Happy New Year from all of us at TKZ!
2013 has already ushered in a new adventure for me and my family with us moving to Denver. My twin boys start at their new school today and so there is a palpable sense of nervous tension, excitement, fear and uncertainty in the air - all signals that we are embarking on an adventure indeed. In honor of this, I have also started reading The Hobbit aloud to them - but I have assured them that, as far as I know, they won't be encountering any trolls, goblins or dragons here in Colorado.
This year I have decided to focus my new year's resolutions on some of the aspects of my career that I fear were sidelined during my time in Australia. Being so far away from the principal market for my books as well as my agent meant was not necessarily a good thing as I missed out on valuable face-time at conferences and book related events. It was hard to justify the expense of flying over just to meet with my agent or to attend a writing conference and so I focused solely on my writing - which was not a bad thing - but I fear I did so at the expense of 'driving' that writing forward into the marketplace.
It means that I face 2013 feeling like I don't have very much to show for all my efforts - even though I know it is more a question of timing and patience than it is anything else. But it truly is time that I stopped being reactive and became the driver of my own career. In concentrating on my writing (and completing three manuscripts could hardly be considered slacking off!) I didn't keep up the other aspects critical to keeping my career on track - I made bugger all changes to my website, did little or no marketing or publicity, and apart from TKZ blog I didn't keep up with guest posts or my own Edwardian-era focused blog. Mea Culpa indeed.
My goals for 2013 are pretty intimidating - not in terms of time or commitment but in terms of changing my mindset to make sure I regain a better sense of control over my career and come out of my hermit hole to promote myself rather than focusing solely on my writing to the detriment of everything else. In this ever changing marketplace I cannot afford to remain at shut-off from everything but the manuscript in front of me (and now, I don't have the literal 'tyranny of distance' as an excuse, either).
But here's the thing - I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to achieve this change of mindset or how to overcome the self-doubt that a few years of what feels like self-imposed exile has brought. So I'm seeking advice from you all. What goals have you set yourself and your writing career this year? I'm hoping I'm not alone in wrestling with all the challenges a new year and a new adventure can bring. So how are you going to overcome obstacles and achieve all that you want to accomplish this year?
0 comments:
Post a Comment