Tag: goals

Mid-Year 2018 Goal Update

Posted July 30, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 0 Comments

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?

2018 Goals and looking back on 2017’s goals

Posted January 4, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 0 Comments

Happy 2018, loves!

At the risk of sounding like a cliche, the beginning of a new year feels like a clean slate. At the very least, it’s an easy way to create a timeline of goals for yourself, with a deadline of the end of the year.

Let’s see how I did with my 2017 goals:

Run a 10K
- Success! It was the hardest run I’ve ever done. I felt like I’d collapse. But I finished!
Publish 2 novels
- Yeesh. Not even 1 novel. Not even 1 short. But I did publish the Threats of Sky and Sea boxset! Not so great on this one…
Narrate 4 audiobooks
- Close, but not quite. Still, I’m decently happy with my progress here. I completed narration on 3 audiobooks, 2 of which need to have mastering completed before they will be released, and 1 of which is out now!
Visit 4 new states and 1 new country
- Success! In March, I visited the U.K. and had one of the best trips of my life touring historical locations, beautiful architecture, and reveling in Harry Potter fun. I also added Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Jersey to my “states visited” map this year.

And now, for 2018’s goals!

Publish 2 novels
- Yep, I’m bringing this one back. Over Raging Tides, Book #1 in my Lady Pirates series comes out in March. That gives me 7 months to draft, edit, and release either the second book in the Lady Pirates series or Book #1 in my Halfers series.
Visit 2 new places
- I really want my concentration this year to be on writing and publishing, so I don’t want to put too much pressure on travel goals. The new places can be states, countries, or cities. We’ll see how things shake out. I just want to add some new experiences.
Complete Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course
- I bought and paid for this course last year, but haven’t had the time to devote to actually taking the course and implementing its strategies. I have high hopes that it prove a good investment.
Increase my writing speed
- I am a notoriously slow writer. But I want to tell my stories. Beyond wanting to publish 2 books this year, I don’t have a concrete goal… I just want to improve. ~~But it would be nice to get a start on a 3rd draft for 2018.~~

What are your 2018 goals? What would you like to see from me?

Nice to meet you, 2017. I want more from you.

Posted January 2, 2017 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 0 Comments

Hello, 2017.

I hope you’re good to us, 2017, because 2016 was a shitshow overall– I’m looking very pointedly at you, World at Large.

But it held some high points for me:

I published the conclusion of my YA fantasy trilogy
That conclusion was voted one of the 50 Best Indie Books of 2016
I had my best sales months
My romance novel was mentioned in a Huffington Post blog
I voiced a minor character in an audio drama podcast
I wrote an audio drama podcast minisode
I visited 3 new states and 1 new country
I accomplished the Goodreads reading challenge that I set for myself
I became a godmother
I trained for and ran 2 5Ks for the first time
I went to Disney quite a bit
I found a new gym that I love, which is helping me with my mental health in a big, big, big way that I just can’t overstate

I had some major lows, but also some amazing high points.

And now it’s time to think about 2017.

My guiding word for 2016 was “new” and I think it lived up to that. My word for 2017?

And to narrow that focus down a bit, I’ve outlined a few specific goals for the year:

Run a 10K
- I’m going further than last year’s 5Ks. I signed up for my first 10K yesterday! It’s at the end of February. Stay tuned!
Publish 2 novels
- I published only one novel in 2016, and I won’t lie to you, 2 will be a challenge. If you’ve paid attention to my writing speed over the past few years that I’ve been in this self-publishing game, you may have noticed that even 1 book in a year is often a struggle, but I have some fun ideas…
Narrate 4 audiobooks
- Considering I’m midway through 2 audiobook productions and plan to also release Breathe In on audio myself, I think this is very doable. In 2016, I narrated 2 books. I’m doubling that this year.
Visit 4 new states and 1 new country
- I already have the 1 country lined up– I’m going to the U.K. in March! I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve had this trip planned since late 2015. I have some ideas on what the new state trips will be but they’re still to be determined. Below is my updated “states visited” map after adding Tennessee, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania in 2016.

So that’s what I’m hoping to get out of 2017. How about you?

I didn’t win Camp NaNoWriMo… Or did I?

Posted May 4, 2016 by Jennifer Ellision in Writing / 0 Comments

I love the mindset of NaNoWriMo and its younger sibling, Camp NaNoWriMo. Its focus on clear goals–whether those goals are writing 50,000 words or a revision of 30,000 words– is so good for me. Focus on those goals. Forget the rest. I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo several times and “won” twice. Now and Again was my first NaNoWriMo. And when I truly started buckling down and writing Threats of Sky and Sea, it began its life as a NaNoWriMo project (with the title Apparent… let’s not talk about that). So, as I’m working on my edits for Fall of Thrones and Thorns, and some friends wanted to put together a “cabin” for Camp NaNoWriMo, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to join in. Camp NaNo is NaNoWriMo’s slightly more sane sister (or insane, depending on your preference). I didn’t have to do 50,000 […]

New

Posted January 4, 2016 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Self-Publishing, Wrap-ups / 0 Comments

Ah, here it is. That post you’ve read on a thousand different blogs as we catapult off of 2015 to launch into the brand-spankin’ new 2016. I’m no different from the rest. For me, a new year is always imbued with a sense of hope. And New Year’s Resolutions are always a little bit… well, dangerous. Because setting goals that are too high, or beyond my control, can lead to depression when I check in on them if I didn’t manage to achieve them. I think I’ve done better this year and chosen things that are within my control. I like what I’ve seen many people do and choose a word to guide them in the new year. A word that embodies what they want the year to be. For me, that word is: “New” I want 2016 to include… New […]

August Goals

Posted August 1, 2014 by Jennifer Ellision in Author business, blog / 0 Comments

My birthday is August 29th, and I really want to give myself a couple of presents this year! As this day job’s “new” status fades, I’m finding myself better at balancing things again. Don’t get me wrong– I’m still WAY busy, but I’m adapting to things, which means I’m a little less exhausted, and that I’m once again finding ways to squeeze author business into my spare time (lunch hours, right before bed, weekend, et cetera). And because I can get stuff accomplished again, I’m setting myself some goals. The first three are big ones: 1) Finish this draft of Riot of Storm and Smoke. I’ve been saying it for ages, but it MUST happen this month if I want to meet my self-imposed publication month (December). Elsewise, I’m looking at pushing back my date and I HATE that idea. 2) Do […]

A look back and looking forward in 2014

Posted January 1, 2014 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

As 2014 opens, I’m realizing something: I’m not where I want to be with my life, and you know? That’s okay. Because all things considered, I had a pretty good year. I have my ups and my downs. Sometimes my downs are really low and it’s hard to remember the good in my life. But when I put it in a list like this, the good overwhelmingly outweighs the bad and I think focusing on the good things in my life will help when those times inevitably roll back around. I transitioned from a temp job to a permanent position, where (some days) I actually get to use my English degree. My best friend lives several states away, but we still managed to see each other for four different trips. The bevy and I talk more than ever and it’s […]

The Importance of Setting Goals and Deadlines

Posted October 30, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized, Writing / 0 Comments

As October 31st is tomorrow, I have realized that it is unlikely that I will have a finished draft in hand. Even setting crazy goals of 5K a day (nearly impossible, since I have to work), I’m well under this draft’s goal of 70,000 words. So, some people might say that setting that deadline was pointless. But I disagree. Because having that deadline meant that I got up and to work more than I might have otherwise. If I didn’t set that goal, I might still be hovering around 5,000 words for this draft. Any progress is better than no progress at all (I mean fast progress is better than SLOOOOW progress, but I’m sticking to my progress is progress guns here). It means that my goals get transitioned somewhat. That now Draft 2 will be what I first work […]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOL! (s)

Posted July 2, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Yes, I was trying to reference soccer with the blog post title. Did that come through? Because I’m such a huge sports fan as I huddle in my writing and reading cave, OBVIOUSLY. So, I went to New York… and then I came back home to sunny South Florida. Also known as BLISTERINGLY HOT South Florida. Summer is truly upon us, but Dorothy had it right, there is really no place like home. Something about seeing the book world come together for Book Expo America was amazingly inspiring. And coming home to my wonderful, but a bit hum-drum life was sad. But the conference really lit a fire under my butt. I want to start living my dream. To that end… some GOALS: -I’m going to finish the first draft of my Work in Progress (tentatively titled Apparent) this week. I […]