Top 5 New Years Resolutions For Writers 2010

Happy New Year !

Last year, I posted these Top 10 Writer's New Years Resolutions. Here are some more for 2010.

1. Write that book, or finish that outstanding project. All the rest are useless without actually writing. Make the time in 2010. Here's a free audio for you on How to Write Your First Book.

2. Publish your book on Amazon.com. I recently met some prolific writers who have big, out of publication back-lists. Their words were getting dusty in print form and no one could find those books online. I am still urging you to investigate the traditional publishing process, but you can get your book into print another way. (For how to do this, read ch. 6 of this free ebook)

3. Publish an eBook. 2010 may be the tipping point for ebooks. They have been around for years, starting taking off in 2009 and in 2010, ebooks will explode. Here are some predictions from Booksquare and also from prolific author Joe Konrath. You can now publish your Word document manuscript on Smashwords.com and be distributed to the iPhone, Kindle, Sony Reader and Barnes & Noble. This is free! (for how to do this, read ch. 10)

3. Embrace technology and the online world. The internet and social networking are changing the way the world does business and how people connect. The publishing industry is being dragged along kicking and screaming and if you jump in now, you will be ahead of the pack. If you haven't “got it” yet, if you are one of the people still resisting technology, watch this video. Then start playing with some of the web 2.0 tools that allow you to publish and promote online. Start by reading the free Author 2.0 Blueprint for heaps of ideas on where to start.

4. Participate in NaNoWriMo and Write That First Novel. If you have always wanted to write a novel, then November in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month is a good place to start. It liberated my own fiction writing in 2009 so I hope the same can happen to you in 2010. Of course, you don't have to wait until November, but if you haven't started by then, put it in the diary!

5. Start your own blog. The year flies by and you will have the beginnings of an online presence if you start a blog and build it up now. This is important for your author platform whether you have a book yet or not. In fact, it's better to start before your book comes out so you have a market waiting for it. If you have a blog, improve it by dedicating some time and energy to it.  Here's 10 tips for effective blogging for authors.

What are your New Year's Resolutions as a writer?

Image: Flickr Creative Commons Express Monorail