Reviewing a Writing Year in Progress
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
This is about the time when I start wondering where the year has flown off to.
To keep from saying this in December and feeling very off-track, I’ve got a date set in my calendar around now to check in and see how I’m doing so far.
The check-in isn’t only for my writing, but also for my writing business. And summer is a great time to check in with business because we all experience that middle of the summer slowdown. It’s a slowdown of sales and a slowdown online, in general. Blogs are quieter and social media is somewhat more erratic.
You could be as detailed or as broad with this as you want. Some years I really don’t have time to do more than look and see if I’m on track to put out the number of books that I wanted to publish and to glance over sales and see if I need to run a special. Some years I have more time to be reflective and to cover a broader area.
Ideally, for me, I’m trying to review the different areas below (and some of them could belong under more than one heading).
Writing:
What am I planning on writing past _____ book? (For me, this is a couple of books ahead).
Am I continuing a series? Starting a new series?
Is there an area in my writing that I need to work on?
How has feedback been for my most recent books? Is there a consistent complaint from readers? A consistent area that’s praised?
Business:
How are sales? How are sales over the last few months? When was the last time I ran a sale? A giveaway on Instafreebie or Goodreads?
Is my laptop in good shape? Do I have a good method of backing up my work regularly? Are there any accounting or writing-related programs I should invest in?
What formats are my books in? Should I expand into others?
What’s my budget for covers, editing, and other parts of the production process?
Promo:
Is my website updated?
Is my social media presence consistent? Am I failing to post consistently on a particular platform? Should I leave the platform and consolidate my efforts elsewhere?
Do I consistently work on promo each week for at least a few minutes? (Ideas about what you could be working on in this post. And Joanna Penn has a long list of book marketing questions to help you sell more books).
Professional development:
What have I learned? Did I attend conferences (online or in person?) Did I research what I wanted to research for promo/writing/etc.
Do I have a list of areas that I want to learn more about? (Publishing platforms like ACX or Ingram, what I can/should write off for taxes, new social media platforms, website mechanics?)
Personal:
Did I balance writing, promo, and life well?
Am I taking care of myself?
Overall:
Which areas need improvement?
What goals do I want to meet by the end of the year? This time next year? (Writer Sacha Black explains how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals for writing.)
Do you ever do reviews of your writing year? (Some authors I know do them quarterly, but I don’t think I could bear that much self-evaluation.)
What to consider during a review of your writing-related year:
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