Did I meet 2018’s writing goals?
Now that the year is almost over, it’s time to look back and see if I met 2018’s writing goals.
1.) Write at least four more SEVENFOLD SWORD books.
I did that! I wrote SEVENFOLD SWORD: SHADOW, SEVENFOLD SWORD: UNITY, SEVENFOLD SWORD: SORCERESS, SEVENFOLD SWORD: SERPENT, and SEVENFOLD SWORD: TOWER, and I’m a third of the way through SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE. So instead of four, I wrote five!
2.) Finish the CLOAK GAMES series.
I did! I finished the last two books in the CLOAK GAMES series, CLOAK GAMES: LAST JUDGE and CLOAK GAMES: SKY HAMMER. And, just for the heck of it, I wrote one more beyond the original outline, CLOAK GAMES: MAGE FALL.
And then I wrote three crossover books with Nadia & Caina: CLOAK & GHOST: BLOOD RING, CLOAK & GHOST: LOST GATE, and CLOAK & GHOST: REBEL CELL.
So goal definitely met!
3.) Continue the GHOST NIGHT series once CLOAK GAMES is done.
It took a bit longer since I wrote one more CLOAK GAMES book than planned, but I wrote GHOST IN THE AMULET and GHOST IN THE TOWER this year.
4.) Write two more SILENT ORDER books.
I actually wrote three – SILENT ORDER: MASTER HAND, SILENT ORDER: IMAGE HAND, and SILENT ORDER: ARK HAND.
And I think I might write more. But more on that topic in later posts!
5.) Bring all newly released books out in print.
I mostly did this. I did all of my newly released books except for GHOST IN THE TOWER. Since it came out in December, people wouldn’t be able to actually get it until January, so I’ll make a print edition next week.
Also, funny story. I switched from CreateSpace to KDP Print for my paperbacks. To teach myself how to use KDP Print, I turned my LINUX COMMAND LINE BEGINNER’S GUIDE into a paperback in August, and it turned into my bestselling paperback book of 2018.
6.) Write a million new words of fiction.
Definitely did that! I wrote just about 1.35 million words in 2018.
7.) Audiobooks?
I called this 2018’s stretch goal, but I did waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more with audiobooks in 2018 than I planned. Originally, I just planned to announce the release of the SEVENFOLD SWORD books from Podium when they came out, and SEVENFOLD SWORD PART I (containing CHAMPION and SWORDBEARER) came out in February and SEVENFOLD SWORD PART II (containing WARLORD and NECROMANCER) came out in August. Part III (containing SHADOW and UNITY) will come out on January 8th. That was all I wanted to do with audiobooks in 2018. Doing them myself would be too much hassle. Who needs hassle?
But! Man plans, God laughs, yeah?
In August I discovered that because of changes in both my business structure and US tax law, it was suddenly a really good (and urgent!) idea for me to do some self-published audiobooks. So before the end of 2018, I had CHILD OF THE GHOSTS and GHOST IN THE FLAMES excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy, and FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN excellently narrated by Brad Wills. (FROSTBORN: THE GORGON SPIRIT just wrapped up, and should be out next month.) I’m really happy with how they turned out, and am looking forward to doing more in 2019.
So, by the end of 2018, 7 more of my books were in audio! That was a stretch goal that definitely stretched. 🙂
Tune in a few days to see my writing goals for 2019!
-JM