Issue 122 * Blog 01-2020 * Read Time: 5 Min. * Section: From the Author’s Desk

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Happy New Year readers and welcome to 2020. Like always the first blog of the year covers my writing goals and projections.

Before we get to that here are my thoughts on the New Year. 20/20 represents perfect vision. I am hoping that means that I will be able to see all things clearly. That way I will have a better understanding of myself, the world and it’s people.

With my new vision I can take strides to improve myself, find my purpose and live in harmony with others.

Now to the business at hand.

I totally flunked 2019 in a big way. The big fat ‘F”s outweighed the other grades by a landslide. I’m glad that I’m an adult and didn’t need a parent to sign the report. I’m sure my bottom would have been tanned if that had been the case.

For more on my grades read my End of the Year Report – 2019 to see what I got ‘F”s in. The blog will also let you know what I passed and accomplished…if anything.

Health:

Health was one of the ‘A”s from last year. I stayed out of the hospital and heart attack free. I pray to keep that trend going in 2020. With the doctors permission I plan on stepping up the exercising routine, tweak my diet a little more and kick the nicotine habit for good.

Novel Goals for 2020:

• Release One (1) New Novel – Title Unknown

This year I’m not going by what appears to be feasible on paper. Some people may say I have lowered my standards and/or the bar so that I could met the goal. There may or may not be some truth to that. I have been at this long enough to have a track record of what has happened in previous years.

My Goal in 2019 was:

• Release the re-write of – Demons of the Jungle
• Release one new novel – Path to the Jungle (Title subject to change.)
• Release a short story collection – The Tales of Joe (Title subject to change.)

My Goal in 2018 was:

• Release one new novel (Thunder Bear)
• Release a new edition (Re-Write) of Demons of the Jungle

None of the goals listed above, for either year were accomplished. I didn’t fall short and only release one or two books each year…I released nothing.

Heck, I have not released a new novel since Witch’s Dilemma back in October of 2016.

From looking at the track record, lowering the bar to one book is not a guarantee that I will release a new novel in 2020. That’s why I lowed the new novel release totals, one book is more realistic and doable.

I can tell you if I don’t release a new work this year. I will give up writing and focus on something else.

My Work in Progress file is full of tales. Some of the projects are near completion others are only in the development stages. I review and write something every day in at least one of those projects. That’s the reason there is no title listed for the book to be released…I have no idea which project will get completed first.

I tend to lose focus on the tale I’m writing when a great idea comes to mind that pertains to another project in my WIP file. I’ll switch to the that project and work on it for while.

I do not recommend this type of writing process for anyone.

Hell I don’t even like it myself as it causes stress, aggravation and disappointment. That’s the reason I have been doing research on the writing techniques of the big guns in our industry. I wanted to know how Stephen King, James Patterson and others went about their daily writing.

Along with that I have also been researching and testing new writing programs for authors.

To see how the research and experiment went read, Scrivener – Writing Program and I Don’t Think Stephen Done it This Way. I will be using this word processing system along with this method of writing in 2020.

Contest Submissions:

• Enter one (1) writing contest.

This year I have dropped this from three to one. I need to focus on getting a new novel out and writing and entering contests is time consuming.

Goals for the Blog in 2020:

• Write and Post Twelve (12) Blogs in 2020: These posts will inform the reader what is happening in my world of writing.
• Revamp and Clean Up Blog Site: Check and make sure the links between the official blog and website are not broken and are linked to the correct pages. Remove features that are hardly read, Upcoming Releases/Work In Progress and Bibliography/Writing Credits. This information now will be found under the revamped About Me section. The About Me section will be renamed to Author Information with all data linked to my official website.
• New Blog Format: Some of you frequent readers my have noticed the blog format has changed. The new format will be cleaner. The byline will include the blog read time (based the average of reading 225 words a minute). The blogger’s link has been moved to the bottom of the blog and a bloggers picture added.
• New Category and Menu Tab. This year I will be issuing Press Releases. The individual releases will be in the Press Release Category. You can quickly find all the Press Releases under the Menu tab labeled Press Releases.

All the above changes to the blog are projected to be completed within the first quarter of the year.

Goals for the Website in 2020:

Joseph Clay – Author Official Website

• Revamp and Clean Up The Website: Like the Blog the website will go through a makeover also. I will also check and make sure the links between the two sites or not broken and are linked to the correct page.
• Add New Page to Website: There will also be a press release section on the website.
• Add PDF Files to Bookstore: Last year I launched Joe’s Bookstore, which can be found on the official website. With some changes by the hosting site I can now sell eBooks, (PDF Files Only). Those files will will be loaded and tested.
• Electronic Press Kit (EPK): The EPK from WordPress will be deleted leaving only one EPK located on the official website. That EPK will be renamed to Author’s Electronic Media Kit.

All the above changes to the website are projected to be completed by the end the second quarter of the year.

Brick and Mortar Stores:

• Get My Books in One (1) or More Brick and Mortar bookstores.

Appearances:

• Make at Least Two (2) or More Public Appearances.

I’m in the process of booking events. You can contact me about holding or participating in an event at your location by using the Contact Tab located in the Menu.

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That will do it for I hope to get done in 2020. Till next time be safe, keep reading and writing.

 -Joe-

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