So now it’s 2009, and we all know what that means. Let’s get to it.
The Year That Was
New Fiction: 112,000 words. Most of that came from Petra Released; the rest was a short story.
Other Verbiage: 29,000 words. This consists of blog entries, critiques, and other miscellaneous small projects.
That’s a total of 141,000 new words in 2008–a new personal best!
Rewrites: 99,000 words. Most of this was the third draft of Petra, largely a clean-up draft, so it’s not as impressive as it might seem.
Submissions: 31, including novel queries.
Rejections: 25, including withdrawn mss.
Sales: 5. Another new record!
Submission pending as of 12/31/08: 9.
Publications: Just one–"The Frankenstein Diaries" in issues 8 and 9 of Intergalactic Medicine Show.
Reprints: I put 3 stories up on AnthologyBuilder: "Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown," "Alan Smithee Lives in Hell," and "Ascension."
Contests/Awards/Other recognition: First place in Writers of the Future, Q1 2008. Still joyful about this one. Also, became an official Active SFWA member.
Conventions attended: OSFest, WorldCon, and MileHiCon.
Assessment: I know 2008 was a crap year for many of my friends, but it was pretty darned good to me. Let’s review my goals for the year:
1. Write 100,000 words of new fiction. Made it, with room to spare.
2. Get Petra into submission shape and put it on the market, along with The Watermasters. Managed this one, too, although all my queries for The Watermasters have either been rejected or withdrawn, so I have to figure out where to go next with this one.
3. Continue marketing my short work. Yes, I made this one, too, but my number of submissions dropped precipitously from 2007. I attribute this to three main factors: 1) some of my older stories are pretty much out of markets–or at least, out of markets that I’m willing to submit to (these will to be trunked, pending some new markets); 2) I’ve actually had to good fortune to sell some stuff, and 3) since I’ve been focusing on novels the past two years, I haven’t been able to replenish my depleted inventory of short stories. I’m not overly concerned about this one, but it bears watching.
4. Continue with weekly progress reports. Yep. I was late with some of them, but I got ’em done.
5. Focus! As always, I could have done better on this one. I was a bit disappointed in my inability to get work done while traveling, despite a functional laptop. I haven’t yet gotten the knack of working away from the familiar confines of my office.
6. Improve my self-promotion efforts. Fairly successful here. I got on program at cons for the first time in my life, including what I would deem some pretty successful WorldCon panels. Still need to get my website up, though.
7. Critique more. I managed this one, too–but not as well as I would have liked. I overcommitted and fell dreadfully behind. Need to do a better job of managing my time.
So, then: I hit all my goals, though not without some trade-offs. Record output on the new fiction front, the WotF win, attaining active SFWA membership, getting on program at cons. Seems like the harder I work, the luckier I get. Works for me.
And with that in mind:
Goals for 2009
1. Write at least 100K of new fiction, mostly from either the next Petra installment or from another project. A new novel a year, from here on out–that’s the plan.
2. At least 100K in rewrites–Petra Released, probably.
3. Pay more attention to short stories. This will entail either improving my submission stats or writing more than one new short story this year.
4. Continue with weekly progress reports.
5. As always, focus! Especially when on the road.
6. Continue with self-promotion efforts. Priority #1 here is to get my website up and running. But I also need to keep up with con appearances.
7. Be a more timely critiquer. Must be careful not to overcommit again.
And that’s the way it is. A happy and prosperous 2009 to all!
