I’ve teamed up with 50 fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of inspirational…
December 2018 Goals, New Contract and Final Day of Giveaway!
There’s a yawning hole where last Wednesday’s blog post was supposed to be. Where was my head at? Who knows? But I’ve remedied it today. December goals are important! You’ll find mine below along with how I did with my November goals.
Before we get to that…
Since my brain clearly went AWOL after Thanksgiving, I’m also sharing the good news you may have seen on Facebook, Instagram or if you’re a newsletter subscriber. I recently signed another four-book contract with Love Inspired! Yeehaw! All four books will be set in the fictional town of Rendezvous, Wyoming, and the first book releases next Christmas. I’m really excited!
Also, today is the final day of the big 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. Twelve inspirational authors give away prizes each day, and they accumulate. Today’s winner will receive each of the previous day’s prizes PLUS their choice of either a $150 Amazon gift card or a 1-year Gold subscription to Audible! WOWZA!! If you haven’t entered, you can find the entry form HERE! (US only)
Okay, goal time! Let’s see what my goals were last month…
Jill’s November 2018 Goals:
- Draft rest of Christmas novella and revise it for plot issues.
- Finish up marketing and promo for various projects.
- Submit one freelance project.
- Health: Work out M-F at 8am, log calories, stay within calorie range.
How did I do?
- Draft rest of Christmas novella and revise it for plot issues. Check! I finished the draft before Thanksgiving, and revised for plot issues the following week.
- Finish up marketing and promo for various projects. Check! Is it terrible to admit I’m glad I have promo off my plate for another month? Haha!
- Submit one freelance project. Check! Last month was good!
- Health: Work out M-F at 8am, log calories, stay within calorie range. Check! An unfortunate bout with stomach flu kept me from working out for the better part of a week, but the rest of the month, I stayed on track.
Jill’s December 2018 Goals:
- Revise and polish Christmas novella.
- Finish Christmas shopping.
- Take time off after the novella is finished to refill the creative well.
- Create my 2019 Production Plan.
- Workout 4 days/week and stay in calorie range most days until Christmas week, when we have 70-billion parties with decadent food!
What about you? How did you do last month? What would you like to accomplish this month?
I’d love to hear your goals! Leave a comment!
Looking for a short, heartwarming Christmas read? Try my novella, Sugarplums and Second Chances. Only 99 cents on Kindle (linked)!
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Hi Jill, way to go, congratulations on the contract.
I met my only two writing goals for November/December, which is about as much as I could hope for with everything else going on. Submitted my second book to Pelican/White Rose, the second in my “Western Dreams” series, and edited and reworked some of my Genesis winner for a couple of agent requests. Not sure where to go next, but have older projects that can be revisited while I see what the Lord wants.
Diet and exercise, not great but okay for a November/December. Not walking as much but still walking, and haven’t violated the diabetic guidelines I’ve set for myself (although it it’s not in the guidelines I’ve probably done it). I stay away from mac and cheese, lasagna and anything Alfredo, I gave up French fries when I was diagnosed, and I try to stick to one carb per meal. Not eating lettuce has cramped my style, I think I’ll take a chance, pick some up and have a couple of salads next week.
Thanks for all you do to keep us on track! And again, yay for the contract.
Kathy, that is so awesome you turned your second book in!! Good job, you!! And pat yourself on the back for sticking within the dietary guidelines. That’s a big deal! Thank you so much!
congratulations all around. My goals were to read/study Monday thru Friday. Our small group is studying “A Look at Advent Through the Old Testament” CHECK Eating healthy 6 days of the week. CHECK Sewing for half an hour 5 days a week CHECK (sewn Christmas gifts are done) CHECK Make Christmas cards in November CHECK November and this part of December have been pretty good so far. Congrats on your goals.
Lori, you MAKE your gifts? AND your cards? That is so cool.
Wow, Lori, you have really rocked those goals!! Nice job! I’m so impressed you sew every day AND made your own Christmas cards! Amazing!!
Not so terrible to admit you don’t like promo. Who does?
Haha! I know it’s not my fave!
Jill, Congratulations on the new book contract. How well deserved. I love your system of writing down your monthly goals and have 2 questions for you – what is your production plan like? And two, how do you only have to handle marketing and promo once a month? I hate that end of the job and find myself doing it more often than I’d like. Maybe you have some ideas to share for those of us who would rather be writing.
Congrats again!
Hey, Christina!! Thank you! And congrats on your recent release!
Well, I don’t deal with marketing and promo only once a month. I have weekly tasks (social media updates, this blog, and a newsletter), but whenever I have a new release, the promo really kicks in. I should have been more clear! And with back-to-back releases, promo about wiped me out! Since I have a novella coming out mid-February, I’ll be back on the heavier promo tasks in January. Hope that makes sense!
As far as the production plan, I write down my contracted writing projects and their deadlines. Then I write down any additional projects I’d like to pursue. I take a piece of paper and write down all the months, leaving space between them. Then I get out my personal calendar and write down any vacations or other commitments that will take me away from writing. After that, I estimate when I’ll draft each contracted book, and I jot it under the corresponding month. Ditto on revising. I start planning book promo about 6-8 weeks ahead, so I add that in for any releases. At that point, my calendar starts looking full. If I have any months that are empty, I’ll consider adding a non-contracted book project.
This really helps me see the big picture for the year and to say NO to anything else!
November was strange for me. I accomplished some things, failed on others, but overall, I felt like things went well despite the oddities of the month.
December has already been weird and very busy too. My writing goals haven’t happened yet, but that’s normal for me after NaNoWriMo in November. I’m hoping to reach The End on this draft by the time I get back to tutoring after the holiday break (so by January 8). We’ll see if that happens.
Great job on all your checks, Jill! Merry Christmas!
December has been strange for me, Andrea, so you’re not alone! Have a very Merry Christmas!!
Congratulations girl!
Thanks so much!