My 2012 Resolutions - How Did I Do?
December 31, 2012
It seems somewhat masochistic to go back over and look at my resolutions for 2012 before the whole world and evaluate how I did. But, I suppose that's at least partially why I post them to begin with, to make myself at least somewhat accountable.
Anyway...
I broke it into 4 categories. Let's start with the first category.
Business
1. Earn $80,000+
Well, no. Although it wasn't the worst year financially, it wasn't my best, which was in the $80s. I started out great, basically lost one major client and had another major client go through a big disruption that, for me at least, has never recovered. By the end of the year I'd picked up another big client, but most of that work, if it doesn't fall apart, will occur in 2013. So, better than 2011, not nearly as good as 2010, but way better than 2009.
I should note that what saved my butt financially this year was, oddly enough, royalties from ebook sales and audio books and other books. They accounted for about a fifth of my income this year and I was ever so grateful for it.
2. Publish 3 reports re. Terry Communications, LLC
Um, no. A friend/client of mine who is now a marketing consultant and I may do this jointly this year, because we have very complementary skills in this area, but no, I'm not overly interested in taking on the marketing/sales aspects of being a publisher. Lessons learned in that area are finally sinking in.
3. Write a nonfiction book proposal.
No. Having done that in 2011, I was considering doing it again, but spent more of my "spec" writing time on fiction, which I can self-publish and make money at. I've got two ideas for nonfiction book proposals and I may do that this year, although I haven't committed to it yet.
Creative
4. Finish THE SINS OF THE FATHER and market and/or publish it.
Yes to both and it's selling very well, getting good reviews and I'm very, very pleased with this book. Many readers claim it is the best Derek Stillwater novel yet, which I find very gratifying for many reasons, but primarily because it's the only Stillwater novel that I wrote, edited, and self-published completely on my own. The critical and sales response to that in that context I find very interesting.
5. Finish short story, "Humanitarian Aid" and market it.
Yes, as a matter of fact. It's sitting its sorry ass at an SF magazine and has been there since September. When I followed up on it with them in early December they said they were understaffed and it might be another 2 or 3 months. This is a reminder to me of one of the problems of traditional publishing, especially in the short fiction market. It's entirely possible I will self-publish this as an e-short this year depending on what happens to it with the magazine.
6. Finish another novel and market and/or publish it (Crystal Storm, Capitol Secrets, A PLague of Stars or something else).
Well, no. That isn't to suggest I haven't been working on things. I have. I worked steadily on Crystal Storm, did some work on Capitol Secrets, and Plague, well, no. But I also picked China Fire back up and plan to complete it in 2013.
7. Write another Derek Stillwater novella & publish it with DIRE STRAITS.
No, but... I did start working on another Derek Stillwater novella, GRAVEDIGGER, which I will publish sometime in 2013. As far as "with" DIRE STRAITS, what I plan to do is write a third novella in the next year or so and publish the three "prequel" Stillwater novellas together.
8. Play guitar ~1 hour a week.
More complicated, the answer to this is: sometimes. Sometimes I did manage 10 or 15 minutes before I got going in the morning or after lunch before I started working again. I would do that for several weeks, then get busier and stop, then start. That may just be how it goes for me.
Health & Fitness
9. Lose 18 pounds
No.
10. Run 2 or 3 organized 5Ks
No. But I continued to run and the distance was typical.
11. Run/walk 7 or 8 miles at least once.
Never did hit those distances, although I ran 6 miles a couple times. Good enough for me, actually.
Sanchin-Ryu
CBAs: Work in particular on San-Go and San-Ju
CBA stands for "Combined Basics Advanced" and "San-Go" is the 5th and "San-Ju" is the 10th, and both involves kicks. And yes, I worked on my CBAs a lot this year and continue to. They've improved.
Forms: Work in particular on Empi-Uraken.
9th Form. And yes, I did. And yes, I did improve. And yes, I plan to continue to work on it in particular, along with Geri, because those are the 2 forms I'm least comfortable with. But I'm working on lots of other things as well.
Kata: Learn the entire choreography to Sanchin-San.
Sanchin-San is the first of 10 katas in Sanchin-Ryu. And yes, I did do this this year. And thanks to a video made by Master Ben Wolbert, I - much to my surprise - also learned the choreography to the second kata, Seisan Chin. And the first part of Wansu kata at CGM's Dojo.
So how do I evaluate this year? Business-wise, so-so. Creatively, pretty good. Sanchin-Ryu, excellent. Health and fitness, very good, although I'd like to get the weight thing under control.
It seems somewhat masochistic to go back over and look at my resolutions for 2012 before the whole world and evaluate how I did. But, I suppose that's at least partially why I post them to begin with, to make myself at least somewhat accountable.
Anyway...
I broke it into 4 categories. Let's start with the first category.
Business
1. Earn $80,000+
Well, no. Although it wasn't the worst year financially, it wasn't my best, which was in the $80s. I started out great, basically lost one major client and had another major client go through a big disruption that, for me at least, has never recovered. By the end of the year I'd picked up another big client, but most of that work, if it doesn't fall apart, will occur in 2013. So, better than 2011, not nearly as good as 2010, but way better than 2009.
I should note that what saved my butt financially this year was, oddly enough, royalties from ebook sales and audio books and other books. They accounted for about a fifth of my income this year and I was ever so grateful for it.
2. Publish 3 reports re. Terry Communications, LLC
Um, no. A friend/client of mine who is now a marketing consultant and I may do this jointly this year, because we have very complementary skills in this area, but no, I'm not overly interested in taking on the marketing/sales aspects of being a publisher. Lessons learned in that area are finally sinking in.
3. Write a nonfiction book proposal.
No. Having done that in 2011, I was considering doing it again, but spent more of my "spec" writing time on fiction, which I can self-publish and make money at. I've got two ideas for nonfiction book proposals and I may do that this year, although I haven't committed to it yet.
Creative
4. Finish THE SINS OF THE FATHER and market and/or publish it.
Yes to both and it's selling very well, getting good reviews and I'm very, very pleased with this book. Many readers claim it is the best Derek Stillwater novel yet, which I find very gratifying for many reasons, but primarily because it's the only Stillwater novel that I wrote, edited, and self-published completely on my own. The critical and sales response to that in that context I find very interesting.
5. Finish short story, "Humanitarian Aid" and market it.
Yes, as a matter of fact. It's sitting its sorry ass at an SF magazine and has been there since September. When I followed up on it with them in early December they said they were understaffed and it might be another 2 or 3 months. This is a reminder to me of one of the problems of traditional publishing, especially in the short fiction market. It's entirely possible I will self-publish this as an e-short this year depending on what happens to it with the magazine.
6. Finish another novel and market and/or publish it (Crystal Storm, Capitol Secrets, A PLague of Stars or something else).
Well, no. That isn't to suggest I haven't been working on things. I have. I worked steadily on Crystal Storm, did some work on Capitol Secrets, and Plague, well, no. But I also picked China Fire back up and plan to complete it in 2013.
7. Write another Derek Stillwater novella & publish it with DIRE STRAITS.
No, but... I did start working on another Derek Stillwater novella, GRAVEDIGGER, which I will publish sometime in 2013. As far as "with" DIRE STRAITS, what I plan to do is write a third novella in the next year or so and publish the three "prequel" Stillwater novellas together.
8. Play guitar ~1 hour a week.
More complicated, the answer to this is: sometimes. Sometimes I did manage 10 or 15 minutes before I got going in the morning or after lunch before I started working again. I would do that for several weeks, then get busier and stop, then start. That may just be how it goes for me.
Health & Fitness
9. Lose 18 pounds
No.
10. Run 2 or 3 organized 5Ks
No. But I continued to run and the distance was typical.
11. Run/walk 7 or 8 miles at least once.
Never did hit those distances, although I ran 6 miles a couple times. Good enough for me, actually.
Sanchin-Ryu
CBAs: Work in particular on San-Go and San-Ju
CBA stands for "Combined Basics Advanced" and "San-Go" is the 5th and "San-Ju" is the 10th, and both involves kicks. And yes, I worked on my CBAs a lot this year and continue to. They've improved.
Forms: Work in particular on Empi-Uraken.
9th Form. And yes, I did. And yes, I did improve. And yes, I plan to continue to work on it in particular, along with Geri, because those are the 2 forms I'm least comfortable with. But I'm working on lots of other things as well.
Kata: Learn the entire choreography to Sanchin-San.
Sanchin-San is the first of 10 katas in Sanchin-Ryu. And yes, I did do this this year. And thanks to a video made by Master Ben Wolbert, I - much to my surprise - also learned the choreography to the second kata, Seisan Chin. And the first part of Wansu kata at CGM's Dojo.
So how do I evaluate this year? Business-wise, so-so. Creatively, pretty good. Sanchin-Ryu, excellent. Health and fitness, very good, although I'd like to get the weight thing under control.
posted by Mark Terry at 11:08 AM
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