Stacking Up the New Year by DiAnn Mills

Stacking up the New Year
By DiAnn Mills

Our family celebrations often involve a game of dominoes. Me? I like stacking them up and watching them fall one-by-one.

Unfortunately if storytellers don’t make a few plans for their writing career in January 2015, our publishing dreams may fall. Every writer is motivated by something, and when we lose track of why we embarked upon this journey, our goals aren’t met. In fact, they are flattened.

Looks like I forgot to plan.

So how can we avoid the domino effect? I’ve listed ten ways writers can take charge of their career in 2015.

1.   Understand priorities and stick by them. Life is filled with interruptions, and only we can
      decide what distractions are important and what ones are merely annoyances.
2.   Establish a budget for conferences, marketing, promotion, and other expenses.
3.   We writers need to know where we’re going. Calendar due dates of writing projects. If a
      manuscript is on spec, establish a deadline to finish and stick to it.
4.   List the writing projects that need research and calendar them.
5.   Establish goals for social media. Buffer and Hootsuite offer solutions to save time and
      energy.
6.   Analyze the many blogs available for the writer and the world of publishing. Select and
      follow those that are consistency professional.
7.   Evaluate current writing groups, online and live. Which one(s) allow the writer to learn
      and give back to others?
8.   Create an “Idea” folder. Writing ideas come from the world around us—from blogs to
      articles to book projects.
9.  An author bio needs updating at least yearly.
10.Take an honest look at your professional photo. Is it time for a retake?

Facing the New Year with writing goals and a plan means professionalism. If we write when we feel the muse, edit when the mood strikes, and submit when we have nothing better to do, our careers will fail. Develop a plan and stick to it. Watch how your dominoes stack up this year.

Oh, I need to get this on paper.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.