by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
This is about the time when I start wondering where the year has flown off to.
To keep from saying this in December and feeling very off-track, I’ve got a date set in my calendar around now to check in and see how I’m doing so far.
The check-in isn’t only for my writing, but also for my writing business. And summer is a great time to check in with business because we all experience that middle of the summer slowdown. It’s a slowdown of sales and a slowdown online, in general. Blogs are quieter and social media is somewhat more erratic.
You could be as detailed or as broad with this as you want. Some years I really don’t have time to do more than look and see if I’m on track to put out the number of books that I wanted to publish and to glance over sales and see if I need to run a special. Some years I have more time to be reflective and to cover a broader area.
Ideally, for me, I’m trying to review the different areas below (and some of them could belong under more than one heading).
Writing:
What am I planning on writing past _____ book? (For me, this is a couple of books ahead).
Am I continuing a series? Starting a new series?
Is there an area in my writing that I need to work on?
How has feedback been for my most recent books? Is there a consistent complaint from readers? A consistent area that’s praised?
Business:
How are sales? How are sales over the last few months? When was the last time I ran a sale? A giveaway on Instafreebie or Goodreads?
Is my laptop in good shape? Do I have a good method of backing up my work regularly? Are there any accounting or writing-related programs I should invest in?
What formats are my books in? Should I expand into others?
What’s my budget for covers, editing, and other parts of the production process?
Promo:
Is my website updated?
Is my social media presence consistent? Am I failing to post consistently on a particular platform? Should I leave the platform and consolidate my efforts elsewhere?
Do I consistently work on promo each week for at least a few minutes? (Ideas about what you could be working on in this post. And Joanna Penn has a long list of book marketing questions to help you sell more books).
Professional development:
What have I learned? Did I attend conferences (online or in person?) Did I research what I wanted to research for promo/writing/etc.
Do I have a list of areas that I want to learn more about? (Publishing platforms like ACX or Ingram, what I can/should write off for taxes, new social media platforms, website mechanics?)
Personal:
Did I balance writing, promo, and life well?
Am I taking care of myself?
Overall:
Which areas need improvement?
What goals do I want to meet by the end of the year? This time next year? (Writer Sacha Black explains how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals for writing.)
Do you ever do reviews of your writing year? (Some authors I know do them quarterly, but I don’t think I could bear that much self-evaluation.)
What to consider during a review of your writing-related year: Share on XPhoto credit: Royal Sapien via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND
Well, the writing part would be easy. Basically nothing.
Good to know everyone slows down over the summer.
I used to think that summer would be a good time for selling books (beach reading), but it’s never been true.
H Elizabeth – well nothing as the blog is all that exists. Still it will happen … and at least the blog is there to be used as an asset or two or more at some stage. So glad you’ve written this – reminds us all what else we could look at … cheers Hilary
It’s so much nicer to evaluate the year in September than in late-December, somehow. :) And your blog is quite the asset!
My writing is way behind, but I’ve kept up with everything else for my authors. I’m grateful I don’t have to budget for covers since I sleep with my illustrator. LOL
A fringe benefit, ha!!
That time of reflection is so very important, Elizabeth! Thanks for highlighting this process, because I think it’s easy to let it slide. But it does matter. And, to me, anyway, one of the best outcomes of reflecting is that you can make better plans for the next year. If you’ve blown something badly, you can learn from it and do things differently next year. If you’ve done some thing that really worked well, you can put that in your ‘arsenal’ for next year.
So true. Maybe we haven’t even had time to be able to evaluate what worked and what bombed…that time of reflection can help us to plan ahead.
I swear the heat wave slows down my creativity! I’m trying to do more article writing and get my blog back. Creativity is next! I have a few short stories written just none edited. I’m thinking I need a method to get back on track!
It can be easy to get off track! When I’m like that, I try to figure out what’s not working (too much working at home? Working first thing in the morning isn’t working for me? I’m outlining too much/not enough?) Then I try the complete opposite of what isn’t working. :) Good luck!
These are all great goals/questions, Elizabeth, and it seems like great timing, because you still have part of the year left to make some corrections.
For me, the evaluation comes when I’m wrapping up a book. I take a little time off once it’s launched to check the “business end” of things, what new promo or software or formatting stuff I could be learning, etc. Then I look up what I jotted down for ideas in between drafts of the book I just published, and start developing those. I have a loose goal of publishing twice a year: a novel and a novella. I’m behind this year (pesky life stuff), so it’s going to be a challenge to meet that goal. Fingers crossed!
I like your approach! I may have to start incorporating that. I’ve just published another book and am outlining the next book in that series, but I could also run a little business evaluation at the same time. Good luck with your goal! I remember that it’s been a tough year for you. Hoping things are looking up.