Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update

Back at the beginning of the year, I published a post about my 2018 goals. It’s hard to believe we’re more than halfway done with the year! Almost 3/4 of the way through, in fact! So, I wanted to provide you all with a mid-year 2018 goal update.

Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update: General Goals

• Visit 2 new places
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • Success! This was a goal that I purposefully left open to interpretation so I visited 1 new city and 1 new state.
      • Back in April, I made it out to Phoenix, Arizona (which was actually a whole new state for me. I did some hiking and enjoyed the sights the city had to offer like their gorgeous Desert Botanical Garden.
      • I also made it out to Madison, Wisconsin for a visit with my best friend! I’ve been to Wisconsin before, but Madison was new to me. It was great to see the place that the bestie now calls home and seeing her and her little family is always a treat.
• Goodreads challenge of 12 books or 1 book per month
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • I have failed abysmally at my Goodreads challenge in more recent years, but I’m really happy to say that those days are gone! I’m already well past 12 books– in fact, if I keep up with my current pace, I’ll likely read 60 books this year which almost as much as I used to read back in my days as a book blogger!

Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update: Writing & Publishing Goals

• Publish 2 novels
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • 1 down, 1 to go, but it’s looking good for this one! I released the first novel in my Lady Pirates series, Over Raging Tides, in March.
    • At the time of writing this post, I’m working on revising Book #2 of the Lady Pirates series, Through Fathoms Dark and Deep! I have a deadline of getting it to my editor in August, with definite plans to publish it before the year ends in 2018.
• Increase my writing speed
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • I’m still not where I want to be, but I have definitely improved. To be honest, a lot of that has just come down to dedication. Saying no to social invitations if I know I need to get some work done. Waking up early to work so I don’t find myself creatively exhausted and unable to work later.

Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update: Marketing Goals

• Review goals
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • It was a goal of mine to get to certain goal thresholds with each of my series starters this year:
      • For my debut novel, Threats of Sky and Sea, I wanted to get to over 100 reviews on Amazon. I booked services like Netgalley and Hidden Gems, and I’m proud to say that it’s now at about 115 reviews.
      • For Over Raging Tides, I wanted to get to at least 50 reviews. As I gear up to release the next books, it was important to me to establish a good base from which to launch. It’s now at just over 50 reviews.
  • Bonus? They both average over a 4 star rating, which makes me so happy. It’s such a good feeling to know that I’ve created worlds that readers enjoy!
• Complete Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course
  • Mid-year 2018 goal update:
    • Complete! Well, mostly. I’ve largely concentrated on the AMS and Facebook modules and those have been completed! I’ve learned a lot, though not everything has been effective for me. AMS has certainly been the biggest eye-opener and I’m exciting to continue experimenting with both in the future. The Bookbub Ads module is something that I’ve watched, but haven’t tried it yet. And there is a Pinterest for Authors update to the course coming that I’m excited about. I’d need to do a lot of experimenting to get Facebook ads profitable, but I haven’t ruled it out for the future.

What’s your Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update? How are those new year resolutions coming?