Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Year's Resolutions

Happy 2007!

I'm not usually much of a resolution maker, but I've discovered that even those of us who claim not to make resolutions tend to have one or two. And my thought is maybe if I share them with the world I'll be more inclined to keep them beyond March. So here we go. . . .

1. To keep up on submissions. 2006 was a horrible year for me and I vow to make amends and finally get and stay caught up. BookEnds says we have a turnaround time of 12-16 weeks, and I truly believe that 16 weeks is long enough. I will work very hard to get to those submissions every weekend.

2. To make an effort to read more published books. I would like to make the time to read at least two a month in a variety of genres. So, if anyone has any suggestions, please share.

3. To get to the gym more often. Yes, I know this has almost nothing to do with BookEnds, but 2-3 days at the gym would really help me clear my head and be more effective at work (and I'd look better too).

And I think three is more than enough. I'm sure I'll have a hard time keeping up with those. So what are your resolutions? Whether it has to do with your writing or not, I'd love to hear more about what you're planning for 2007.

—Jessica

20 comments:

Sally MacKenzie said...

Here are a few of my resolutions:
1. I'll be joining you at the gym. I'm pretty good about getting there 3Xweek, but I need to do something exercise-oriented at least 5 times. And I do think exercise has a lot to do with your other work. Being, ahem, a tad older than Jessica, I see real health benefits in regular exercise...and I could stand to lose the pounds I've put on since I've become published.
2. Stop procrastinating. I just turned one book in--it's time to get the proposals done for the next one or two or three. AND catch up on all the stuff I let slide in the mad rush to finish The Naked Gentleman.
3. Develop a more balanced, a more Zen-like attitude toward life and writing. Banish the negative thinking. (Hmm, why do I think I hear Jessica laughing?)
Okay, off for a brisk walk during which I will plan my web newsletter...if it's not too cold out.

Anonymous said...

I'm not leaving a bookstore without one book by a writer I've never read, hopefully a first book by a new writer, hopefully not a best-seller or award winner. I'm trying to branch out my reading, and support beginning writers at the same time.

I'm also going to try to almost double my words written in 2006, which was about 300,000.

I'd like to get an agent and a book deal, but my actual resolution is to finish editing and start querying.

And eat better=lose weight.

Anonymous said...

Happy 2007! My resolution? To spend less money on books...
...
bwahaha..okay, couldn't keep a straight face on that one.

Anonymous said...

I too made a few resolutions and posted them on my blog - but here they are:

1. Lose weight/start exercising a bit - walking or joining Curves are my two choices. I don't do well by myself so exercising within a structured environment would benefit me.

(Looks like everyone is saying the same goal - getting to a fitness program or to the gym or walking more and losing weight, eating better, et cetera - this must be the year for it all to happen)

2. Write more often, not just when the urge hits me. Maybe start a "wild diary" as a friend calls it so that I write something every day, even if only for 5 minutes a day.

(She gave me a calendar called The Haunted Realm which has a few haunted places throughout England, Ireland, Romania and a few other places like that and now wants to do a calendar story a month - short stories as they may be (her calendar is femme fatales, all from book covers) - but not sure I am inspired to write from the calendar - so maybe I'll find a different calendar that will inspire me and allow me to do a monthly story - will have to post on my blog - so see next "resolution/goal" for that)

3. Post more often on my blog with updates on everything. Share my family's doings with you all.


I think three is a good number to start with and see how it goes, especially since I have been busy with editing stories for The Magazine of Unbelievable Stories and we are about to take on some new work. I also have a full-time job as a medical transcriptionist and have two teenaged kids at home who are involved in this or that activity that I must keep up with, so I have to stay within my reasonable amount, just so I can feel like I have accomplished something this year - lol.

Okay off to finish a job and take a shower and run errands and check out Curves for rates and all that - see you all in the postings - E :)

Anonymous said...

My resolutions are:

1. To go more "green"; no, I'm not buying a hybrid just yet, but I figure there are things I can do to help the environment.

2. Read more! I have started reading this blog: CAMPAIGN FOR THE AMERICAN READER. I've found a lot of really great books to add to my TBR pile: www.americareads.blogspot.com

There are also many "classics" I'd like to read, and re-read.

3. Exercise my writing muscles, and write more. I'm typically a slow writer, and I'm going to try and break free of that a bit.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...Resolutions...

1) Try not to take rejection so personally. So far, I've gotten two agent rejections, neither of them form letters, so I think that's positive, but I take almost everything too personally so although the logical part of my brain keeps telling me not to worry, the other part...well...that's tougher.

2) Get back to the gym. I sprained my back last year and had to take several months off, but I am almost better now and need to get motivated to start again. Not so much for my physical well-being, though that's a nice benefit, as for the fact that my mind works better when I am exercising regularly.

3) And for my real job...to organize my inventory in a more manageable way and keep my workspace in some kind of order. (HAH!)

Anonymous said...

Jolie -

One thing you might want to do to help the enviroment is go paperless. I have a post here: http://imho.blogs.com/imho/2006/05/paperless_mail_.html about how to contact different catalog companies and request to be taken off their catalog lists. The direct marketing association will take you off the master list, but if you deal with companies they will continue to send the catalogs unless you stop them directly.

We got a hybrid and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Anonymous said...

If you haven't already read them, then I suggest any of the John Rain books by Barry Eisler. He's not afraid to give his characters tough choices and to really dig deep into their psyche. They're thrillers that have been accused of being romantic suspense (aren't, but each book has at least one great sex scene), and they're really just amazing.

They're on my list to read a second time and study, and there's less than a handful that I've ever put on that list.

Anonymous said...

New Year's Resolutions:

1)
Finish editing and start querying WIP. (Only seven more chapters to go! Whoo-hoo! Too bad this resolution is a holdover from 2006.)

2) Stop being a hermit. Socialise more. (Finishing with resolution #1 might help with resolution #2, of course.)

Anonymous said...

Laura K,

Thanks for that link! I read an article yesterday on MSNBC titled, EASY TO BE GREEN, and that was one of their recommendations. Here's the article link for anyone who is interested:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16399617/site/newsweek/from/ET/

Anonymous said...

Oops, it cut me off. The rest of that link is:

/newsweek/from/ET/

Anonymous said...

I have a few posted at my blog. But one thing I need to finally get up and running is my ebusiness. I need to stop planning and start doing. So I guess you could say I'd like to be my own boss.

Anonymous said...

My resolutions are to lose fifteen pounds (got a great headstart with the stomach flu...yuck!) not stress out so much over the small stuff, and to remember to trust my muse. I also need to get serious about taking a bit more "me time." Writing seven days a week isn't good for me or my body! (Note need to lose fifteen pounds...)
Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

My Resolution?
To try to stop doing so much lurking and start posting!

Suggestion for a published read:
In the Thrill of the Night by Candice Hern

It's the first of a series of a group of female widows that decide to take lovers. Oh, and it's a Historical. I LOL more than a few times on this one!

BookEnds, A Literary Agency said...

I'm inspired by all of your resolutions and I must say, it's good to be back and hear from everyone again.

Here's to 2007 and success to all.

-jessica

Anonymous said...

I decided to go with goals instead of resolutions this year, since I tend to give up if I slip on a resolution. So the first goal is to finish the expansion and editing of my current WIP, write the sequel to it, and get back to querying. I've also committed to a minimum of 3 pages per day, every day, on the writing front, but I hope to do a lot more than that.

Bernita said...

Query widely.
And not cry when my thank-you letter is also rejected...

Anonymous said...

Loralee,

You could do several NaNos a year (write about 1500 words a day for a month or month and half - however long your novel turns out to be) - then put it aside, work on editing something that is older than a month, every four months you could write NaNo style - (our average was 1667 words a day in 30 days to come up with 50,000 words of a novel in that time).

Either way you need to be editing some and writing some - because if you are constantly writing then you can't get to the next step of querying - good luck - E :)

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Hmm... I try to be a reasonably nice person all the time but this year I've resolved to do a particular, special good deed each month. Maybe just enough to make my little corner of the world a better place, but that's okay.

That's on top of finishing all WIPs, and trying to lose weight. Those are continuous resolutions. sigh

Lexi said...

Count me in as another gym goer! I'd also like to finish the manuscript I just started and start another one. I'd love to get an agent and a book contract for the contemporary romance I just finished, but part of that is out of my control. So, I promise to do all I can to get this book out there so somebody will want it!

Much success to everyone for reaching their 2007 goals!