Novelist Joe Konrath posts his Professi0nal Writer Resolutions for the new year. They work for me, too.
- I will keep my website updated
- I will start a blog
- I will schedule bookstore signings, and while at the bookstore I’ll meet and
greet the customers rather than sit dejected in the corner - I will send out a newsletter, emphasizing what I have to offer rather than
what I have for sale, and I won’t send out more than four a year - I will learn to speak in public, even if I think I already know how
- I will make selling my books my responsibility, not my publisher’s
- I will stay in touch with my fans
- I will contact local libraries, and tell them I’m available for speaking
engagements - I will attend as many writing conferences as I can afford
- I will spend a large portion of my advance on self-promotion
- I will help out other writers
- I will not get jealous, will never compare myself to my peers, and will
cleanse my soul of envy - I will be accessible, amiable, and enthusiastic
- I will do one thing every day to self-promote
- I will always remember where I came from
Of course, not all of these resolutions really apply to Joe. He keeps his site and blog update, can speak well in public, and attends every writing conference held from here to Tehran. He forgot the big resolution though…
Write.
Jesus, he might as well make a resolution to be perfect….. is there such a thing as aiming too high?
Write? Who has time to write?