Juliana Haygert

You are here: Home / Archives for Goals
Categories: Goals, My writing, Special Dates

2019!

 

 

Hello friends,

 

A very happy New Year to you all!

2019 is the year of the pig. In the Chinese zodiac, my sign is a pig. Which means, this is my year! I’m very excited about what is to come and all the thing I have planned for you!

 

 

Like many people do, I try to always choose a word for the new year.

For 2019, I chose GROWTH!

 

 

I want to keep growing. Not in height, mind you, I’m already too tall in my opinion lol, but in all other matters in my life. I want to grow as a person, as a wife and mother, as a friend. I want to work on my health — a kind of growing. And I want to grow as an author. I want my writing to get better, to write and publish more books, my business to grow, to find more readers, to grow toward the success I’m aiming.

Here’s to a great 2019 for us all! <3

 

Cheers,

Categories: Goals, Me, My Books, My writing

2016 Overview and Plans for 2017

 

Hi Friends!

 

For many reasons, 2016 was a terrible year, but it had good moments too.

In my writing life, I came back to writing and publishing after a 15 month hiatus. I was able to write 430k words, I published 2 novels and 1 novella, wrote a bunch more. I learned a lot about my own process and how I can be more productive – hopefully that sticks. I hope my writing got a tiny bit better, after all practice is everything, isn’t it? I strengthened my friendship with writers and connected with new people. I participated of a few workshops and read many craft books.

Hopefully, 2017 will be even better.

 

 

I don’t like to make resolutions or goals for the new year, but I like to state what I will *try* to achieve.

For example, in 2017 I will try to:

  • write even more – at least 450k words
  • publish 4 to 5 novels
  • read a bit more (my reading has been suffering!)
  • learn more about marketing
  • interact more with my readers (I’ve been really bad with Twitter and Facebook and I want to correct that). The first step will be to create a reader group on Facebook. More on that later!

I also want to:

  • change the colors of my website – I love the style, but I’m getting sick of the pink lol
  • take a new author pic
  • go to a conference? Maybe participate on a signing? We’ll see …

 

Also, I love the #wordoftheyear thing, where you choose a word for the entire year. I’m gonna be bold this year and go with this one:

 

 

This is the year. This is the year I’m gonna give everything I have to this writing/publishing thing and I hope it’ll work out … nothing will stop me in the pursuit of my goals. I’m determined to work hard, to go after my dreams, to write all the words and publish all the books, to make the most of everything, to enjoy my life and my family and my friends. In 2017, I’m determined to succeed!

 

That’s it so far. Nothing too big, just a little more than what I did in 2016 – but with more focus.

What will you try to achieve in 2017?

Cheers,

 

Categories: Goals, Me, My writing

My 2014 Plan

Happy New Year!

 

For two years, I’ve been posting My [insert year here] Plan – I got the idea from Jani Grey, a very good friend of mine :)

I like that because it’s not like a resolution, where you feel obligated to accomplish everything and if you fail, you feel really bad. A plan is just that, a plan of your WANTS. It can work or not, but you’re working toward it – and it can change and adapt as it goes.

 

Before I dive in My 2014 Plan, let’s revise My 2013 Plan:

1. Read at least 60 books. Done! I wish I had read as much as 2012 (77 books), but I’m not sad with 60 …

2. Go to at least one conference. I went to BEA and met a lot of great peeps. I also participated of a signing (Stamford Author Event) and it was great.

3. Write more. I wrote 3 novels and a novella, adding to a little under 300,000 words.

4. Find at least one more reliable CP. And maybe a beta-reader or two. I did find them, but I don’t use them too much anymore.

5. Write reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the books I read and enjoy. Not Barnes and Noble, but I do review books on Goodreads and Amazon – even if it’s only one sentence.

6. Spend less time on Social Media. Hmm, yeah, let’s skip this one …

7. Publish at least 2 books. Done. I’ve published 3 novels and a novella!

8. Continue researching about what is best for me and my writing: I did, and still do. With the market always changing, it’s hard to make finite choices. And at this point, I wouldn’t advise it.

9. Participate on all rounds of ROW80. Fail. I started, but with moving and a lot of other stuff, I started posting less and less, until I didn’t participate anymore.

10. Keep going to the gym, lose  5 or 6 pounds and keep them off! Yes and no. At first, I lost 5 pounds! Then we moved and I hurt my back and had to rest for 3 months – I gained 10 lbs :(

11. Eat healthier. Not sure if this is a yes or no. I think I ate better, but not completely healthier …

12. Be more present. To my family. I think this was okay. There were times when I spaced-out thinking about my stories, but I think I’m pretty good mom and wife ;)

 

Now, for MY 2014 Plan:

1. Read at least 60 books. I do hope to read more than that …

2. Write more. I wrote almost 300,000 words last year, but I want to write MORE! (I’ll blog about my upcoming books on a  separate post).

3. Keep meeting with my great writing group. :D

4. Spend less time on Social Media. So I can write more.

5. Publish at least 3 books. I have plans to publish 5, but I know life can interfere and things can slow down.

6. Continue researching about what is best for me and my writing:  to self-pub, to continue with a small press, or to query agents. Or maybe the three of them?

7. Keep exercising, lose at least 5 to 8 pounds and keep them off! Enough said.

 

Ugh, my 2014 plan looks so little compared to my 2013 plan, but I think some of it is because I’ve been constantly doing some of the things from my 2013 plan (like reviewing books on amazon and goodreads) and I don’t need to repeat them …

 

In 2013, I saw on a few friends’ blogs (Alex, Katy, Elodie and Ghenet) about The Word of the Year. My Word of the Year of 2013 was LOVE – and it was perfect.

For 2014, my word is:

STRENGTH

 

Strength to go after my dreams, to do what I want, to write what I want and not care about what might fit the market, to publish the way I want (and take as long as I need to do so), to be brave and bold!

 

How about you? What are your WANTS for 2014? And what’s your Word of the Year?

Cheers,