Every January I make a To-Do list of all my major works in progress and figure out which ones I want to prioritize. Here’s the 2017 edition.
Looking back over last year, I’m super proud of all the work I’ve done. So many short stories got finished up, published, and I’m hoping that more get picked up soon. Here’s a quick rundown of everything I published this year.
- January 2016 – A Slippery Customer
- Hit top 10 on Amazon’s Horror anthology list multiple times
- February 2016 – Tiny Necks
- Almost entirely 5-star reviews and more keep rolling in
- May 2016 – Curse of Beauty
- Received several excellent reviews! <3
- October 2016 – Dead Man’s Hill
- A Halloween tale with a dash of dark humor
However I did notice that I hadn’t made much progress on my novels. Outside of Beyond the Treehouse, I didn’t do that much work on the WIP novels I had. There’s a good reason for that actually.
At the beginning of the year I got a publication offer from a small publishing company, one that I had worked with before. Their communications were a little sporadic, but I was excited to get my book published. However the contract they sent me gave me major concerns. It took me a bit to find some legal advice, but once I did I felt like I had a grounded ability to negotiate and listed out my requests. Unfortunately a big request on my list was not available to negotiate, and I had to reject the offer. A few months later I found out that the publisher was closing shop after being in the business since 2012.
I was upset to hear what had happened to them, and to the amazing authors who worked with them. It was also hard for me to get back into working on my books after that. Short stories I could dive into easily, but books were harder. Books take a lot of commitment, and after having plans fall through like that, it’s been hard to get motivated again.
I’m hoping to change that in 2017. This year I’m planning on focusing a lot more on my novels, and hopefully knock out book 2 for one of my series on the list. I also have a standalone horror novel that I’ve been itching to start too. Here’s my list of WIP novels and short stories for 2017. Look at how complete that short story listing is too! <3
If you want to see my 2016 WIP to-do list, check out my post:
Those look like some great stories to look forward to. I think the most important step to achieve any goal is organization and you sure have that. Have a good year full of wonderful achievements!
Thanks, Hagar! Traditional publishing is a notoriously slow process, but I’m in it for the long haul now! Just got to keep myself accountable. 😉