My Writing and Publishing Goals for 2025

2024 was a big year for me in terms of writing and publishing. It’s the first year in my author career that I was able to release more than one book, and I kept myself consistently writing all year long. Thanks to that, I have a few books that are written and should be ready to release in 2025.

WRITING GOALS
My biggest goal for 2025 is making a shift for my writing schedule. In 2024, I did all my writing in the evenings after I put my kiddo to bed. That worked really nicely because it didn’t take away any of my time with my son during the day, and I was able to save my daytime hours for my job. 

However, there were a few issues with that schedule. First, I was exhausted. When I got off work, I played with my son, got him dinner, got him through the bath and to bed, then I’d get to writing right away. Often, this wouldn’t be until 9 or 10 PM, and I would end up having trouble going to sleep with all the story ideas running through my mind. It also took up a good portion of my alone time with my husband, which is pretty hard to come by as it is with a toddler and a full time job. 

So although that dedicated writing time has been extremely helpful for my story production and my marketing, in 2025, I’m hoping to make a bit of a shift. My goal is to get up just a little bit earlier in the day and take the first hour (or as much time as I can get) in the morning to get my writing in before my son wakes up, and before I have to start work for the day. My hope is that the excitement I always get from writing will give me more energy throughout the day, and I’ll get to save those after-bedtime hours to hang with my husband. 

It's only been a few days, and I caught a cold during the holiday festivities, but I've still been able to do this at least a few days this week, so I'm hopeful!

Other goals I have for 2025 include...

1. Publish three of my own books. The three I hope to publish are all just about ready to go. Severed, Bound's sequel, will release at the end of March. Although the editing process is going a little bit slower than normal with all the demands on my schedule, it looks like I will still be able to meet my deadline. I have a romantic comedy style book that I hope to release sometime in the summer. I actually finished drafting this book back in 2020, and I've been pulling it out every once in a while over the last five years considering how I want to go about publishing it. I think it will be ready to release this year. Finally, I have a children's story that I wrote in early December, and I am slowly working on illustrating it now. This book should be ready to release probably in early fall. 
   
   
2. Finish my next poetry compilation. It's been years since I released my poetry compilation, Accidentally External. While I absolutely LOVE writing poetry, and I do it often, I'm hoping for this next collection to include poems that capture specific emotions. My goal is to write at least a poem every week in order to have the collection ready to go by the end of the year. I already have a handful of poems that will be included!
   
   
3. Work on my next big novel, which should release sometime in 2026. I actually have three novel ideas that I'm itching to delve into, but I'll need to focus on one at a time to fit the drafting process into my schedule. One of these books is a follow-up to some that I've already published (I won't say which ones just yet), and the other two will be totally new concepts. I've written the first chapter to the follow-up, and I'm hoping to get a first chapter drafted for the other two in the next month or two to see which one I'd like to work on first. 

MARKETING GOALS
This year, I have a few more marketing goals than I usually do, as this last year has really shown me what I'm capable of when it comes to marketing. Here are a few goals I have in the marketing department:

1. Grow my readership. I hope to reach more readers by growing my email list and posting regularly on social media. I'm also hoping to run more giveaways. 
   
   
2. Host or participate in one event per month. I am hoping to continue being a part of something for my books every month, whether that be hosting or participating in a book signing, visiting a classroom, or something else.
   
   
3. Help at least one author get their book published. I adore helping other authors figure out next steps in their publishing process, and this year, I have a few authors that I would like to help get their books out into the world. My biggest focus will be a children's book, which we hope to have released in December 2025. 

The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time, but it can also be stressful with so much change and so many things pulling us all in different directions. This year in particular, my main focus for this first month will be to finish getting Severed ready for ARC readers, writing those two other first chapters, working slowly on sprucing up my website, and getting this new schedule situated. 

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! I'd love to know - what are some goals you have for the new year? Leave a comment or send me an email!