It's my favorite time of year! Time for goal-setting 🙂
Here are my creative and business goals for 2017. If you're a goal-setting junkie like me (or if you just want some accountability!), please do share yours in the comments below.
I've now split them into the various brands that make up my business as a whole. Hopefully that will also help you see which might apply to your situation!
These are not in order of importance, just numbered for ease of reference at the end of the year.
(1) TheCreativePenn.com and non-fiction as Joanna Penn
- Continue to serve the author community, focusing primarily on empowerment of creatives. There will be more articles, podcasts, videos and social media updates on writing, publishing, book marketing and creative
entrepreneurship, and I will continue to share my own journey along the way.
- In episode 300 of The Creative Penn podcast, I committed publicly to get to episode 400, so that's another 2 years of the podcast 🙂 Thank you to everyone who supports the show on Patreon!
- I'm also intending to revamp and redesign this site as it has several thousand posts and pages now. As more and more creatives emerge and begin to write, I want this to continue to be one of the most useful (and honest and transparent) places on the internet for writers who want to take control of their author career. This is a pretty big piece of work, so it will take a while 🙂
- For non-fiction in 2017, I want to put out the 3rd edition of How to Market a Book, plus audiobook editions of The Successful Author Mindset and How to Make a Living with your Writing on Audible (but non-exclusive because there are likely to be new audio options in 2017). I'll be working with a professional narrator for my non-fiction. After a debilitating cough at the end of 2016, I've made the decision to focus more on my strengths and leave narration to the professionals, rather than trying to do everything myself. I'm working on a new book in the mindset/psychology of writing arena, to be announced once it is more fully-formed (Q2). Plus, I will be
collaborating with an author friend for a book/course on creativity (Q3/4).
- Do a limited number of speaking events. I love speaking but it is very tiring for me and this will be a big creation year, so I need to focus. Having said that, I'll be speaking in Australia and New Zealand in February, London in May and November, Scotland in September, as well as the US in October. All the links will be posted on my speaking page here as they are announced.
(2) Build my new small independent press and publish some gorgeous print products
I'll be writing more about the journey from indie author to small press in the coming months. Yes, this is another brand (name to be revealed soon), but an important part of the growing business 🙂
- Launch new website for the small press aimed at book-buyers and rights buyers worldwide. Become involved with the world of independent publishers & small press.
- Move to Ingram Spark for extended distribution of my back list print books (while still using Createspace for Amazon Print-On-Demand sales). I've already done a lot of work with this over the holiday period but this will be my first full year attempting to get to grips with the physical distribution side of things in a more sustained manner.
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Some of my (many) journals Publish the first 3 books in a sweet romance series under a new author brand. I'm the Commissioning Editor and Publisher of these books, but not the writer, although I am playing a big part in the development process based on everything I've learned over the years. (Just to be clear: The press is NOT open to submissions right now. This is a very special case!)
- Publish a hardback premium creative journal in time for Thanksgiving 2017. When I think about print products, I get most excited about journals, so this will be the first big project I do as a print-only product. I'd love your thoughts on this – click here to complete my survey on what your ideal journal would look like.
- Get to grips with intellectual property and license some subsidiary rights. Indie authors have pretty much got the basics under control now. We know how to do ebooks, print-on-demand and to some extent, audiobooks. What we are not doing well is going beyond the basics to full exploitation of intellectual property rights. I'm going much deeper on this in 2017 and will share along the way, as ever. My husband, Jonathan, is taking the lead on this and I hope to welcome him onto the blog at some point this year (if I can persuade him to emerge from behind the internet curtain!) I will be doing more blog posts on this – click here for articles on Intellectual Property Rights.
(3) My shadow side: Fiction as J.F.Penn
I'm super excited about my plans for J.F.Penn in 2017:
- End of Days, ARKANE #9 releases Jan 31, 2017. Ebook, print and audiobook.
- ARKANE boxset books 7-9 in ebook and audiobook, plus the other ARKANE boxsets in audiobook format
- Collaborative dark fantasy novel – to be announced in quarter 1
- First novel in spin-off thriller series based in New Orleans, where I'll be visiting in March
- Develop new trilogy/series based on a whole new world. I have a ton of ideas on this but I'm not ready to share them yet. As a clue, check out my Pinterest Board on Maps 🙂
- I'm currently working with a screenwriter on a treatment and a pilot for the London Psychic books, so the goal will be to sell that to a TV studio.
- Launch new genre specific website, SupernaturalThrillers.com. For years I've been moaning that my fiction falls between the gaps of thriller/action adventure/horror/dark fantasy/crime etc. So now I've decided to leverage this gap instead and build a destination website for READERS of the types of books I read and love … and yes, it will also feature my books. It's hard to do this from an author site as it feels far more like self-promotion, so I'll be launching this new site in Q1. Exciting!
Mental and physical health
I've been sick too much in 2016 and that has been a combination of working too hard and then traveling, without planning enough downtime between trips and speaking engagements. I love what I do so much that I tend to work wayyyyy too hard.
I want more head space to create in 2017 and I need more downtime to recuperate. I also want to read more. So I am scheduling more time ‘off' in 2017, more space in my schedule and also a more structured physical exercise schedule. There are too many stories of author burnout, and I don't intend to be one of them 🙂
Income goal
I don't believe in the poor author in the garret myth 🙂 Never have done.
In fact, more than ever, I believe it is the best time in history to be an empowered creative with a global focus. This year I will be expanding the various business streams and once again, I'm aiming to double my income. Of course, money is just one measure of success but I want to continue to prove that this path is a viable life choice and I've always been ambitious.
In order to do this, I will focus on the same aspects that have worked in the last year:
- Creating more products and exploiting intellectual property rights – books in various formats, foreign rights sales and other rights exploitation, plus expanding distribution to more retailers and countries
Building my email list for both The Creative Penn and J.F.Penn as the size of the audience directly impacts my income through the various books, products and services I offer
Building my email list for both The Creative Penn and J.F.Penn as the size of the audience directly impacts my income through the various books, products and services I offer- Using paid advertising to drive traffic to both products and email list signup. This has made a difference in 2016, so I will continue to use it in 2017.
- PLUS/ I'll be doubling down on content marketing, with more guest posts on The Creative Penn, plus the new genre site for fiction. I'll also be using a more advanced SEO strategy to attract people to specific content, and implementing an exit-pop-up to capture more emails and also to direct people to affiliate products.
Clearly, I have a massive year ahead – but please remember, I do this full-time as my living, my income, my passion, my job and my hobby. I love, love, love everything that I do 🙂
You will likely have a whole load of other goals for 2017 and I would love to hear about them below in the comments. You can also use this as a form of accountability and we can look back together at the end of 2017. Your goal may be to finish the first draft of your first book, as it was for me back in 2006/2007, or perhaps selling your first 1000 books. It doesn't matter what level you're at, as we are all traveling our own paths.
Hi Joanna,
You’re such an inspiration to me and I’m so glad all your hard work paid off for you and Jonathan in 2016.
I’ve written on and off for years but I was disillusioned by the idea of the agent/publisher lottery until in 2013 I found your podcast and discovered that self-publishing my fiction was not only possible but preferable for a control freak like myself. Your podcast led me to others like the Self Publishing Podcast and Rocking Self Publishing and now I listen to your advice and others every day on my dog walks.
I’m also a fan of stretch goals and I’m prone to wanting to do it all despite two busy day jobs but here we go with my 2017 writing goals:
1./ Self-publish my first novel, build my author website and create a email list then attend Joanna’s Auckland seminar in February as my reward to myself. Yah!
The ticket for the Creative Penn seminar is booked, I’ve built multiple websites so no worries in that department and the book is already professionally edited and off the the beta readers at the end of the week so this one should be the easiest on the list.
I’m also really looking forward to meeting you in person after following your podcast (and advice) for years.
2./ Complete and self-publish the trilogy I’m currently working on.
3./ Write three short stories to give short fiction a go and as email list lead ins.
4./ Look at editing (salvaging?) one of the seven full length manuscripts languishing in my ‘top drawer’ now my line editing is improving.
5./Get better at dictation. I have the software and occasionally use it but the kiwi vowels are a challenge for my dragon!
6./Really find my writing voice in 2017. This is the biggest one for me.
7./Remember to enjoy the writing journey, not just the destination.
Thanks so much for all you do for the ‘creative’ community and happy New Year!
I’m so glad to be part of your author journey and I’m looking forward to meeting you in Auckland. Having 7 manuscripts in the draw is a potential goldmine. I’d definitely spend some time going through those and seeing what is salvageable. Remember, you can always polish and then publish under another name and see how it goes. Happy creating and see you in Feb!
Joanna,
I’m always impressed not just with the quality of the content on your blog and your podcast, but the time you take you share the whole picture. I think it’s often forgotten how long it takes to succeed and knowing that you started back in 2006 gives me hope!
Congratulations on making so many of your goals in 2016, for setting such ambitious goals for 2017 and a personal thank you for your willingness to share your journey with the rest of us.
Happy 2017!
Ron
Thanks Ron – it all takes time and I know you are on the right track 🙂
Rock on Joanna! Thank you for the constant inspiration and guidance! I’m especially pleased with your “head space” goal because it was affirming to me that this is a valid approach for me, as well. I believe I can drastically improve my position as an author this year AND be kind to my body and mind as well. <3
Hi Joanna,
I stumbled upon your podcast about a year ago (and your novels which I’ve now suggested to my mom). The timing was perfect as I was working on my first draft of a novel. I work full time, but now I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for my novel. So my goal for 2017 is to self-publish my novel. Write a novella in the same world (the outline is done) and outline book 2.
Thank you for being such an inspiration and sharing your journey. (And finally, thanks for letting me know that Jung’s Red Book exists, it’s been fascinating to look through)
Cheers,
Jeannette
I love Jung’s Red Book – and synchronicity inspired images from it that appeared in my first novel, Stone of Fire 🙂 All the best with your writing goals for 2017.
I’m super excited to read more about “journey from indie author to small press” and see what you do with SupernaturalThrillers.com.
I don’t know if you’ve ever published “a day in the life of,” but I’d love to see what your typical days look like because this is an impressive list to tackle in 2017.
Thank you 🙂 I guess my typical day involves creative computer time (for books etc), some exercise (gym, yoga, walk) and then more computer time for business/marketing. If I’m in editing mode, then I’m in a cafe editing. If I’m speaking/away book researching, then I’m immersed in that with no writing. Basically, it’s a pretty ordered, regular life of enjoying my work and putting in the hours 🙂
Happy New Year Joanna! This is all hugely exciting, and there are still so many tantalizing details yet to come… 😉
Best of luck for another hugely successful year. I’m so excited to hear about your print and small press projects.
I set my own goals for 2017 (http://blog.megcowley.com/2017/01/03/2017-creative-roadmap-my-2017-plans-for-success/), with my priorities being:
Mindset – business over hobby, success mindset, taking opportunities.
Productivity – want to ramp this up and get to one fiction book a month by year end!
Training and development – overcome weaknesses and improve skills, especially marketing.
Health – more exercise, better self-care, taking actual time off (like you I work to burnout/illness point… this has to stop!!), travelling, replenishing the creative well.
Production targets – various fiction, illustration and non-fiction projects scheduled (really want to get Accounting for Authors off the ground this year. Now getting so many questions about this topic there seems to be sufficient demand – no idea where I’ll find time!).
Financial targets – I want to make £20k minimum in year 1 – allows me to earn enough to pay bills. I’d be happy with £50k, and chuffed if I make £100k this year (hey, dream big, right?)
Already looking forward to January 2018 where we can reflect on a successful 2017! 😉
I just found you and I am in LOVE with you!! I am interested in publishing ebooks this year. I am very much a Type A personality therefore, I have been researching how ebooks are made and advertised. My google search lead me to you and I am so happy it did! You have inspired me so much in just 3 fully read blog posts. I am so anxious to hear your podcasts and purchase your ebooks too! Thanks a bunch for taking the leap all those years ago.
Thanks Sukina 🙂 I love you enthusiasm – I sound like that most days! Spend some time going through the site and you should find plenty to help you get going!
I really enjoyed the Goals webinar last week, so thank you for that! It helped me clarify some of what I want to do in the coming year.
I’m at a major transition in my writing life. For the past 3+ years, I’ve been working on a fantasy series that I began in the early 2000s and set aside when my first child was born. The last book is with the copy editor now, and I’m taking the opportunity to mess around with a bunch of different things.
Business-wise, my main goal is to make (or at least gross) $10,000 from book sales. It’s a lot, but I did almost 1/3 of that this year and now I’ll have a completed series, so I think I could maybe do it. I’m also going to write at least one new Regency romance, and my Regency has been my most commercially successful book so far.
In the “branching out” department, I’m getting to work on a cookbook that I’ve been talking about for years, and I hope to have that mostly done by the end of the year, and maybe published.
Wow. You are one busy lady!
I’ve set my goals for the year as well.
Fiction:
1. Edit as many previously written stories as I can.
2. Publish those stories.
3. Write more stories.
4. Keep updating the fiction blog.
Nonfiction:
1. Stop multi-tasking.
2. Get organized.
3. Publish the first in an eGuide series, and start writing a second.
4. Set up a new website.
5. Keep blogging.