Author Accountability

The past year has been a huge learning curve for me in terms of my life as an author and it’s been enjoyable in all possible ways. One of the challenges I’ve had to face has been in balancing my responsibilities as a self-employed writer focused on developing newsletter and web content for businesses with the promotion of novel, “Shades of Teale.” I’m widowed and raising two children as well, and they are still at the “Mom could you drive me to band practice?” stage of life.

Every moment is hectic and precious.

That’s one of the reasons I’m a big believer in setting goals for myself. It’s all too easy for a year to pass in a tsunami of responsibility with little to show for the constant effort required to keep a family afloat.   I like results! When I set goals I have a clear direction ahead and I can focus my efforts on creating the life I want, rather than the life I get.

At the beginning of 2012 I took a stab at setting goals for my fledgling author activities and I thought it would be interesting now, at the dawn of a New Year, to take a look at how I did.

So here goes:

1. “Shades of Teale” tells the story of a woman’s journey through an increasingly unhappy marriage to a better sense of her own strength on the other side. One of my goals was to connect with women’s organizations to explore ways of using my novel to help people move into happier lives. I didn’t get very far with this one so if you think you can introduce me to anyone with whom I could have a profitable conversation, please get in touch!

2. Goal #2 was to develop a set of meditation cards and bring them to market as a means of supporting my message of hope, particularly for people trapped in bitter domestic situations. The cards are currently in production and I’m looking forward to a January launch, so stay tuned!

3. I also wanted to welcome the “Shades of Teale” e-book to the world. This was duly achieved and you can purchase a copy of “Shades of Teale” on  Kindle.

4. Although I had originally wanted to sell out the original press run and create enough demand for a reprint, my own marketing efforts fell prey to the exigencies of running both a business and a family. There’s still another year ahead!

5. Finally, I wanted to do at least three virtual book tours. This was another project that didn’t get off the ground, although I did complete numerous book signings. Again, there’s always 2013!

Promoting a book will take as much time as you have available and I’m moving into 2013 a little more efficiently. I’m now the author of a second published book called “Passages to Epiphany.” This is a collection of short stories and creative non-fiction pieces about awakenings and so there is even more to promote in the months ahead.

If you feel you’d like to lend a hand in any way, I invite you to get in touch! I’m always open to offers of help and I appreciate all goodwill that comes my way. In the meantime, all the best for a super year ahead!