The Unwritten Goal

...is an unaccomplished goal.

At Partners in Crime, my IRL critique group run by Diana Killian, author of the Mantra for Murder Yoga Mysteries, we were talking about goals. With a start, I realized I haven't done any for this year. Oh, I had half an idea of what I thought I wanted to accomplish, but honestly, I hadn't written anything down.

Bad, bad Ericka.

Not long ago, a friend of mine sent me a quote from one of her friends that reminded her Dreams are goals without plans.

So, this year, along with writing two novellas and one full-length novel, I plan on compiling all of my previously published short stories and jumping onto the self-publishing bandwagon and see for myself what everyone is bragging about. I do so with the caveat that the stories I'm compiling have already been published (so someone, somewhere liked them) and they've already been edited.

Saying this, I will also say that I don't believe self-publishing is the way everyone should go to get published. Over the years, 'self-publishing' came to mean a sub-standard product. Horrible covers and little to poor editing did nothing to abolish that impression. Self-publishing should not mean "do it yourself" -- as with a child, it sometimes takes a village to raise a book to bestseller status. Take pride in your work and make it the best product, one you'll be proud to put your name on. Get help if you need to! Pay for professional cover art and editing. It WILL make a world of difference in the way your book is received.

So, what are your goals for 2011?


Remember --

Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant's into cans; dreams into plans; and plans into reality. Don't just think it - ink it! - Author Unknown

~~~~~~

Ericka