Goals get us there! I’m facing the third quarter of the year and the sales of my books has plummeted because I’ve focused on moving and recovering from the dog attack.
I know the power of setting goals. When I was the computer coordinator for Washington middle school back when the internet was new and we as the staff pulled the cable throughout the building to get connected, the computer committee had our beginning meeting of the year.
I said, “Let’s brainstorm what we want for our school. The rules for brainstorming apply: anything goes.”
So my futuristic committee listed things completely out of our budget. I watched amazed—yes, I caught the fever and threw my two cents in too!
After the meeting, I formulated the ideas and presented them to the principal. Then she and I presented them to our legislator (who just happened to have been the principal at Washington middle school before he got into politics).
Outlandish goals, futuristic goals, realistic goals? We received funds from the state for everything on our list! That lesson has stayed with me for decades. I’ve often said, “Goals pull us along. Goals get us there!”
So, as I face the third quarter of the year, September is the lead and planning phase as I move into October, November & December,
So, the goals I established today appear too ambitious, too much, outlandish, but I’m going to sure them anyway.
1st Goal: Work on my second poetry book in a series of five and published it
Just today, I got the final draft back from my editor, so now I have to read through it for corrections. She said there weren’t many. Then I import it into the publishing program I use, Vellum. Next, I need to email readers on my email list to be on my ARC (Advanced Reader Copy ) Team to read it, write a blurb I enter in the print of my book and write a review in exchange for a free .pdf copy of the book. I have the description in the works. After the book is laid out, I can get the cover down because they need the page count to correct an accurate cover. I’ve used 100 Covers .
Hopefully, I will launch this book late October, early November. I will let you know! If you want to be a part of the ARC team for this new book, email me at larada@laradasbooks.com and I will send you a copy of the new book.
2nd Goal: Revise my autofiction book on being an incest survivor and healing
Because of all the flurry around the Epstein files, I talked to my therapist about being an “Advocate for Survivors.” In the midst of this conversation, as an incest survivor, I remembered I had written a book about this, almost ten years ago. Who cares? I have it!
In 2016 I joined NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to commit to writing about 1600 words a day, ending up with 50,000 at the end of the month. The results of the presidential election that year really spurred me on—I was devastated by the results.
Because of that dedicated, concentrated time, I wrote a 50,000+ autofiction. So, what is an autofiction?
Jane Friedman, a leader in the publishing industry says: “Short for autobiographical fiction, autofiction uses elements of autobiography and fiction to examine decisive aspects of the writer’s life. The writer then melds these realities with fictional plot elements, characters and events in a way that often reads like memoir or autobiography. With the lines of fact and fabrication blurred, readers are engaged in wondering what’s real, what isn’t, and how they can figure out which is which.”
https://janefriedman.com/the-how-when-and-why-of-writing-autofiction
Because of this, when I finish book #2 of the poetry series, Time Measured Out, I will focus on revising the autofiction and get it to my editor who has already heard about it. Then I will return to my poetry series.
3rd Goal: Continue with the Click Ad program for my Christmas book
In April 2024, I bought Steve Pieper’s Click Ad program to create profitable ads on Facebook doing click testing and had worked my way through most of the lessons, ready to promote my Christmas book. I bought it because my book coach did a webinar with Steve. Also, his reviews and results blew me away!
Christmas is coming, so this would be a great time to go back to whatever lesson I’m on and finish it. I may have to redo a couple of the ad copy. I’m excited because many authors have had good results with Steve’s program.
4th Goal: Energize my back-list sales
I have nine books (soon ten), three cookbooks and three audiobooks just sitting there for ready to buy, but I have to have a plan to promote them. I have multiple competitors in each area, so I have to work at this.
Here’s my action plan to be implemented in September and beyond:
| BOOK TITLE | PROMOTION | DATE | RESULTS |
| This Tumbleweed Landed | October | ||
| When Will Papa Get Home? | October | ||
| Let Me Tell You a Story | October | ||
| Is My True Universal?: A Woman’s Poetic Odyssey | October | ||
| A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir | November | ||
| Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? | November | ||
| Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo | November | ||
| Is My True Universal?: A Woman’s Poetic Odyssey | November | ||
| Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir | December | ||
| Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry | December | ||
| Is My True Universal?: A Woman’s Poetic Odyssey | December |
We will see how the plan goes. You can see it’s real sketchy now!
5th Goal: Do an audiobook for my 1st book in my poetry series
I love recording audiobooks—reading my own words out loud is magical. So when I finished Was It a Dream? and published it, the recovery from the dog attack consumed me. I couldn’t stand up at the mic in my make-shift recording studio (my walk-in closet) that long—too physically taxing. Also, I was on heavy pain medication and publishing an audiobook has many intricate steps. I have used Derek Doepker’s program, Audiobooks Made Easy. This program spells out exactly what you have to do and Derek is great support if you have any problems.
As I sit here and lay out this plan, I step back! In the midst of all this, I have a move to Boquete, Panama and am starting a new life there, so I’m writing these goals out to remind myself—I am an author no matter where I live. I have the last quarter of 2025 to get my book sales going.
Also, because of the recovery of the dog attack, I lost a year of promoting my books, so I am way behind!
Will I accomplish all these goals?
Maybe yes, maybe no, but seeing them in black and white make them concrete! Easily, I can carry any no fulfilled to first quarter of 2026 and add to the list.
All this talk of promotion made me think, “Have you bought one, two or all of my books?” Let’s start here with promoting them. Go to my Author’s Page on Amazon where you can get them all!
Keep scrolling and you can see links to my audiobooks. I only sell my cookbooks directly until August 30 through my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft.
My Newest Books
Is My Truth Universal?: A Woman’s Poetic Odyssey e-book – FREE
Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry e-book on sale for $3.00
Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir e-book on sale for $2.99
Buy My Audio Books:
This Tumbleweed Landed Audiobook
Let Me Tell You a Story Audiobook
Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook
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