Reading/writing goals for 2015

[M. A.]

Do you have any book related goals for 2015? Like a number of books you want to read or to try a new genre? Maybe it is more writing related? I know for me a big one is to at least try to finish the rough draft of my very first story I am writing. I think it would be fun to share our goals. So what is yours?

[Lola]

I am going to try and read more historical romances and mysteries. Both are kinda new genres for me, I have read a few books in each, but never really gave the genres a try.
Beside that I probably set a number of books I want to read with the goodreads challenge, I am thinking of setting my goal on 55 books this year.

A non reading related goal is that I am going to do my best to make my business Lola's Blog Tours even better this year and I am hoping to organize even more tours than last year!

I hope 2015 will be an amazing year!

[M. A.]

Awesome goals Lola. I would love to say that I will read 50 books this year but since I am homeschooling my lil one I will need to scale back just a bit. Non book related I am hoping to focus on becoming more organized (Lord knows I need it) :-)

[Rose (BooksByRose)]

I have read 25 books this year, almost done w 26!! My goal was 20! My goal for 2015 is 50 books & I hope to read more New Adult & Young Adult, definitely more New Adult!

[Daniel]

I read 73 books this year, which is far and away the most I've read in a year.
Part of that is because I binge read a lit of popular series, like the Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and City of Bones, for the first time.
I'd like to read 50 books next year, and I'd also like to find a high fantasy read that I actually like.

[JAIME LOUISE]

My small cousin challenged me to read 276 books for 2015 - feels like a stretch so I'll try for 176.

I've also been working on a novel, and would really like to have a pretty decent draft done by June.

Good luck to everyone with their goals!

X

[Rose (BooksByRose)]

@Daniel that's awesome!

[Rose (BooksByRose)]

@Jaime wow!! That's alot! Wish I could read that many!

[M. A.]

Holy moly Daniel and Jamie....well done. I seriously would love to follow your progress through out the year. Maybe we should set up a topic just for you two.

[Tracy]

My goal is to shrink my TBR shelf.

[Heather]

I'm going to be a little short of meeting my challenge goal this year so I will probably only make my goal for 75 books in 2015. Especially because I'd like to challenge myself to increase my social life (even if it's just venturing out of my room & spending time with family) and work toward my ~adult~ goals.

Also, I'd like to get back to writing. I wrote A LOT in middle school (I had an opportunity to potentially get published). So, I'd like to write a bit more, even if it's just prompts or whatever.

[Heather]

Tracy wrote: "My goal is to shrink my TBR shelf."

Oh good one! I will add this to my goals as well.

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Great goals all! I've read 100+ books each of the last two years, but I think I'm going to cut my goal to 75 this year as I'm going to tackle the Game of Thrones series, which are LONG reads :)

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Heather wrote: "I'm going to be a little short of meeting my challenge goal this year so I will probably only make my goal for 75 books in 2015. Especially because I'd like to challenge myself to increase my socia..."

Sounds like a fantastic plan :)

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

From a writing perspective, I'll be finishing revising Burn and Flip and releasing them on January 26th and early March, respectively. From there I've got a couple of new projects I'll be working on, each of which my agent and I plan to pitch to publishers in mid-late 2015 :) Can't wait to see what happens this year!

[Victoria]

I'm going with a smaller reading goal for 2015; only 175 books. The reason for this is that I want to be able to focus as much time as possible on the children's fantasy series I'm currently working on (which is just very rough right now). The main characters are a faerie dragon and a pixie, with fairies and various other fantasy creatures making appearances.

[[deleted user]]

Reading goal:
Reading 200 books.( I read 240 this year,so might push it up after a while. but 200 is a Nice number to Reach for).
Other than that the usual Things, finishing series,starting books I have neglected,read some New realises+++
Writing wise: basically just Write(I havent written so much these last few years,its become a small writing every few months.)my writing goal is now, to Write something monthly.

[Jenny, Always smiling! :-D]

David wrote: "Great goals all! I've read 100+ books each of the last two years, but I think I'm going to cut my goal to 75 this year as I'm going to tackle the Game of Thrones series, which are LONG reads :)"

Don't forget, I'm reading those with you :) If that's okay of course!

[Jenny, Always smiling! :-D]

I'm setting my reading goal at 100 this year. I read 150 last year, but that was really pushing myself. So I'm keeping the expectations low this year!

I do want to finish the Eragon series (long reads) and I want to read more adult and nonfiction. We'll see how that goes!

[Tommy]

Reading: I keep it small. Read a minimum of 50 pages a day. Most days I'll read more, and I'm fine with however many books that ends up being.

Writing: I'm halfway done with a first draft that has taken forever due to that pesky "real life" thing. My goal is to have that and at least 2 other things written and ready to pitch over the course of the year.
Also, on a smaller scale, I'm doing a minimum of 3 hours off writing daily. Usually if I'm having a bad writing day and force myself to get something going, I'll get on a roll and write a bit more.

Oh, also, while focusing on finishing novels, gonna keep my open for script and comic writing opportunities. Those mediums are what got me writing in the first place.

[W.J.]

Reading - I read 13 books last year, which is a drop in the ocean compared to others here. Aiming for 15 this year, which is realistic for me as only get the opportunity to read in the evenings before bed & during holidays.

Writing - The first half of 2015 is going to be full on for me. Need to focus all my time & energy into finishing book 2 of my YA fantasy Trilogy. It's a much meatier book than the first, so it's taking longer to finish, but I've loved writing it. And then there's designing the cover and creating a paperback, phew feel exhausted already! Aiming for release mid-late 2015. Might have to neglect family duties for a while and shut my eyes to the mess around me in order to meet my deadline. Watch this space!

[Rebecca]

Reading - Like others above, my primary goal is to work through my queue of books. Of course, if I'd stop adding to the queue, that would be faster! But, I just want to find more time to read (as I love it), which is challenging with my other commitments.

Writing - I'm approx. 300 pages into book two of my off-world fantasy series. My goal is to finish the draft (which will already be partially edited) by mid-year, then really dive into the editing process. Cover is in process, but I need to be more thoughtful about the release than I was with the first.

Publishing - My goal for book one is to switch POD providers and try to convince brick and mortar stores to pick it up. This is a lofty goal, but hey, why not? It's a new year after all.

[M. A.]

Oh wow such awesome goals. I didn't realise we had so many authors on here...so cool. I can not wait to hear when your books are finished.

I think I might have to add "work through my TBR
" shelf to my goal list this year too. It has seriously gotten out of control

[[deleted user]]

Rebecca wrote: "Reading - Like others above, my primary goal is to work through my queue of books. Of course, if I'd stop adding to the queue, that would be faster! But, I just want to find more time to read (as I..."

What does off world mean?

[Karen’s Library]

Tracy wrote: "My goal is to shrink my TBR shelf."

I always try, but it ends up magically growing for some odd reason! ;)

[Karen’s Library]

David wrote: "Great goals all! I've read 100+ books each of the last two years, but I think I'm going to cut my goal to 75 this year as I'm going to tackle the Game of Thrones series, which are LONG reads :)"

Great goal! I'll read book 5 with you and Jenny. I got halfway through that one!

[B.B.]

I'm going to try an A to Z challenge this year, but between working, writing, and just keeping up with life in general, I don't get much reading time.

I *will* finish my second novel this year (I'm at 28 of about 31/32 chapters) and re-release my first in a shortened edition. That's my priority anyway!

[Tracy]

Karen wrote: "Tracy wrote: "My goal is to shrink my TBR shelf."

I always try, but it ends up magically growing for some odd reason! ;)"

Mine to Karen! When you figure out how that happens will you let me know because obviously I can't figure it out.

[Nicola]

My first reading related goal is to keep better track of what I read. I try to add them on here so I can remember but I re-read a lot of books and sometimes books slip my mind almost the moment I've read them. I read 100+ last year (I think - as I say, I don't keep track very well) and I'd like to actually make a note of what I read this year and nudge that number up.

Writing goals - well, lots - all of the books listed below need to be finished:

The sequel to my first series which is out in April. The sequel to my second series - out in June
Plus a biography of my Dad in August, and hopefully either the third book of my second series, or my stand alone sci-fi i'm working on in the autumn...

Wow that feels like a lot of work.

[M. A.]

Wow Nicola that is awesome. You should let us know when they are released I am sure we all would love to read them

[Alyson]

I'm going to try to read more books and leave better reviews. I have just started doing the whole free book in exchange for honest reviews thing and I like it. I'm going to start to just more thought into my ratings and reviews, I guess...

[Nicola]

Millie wrote: "Wow Nicola that is awesome. You should let us know when they are released I am sure we all would love to read them"

I have 3 published right now if anyone is interested in reading them! Lol. I just don't tend to mention them in the groups I'm part of.

[Rebecca]

Oda wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Reading - Like others above, my primary goal is to work through my queue of books. Of course, if I'd stop adding to the queue, that would be faster! But, I just want to find more ti..."

Hi Oda -- I think "off world" could mean a number of things, but I meant it in the sense of not on Earth. My series takes place on a planet I created. By definition, it falls into the high fantasy bucket, but I wrote it so it wasn't TOO alien, which is why I tend to avoid that terminology. No green blobs in my story. ;-)

[Jenny, Always smiling! :-D]

Karen wrote: "David wrote: "Great goals all! I've read 100+ books each of the last two years, but I think I'm going to cut my goal to 75 this year as I'm going to tackle the Game of Thrones series, which are LON..."

YAYAYAYAY!!!

[Victoria]

Millie wrote: "Oh wow such awesome goals. I didn't realise we had so many authors on here...so cool. I can not wait to hear when your books are finished.

I think I might have to add "work through my TBR
" shelf..."

I've got over 30 books publishd already, plus I contributed to an anthology this year. I've got my own thread in the author promotion section of this group where I announce new releases, interviews, etc.

[Victoria]

Great goals everyone!

[[deleted user]]

Rebecca wrote: "Oda wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Reading - Like others above, my primary goal is to work through my queue of books. Of course, if I'd stop adding to the queue, that would be faster! But, I just want to ..."

ah, a Space book.
thanks for answering.Never heard the term off world before.

[Storm]

50 books

Finishing some of my stories

[Tracy]

Nicola wrote: "My first reading related goal is to keep better track of what I read. I try to add them on here so I can remember but I re-read a lot of books and sometimes books slip my mind almost the moment I'v..."

If you set the challenge on your homepage every time you marked a book read it will keep up with them for you.

[Nicola]

Tracy - the problem is that I forget to mark them as read on here! I borrow a lot of books, and so if I don't list them on here before I return them I forget the title or that I've read the book entirely! Terrible I know.

I plan to try and mark them as read the second I finish them now!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Jenny wrote: "David wrote: "Great goals all! I've read 100+ books each of the last two years, but I think I'm going to cut my goal to 75 this year as I'm going to tackle the Game of Thrones series, which are LON..."

Sounds great!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Nicola wrote: "My first reading related goal is to keep better track of what I read. I try to add them on here so I can remember but I re-read a lot of books and sometimes books slip my mind almost the moment I'v..."

Best of luck with your busy year, both reading and writing :)

[Nicola]

David wrote: Best of luck with your busy year, both reading and writing...

Thanks! Started well on the reading front by just finishing Slip and reviewing it. Rather good I must say ;) From what I've seen however, your publishing schedule is way more grueling than mine!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Aww thank you for your support and I'm glad you enjoyed the read! My writing/publishing schedule is a little bit insane LOL, but it is my fulltime job, so I have plenty of hours to dedicate to it. However I think I will slow down at some point soon :) I don't want to get burned out!

[Tia]

My reading goal for this year is to read 105 books! :)

For writing, I kind of want to finish a book I had started with a friend but I don't know how much is going to get done with how busy I'm going to be

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Wow, good goal, I hope you make it!

[Alison]

Well last year I read 64 books, so this year I'm hoping to maybe read 75. But that may be too much of stretch since I am also. Homeschooling this year. But we shall see. I want to knock a bunch off my tbr. Starting the year off right though with some awesome David estes books!!! Woot woot

[Tia]

Thanks, David!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Alison wrote: "Well last year I read 64 books, so this year I'm hoping to maybe read 75. But that may be too much of stretch since I am also. Homeschooling this year. But we shall see. I want to knock a bunch..."

LOL you are off to a great start and I'm honored my books are on your list :)

[Victoria]

I hope everyone manages to achieve their goals for the year!