Setting My Writing Goals for 2026

For those of you who know me or who have been following this blog for a while, you know that I loooove making lists and setting goals.

More often than not, I achieve my goals, too, because I learned at a young age how to do two things:

1. Set goals that are achievable for me even if they are challenging
2. Set smaller goals and checkpoints so I’m consistently making progress or adjusting to make things happen

So when the new year rolls around, I get pretty excited. I set goals for every area of my life (and I categorize them, too, because I’m a dork). For my writing, over the last couple of years, I’ve really started to figure out what works for me, and I have big plans this year for keeping the momentum going. Today, I wanted to share them with you, in order from biggest to smallest.


GOAL #1: Successfully launch the final book in the Bound trilogy.
Micro goals include…

1. The process of finishing the editing, formatting, and cover design
2. Marketing, including some promotions and giveaways I’m planning
3. Putting the art I’ve made for the trilogy into an art book
4. Creating box sets
5. Setting up a book tour (probably local)

I am hoping to release this book by the end of April, and I’m making good progress. 


GOAL #2: Write, edit, and release my next big novel (I’m hoping for a fall release, if all goes well).
Thanks to the break I had to take from writing back in October and the beginning of November, I had time to do a general outline for this next book, and I am so excited to start writing it once I'm finished with Fated!


GOAL #3: Write another novel in preparation for next year, OR illustrate and release my next children’s book. I haven't decided which of these two things will get the most effort this year. I did write a new children's story last week after telling my kiddo a bedtime story we both really jived with, and if I do this one, I think I want to do watercolor illustrations, which excites me.


GOAL #4: Release my next poetry compilation.
Much of this poetry is already written, so this will not be a huge amount of work. The majority of work will go into compiling, editing, and designing prior to launch.


OTHER WRITING RELATED GOALS:

1. I think it’s time I make a booktok (TikTok account for book related things), so that’s on my list for this year, though it still scares me for some reason!
2. I have kept the goal of doing at least one author event every month, and I’m super excited to already be scheduling out! 
3. As far as book sales go, I would like to up my initial goal from last year, but I’ll be checking in and updating throughout the year. My starting goal for this year is 250 book sales. ​
4. I want to read at least one writing-related professional development book, attend at least one seminar or convention to improve my skills, and do at least one out of state book signing event. 

I think that's all the bigger things on my list this year. I'd love to know... what goals are you hoping to work on? What do you do to help you make progress? Let me know in the comments or send me an email!