I’m sure many of
you are familiar with setting your personal bar high. Then once you achieve it,
raising it again. It’s how I personally achieve things. It starts little, like
– ‘I want to sell 100 books a month’ and then tends to leap waaayy higher once
I achieve that first goal that already seemed pretty darn exciting (now it’s,
‘I want to sell 100 books a day‘ *grin*).
you are familiar with setting your personal bar high. Then once you achieve it,
raising it again. It’s how I personally achieve things. It starts little, like
– ‘I want to sell 100 books a month’ and then tends to leap waaayy higher once
I achieve that first goal that already seemed pretty darn exciting (now it’s,
‘I want to sell 100 books a day‘ *grin*).
For me,
constantly focusing on what seems to be an excessively high goal keeps my
momentum up. I’m sure for others it might be frustrating or depressing, but
personally speaking it keeps me chomping at the bit. To do better and achieve
more.
constantly focusing on what seems to be an excessively high goal keeps my
momentum up. I’m sure for others it might be frustrating or depressing, but
personally speaking it keeps me chomping at the bit. To do better and achieve
more.
I don’t do this
in all aspects of my life, that’d be fairly exhausting, but for certain areas
it keeps me excelling (this is excelling against myself). Writing, reading,
exercising, learning and trying new things, are all areas that I keep this standard
in.
in all aspects of my life, that’d be fairly exhausting, but for certain areas
it keeps me excelling (this is excelling against myself). Writing, reading,
exercising, learning and trying new things, are all areas that I keep this standard
in.
It’s what gets my
lazy bum out of bed at 4.30am for a run with my furry critter and keeps me in
relatively good shape. Or what inspires me to read a non-fiction book (latest
was on Catherine the Great – a fascinating figure in history) instead of just
reading for escapism. It’s also what helps to keep me shrugging off bad reviews
and annoying things like internet piracy.
lazy bum out of bed at 4.30am for a run with my furry critter and keeps me in
relatively good shape. Or what inspires me to read a non-fiction book (latest
was on Catherine the Great – a fascinating figure in history) instead of just
reading for escapism. It’s also what helps to keep me shrugging off bad reviews
and annoying things like internet piracy.
Because my very
first goal in writing was to write for me, and me alone. If I love it, then I’m
happy. I don’t need others to love it to make my life complete but in the same
token, it’s damn nice to have people as in love with the story as I am!
first goal in writing was to write for me, and me alone. If I love it, then I’m
happy. I don’t need others to love it to make my life complete but in the same
token, it’s damn nice to have people as in love with the story as I am!
I guess the sales
goal seems a bit hypocritical with my previous statement but the number of
books sold is really the only tracking device I have. Worrying too much about
things like rankings, which while important, aren’t the end of the world. You
do need to remember that there are new books added to Amazon every single
minute and that a fair whack of the books are non-fiction. It’s the same with
free books and their rankings. Because of the constantly changing list of
free-books even Amazon doesn’t give a total number of free books at any given
time. And with paid books the best Amazon can do is say it’s currently
1,000,000+. So number of books sold/downloaded is an easy way for me personally
to set the bar.
goal seems a bit hypocritical with my previous statement but the number of
books sold is really the only tracking device I have. Worrying too much about
things like rankings, which while important, aren’t the end of the world. You
do need to remember that there are new books added to Amazon every single
minute and that a fair whack of the books are non-fiction. It’s the same with
free books and their rankings. Because of the constantly changing list of
free-books even Amazon doesn’t give a total number of free books at any given
time. And with paid books the best Amazon can do is say it’s currently
1,000,000+. So number of books sold/downloaded is an easy way for me personally
to set the bar.
What are my new goals?
- To get Awakening up to 100 books
bought a day (this is just on Amazon.com – I’m not that devoted at
watching the rankings everywhere *lol*) - To have the first draft of Feel the
Burn written by the end of May (ARRRGGH! SCARY!) - To convince Peter Jackson to turn the
trilogy into a trilogy of movies (too high? Nahh don’t be silly ;p) - To get my blog to an easy-to-read
format using the fabulous Laura Barnes suggestions. - To read a variety of fiction books to
see different styles of writing. - To get my butt to the ‘try-out’ day
of archery next Sunday (it has been on the list for a while ;p) so I can
finally see what it’s like for descriptive purposes. - To get to sword-fighting practice
every week in a month (at the moment it’s every other week *grin*) - To get a bit more of the sequel to a
Wet & Wild night written. - To get to full push-ups in my
work-outs instead of just the girly ones (this has been a long term goal…
I go all wobbly after 10 normal ones *hee*) - To work on getting the first two
books into paperback (though this does involve prying a smitten Trish away
from her new grandbaby… maybe I’ll give this one a couple of months ;p
Congrats to Trish and family!) - And to stop procrastinating and get
back to writing…
Whoops! I’ll chat
to you all later; the muses are demanding my attention.
to you all later; the muses are demanding my attention.
Take care all!
Nic
The Arrival, available free at Amazon : Barnes&Noble : iTunes : Kobo : Smashwords (for
those UK kindlers)
those UK kindlers)
Awakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords (in
every e-format for Nooks/Sony/PDF readers)
every e-format for Nooks/Sony/PDF readers)
Yay for your fabulous goals! Sword fighting?!?! Archery?? Push-ups?!?! Yowza!! I feel quite blobby now! LOL!! All the best!! Take care
x
;p Thanks Old Kitty – and it really is quite surprising how different certain things are in reality (ie sword fighting) to how you see it on T.V. It helps so much to know and understand what a sword weighs, how easy it is to throw one around for a couple of hours and how simple some of the most effective moves are (and shudder worthy);)
you can do it! Good Luck Lady!