You’ll have to forgive my New Year’s wishes coming a little late. We’re already four days into 2023! But truthfully, I am only just now feeling like I might get the hang of this new year.
Part of my problem is that, toward the end of 2022, I put so much pressure on myself about 2023. I think we all are tempted to do this when a new year rolls around: we resolve to be better in every way we can think of! But it’s an especially dangerous trap when you run your own business. If we think about it, last year I managed to:
- Publish six books under two pen names
- Grow an email newsletter list I’m proud of
- Maintain my website and establish my official publishing business
- Contribute to multiple anthologies (I kind of lost track . . . and I say that more out of exhaustion than bragging rights!)
And I had an awesome series launch party and sold books at in-person fairs and even my first author event. It was an amazing year, but I’m tired just thinking back on it!
That’s the point, though: 2022 was vastly different from 2023. Bear with me here. In 2022, I was launching a dream that I’d had plenty of time to think about and plan (and write a backlog of books for). In 2023, I do not have that momentum any more. I’ve used up all my reserve books. Now I have to take a break and write more. Now, I have to structure my business so that it lasts.
2022 was about creating a space for myself. 2023 is about building something sustainable in that space.
It’s a little like making a garden, right? In 2022 I had all my tools all set and I really went at it, ripping out weeds and outlining new beds and putting in seeds. Now in 2023 I have to switch out my tools and focus on cultivating the new sprouts I’d planted.
This is all very personal musing, of course, but after all, every person and every project go through phases. I’m just adjusting to my new phase. 🙂 That said, let’s take a look at some of my goals for 2023:
- Continue publishing The Alchemical Tales
- Debut a new series that spins off from The Alchemical Tales . . . more on that soon! 😀
- Manage my social media presence so that I’m using it, rather than it using me. 😉
- Grow my book sales into a purposeful income
It sounds like more of the same, right? But the change is in me and how I approach things. We’re in it for the long haul, now, and that’s why my biggest resolution for 2023 is to listen. To myself, to my friends and family, to the world around me. After all, if I learned one thing in 2022, it’s that you can make a garden however you like–but getting the flowers to grow takes care.
And on that note, happy New Year! 😀
