note taking, all of which suck more time away from writing anything, let alone my next novel.

The one I’ve scheduled for release by the end of October. How do people release multiple books a year? How? The discipline involved must be tremendous!

Oh, and I’ll need to do all of this and more stuff that I’ve forgotten to mention while working a new job. Nobody said the writing life was easy, bub. But jobs are great – they pay for lots of the things this author cannot do on his own: editorial work, cover art, and formatting, among other things. Yes, I could try to do my own formatting, but time versus money is a calculation I made, and came down on the side of spending money to save me time.

Juggling the writing life with the rest of your life is a tricky process. I mean, how much time is left for reading random articles on the internet (always call it writing research, it makes it feel less wasteful – if you bookmark the page, it was definitely time well spent!) and playing frankly silly online games? Not a lot, not if you want to write. And maintain a relationship with your spouse. I think her name is noted around here somewhere… No way could I do this with kids. Writers with kids, you have my utmost respect.

This isn’t a poor me. This is just a clear eyed look at what lies before me this year. It’s a lot, but as I said in my New Year reflection, I’m calm about it, and ready to go. Some extra reviews would be nice though!