You can see the initial goals I set for 2023 by checking out my January post.
Today’s post is to look at what I have achieved during the first three months of the year (January to March) 2023.
Publishing
Sky Heart: Book 2 in the Soul Heart Series
It took me until end of March to finish the Developmental Edit which is longer than I had hoped but still good progress.
I have also finalised the cover for Sky Heart and waiting for Sky Heart to be closer to publishing to do a cover reveal.
Summer Heart: Prequel of Soul Heart series
I haven’t worked much on this during Quarter One. I have been distracted by a shiny new idea. I’m not too worried as Sky Heart was always the priority but I’d like to finish this at some point this year.
Public Appearances: I have booked two events.
May: Herts Book Festival. I will be there selling signed copies of Sky Heart.
June: Felixstowe Book Festival. I will be taking part on a panel for the Children’s events.
Other Stories: I gave some examples of some plot bunnies bouncing around in my head. However, none of these were the shiny new story I started writing during quarter one.
- A YA LGBTQ Fantasy spin off from The Soul Heart series. It was supposed to be a horror inspired by slender man myths and Orochimaru from Naruto, but it’s not coming out as dark as I expected. It’s been fun to write.
Reading
6 out of 18 books: I set my Goodreads goal at 16 books and have read 6 books so far. I bought some ear pods and tried audio books again. I’m having more success, but, I still prefer the written word to the verbal word.
Reviews: All the books have a Goodreads review. I have posted reviews on my YouTube channel for four books so far and plan to do more.
Social Media [UPDATE]
Felixstowe Magazine: I have been fortunate enough to write for Felixstowe Magazine throughout 2022 and will continue in 2023. Check out my News page to discover the articles.
Website: I need to make sure my pages stay up-to-date. For example, whilst writing this I’ve found that “New Moon” is listed on my books page but hasn’t updated to the new title “Summer Heart”. This isn’t a biggie as I’m not marketing it yet, but I mustn’t lose sight of it.
I’m also not happy with my current host provider, Hostinger. I paid for 2 years, so I’m stuck with them for another year but in the autumn I need to check out other providers and prepare for a migration.
Ko-Fi: I have been posting more often to Ko-Fi and trying to post some content that can’t only be seen there by more followers. I am finding it hard to think of content to post each day.
[kofi]
YouTube: Despite the challenges affecting my life during the first quarter, I have managed to record, edit, and lost fortnightly to YouTube. This schedule is challenging for me but still achievable so I will keep this schedule.
Consistently Post: To keep the algorithm happy, I set the following schedule and included how I got on sticking to it:
- Blog: Mon – This has been most Mon but I tend to forget something for the end of the month.
- IG: Wed (more if I feel like it) – It’s been sporadic but has met the at least once a week quota.
- Ko-Fi: Thu – I have posted each week, usually on a Thursday.
- Twitter: Sun – I had a clear out of Followers on Twitters which improved my feed, but I don’t think I have posted intentionally to Twitter.
- YT: Tue (fortnightly) – Yes. This has be challenging at time as I’ve had tech challenges like my video not uploading but I have persevered and kept up with it.
- Newsletter: Every other month – Yes. I sent a newsletter in Jan, but not in Feb, and then again in Mar. I thought I’d messed up on this goal so it’s good I achieved it.
Followers: Eek, I was okay with no growth, but to lose followers was a shock. It’s so slight, I hadn’t even noticed. I wasn’t surprised that my TikTok count dropped as I deleted the app for a bit – I’m just not a fan and don’t trust them to respect my privacy.
I’m chuffed I have already beat my YouTube annual goal. This is encouraging as I am still trying to figure things out.
It’s good to see I am connecting with readers. I was surprised by this as I don’t always remember to post to BookBub & Litsy.
The authors that agreed to do The Author Diaries collab with me are still up for it but we still haven’t set down a time. In the meantime, I have been creating fortnightly content for my YouTube channel.
Reviews: Although I’ve had two people tell me they read and loved Ocean Heart, the review count has not increased.
Personal
Skincare routine: I got in a good routine and then got lazy again. I also treated myself to some Korean makeup. I used to love Korean makeup before I went organic. I got a cute foundation, highlighter, and bronzer.
Visit Jimmy’s Farm: I’m so disappointed that we haven’t been. It hasn’t been the best weather, cold and rainy. When it has been nice my husband had either been working or someone has a bad cold. Hopefully we will get to go during Q2.
Date Nights: My hubby’s best mate baby Sat so we could go watch Avatar together. This was right before I lost my job. Once I was unemployed my hubby and I went to lunch a few times when we was on his rest days.
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