2024 Goal Tracker: It’s time to publish my books

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 of ✨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.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Various short stories/novellas set in this world. I might publish these with the trilogy as bonus reading or combine them into one book.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.