I love, love, love Quarter Four of the year. It’s the most chaotic, exhausting, fun and filling time of the year because I feel like all the things happen. Obviously this year is going to even more chaotic with the release of And She Runs.
And to be honest? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But with Quarter Four having started for me yesterday (I’m a “Monday is the start of the week” girl, which I know is very non-American, but Sunday is part of the weekend and I’ll fight that), it’s time to go over goals for the rest of the year. I love quarterly planning because you can accomplish so much in 90 days, but 90 days is still enough time if you maybe stumble out of the gate.
I always break it down into three main goals, supported by projects, which I then break down into tasks. Most of these goals are related to my new book coming out.
GOAL ONE: Write, edit and publish the books
Obviously And She Runs is coming in November, but you don’t know an indie author if you think that’s it. My projects for this quarter are both related to this and two other books.
Go through reader feedback for And She Runs
Spell check (aka, wrangle some commas) for And She Runs
Format And She Runs
upload And She Runs to Amazon Kindle
outline the sequel, tentatively titled And She Hunts
outline draft two of my stand-alone book, Lost in the Canyon
write the first draft of And She Hunts for NaNoWrimo
I know this is a lot of projects, but most of these shouldn’t take too long. I can format a book in half a day thanks to Vellum, a formatting software. When you’ve been publishing books for a decade, you have your favorite tools.
GOAL TWO: Grow the brand
The thing about writing and publishing books is that there is so much more than just writing and publishing books. Doesn’t do anything if you aren’t selling them after you publish them. So one must advertise and promote her own books. There are a few areas I focus on every quarter for marketing and advertising, along with a few things I have in mind specific to the launch of And She Runs.
post on Instagram regularly
promote this newsletter regularly
finalize the blurb (the back cover copy) for And She Runs
finish my website redo (it should be done in the next day or two)
RELEASE A BOOK.
GOAL THREE: Enjoy life outside of books
This goal isn’t so much about projects as it is about habits and moments. There are a few habits I want to focus on between now and the end of the year.
go on at least a one mile walk four times a week (I have an under-the-desk treadmill that I can use)
journal at least three times a week
drink more water
continue to look for a new job
write more posts here. I started this blog as a way to free-write and I’ve not done a lot of that. I’m hoping to get more
But this quarter is also about life experiences and moments with friends and family.
Next weekend, I have a trip to Midland for the Texas Special Olympics Fall Classic, where my little brother will be swimming
Mid-October, it’s my boyfriend’s birthday, so we’ll celebrate with his family for the weekend
My dad’s birthday is in late October
And She Runs comes out in November
My birthday is in November
Thanksgiving is in November
Christmas is in December
And I am sure there will be more added to this list as we go throughout the next three months but that’s only what I know of now.
There’s so much happening between now and the end of the year and I think at the end of the day, I need to remember to enjoy the moments as they come.