From the title, you can already see that I’m excited for this year because that finish line that I’ve been running toward for years is finally under my foot. It is time to cross over from the labyrinthine paths of writing into the kingdom ruled by ✨published authors.✨
Every January, I set a writing goal for the year (check out my 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 goal trackers). I thought that this year I’ll shake things up. I’ll update this post throughout the year as I achieve (or abandon) the individual goals, but I may also create separate posts about the details of my progress (which I’ll link to here).
Let’s be realistic. I have ambitious plans and things don’t always work out the way I want them to. Life gets in the way rather always, but I think it’s important to see the big picture I’m striving for—shoot for the stars to land on the moon, and all that.
Without a further ado, here are my 2024 goals.
Jump to a section
- Books I might publish in 2024:
- 2024 Goal Tracker:
- Goal 0: Finish and edit draft of The Madman of the Woods
- Goal 1: Finish line editing of Soul Survivor
- Goal 2: Create a marketing strategy for the launch of Soul Survivor
- Goal 3: Create a new book cover for Soul Survivor
- Goal 4: Format Soul Survivor for print
- Goal 5: Publish Soul Survivor on multiple platforms
- Goal 6: Market Soul Survivor
- Goal 7: Get started with the audiobook of Soul Survivor
- Goal 8: Finish the draft of Soul Crusher
- Goal 9: 1st edit of Soul Seekers
2024 goal:
Publish my books!
Buahaha. Yes, it’s that simple, but this is a complex goal. It involves editing, prepping for a launch, publishing, marketing, etc. I’ll be wearing all the hats this year, but I’m excited because this has always been the goal.
Books I might publish in 2024:
Medium of Eidolon Falls Series
Who could have guessed that Medium of Eidolon Falls would be the first series I publish? I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that if you asked me a year ago, but when the time came, these books were the closest to being ready. I suppose it makes sense since they’re the most contemporary books I’ve written.
- Soul Survivor – this book is already published as an ebook + bonus content on Campfire. The next step is to publish it in print and offer ebook downloads on my website. And perhaps explore other platforms. I definitely want to achieve this goal in 2024. I am working on it already.
- Soul Crusher – this is a sidequel to Soul Survivor and a surprise project because I wasn’t planning on writing new books. I’m still in the drafting stage, but I hope to be finished and publish it on Campfire in 2024. I might publish it in print the same year too if all goes well.
- Soul Seekers – this is a sequel to Soul Survivor. It is drafted and is waiting for edits and a beta reader review. Publishing this book in 2024 should definitely be achievable.
From the 2 latter projects, Soul Seekers is closer to being ready, but I would love to publish Soul Crusher first. Ideally, it would be awesome to publish it together with Soul Survivor since these two books are each other’s sidequels—they share a timeline and most of the cast but tell different stories since they’re told from different point of views. They go together great, and I think that each is a unique entrance into this world. Soul Survivor is the paranormal psychological drama, while Soul Crusher is a women’s fiction. Take your pick which one you want to start with.
Can I publish at least two of the three books? I sure hope so, but it greatly depends on when I can finish writing Soul Crusher. In a worst case scenario, I’ll only publish Soul Survivor in print. I won’t hold it up too long.
The TriRealm Universe
This is an awesome science-fantasy series I’ve been working on for years. It is a complex story and an even more complex world, which is why I haven’t rushed it, but I am getting close to finally publishing it.
- The Merlin Paradox Trilogy.
- Volume 1 is drafted already. After editing and getting beta readers, I could potentially publish it this year.
- Volume 2 is drafted, but it’s unlikely that it will be published this year (but not impossible). I’m shooting it more for 2025.
- Volume 3 is only started. A possible 2025 candidate if I can finish the draft on time.
- DragonSky – a prequel to the trilogy. It’s drafted in full, but I’d like to give it a thorough revision. It wasn’t my big priority, but I can see that there’s interest for it on Campfire, and I wonder if I should revisit this project sooner than planned.
- Various short stories/novellas set in this world. I might publish these with the trilogy as bonus reading or combine them into one book.
Knowing myself, it is very likely that I won’t be able to stick to just one project throughout the entire year. I’ve been working on the Medium of Eidolon Falls series for several months already, and I can feel my steam is slowly fizzing out. If that were to happen, I think it would be wise for that steam to be rekindled with The Merlin Paradox. It is such a wonderful story, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.
Did you forget something?
I did not forget my fanfiction. The thought of it is always there, haunting me because I have not updated it in over a year, and I feel like I’ve disappointed my readers. In an ideal world, I would also like to add it to this year’s goal, so, since we’re being ambitious, let’s put The New Order of Merlin Series on the list.
- Finish editing for The Gathering – this one is finished and published in full. Once upon a time, I undertook a challenge to edit this epic monster. I got about halfway through. Finishing the edit would feel like a great achievement to me, even if the readers don’t notice the change. But since no one is actually waiting for this edit, I won’t prioritize it.
- Edit and publish Cursed – I have a very rough draft written, which readers have been waiting two years for already. It’s rough, as in, some scenes are missing, which is why I haven’t published it yet. I really need to get a move on and finish it to get it off my to-do list.
I would love to get this series over with not only to satisfy the fans (who are slowly forgetting that they once liked this series), but mostly for myself, so I no longer have this unfinished series hanging over my head.
Alright. I’ve got my work cut out for me. This list should keep me occupied for the entire year. It’s going to be an interesting year. I’m starting out with 7 goals related to Medium of Eidolon Falls Series. I’ll add to this list as the year goes on. We’ll see how much I can get through.
Yearly goals update on 3/15/2024
I added Goal 0 to the list as I wrote a new book. Oops…
- The Madman of the Woods is a supernatural fantasy about an ancient and eccentric vampire who crosses paths with a cunning hunter. It was written for a Wattpad contest and is available there in full. I also published it on Campfire, where behind-the-scenes content that went into this project can be explored.
I’m also adding an audiobook goal to Soul Survivor project. Since Campfire is gearing up to release their audiobook feature this year, I would like to at least get started with it this year and perhaps publish a few chapters for test.
Yearly goals update on 8/15/2024
Oh, my. Has it really been that long since I’ve updated my goal tracker? Is it a symptom that things are going well or badly?
Yes.
Haha. That crazy goal of publishing multiple books this year looks to have been an elaborate fantasy. I’m determined to put Soul Survivor into print before the year is over, but all others likely won’t happen. You can blame The Madman of the Woods for it. Nothing like an unexpected new book to delay the progress of all WIPs.
I think I’ve noticed something worth noticing. I was going strong, at first, writing, then editing The Madman for several months, and then suddenly the will for it fizzled out. Perhaps I should treat it as a sign: Don’t work more than 6 months on one book. Once you go over 5 months, plan an exit strategy and switch.
I had to add a new goal: Format Soul Survivor for printing since it appears to be a bigger undertaking than expected.
It looks like next year is inheriting the remaining goals that have little chance of being completed (though, nanowrimo is coming – I might use it to finish Soul Crusher).
2024 Goal Tracker:
Goal 0: Finish and edit draft of The Madman of the Woods
Starting status: Not started
I wasn’t planning on writing a new book this year but that’s exactly what I did. Open Novella Contest came about, and I felt inspired to join in.
Status as of March 15th: Draft written in full and published on Wattpad and Campfire (free). I still need to edit it, and would love to get some feedback on it before I plan the next publishing steps.
August 15th: I’m nearly finished with the second draft. I already know what I want to do with the ending (some rewriting is necessary). The biggest challenge right now is that I’m feeling burnt out. I’ve been working on this project for too long already.
It sucks to pause a project when it’s so close to completion, but my mental energy for it has fizzled out. I’m taking a (hopefully) short break and plan to get back to editing in the next few weeks.
Goal 1: Finish line editing of Soul Survivor
Starting status: Incorporating editor’s suggestions is 80% completed.
Status as of March 15th: Editor’s suggestion pass is completed. Now I only need the last pass to ensure that while line editing, I didn’t mess anything up. I expected I’d be done with it earlier, but Goal 0 got in the way and pushed my plans further back.
Next step: Read a printed copy, then listen and make notes. Incorporate notes for the final edit.
August 15th: A while ago, I printed a copy for the first time ever and put it in a binder. It felt amazing to see it as a book. I started to read through it but didn’t finish, and by now, I’ve made so many edits to it online that the printed copy is out of date. So after this round of edits, I’ll print it again.
I’m about halfway done with the clean up edits. I’m still catching things that need fixing which worries me that I’m going to have to give it yet another pass after (maybe this time it will be a printed pass at last). Getting close to being print-ready. Yay.
September 27th: I’m almost done. And by almost done I mean with this pass. Buahaha. Will it ever end? It’s all small edits I’m doing in between of setting up the release. So close!!!!!
Goal 2: Create a marketing strategy for the launch of Soul Survivor
Starting status: I’ve started gathering information about pricing and comparable titles.
Next up: start preparing marketing materials and develop a marketing plan for the launch.
Status as of September 27th: I’ve gathered more comparable titles. I think the biggest realization I’ve had is about the genre. This book is a lot more literary than I expected. I’ve resumed calling it speculative fiction as it’s a good general term that’s more specific than literary fiction, which I think sets a different expectation.
As to the promo materials, everything is currently in a state of flux. I have some basics down but the details are holding it up, for example, the official blurb. Every time I think I’ve got it, I figure that I don’t.
One of the promo strategies I think I’ll use is finding ARC readers to get some reviews. I’m setting up the form right now. Let’s hope there are bites.
Goal 3: Create a new book cover for Soul Survivor
Starting status: I have a design concept in mind already. I’ve started drawing the pieces of the artwork I’ll need. Check out the progress on this Threads post and follow me to get the updates.
Status as of August 15th: I’ve tried to draw art suitable for a cover many times over the last few months, but I think I finally got it. I’m still putting final touches to it in Krita and experimenting with color filters, etc. but it’s starting to look promising. This might be the one!
September 27th: Update to the above update—no, that cover, though it was cool, was not my final. To keep it on the… eye level, here’s the sneak peek close up of the eye from the new and final drawing.
Having posted that, I just had an idea for a promo slogan: It’s time Ian opened his eyes.
Nice!
Goal 4: Format Soul Survivor for print
Starting status: I have no experience or knowledge of the subject
August 15th: I’m adding this as one of the goals because I’ve realized that it’s a bigger undertaking than anticipated. From what I’ve found out about the subject, it sounds like Atticus is the recommended software for the job. I’ll have to look into this some more, but I might have to suck it up and spend $$$ on this if I want my book to look professional.
That is if I can’t use Campfire for it. Maybe I can? It can create epubs for me so it’s a possibility. I’ll have to experiment.
September 27th: I tried using Campfire and almost settled for it. The final straw that convinced me not to was when I noticed that it splits up words wrong (for example, bathed gets split into bat-hed instead of bath-ed). I don’t want to wait for them to improve this. This finally convinced me to spend the money and buy Atticus. So far, I’m happy with it. It’s easy to use, fast and responsive.
Deciding on the print size was a challenge. 5″x8″ was being recommended everywhere as the popular size but none of the paperback books around my house are that size. I thought I would use a smaller size, but then I checked around for print price estimates and found out why 5″x8″ was being recommended—a mass market paperback standard little book is expensive to print! So I guess I’m doing 5″x8″ after all.
The only outstanding question is in the chapter headers. Right now I’m experimenting with using the vines from the drawing on the cover. I kinda like it but not sure if they fit the book. If I don’t come up with anything better in the next couple of weeks, I might use them.
Goal 5: Publish Soul Survivor on multiple platforms
Starting status: It’s published on Campfire.
Next to do: After goals 1-4 are completed, publish the ebook on my website and on other platforms.
I might hold up with the print version until Soul Crusher is ready – that’s to be determined. If Soul Crusher isn’t ready by September, I’ll publish Soul Survivor alone.
September 27th: I decided to bite the cost and buy a stack of ISBNs. 2 are already set up (for paperback and ebook). I’ve just submitted the request for LCCN (Library of Congress number that librarians use). I’m so close to getting this book out there!
Goal 6: Market Soul Survivor
Starting status: Barely started.
I put up a couple of posts on social media and talked to people about it in person, but haven’t done any targeted advertising yet. I’ll get more aggressive with it as I’m getting closer to the launch (goal 4).
Goal 7: Get started with the audiobook of Soul Survivor
Starting status: I’ve practiced reading this book in the past but all will have to be redone from scratch.
Goal 8: Finish the draft of Soul Crusher
Starting status: about 30% is written (20k words).
Goal 9: 1st edit of Soul Seekers
Starting status: Not started.
