A New Year Begins

2024 is well underway already and if I don’t get a move on it will be Christmas again. Well that is an exageration but the years seem to go quicker the older I get. So it is time again to do some planning. In 2023 my goals were as follows:

1. To finish and publish my second book

2. Work on a memoir about becoming an author

3. Finish Family Book for Mum’s Birthday

4. Reorganise my digital files. Currently I have three cloud repositories. My aim is to reduce that to one.

5. Declutter. I have so much stuff. Some of it has to go

6. Organise my business so that it will be easy to pass on if required.

I achieved 1 and 3 which makes me very proud. My mum loved the book and others in the family also purchased copies. I think my writing is tending to increase my family’s interest in their ancestors which was why I began writing in the first place. Most family historians will have the dread that there will be no one to be the guardian of the hours of family history research after they have gone.

As for 2, I don’t think I have opened that file at all this year. I have 20,000 words but nothing added in 2023. However part way through the year I made the decision that I needed to concentrate on getting more historical fiction books written before I focussed on that manuscript.

4 and 5 have commenced but, oh dear, they are montrous jobs so there is plenty still to do. I did cull about 1000 print photos. Back in the day of printed photos we often had two copies. There were plenty to throw out and I could still get rid of more.

6 has also commenced in a very minor way. A succession plan is important for self published authors so I will try to focus more on that task this year.

2024 Goals

So moving on to 2024. What would I like to achieve? The answer to that burning question is simply - too much. I will add 2023 goals 2, 3 and 4 back onto the list. 2 and 3 will likely be ongoing for several years. They need to be tackled bit by bit. But I really must get serious about a succession plan.

I have 40,000 words in a new manuscript so I hope to get that at least ready to publish by the end of the year. And whilst that is resting and/or with the editor I will open the Becoming an Author file again because I think that will be my next project after I complete this third book. In other writing plans I will send out a newsletter and write a blog post monthly. I would also like to write some short stories.

I have purchased some sound equipment to narrate audio books starting with Breaking Free. I would also like to learn more about having a YouTube channel in conjunction with a podcast. Social media generally is one of my weaknesses so I need to find a way to use content marketing in a way that I enjoy.

So as I said, too much. I will need to plan carefully and try to prioritise so that I don’t try to do too much. Still some thinking to do…….

What are your plans for the New Year?