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Thoughts And Goals For A Creative 2018

January 1, 2018 by Joanna Penn 66 Comments

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It's the time of year for looking back at how far we have come and looking forward to what we will achieve in the coming year.

2018GoalsI LOVE New Year and I'm a goal-setting junkie, so as I do every year, here are my thoughts and goals for 2018. Please do join in and leave yours in the comments if you'd like some accountability!

Round-Up of 2017

In the podcast episode, I talk through my round-up of 2017, which you can find in the article from yesterday here.

It includes the rise and rise of collaboration, stabilization of the indie author business model, the changing entertainment environment, and how I did at achieving my creative goals for 2017, as well as what I failed to achieve and why.

Thoughts and Goals for 2018

I can do it2018 marks the 10th year of TheCreativePenn. I started the site in December 2008 to share my journey as a writer and try to help others with my lessons learned. That underlying reason hasn’t changed, even though the publishing environment is radically different these days.

I also aim to empower creatives to get their words out into the world and to make a living writing – because that’s what changed my life, and I know it can change yours too. My aim is to help more writers and authors in 2018 and begin the next 10 years of our journey together.

Every 1 January, I post my goals for the year and this year, I will start with some over-arching principles, followed by more specific goals for each author name and aspect of my business. I hope it will help you consider what your goals might be, and I’d love for you to share them in the comments below.

(1) Choose your filters

WTFI’m currently reading WTF? What’s the Future and Why It’s Up To Us by Tim O’Reilly. It’s a great book as it looks back at the history of the internet and technology and then extrapolates it forward into the future, integrating new technologies along the way. Tim uses WTF as a lens – because you can use it in a shocked and apprehensive manner, or you can use it in a curious and wondering manner. This can apply to a lot of our world right now, and as he says,

“We must commit to building something new, strange to our past selves, but better, if we commit to making it so.”

We can choose what to focus on.

He also talks about the “new kinds of magic that are slowly fading into the ordinary.” This is true for authors because when I started my site in 2008, there was no international Kindle, no mainstream market for ebooks, no international print on demand, no digital audiobook market, no ability to easily reach readers. The iPhone was brand new, podcasting was in its earliest days and back then, I couldn’t see how I could make a living online.

What are you taking for granted that is actually incredible?

If you change your filter, you realise how incredibly fortunate we are to be living at this time in history.

Despite the negative news of 2017, we live in an incredibly abundant world with possibilities around every corner, if only you look out for them. Our brains scan the environment for what to pay attention to, so it’s your job to make sure you train it to look for opportunities and the positive side of life.

It’s time to take the things that have made you angry or frustrated or negative, and turn them into positive creative action.

If you have news feeds or social media or people who make you feel consistently negative, then it might be time for a spring clean of those influences. Start reading different books and blogs, listen to different podcasts (although I hope you consider mine to be positive and useful!)

tulips tea writing

Time for a spring clean?

Here’s one of my own examples. As much as I appreciate Facebook for the social connection and ability to reach readers with advertising, I removed it from my phone over 6 weeks ago and have felt all the better for it. Apparently, this is known as social cooling. Yes, it has a name, so it must be a thing!

I read Wired magazine, Singularity Hub, The Verge, Digital Trends, Self Publishing Advice from the Alliance of Independent Authors, which is always skewed towards positive action, rather than moaning about what’s wrong with this picture. I listen to Exponential Wisdom podcast, which gives me my tech focus, and read/listen to non-fiction books on self-development and positive thinking.

I exorcised my anger over Brexit through the political edge of borders in Map of Shadows, so now I am ready to look at it positively and move forward, rather than keep focusing on the past.

Yes, you might consider that a filter means you will live in a bubble, but I’m happy in mine and you create your life day by day, so I’m choosing a positive, happy and creative bubble. How about you?

Do you have any influences that you need to change in 2018? How will you choose your filters so the year is a positive, creative one for your writing life? 

(2) Use the power of batching

When people ask me how I get everything done, my answer always involves scheduling. I schedule my time way in advance – that includes my writing time – as well as business meetings, social events, holidays and more.

time schedule deadline hourglassI use Google Calendar, but the tool is less important than the actual planning and blocking out of time for creative tasks as well as the rest of life.

Don’t feel guilty about not having time for writing. Just get a calendar, block out the time, and then actually show up for that appointment with yourself and the blank page.

But in 2018, I will be going even further.

I spoke at Youpreneur Summit in November and listened to uber-podcasters John Lee Dumas (JLD) of Entrepreneur on Fire and Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income talk about how they use batching. JLD does a daily podcast and batches all his interviews for the month into a few days, and Pat does the same for his interview shows.

I’ve been managing my time in two main chunks – mornings for creative work and production e.g. writing first drafts, editing, researching etc. The afternoons have been for the podcast, blog, business admin, marketing, interviews, speaking prep etc.

But I’ve found that to write fiction in the most effective way, I need to sink into that world for an extended period. So it would be better for me to batch 3 months of interviews into a week or two, and then have the next 8-10 weeks with no distractions, except the daily business maintenance, which I could squeeze into a shorter time frame.

So that’s my plan. I’ll be batching similar tasks together and scheduling my time differently.

How could this idea of batching help you in your writing life?

For example, the split between writing and marketing is one every author has to manage, wherever you are on the journey. If you have 1 day per week to write (or 4 hours, or whatever), could you dedicate 3 of those per month to writing and then spend the whole extra day on marketing, rather than trying to split your time each week?

If your goal is to write more in 2018, schedule your time right now for the rest of the year. It might sound extreme, but how we spend our days is how we spend our lives, so how are you spending yours?

OK, that’s the big themes. Let’s get into my more specific goals:

The Creative Penn website and podcast

the creative penn podcastThe Creative Penn podcast will continue weekly – plus the occasional in-between-isode that focus on business or me talking on my own, so expect more Monday fun in 2018 🙂 The podcast is the cornerstone of how I share my author journey, so I hope it continues to help you along your own path.

I'll be revamping TheCreativePenn around Pathways for people through the site – for example, a first-time fiction author has a different journey to a non-fiction author with three books looking to make a living writing. This will involve more landing pages but also more ‘cheatsheet’ style resources like the new Author Website and Email cheatsheet and tutorials.

I'll be segmenting my email list so I can serve you better within those Pathways, directing people to the material that will help them the most. Now I’m using ConvertKit, this will be a LOT easier to do 🙂 Check out my tutorial here if you want to set up your own email list.

youtubechannelFocus on YouTube. I’ve had a YouTube channel since 2009. It currently has over 17,000 subscribers and over 1.2 million views. Not bad for a mostly passive channel, but I can definitely do better given the amount of long-form content the site has now based on the interviews.

So we’re going to add two shorter videos on YouTube every week, usually less than 5 mins long and focused on Writing Craft or Business. I will record some to camera but many will be from existing videos to make better use of the existing content. I’ll also be adding these directly to Facebook as well.

I'll be developing Mini-courses on Teachable – How to Write a Novel is an evergreen course and continues to sell slowly but surely as people reach the point they need it. I’ll be adding some smaller ‘lecture-style’ mini-courses around productivity, money, author business plans, how to write non-fiction, and possibly some other topics that people need over time.

Non-Fiction as Joanna Penn

joanna penn writing cafeI’m mostly going to focus my energy on the website, podcast, and YouTube channel in my non-fiction time. But I still think I can manage the following 🙂

  • How to Write a Novel. This is currently in draft format, so needs editing and publishing, but I definitely want to get this out.
  • How to Write Non-Fiction, since people keep asking for it!
  • The Shadow book (working title). I made a start on this in December, but it has no shape as yet, so it looks to be a longer-term project that needs to marinate for longer. Unlikely to be out in 2018 but I will continue to work on it.

 

  • More non-fiction audiobooks. I’ve been able to make the production costs back within two months for non-fiction, as non-fiction listeners are not price or length sensitive. I’ve also got the podcast as a way of marketing them, so I just need to edit the older books and then get them professionally recorded. I do all my audio as non-exclusive now so I can also sell direct and on other platforms.

Thriller / Dark Fantasy fiction as J.F.Penn

My bigger goal on the writing craft side is that I want to win an award. It might not be this year as that is outside of my control, but to win an award, I know I need to become a better writer. So I’ll be going deeper into craft and story, and also submitting to more awards, because you have to be in it to win it 🙂

I’ll be thinking about my J.F.Penn brand and whether I need to pivot more towards the fantasy market given the type of books and stories I’ve been writing in recent years.

screenplayAs I mentioned in my 2017 round-up, I noticed that my entertainment consumption has shifted to a lot more TV and film. Plus, storytelling is paramount in those environments, so it fits with the goal above. Plus, it’s all about collaboration which is also something I am doing more of. So, I am revisiting screenwriting in 2018.

I’ve been flirting with it for years now and have even started a couple of adaptations. But this year, I’m committing to adapting at least two of my own novels into screenplays and submitting them to film/TV agents. The adaptation of the London Psychic trilogy is still being developed by a wonderful screenwriter, so hopefully, that will also be finished and submitted this year.

map of shadowsIn terms of novels, I'll write ARKANE Thriller #10 – set in New Orleans and San Francisco, and Mapwalkers 2 – since Map of Shadows has been doing well 🙂

Possibly London Psychic #4 – since so many readers have asked for it. This is the bottom of the list though as frankly, this series falls through so many genre gaps, it is hard to know what the hell it is 🙂 Although the readers of this series say they love the books the most! I also want to write some short stories, for submission to traditional markets, and maybe another stand-alone novella.

I’m not planning on doing any more fiction audiobooks for now. Fiction audiobook listeners are sensitive to length/value for their subscription, and also are used to truly professional actors as narrators, with many big names narrating now. So I’ll be waiting to see how 2018 shapes up before deciding on any more fiction audio.

Sweet romance fiction as Penny Appleton

penny appleton sweet romanceThere will be three more Summerfield Village sweet romances, co-written with my Mum as Penny Appleton, plus another box set. She is loving writing, and since she is retired, she can be prolific and focused, especially since I do the story structure, polishing, editing, publishing, and marketing 🙂

My intention is also to at least break even in 2018, so that will be year two for this author name.

Health

The practices outlined in The Healthy Writer have helped me so much in 2017, so I am going to double down on those in 2018.

walking in the dolomitesI’m scheduling more time for creative rest and play, which for me, means regular walking and yoga, as well as some weekends, which I have been struggling to keep sacred over the last year. I’m booked for the Isle of Wight Challenge in May, 104km around the island in a weekend. I’m part of a team of 10 Creatives so far, and if you want to join our team, you’re welcome to email me!

I’ve also blocked out a week of no meetings per month, as well as the whole of December, plus I’ve scheduled more quiet time around any speaking engagements or social events, so I can recover more. This introvert needs her alone time 🙂 Hopefully, the batching method will also help with this.

I’ll be travelling more for self-development, book research, and fun, rather than for speaking. I only have NINC in Florida booked and am not intending to be doing any more than that in 2018, although I will be attending more events as a participant to focus on learning, rather than speaking.

money bookMoney

I have investment goals and lifestyle goals that mean I want a step change in 2018 in terms of income. I’m waiting to see how that might happen so I’m open to possibilities right now 🙂

We had a step change in 2015, doubling the income for the company, so I’m ready for another shift of that magnitude.

As per the ‘filter’ idea and technology shifts above, I am leaning into the ideas that excite me, because I am not in this business to create another job, but I AM ambitious, both for my financial goals and creative goals.

Right, that’s me done! What are your specific goals for writing for 2018? Please join the conversation and leave a comment below.

Round-Up Of 2017 Writing Goals And Lessons Learned

December 31, 2017 by Joanna Penn 17 Comments

I was having lunch with an old friend recently and reminisced about the days when I used to clock-watch at the day job I hated. Every minute crawled past.

2017 lessonsNow the year turns again and time disappears so fast and my main concern is how to make more of it all, how to write all the stories in my head, how to help and empower more authors, how to travel and see more amazing places, how to read, watch, listen, and experience more.

It’s been another amazing year, and I continue to be grateful every day that I can make a living with my writing.

Thank you so much for being part of my journey through buying my books and courses, using my affiliate links on the site, supporting the podcast on Patreon, coming to my events, and through spreading the word about the site. I hope to continue being a part of YOUR author journey as we move into 2018!

Here are my goals from 1 Jan 2017 so you can compare my plans with the reality! I'm going to consider some of the over-arching themes first and then I’ll get into my specific goals and whether I met them, or why I fell short.

The rise and rise of collaboration

american demon hunters risen godsI’ve co-written before – Risen Gods with J. Thorn in 2015, and our (meta) non-fiction book on Co-Writing a Book. It felt experimental a few years back, but in 2017, collaboration and co-writing has really come of age. Indies are doing short-term projects, but also longer-term collaborations within new worlds or non-fiction series.

Johnny, Sean and Dave at Sterling & Stone blazed an early trail with collaboration, and now Michael Anderle is leading a merry band of writers in his Kurtherian universe. Michael also set up the 20BooksTo50K Facebook group, which did its first live event in Las Vegas in Nov, and I’ll be at their London event in February 2018.

Two of the major problems of co-writing have also been solved, so it’s easier to co-write these days. BundleRabbit now has a collaboration engine for payment splitting, instead of one of the authors having to do the accounting. BookFunnel allows the management of ARCs and side-loading of ebooks so authors can basically focus on the writing and the marketing.

penny appleton sweet romanceI’ve taking collaboration to a new level too and this year I co-wrote five books, and four of those were not even in my 2017 goals!

The Healthy Writer with Dr Euan Lawson, American Demon Hunters: Sacrifice with J. Thorn, Zach Bohannon, and Lindsay Buroker; and three Summerfield Village sweet romance novels with my Mum under Penny Appleton (more on these below).

I’ve learned a LOT from editing other people’s work and also about writing more with other people’s opinions and ideas in mind. I’ve learned to let stuff go and relax a bit, to not be such a control freak.

Perhaps even to be a bit gentler with others, and myself.

I’ve never been good at celebrating my successes and publishing a book now is a bit of a non-event – I’m always excited about the next one I want to start writing 🙂 But through co-writing, I’ve been able to celebrate with my co-authors, and seeing the delight on my Mum’s face when we put a new book out rekindles my own excitement at another addition to my body of work.

Collaborative projects are common in other industries – music, gaming, film & TV in particular – and we all collaborate when we work with professional editors and cover designers, but I think we’re going to see more and more collaboration and co-writing in the indie community in 2018.

The indie author business model stabilizes – at least in the mature digital markets of US, UK, AU, CA

balanceI did a big show on this back in November but I want to call back to it here for the sake of a round-up since I revisit these posts over time. You can read/listen to the whole article here in podcast episode #347.

I talk about how we have everything we need to run a global, digital, scalable online business as author entrepreneurs with a business model that is working for more and more authors.

But this stabilization means that everyone is a publisher now and there are more creators out there and more coming. We should celebrate this because every person who writes a book will read far more books than they will ever produce, so we can become a self-sustaining industry 🙂

So the mature markets feel a little crowded in some genres, and we’re in this phase before mobile and digital take off in developing digital markets.

It feels like a calm period before the next big shift, a time to bed down your processes, grow your backlist by writing more, build relationships, make sure you have sustainable health and creative practices, make the most of your IP by expanding into other products like print, and look to position yourself for the next phase of growth.

This levelling out is reflected in the stabilisation of my own business model, but as I am a change junkie, I’ll need to mix it up in 2018 or I will get bored. I'm feeling the itch already!

It’s also good to remember that companies that don’t change with the times find themselves dying off, so we can’t become complacent. There will continue to be shake-ups within publishing as we are now essentially a tech industry, and the reinvention never stops. Fun times, indeed!

The changing entertainment environment

crownbrighthandmaid

The Crown, Bright, The Handmaid's Tale. Just some of the shows I have enjoyed this year.

I wrote an article last month about how I read and how I buy books, and how that has changed over the years. I’ve also been reflecting on my entertainment preferences over the holiday period, looking back over the year for what has stood out for me, and what I have raved about to others.

I’ve been raving about The Crown, especially season 2, because of the masterful way the creative team told the family drama, weaving memoir and history with storytelling, character development, and foreshadowing what I see ahead based on my knowledge of the Royal family.

I also loved The Handmaid’s Tale, Game of Thrones, American Gods, Stranger Things 2, Jessica Jones, and Bright (which only came out last week but was awesome!). These are mostly dark fantasy stories that I can sink into and also share an experience with my husband.

Where once I knew when pre-orders were coming onto my Kindle or when one of my favourite authors was releasing a novel, I now know when my favorite series boxset is dropping on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

I can either be ashamed to admit this or embrace it as part of the change in the entertainment environment.

This is going to shape my 2018 because I am returning to the idea of adapting my stories into screenplays so that perhaps they can reach more audiences. More on this in my 2018 goals tomorrow.

Of course, I have read a lot too – my novel of the year is The Power by Naomi Alderman, another dark, dystopian genre novel that also won a literary prize and tapped into the #metoo zeitgeist. I loved the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, Change Agent by Daniel Suarez – a techno-thriller about altering DNA in living humans (which is now almost a reality), Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry, and Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. If you want to get my fiction book recommendations every month, I share them in my JF Penn newsletter which you will receive if you sign up here for Day of the Vikings.

I have also bought a lot of print non-fiction books, and listened to non-fiction audiobooks.

How have you consumed content in 2017? How is that different to previous years?

So how did I do with my specific 2017 goals?

The Creative Penn website and podcast

the creative penn podcastThe Creative Penn podcast is now heading towards episode 360 and I’ve even done a few in-between-isodes that have focused more on the author business side of things. The audience continues to grow and we’re now at over 2.2 million downloads.

Thanks for all the Patreon support, and in addition, we have corporate sponsors in Kobo Writing Life, Ingram Spark, and Draft2Digital – all companies I use myself and recommend.

Once again, I committed to redesign and revamp this site in 2017. I tried out a few other themes in a test environment but after almost 10 years, it is such a huge piece of work that I backed away, preferring to keep creating new things, rather than revamp the old.

We added an ‘old post warning’ to articles over 3 years old, as well as focusing on doing more landing pages, using scheduling tool MeetEdgar to send traffic to those evergreen articles. We have done quite a bit on branding and colors and are revamping the YouTube channel and older posts to make it clearer.

cheatsheet vidsAs technology moves on, we all have to review the tools we use as new providers emerge offering better functionality.

We’ve just moved email providers to ConvertKit, which has the best options for both new authors and established businesses. I show you how to set up your website and email list in a new set of tutorial videos here – https://www.thecreativepenn.com/authorwebsite/

This change will make email easier to manage going forward. If you want to be on my email list, just sign up for the Author 2.0 Blueprint here.

I did cut down my speaking in 2017, but still managed to speak in Australia and New Zealand, Scotland, London, and Oregon. I'll be cutting down even more in 2018 to focus on creation.

Curl Up Press

Curl Up PressWe set up Curl Up Press, a small press for the print publishing side of things.

It’s not open for submissions as I still have no intention of publishing other people right now – except those I co-write with.

We moved to Ingram Spark and set up most of the existing books for extended distribution. Plus, we added new formats like workbooks and Large Print for romance.

We have a new website www.CurlUpPress.com. Jonathan did some courses on intellectual property rights so we understand that a lot more, just for education and awareness more than anything, so now we can be more confident around IP rights.

For more on Ingram Spark, check out this interview and article on selling more books in print.

Non-fiction books as Joanna Penn

how to market a book third editionHow to Market a Book Third Edition turned out to be a bigger job than expected, with quite a bit changing and indeed, my own thoughts on marketing changing as well. I think I budgeted about a month to do it and it took 3x as long! It’s available in ebook, print and audiobook.

TCPaudiobooks

Get my books on Audible!

Audiobook editions of The Successful Author Mindset and How to Make a Living with your Writing were produced professionally so these only took my time in proofing the audio. A classic case of making the most of intellectual property rights and turning one book into multiple streams of income!

Based on my experience this year, I won’t be doing any more fiction audio but I will be doubling down on non-fiction audio. Fiction listeners are price and length sensitive and are used to professional actors narrating fiction which means the quality needs to be extremely high. Non-fiction listeners just want useful information and (generally) aren’t price or length sensitive. Shorter audiobooks are cheaper to produce, so you can make your money back faster.

The Healthy WriterThe Healthy Writer is out now, co-written with Dr Euan Lawson. I’m very proud of it as I think it will help a lot of people. It’s helped me a great deal as well since I’ve focused more on my own health as a result of writing. I’ve been far more healthy this year than last and will continue my health journey in 2018.

I did commit to doing a hardback premium print journal in 2017. I investigated this to the point of choosing the cover material, but what I wanted would have been really expensive. The ‘lie-flat’ aspect makes it pricey but that’s non-negotiable in a journal I like. I might have gone ahead anyway but then I discovered that journals, especially plain paper journals, are counted as stationery, not books, so attract VAT, meaning the finances would have been a real pain. So I decided against it in the end. I use and recommend Moleskine and Leuchtthurm, but I will be having Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer on in 2018 to talk about the premium journal he has just produced. It clearly can be done – but not easily.

Thriller / Dark Fantasy fiction as J.F.Penn

End of Days 3DPossibly the biggest realisation this year came in New Orleans when Lindsay Buroker said to me, “You know you’re a fantasy author, right?”

One of the biggest issues with being an indie author writing cross-genre is not knowing the right place to put our books, and falling down the gaps between established genre. I write what I am inspired to write, and it’s always been on the edge of thriller, dark fantasy, supernatural crime, even a touch of horror.

But all my stories have aspects that aren't technically real, so perhaps that puts me more into fantasy than thriller – and let's face it, every Thrillerfest, I am added to the table with the witches and the shifters, even though I don't write that (yet!)

I’m still trying to decide whether to redo my J.F.Penn brand with a fantasy edge as opposed to a thriller vibe. Or whether I just keep writing and see what happens along the way. It’s tough to know what to do – something I will be pondering in 2018. One things for sure – I don't fit in a box 🙂 Other highlights include:

  • certificateofnominationI was a Finalist in the Thrillerfest awards: Best Ebook Original for Destroyer of Worlds. My friend and wonderful writer, James Scott Bell, won, but hey, I can now call myself an Award-nominated author 🙂 I wrote here about my conflicting thoughts on wanting to win an award. The trials of comparisonitis and the need for validation!
  • I published End of Days, ARKANE #9
  • I travelled on the Amtrak train from Chicago to New Orleans and co-wrote American Demon Hunters: Sacrifice with J. Thorn, Zach Bohannon, Lindsay Buroker. Pictures here!
  • My short story The Dark Queen was published in the Feel the Fear anthology (and that was a paid story!)
  • map of shadowsI published Map of Shadows, the first in the Mapwalkers dark fantasy thriller series

Because cross-genre marketing is so difficult, I also started a new site, SupernaturalThrillers.com and then decided against launching it. I returned to the idea of a genre destination site while I was in Oregon so the concept clearly won’t go away, but I keep thinking that I’d be better off writing more for now. So I’ve been adding articles that relate to my books on JFPenn.com instead, which has resulted in more traffic and more email signups.

Sweet romance fiction as Penny Appleton

Although I've been talking about co-writing with my Mum openly for some time, I haven't revealed our pseudonym until recently as I wanted to build up clean also-boughts. We now have three contemporary sweet romances and a box set. We’ve done ebook, print and Large Print editions so far, and I'll be doing a blog post on how to make Large Print books in the next month.

Love, Second Time AroundI’ll also be doing a big round-up in April once we’ve been writing and publishing for a year, but basically, it’s been as you would expect from a new author. I set up a new website, PennyAppleton.com and if you want something basic, you can follow along with my website and list building tutorial here.

I also set up a Facebook page and basically, all we have done is use KDP Select with free days and Facebook ads, BookBub ads and an occasional Freebooksy promo. It is not an ‘active’ brand in that we’re not doing newsletters or social media, or any other kind of promotion. I have too much going on with my two main author names!

Penny has not set the world on fire in terms of sales, but it’s only year one and it's making my Mum happy and I’m enjoying the challenge of writing in a different genre. You can check out the books here on Amazon.

Health

walking in the dolomitesWriting The Healthy Writer has been a fantastic project. I often write non-fiction because I need to learn about something and this year, I have definitely progressed health-wise. Like writing, it’s a lifelong journey, not something you do once, but something you practice every day.

  • I’ve maintained a consistent yoga practice and also walking lots, including 50km Cotswold Way one day in June, and a multi-day walking holiday in the Dolomites in northern Italy
  • With help from a hypnotherapist, I’ve broken the back of sugar addiction, and have started working with a coach around some of my other habits so 2018 is shaping up to be even healthier!

Check out The Healthy Writer for lots of tips from me and Dr Euan Lawson!

Money and income goals

This year has shown growth in the business, but not a step change as 2016.

The Creative Penn annual income change

I’ll do a complete breakdown of income etc in my tax year end post in May, as I did this year for 2016, but for now, I continue to be grateful every day to be living at a time in history where a writer can make a multi-six-figure income online. Amazing times! Thank you for being part of my journey.

OK, that's me done! How did you do with your 2017 goals?

Let's celebrate together, or share lessons learned. Please join the conversation and leave a comment below. Be honest now – it’s just you and me!

My 2017 Writing And Creative Business Goals

January 1, 2017 by Joanna Penn 54 Comments

It's my favorite time of year! Time for goal-setting 🙂

2017 goalsHere 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 creative penn podcastentrepreneurship, 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 mindsettinycollaborating 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.
  • writing journals

    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

end-of-days-cover-ebook-largeI'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

happy healthy

Happy and healthy in 2017!

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
  • macbook and coffeeBuilding 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.

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Round-Up Of 2016 Goals, Lessons Learned And What Changed

December 30, 2016 by Joanna Penn 39 Comments

As the year draws to an end, it's important to look back and celebrate what we achieved creatively, as well as understanding why we didn't hit the mark on some of our goals.

2016 goals roundup

Life happens, things change and so do we.

2016 has been a roller-coaster year politically, but we can all find solace and expression in continuing to create.

Here are my goals from 1 Jan 2016. Here's how I did on achieving them.

(1) Become a healthy author

I achieved what I set out to do – completing the 100km Race to the Stones in June.

walking sunset

Walking at sunset on Day 1

I also used dictation to complete the first draft of Destroyer of Worlds. I spent a lot of the warmer months doing 10+ mile walks along the canal in Bath as well as some much longer adventures, including a week in the Alpujarras in Spain. It was awesome … but I have to admit to backsliding as the colder months took over, plus traveling in Oct/Nov and subsequently being sick has taken its toll.

But that's the truth of health and fitness, as well as creativity and writing. You can't just ‘get fit' once and then be done with it. You can't just do one writing sprint and be finished.

You have to make the practice an integral part of your life.

I have started a regular yoga practice and intend to get back to walking more when the weather gets lighter and warmer. Plus, we're spending February in New Zealand and Australia so will do some walking then. We've also booked a walking holiday for August, a much more challenging one than I've tackled before so that will drive me back to fitness.

I will also be getting back to dictation in 2017 and will utilize what I learned earlier this year so it won't be such a difficult change. But I'm happy to say that I don't get RSI anymore – thanks to a lot of the healthier habits – so it's not such an urgent shift.

(2) Create more, become a better writer and give J.F.Penn more time

booksI did complete Destroyer of Worlds, ARKANE thriller book 8 and also End of Days, book 9 (on pre-order for 31 Jan, 2017).

I wrote a commissioned short story for an anthology (out end 2017). I also wrote The Successful Author Mindset, which has resonated with many authors and is definitely my most personal non-fiction book.

I focused on developing my fiction craft more by doing a number of writing classes by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

I didn't do the ‘Edinburgh' book or the Budapest screenplay, and considering I managed 6 books in 2015, it was less of a production year than anticipated.I intend to remedy that in 2017.

I did try several times to write a screenplay adaptation, but I've decided to focus on my core strengths rather than try to learn another craft. Collaboration is the way forward! So I am now working with a screenwriter who is adapting my London Psychic trilogy, and I'd love to work with other screenwriters for adaptation of my other works.

I didn't sell any other foreign rights, but I have been getting my rights back from translators and my German publisher, so this will be a focus for 2017.

israel

In Israel for book research in Nov 2016

(3) Travel more and speak internationally

It's definitely been a big year for travel, including several trips to the US, as well as Spain and Israel. (Check out the video here for Israel.)

It's been fantastic … But that travel has also made me sick this year and so I am going to be much more careful with my speaking schedule for 2017. I want to create more and the downtime with sickness drives me nuts!

Of course, I say that but I am already booking flights for my next trips … 🙂 #traveljunkie

(4) Provide a ‘career path’ for authors on The Creative Penn

writenovelcourseimageI've continued to blog and podcast, reaching episode 300 of The Creative Podcast, which is a landmark I never thought of hitting when I started the show in 2009!

I didn't redesign this site but I did produce How to Write a Novel, a multimedia course that I am super proud of. After 12 novels, I was ready to share what I'd learned along the way and provide a roadmap for those of you who are working on your first novel, or have written one or two and aren't seeing the results you'd like. If you'd like to know more, check out the free 7 Steps to Write Your Novel article and video here.

Unexpected 2016 events …

I absolutely believe in writing down goals and plans, but you also have to leave room for spontaneity and shifts into things you didn't expect. There have been two things that have been unexpected about 2016 for me.

I created this business plan in March 2009

I created this business plan in March 2009

(a) Hitting my 10 year goals … and then discovering my goals for the next 10!

I hit my income and many of my long-term creative goals this year which was fantastic … but also left me strangely bereft. Probably because I am a goal-focused personality and I struggle without an aim for my energy. My friend Orna laughs at me, as I even set goals for yoga … apparently that's not the point 🙂

But between April (when I hit those goals) and November, I felt aimless. I love what I do every day, but continuing to write books/blog/podcast for the next 10 years with no next step or higher purpose felt a little empty.

So I went to the US in October with an open mind, and a stated desire to find the next step. I spoke at Digital Commerce Summit and sat alongside creative entrepreneurs running 7 and 8 figure businesses. Then I went to the Oregon Coast Masterclass and during an intensive week with Dean and Kris, I produced my next 10 year business plan. EXCITING!!!

with Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith in Oregon

with Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith in Oregon

I'll be sharing the details of that in the coming year as the plans unfold, but huge things are coming that will benefit the indie community as well as giving me more creative freedom.

(b) Working successfully with my husband

My husband, Jonathan, left his job in September 2015 to join The Creative Penn and it's been an interesting time learning to work together 🙂

jojonathanspain

In Spain, May 2016

There are many adjustments to this entrepreneurial life, as I noted in my first year as an author-entrepreneur. One of them is finding your own rhythm and community outside of the boundaries of a traditional ‘job' and office life. So he had to adjust to that and we also moved to Bath, in the west of England, leaving London for (yet another) reinvention.

We are equal partners in our life, so it was also hard to adjust to the business when I am so used to being the ‘boss' of The Creative Penn. But we have managed 15 months so far and are even happier than before so the experiment has been well worth it. We also more than replaced his salary, so financially, it's been worth it too.

Our roles have shifted in the last few months and Jonathan will be taking on a whole new area in 2017. Again, I will have to talk about that once we are clearer on the details, but it is a new direction for the business.

Income goal

I set a goal to double my income in 2016 – and I am just shy of reaching that. I'll take that as a win 🙂 I just checked my QuickBooks and my income growth over the last 5 years (in GBP) is below.

 

income

I wanted to share this as encouragement because I know how long things take. I started writing in 2006 and I don't have accounts for that year as I was still in the day job and writing on the side. I started this site in 2008 and left my job in Sept 2011 to go full-time so these are the full calendar years since then.

If you work backwards, you can see how little I made in the first few years 2006 – 2011.

It's been a 10 year journey and this year I broke through the income level I'd achieved in my last career.

How to Make a Living from your Writing 3DI hope this is an encouragement for you in your author entrepreneur business. You could also compare it to income reports by other online entrepreneurs, like John Lee Dumas and Pat Flynn. I believe transparency is useful, especially for authors in a business that has so much smoke and mirrors.

If you're wondering how I achieved this growth, I'll be reporting more detail when I do my tax year accounting in May/June. Here's my report for May 2015 – April 2016 if you want to see the breakdown for book income specifically.

The main thing I would emphasize is creating multiple streams of income with your writing, and that includes going beyond books into products, speaking and affiliate sales if you have a website. For more detail, check out How to Make a Living with your Writing.

OK, how did you do on your 2016 goals? I'd love for you to share in the comments below and join the conversation. Let's keep each other accountable!

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Taking Control Of Your Author Business In A Time Of Constant Change. My Report On The Last Month Away.

November 14, 2016 by Joanna Penn 37 Comments

https://media.blubrry.com/thecreativepenn/p/s3.amazonaws.com/CreativePennPodcasts/10yearsandcounting1116.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:15:59 — 60.9MB)

Subscribe: Android | RSS

In the last month, I have spoken at Digital Commerce Summit in Denver, attended a week long professional author conference in Oregon, and spent 10 days doing book research in Israel.

taking controlI left in early October needing inspiration for the next 10 years of my author journey, and I've come back with huge goals and a new business plan.

In this podcast, I share my lessons learned and what I'm changing with The Creative Penn.

Plus, it includes an interview with J. Daniel Sawyer on how authors can use audiobooks for multiple streams of income that we recorded in Oregon, since what Dan has to say may change the way you do audio.

Today’s show is sponsored by all the listeners who support the show through Patreon. Thank you SO much for your ongoing supportonpatreonsupport. It means so much to me that you enjoy the show enough to contribute! If you’d like to become a Patreon supporter, you can support the show for as little as $2 per month and receive the extra Q&A show monthly. Click here to find out more.

There's no transcript of this as it's more me discussing what's going on with my business and I'm not ready to commit it all to writing as yet 🙂 But watch this space, it's coming!

Here are some of the things I mention and links to where I have written more about it:

  • It's been 10 years since I started writing my first non-fiction book in 2006. I started this site in 2008, left my job in 2011, my husband left his job in 2015. I've now achieved a lot of my goals and I've been (a little bit) stagnant this year. I went away looking for the next step. It's been a hell of a month, and I now have my next lot of 10 year goals. Big plans ahead, so stick around for the ride!
  • Author Entrepreneur: Lessons learned from Digital Commerce Summit 2016, including ‘Is the juice worth the squeeze?'
  • The difference between a 6-figure business and a 7-figure business – from Tara Gentile
  • Taking the next step: Lessons learned from the Coast Workshop 2016, including the value of your copyright, and when the outsider becomes the mainstream

    webinar series

    Join me for free author training!

  • Recommended book: Closing the Deal on your Terms. Agents, Contracts and other Considerations by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  • Why I've moved from Scrivener to Vellum for formatting my books
  • Vellum formatting software – awesome 🙂
  • My new webinar series – join me for free author training!
  • All my photos from Israel book research trip. Videos to come in the next few weeks.
  • JDSawyer.net – Dan's site including audiobooks. He is currently updating his book on audiobooks, Making Tracks, which he talked about on the podcast back in 2013

OK, usual service will resume on the next show! Thanks for listening 🙂

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Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me. Read the privacy policy here. I hope you find the site useful! Thanks - Joanna

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Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me. Read the privacy policy here. I hope you find the site useful! Thanks - Joanna

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