What are your main projects for 2023? Are you the sort of person who uses New Year’s Resolutions to kickstart (or resurrect!) projects, or is it business as usual? Does the new year reinvigorate you, or fill you with productivity dread?
For my part, I’m carrying on with the weekly Tales from the Triverse chapters and this newsletter. I’m also poking at some potential side projects: short comics, interactive fiction, that sort of thing. I’m also keen to learn how to use Affinity Publisher, which I grabbed during the holidays, so that I have more control over my ebook and print interior design.
Let us know what we can look forward to from you in 2023! (feel free to plug some links!)
Thanks for this space; it’s lovely reading other writers’ intentions! I just launched a foodletter about cooking, family and life on a Maine island and am committed to writing and testing recipes!
Edits continue on Greyskin, my forthcoming book from Deixis Press (due in April), and my first job is to finish From Within, A Darkness, my next Ray Adams book.
After that, it's time to get serious about my next James Kinsley book, whatever that might be.
Hey Simon, thanks for asking. My goal is to publish a collection of my own short stories and poetry this year. I'll also be building out the foundations of my fictional planet called Havek over on https://havek.substack.com/
I recently updated my 2023 goals list to include 4 big things I'm legitimately excited about working on this year. Normally my lists consist of those things I simply MUST do (regardless of how little I want to) in order to reach (insert unrealistic end scenario here). So, this year I'm focusing on: 1. Submitting short fiction pieces to lots of publications/contests (the ones that don't cost money to enter) 2. Querying the heck out of one YA novel 3. Preparing a second YA novel for serialization on Substack in the Spring, and 4. Reaching a particular subscriber count on Substack. I've set that bar pretty low, hoping if I continue to fill my site with eclectic fiction and engage with my readers, the numbers will take care of themselves. 🙂 https://stockfiction.substack.com/ Thank you for the prompt to share our plans, Simon. Now that they're here in writing, we're all committed to seeing them through, right?
Sounds like you're doing a cool variety of work! I'm editing a thriller but it's on a little rest for a few more weeks until I go back to it. I'm also carrying on with my newsletter here (The Matterhorn) and experimenting with some new directions specifically for writers.
One of the main goals I have for 2023 is to be more active commenting on Substack.
Check!
But seriously, I want to dig in more and have some good conversations and make some good connections, which will, I think, lead to finding more good writers and more good readers finding me.
Along with that, I'm working on my next book (books?) and working on getting my latest book out the door.
I'm also going to continue working on my weekly serial, Battles Beneath the Stars. I need to set up a buffer for chapters again after the holidays. I may already have some chapters for next month ready, but I want to be even further ahead so I can make sure everything flows properly.
I've been toying with writing a more traditional prose reader magnet for Battles Beneath the Stars, showing various characters before the festival and tournament are announced. Only problem is that knowing me it might end up being longer than the suggested word count for reader magnets.
For side projects, reading Dracula Daily last year got me thinking about ideas for a sequel that involves Aztec mythology, where the son of the Dracula protagonists and the son of an Aztec god team up to fight an undead conquistador. Not sure how to work it into the Warthog Report or if I want to publish it elsewhere, thanks to Dracula Daily there's a lot of Dracula fans familiar with substack now.
Maybe I'll publish other fiction on my substack and make that the paid incentive, but a weekly serial + other monthly fiction sounds like it's begging for burn out. Regardless I would like to write and share more things that aren't Battles Beneath the Stars, I enjoy the project, but I don't want it to consume me.
I'm working on getting a short nonfiction book out quickly this year. It's about how to succeed (and not fail) in your first 90 days in a new job.
I'm 16 chapters into the longer nonfiction book I started writing last year about becoming invincible in your work and life. Still cranking away on that every month.
But I'm also finally exploring fiction, which is what I've wanted to write since I was a child. I'm using a new Substack to capture ideas, draft chapters, poetry, etc. I've got various drafts written for dark sci-fi, fantasy, and even some horror.
Well, I need to get better at promoting my backlist. I have a couple of projects that need to be written and put up on Kindle Vella before the bonuses go away, and I want to get the next long-postponed fantasy trilogy written and published by early 2024. I'm also upping the number of short stories I will have in circulation. I also plan to get all of my books up on Ingram Spark so that they are at least available in paperback, and will be looking at creating hardcover versions. I might...even start managing BookFunnel and selling my work directly. Lots of stuff in the works, but there's a lot of non-writing tasks involved.
As far as the Martiniere Stories Substack is concerned, I started a new book there which will probably take most of the year to finish serializing.
My project this year involves expanding on my reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and doing so by reading all 14+ books along with hundreds of other readers. We're analyzing each chapter week-to-week. So far it's been a lot of fun!
My plan is to publish my spy novel here on Substack and start plotting my next written adventure! The hard part for me is choosing which idea to pursue fully 🤪
The intention is to write more fiction, but in practice I'm writing a lot of posts analyzing other people's books and stories. I'm still producing a chapter or an entire story each month, they just aren't getting published since I keep wanting to revise them further and then maybe submit them to magazines or anthologies. Or maybe I should just post my semi-edited first drafts online and not worry so much?
I'm getting closer to the 1000 story milestone on Substack https://jimmydoom.substack.com. I certainly hope I get there before I go mumbling off into the abyss of madness from publishing daily.
Out of relative nowhere I was offered a staff writing position for a TV/ Streaming Pilot, so getting my first episodic writing credit has been added to the list, and I'll more than likely publish a paperback collection of some of my Substack favorites before the end of 2023. And of course 1000 paying subscribers would be truly lovely.
Awesome! I’m focused on numbers and metrics this year, on monitoring things related to my writing more closely. I’ve also written a lot of stories that I’ve never shared, so hoping to get those out as well.
My goal is to read all of the classic utopian literature so I can learn from the greats as I write my own!
Thanks for this space; it’s lovely reading other writers’ intentions! I just launched a foodletter about cooking, family and life on a Maine island and am committed to writing and testing recipes!
https://open.substack.com/pub/amiemcg?r=78mjm&utm_medium=ios
Will also continue writing my weekly newsletter, 100-word microbursts of lit and art, and submitting a chapbook to various contests and publishers.
Best wishes to all for a fun, creative year of writing.
Edits continue on Greyskin, my forthcoming book from Deixis Press (due in April), and my first job is to finish From Within, A Darkness, my next Ray Adams book.
After that, it's time to get serious about my next James Kinsley book, whatever that might be.
Hey Simon, thanks for asking. My goal is to publish a collection of my own short stories and poetry this year. I'll also be building out the foundations of my fictional planet called Havek over on https://havek.substack.com/
I recently updated my 2023 goals list to include 4 big things I'm legitimately excited about working on this year. Normally my lists consist of those things I simply MUST do (regardless of how little I want to) in order to reach (insert unrealistic end scenario here). So, this year I'm focusing on: 1. Submitting short fiction pieces to lots of publications/contests (the ones that don't cost money to enter) 2. Querying the heck out of one YA novel 3. Preparing a second YA novel for serialization on Substack in the Spring, and 4. Reaching a particular subscriber count on Substack. I've set that bar pretty low, hoping if I continue to fill my site with eclectic fiction and engage with my readers, the numbers will take care of themselves. 🙂 https://stockfiction.substack.com/ Thank you for the prompt to share our plans, Simon. Now that they're here in writing, we're all committed to seeing them through, right?
Sounds like you're doing a cool variety of work! I'm editing a thriller but it's on a little rest for a few more weeks until I go back to it. I'm also carrying on with my newsletter here (The Matterhorn) and experimenting with some new directions specifically for writers.
One of the main goals I have for 2023 is to be more active commenting on Substack.
Check!
But seriously, I want to dig in more and have some good conversations and make some good connections, which will, I think, lead to finding more good writers and more good readers finding me.
Along with that, I'm working on my next book (books?) and working on getting my latest book out the door.
Here comes the plug:
https://clawfootpress.com/store/p/haregrole-book-1-of-ballea
Ha! Good timing, as I just wrote up my plans for 2023:
https://jonauerbach.substack.com/p/arc-worlds-2023
TLDR: releasing book 2 of my series, releasing a middle grade book I'm writing with my 9-YO daughter, and releasing my first comic book.
I'd like to publish a short story on my Substack every month. I also really need to make progress on my novel, but I'm not sure when I'll have time
I'm also going to continue working on my weekly serial, Battles Beneath the Stars. I need to set up a buffer for chapters again after the holidays. I may already have some chapters for next month ready, but I want to be even further ahead so I can make sure everything flows properly.
https://warthogreport.substack.com/s/battles-beneath-the-stars
I've been toying with writing a more traditional prose reader magnet for Battles Beneath the Stars, showing various characters before the festival and tournament are announced. Only problem is that knowing me it might end up being longer than the suggested word count for reader magnets.
For side projects, reading Dracula Daily last year got me thinking about ideas for a sequel that involves Aztec mythology, where the son of the Dracula protagonists and the son of an Aztec god team up to fight an undead conquistador. Not sure how to work it into the Warthog Report or if I want to publish it elsewhere, thanks to Dracula Daily there's a lot of Dracula fans familiar with substack now.
Maybe I'll publish other fiction on my substack and make that the paid incentive, but a weekly serial + other monthly fiction sounds like it's begging for burn out. Regardless I would like to write and share more things that aren't Battles Beneath the Stars, I enjoy the project, but I don't want it to consume me.
I'm working on getting a short nonfiction book out quickly this year. It's about how to succeed (and not fail) in your first 90 days in a new job.
I'm 16 chapters into the longer nonfiction book I started writing last year about becoming invincible in your work and life. Still cranking away on that every month.
But I'm also finally exploring fiction, which is what I've wanted to write since I was a child. I'm using a new Substack to capture ideas, draft chapters, poetry, etc. I've got various drafts written for dark sci-fi, fantasy, and even some horror.
https://eclecticfiction.substack.com
Well, I need to get better at promoting my backlist. I have a couple of projects that need to be written and put up on Kindle Vella before the bonuses go away, and I want to get the next long-postponed fantasy trilogy written and published by early 2024. I'm also upping the number of short stories I will have in circulation. I also plan to get all of my books up on Ingram Spark so that they are at least available in paperback, and will be looking at creating hardcover versions. I might...even start managing BookFunnel and selling my work directly. Lots of stuff in the works, but there's a lot of non-writing tasks involved.
As far as the Martiniere Stories Substack is concerned, I started a new book there which will probably take most of the year to finish serializing.
My project this year involves expanding on my reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and doing so by reading all 14+ books along with hundreds of other readers. We're analyzing each chapter week-to-week. So far it's been a lot of fun!
My plan is to publish my spy novel here on Substack and start plotting my next written adventure! The hard part for me is choosing which idea to pursue fully 🤪
The intention is to write more fiction, but in practice I'm writing a lot of posts analyzing other people's books and stories. I'm still producing a chapter or an entire story each month, they just aren't getting published since I keep wanting to revise them further and then maybe submit them to magazines or anthologies. Or maybe I should just post my semi-edited first drafts online and not worry so much?
I'm getting closer to the 1000 story milestone on Substack https://jimmydoom.substack.com. I certainly hope I get there before I go mumbling off into the abyss of madness from publishing daily.
Out of relative nowhere I was offered a staff writing position for a TV/ Streaming Pilot, so getting my first episodic writing credit has been added to the list, and I'll more than likely publish a paperback collection of some of my Substack favorites before the end of 2023. And of course 1000 paying subscribers would be truly lovely.
Awesome! I’m focused on numbers and metrics this year, on monitoring things related to my writing more closely. I’ve also written a lot of stories that I’ve never shared, so hoping to get those out as well.