2024 Author Goals: A Q3 Check-In

If you read my halfway-point check-in blog, you know I set myself up for goal success this year by aiming low and reasonable. You also know I threw myself into the productivity deep end as soon as I met those nice, reasonable goals.

Quarter Three was no better in terms of reason.

My official 2024 goals:

Finalize The Winner Takes It All for publication
Publish a poetry chapbook
Edit 6 manuscripts
Bonus: Draft The Plus-One Contract

My secret, bonus 2024 goals:

Publish A Necklace of Teeth with Dogleech Books
Finish drafting Sword's End as Cassia King
Submit Sword's End to NineStar Press or query
Edit 12 manuscripts
Bonus: Finish drafting TPOC
Bonus: Read 20 books

I'm doing great on most of these. Winner is in its preorder phase. Sword's End is almost finished, at 71K words. The Orange and Pink Sunset and A Necklace of Teeth are out in the world. I've edited 12 manuscripts (plus a tarot deck guidebook!), with more on the way. I've read 17 books for fun so far.

But TPOC is at a standstill. I've made no progress on it since June because, ahem, I started something ELSE new. That's just who I am as a person.

Here's what I've been up to in Q3 2024:

Finished drafting Coal Hearted (exvangelical poetry chapbook)
Drafted Witch-Touched (second-chance witchy lesbian romance novella)
Submitted Witch-Touched to Lethe Press's novella collection and was accepted
Pitched and accepted to Reverent: An Anthology of Divinity
Pitched and accepted to Duck Prints Press's Scholarly Pursuits collection
Took on 5 new editing clients
Finalized Winner for publication
Submitted my Reverent piece to the editor
Started my Scholarly Pursuits piece
Tabled at a local book fair

I powered through Witch-Touched like a woman possessed. I typed the first word on July 22 and typed "The End" on September 6 (which is super fast for me these days). It ended up at 22K words, which I'm happy with.

Here's what I expect to do in Q4:

Edit 3+ more manuscripts
Publish Winner with NineStar Press on 29 October 2024
Finish drafting Sword's End
Maybe start the next book after Sword's End in the Sapphics of Serrana series?

QOTD: What are your 2024 goals, and how are you doing on them?

Now go forth and make your dreams come true!

I believe in you!

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