Jeremy C Kester

There’s only 5 days left in 2017. While I have been on vacation, visiting family and friends, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I want to do with regards to my writing. It just so happens that it all corresponds with the ending of 2017 and beginning of 2018. Plus with my birthday only being a few days into January, it all coellesses into a nice New Years Resolution style meditation.

Every year my goal is to make this year the year I get over the hump to make writing my one and only career. Every. Year. That being said, that will be the case in 2018. I want to figure out how to get myself to be a writer and only a writer. Not a novice writer who works as a chemist during the day. Will it happen? Who knows. I have the power to make those steps that would improve my chances. And besides the luck that coincides with the right readers catching my works at the right time, it all falls onto me.

Aside from the work I’ve been putting into my site and the writing in the background, 2017 was a dead year for me. No published books. Spending way too much time deciding whether to stay solely with Amazon or not (I ended up staying with it). Not publishing a single title. It’s been a slow year. Certainly not actions that would really propel me.

Now, I have a few things I need to do in 2018. Here’s what you should expect to see.

• Keep up with the blogging. This is a no brainer. I need to keep at least doing what I am doing right now. As I continue, there will be subtle refinements, such as my voice developing more as I write more. Maybe more posts on more of the interests I have.
• Be a guest on a podcast. This is happening tomorrow. So it’s in 2017, not 2018. But then again, with only a few days left, I am saying that this counts. I am not sure just how much I will be on there speaking directly about my writing, but it will happen. I’ll be on “I’ve Made a Huge Mistake” as a guest recording tomorrow (so long as something doesn’t come up). When it’ll drop, I’ll let everyone know.
• Publish some damn books. I should be so close to having the next two chapters of Gravity ready to push out early next year. I have been writing them in a combined book and have more than enough word count for both. I am nearly at the point of separating and editing them, then putting them out. But it can’t be just those two. I need to have more at the ready. I should target at least 4 different works. The more, the better. I just cannot have another repeat of a no-books in a year. I just can’t.
• Create a business. Not like a store or anything. Rather, I want to start approaching my writing and creativity as a business, not a hobby.
• Execute a marketing strategy. To me, this is the most important thing that I need to do. I need to figure out how to market myself, my writing. If there is any one thing that will help propel me into a writing career, it is marketing. Right now, it doesn’t exist. Or rather, it exists in a very limited sense. Along with the business plan, I need to also have a marketing plan.
• Write. Write. Write.

Maybe this year it’ll happen. Maybe. We’ll see if I can make it happen.