Month-End Update: January 2016

Can you believe it’s already time for the first month-end update of 2016?! I hardly can. At least one thing has stayed consistent from 2015 to 2016 – I’m still rambling about the insanely fast passage of time like a broken record. For this year, I think I’m going to keep the format of my monthly recap basically the same. You may notice a few little tweaks, but overall, I’ll still be updating you about my writing progress, any editing/revising I’ve done, what I’ve been reading, and any special tasks relating to my author business as a whole. If you’re wondering where my Mid-Month Check-In went, I’ve decided to do those exclusively for my author newsletter. If you miss them, you can sign up for my newsletter here.

Now then, onto January 2016. Thus far, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. While my writing streak did not last all month, I wrote for the majority of the days and have finally been able to establish a writing routine for myself. Moreover, I’ve been able to maintain my healthy reading schedule, as well as dive into the world of nonfiction. Overall, I think the year is off to a fantastic start, and I’m excited to build on my progress month-by-month!

Writing

• Blog Posts Written — 8 (meeting my goal of 2 per week)
• Fiction Words Written — 17,078
• # of Days I Wrote Fiction — 19
• Nonfiction Prompts Written — 50 prompts (plus front/back matter material)
• # of Days I Wrote Non-Fiction — 6
• Outlines Written — 1 (100 Romance Writing Prompts)
• Days Without Writing — 6

Editing/Revising

• Drafts Revised — 2 proofreads of 100 General Creative Writing Prompts
• # of Days I Revised — 1

Reading

• Books Finished
  • The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock
  • Shift (Silo #2) by Hugh Howey
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon
  • Valley of the Shadow (The Desolate Empire #2) by Christina Ochs
  • Successful Self-Publishing by Joanna Penn

• Books Begun/In-Progress
  • The Earl and the Artificer (The Ingenious Mechanical Devices #3) by Kara Jorgensen

• Books Reviewed
  • Valley of the Shadow (The Desolate Empire #2) by Christina Ochs — read review

*Remember, I review every book I read on my Goodreads page.

Author Business Activities

• Published 100 General Creative Writing Prompts
• Booked first paid advertisement for The Cogsmith’s Daughter (to happen in February)
• Redesigned author website
• Organized The 2016 2K Indie Books Tour with Kate Evans
• Attended a copywriting webinar hosted by Bryan Cohen
• Updated all business spreadsheets/forms for the new year
• Completed an author interview (to be posted later)
• Completed a guest post (to be posted later)

Goals for February

• Continue working on Desertera #2
• Publish 100 Romance Writing Prompts (Fiction Ideas #2)
• Co-host a successful blog tour

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How was your start to 2016? What goals are you working toward in February? Share your triumphs in the comments!