This Writer’s New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a new year.  Yesterday was a retrospect on what I have done, and today shall be a list of things I hope to accomplish in 2013.  So here goes:

1.  Podcast – Very soon (tomorrow to be exact) I will collaborate with another indie writer friend of mine, Ryan McKinley, (writer of The Pirate Bride and The Lost Crew) to produce “Fanboys on Fiction”, a bi-monthly podcast about writing, fanboy stuff and the ins and outs of indie publishing. Tagline: “Two Guys Who are in Love with Writing and Nerd Culture (but not each other) & Who Talk About It (Writing & Nerd Culture, Not Love).” I’ve known Ryan for many good years and not only will the show be informative with interviews, discussions and great content, but it will also be entertaining and full of our wry sense of humor.  I will post a permanent link to the podcast channel on this blog once it goes live.

2.  Publish This Broken Earth – As I mentioned before, I received an e-mail from a literary agent who is reading my novel as we speak, who promised to e-mail me back when she finished reading through it to see if it was something with which she could work.  I am holding off on publishing the book as a print edition through CreateSpace until I follow a few more leads to have it published traditionally.  I feel that the market is right for my book, and I will play the agent game for a couple of months, finally publishing the book in March through CreateSpace as a last resort.  Agencies are following me on Twitter by the day and I want to use that medium to use as a springboard to get the book in front of them.  Why they are following me is a mystery unless they want to see what I have to offer.  Regardless, once I have exhausted all options with the agencies, I will publish the print book in March.

3.  Write Another Book – Writers write, and so I have other books rolling around in my head that must get out onto the page before they drive me mad.  People keep bugging me to write a sequel to The Transgression Box.  I have a time travel novel to write with the theme of not wasting your life as explained by John Piper.  I have a story to write about a mentally challenged teen who struggles in school and suddenly (for whatever reason) gains intelligence exponentially until all things are small to him – a comment on how we may gain all knowledge but still God knows more.  I have an idea about a high school English teacher who walks off his job one day without a word, climbs in his meager car, and travels to the state capital to sit outside the office of his congressman – when he finds no purchase there, goes to the governor, then to Washington, and his only question is: “Why?”  I see him kind of like Ghandi, going on hunger strike to enact real reform in education.  Needless to say, I’m full of ideas.

4.  Go To Conventions/Do Book Signings – I plan on getting a table at two science-fiction oriented conventions to promote my books.  At least I will attend the Dallas Comic Convention.  I’m going to get a table, have some books ready to sell, and see what happens.  I plan on booking as many book signings as I can in the metro area once This Broken Earth becomes a print edition…irregardless of how that happens.  My hope is that it will be picked up by a traditional publisher and then I can have the backing of the brick and mortar stores.  Either way it will be a busy year.

5.  Blogging – Of course, I will continue to post on this blog.  This blog has helped me to build the platform that I have today.  I am extremely grateful to all of you who have made this blog a success, and look forward to increasing my readership as the year progresses.  I will continue to post writing tips, comment on indie publishing news, delve into the realm of traditional publishing, write about Common Core guidelines, family issues, write flash fiction, tackle writing problems, and various other topics about writing.

With that said, it looks like this will be a busy year, and it will I assure you.  I promise to never quit, to stay after those literary agents, to work hard at writing good text, and post meaningful posts about things that help all of you aspiring writers out there.  Good luck to all of you, and here’s to seeing your name in print!

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