What I learned in 2012
How to write a novel
- I learned to be productive in writing my novel as well as what to expect once I’ve written my book in terms of criticism.
- I learned to find the time to write and to be productive.
- I also learned what it takes to be a pro-writer from Joanna’s Penn multimedia course.
- Jeff Goins offered great motivation resources to make me feel confident as a writer because, after all, this was my first time writing a novel that I planned to publish. Check him out for writing motivation here.
How to publish
- Joel Friedlander from Thebookdesigner.com gave excellent tips about cover designs, what to expect when launching, and overall self-publishing.
- I used Joanna Penn’s resources on her website to help prepare me for what I needed to know about publishing before I pressed ‘publish’ including building an author platform.
How to promote
- Michael Hyatt from Michaelhyatt.com talks about building a platform and how important it is to be able to reach your target audience. In fact, mostly every blog I’ve come across expressed the importance of an author platform.
- I’ve invested in a blog, a twitter, and a facebook page to help promote myself and my books.
How to blog
- I learned to blog by following other bloggers. Before, I had a blog that, compared to this blog, was awful. A blog post would literally be one paragraph long and I would not have useful information in it.
- One blog I recommend following that has helped me is TheCreativePenn.com because it was the very first blog I followed.
- Joanna also has a product for sell that teaches you how to blog. It was the first thing I ever brought from her and it was pretty helpful. So if you want to start a blog yourself, check it out.
My Goals for 2013
– Write 2 more books in the Jaylen and Jessica series (one by May and one by December)
– Write 2 short stories that tie in with the series and 2 short stories stand alone
– Increase readership and sales
– Post at least 2 times a week on the blog
– Create 2 valuable multi-media products to help writers write their first novel
I’m excited about my goals for this year because I was able to achieve the goal I set for myself last year by writing and publishing a book.
It’s crazy the amount of valuable information I’ve learned in such a short amount of time but I value every last one of them.
Photo credit: firewings form 123rf.com
