Last September I set myself an Autumn Challenge - to have a manuscript accepted by an agent or publisher by Christmas. It was a very ambitious goal. I made it public. And then I worked like crazy to make it happen.
I sent out queries. September passed. I attended a writers' conference and pitched my novel and my memoir. October passed. I edited my novel (again) and sent out more queries. November passed. I followed up on the agent queries, and sent a proposal for a short story collection to a publisher. December... passed. I didn't reach my goal.
When I set my goal, my rational was, "Reach for the moon - at the very least, you will land among the stars."
It turns out I landed among the stars.
My book club collection of short stories with discussion questions, titled Connections:Parables for Today, was accepted for publication by Pandora Press. It came out in September, 2013. In June, I signed with an agent, Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency, to represent my mainstream novels and memoir. And this November, I am about to self-publish my science fiction novels.
So here are my five steps to reaching your goals:
Have you met a goal recently? Tell me about it. What were your steps to success?
I sent out queries. September passed. I attended a writers' conference and pitched my novel and my memoir. October passed. I edited my novel (again) and sent out more queries. November passed. I followed up on the agent queries, and sent a proposal for a short story collection to a publisher. December... passed. I didn't reach my goal.
When I set my goal, my rational was, "Reach for the moon - at the very least, you will land among the stars."
It turns out I landed among the stars.
My book club collection of short stories with discussion questions, titled Connections:Parables for Today, was accepted for publication by Pandora Press. It came out in September, 2013. In June, I signed with an agent, Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency, to represent my mainstream novels and memoir. And this November, I am about to self-publish my science fiction novels.
So here are my five steps to reaching your goals:
- Set a clear, achievable goal, with a deadline (see my Autumn Challenge).
- Announce it (maybe not quite as publicly as I did).
- Determine what you have to do to reach it, and start doing it. Keep doing it. Keep on doing it.
- Forgive yourself if you miss your deadline and keep doing what you have to do. You may be only a few months away from achieving your goal!
- Rejoice when you succeed. Set your next goal.
Have you met a goal recently? Tell me about it. What were your steps to success?
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