Tag: selfpublishing

My Writer’s Bucket List

Have you updated your bucket list lately?

A lot of us have bucket lists for things we’d like to do in our lifetime.   My general bucket list is filled with places I’d like to travel to, like New Zealand and Japan, and experiences I’d love to try, like hunting for diamonds in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.

However, I never took the time to figure out what would go on my Writer’s or Author’s Bucket List.  Today that changes for me.

If you wind up writing down your own writing bucket list, be sure to let me know where to find it so that I can see what goals everyone else has for their writing. (You can also tell me if you have really fun and wacky things on your regular bucket list, too!)

In the comments, let me know what’s one thing on your bucket list that you’ve already accomplished, and what is the thing that you are most looking forward to completing.

  1. Finish a novel
    • I have started several novels over the years, but I’ve never managed to finish one.  My current work in progress, which has close to 70,000 words, is the longest project I have, and I am determined to finish and publish this book!
  2. Publish romance novel
    • I would like to publish at least one romance novel.  I do love reading the romance genre, and I think they are fun.  I consider them to be modern fairy tales.
  3. Publish a series of fantasy novels.
    • Fantasy is another one of my favorite genres to read.  My current work in progress is the first of at least a trilogy, perhaps more, and it is a YA fantasy novel.  So once I finish and publish these books, I will be able to check this item off the list.
  4. Publish a poem
    • This item on the bucket list has been achieved! I published two poems in my graduate school literary magazine, so I have technically accomplished this and can place a check mark by it.
  5. Publish a short Story
    • This, too, has been accomplished!  The same literary magazine accepted a short story of mine.  Yay! Another item can be checked off!
  6. Publish an article
    • This is the last item that is already accomplished.  I wrote a piece for the Georgia chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (GA NAME) newsletter, which was sent to educators across my home state.
  7. Self -publish a book
  8. Get traditionally published
    • I would also like to be traditionally published in the future.  There are aspects of traditional publishing that take some of the weight off of the author’s shoulders, and I would love to have an editor to catch my mistakes, and an agent to do the sales talking for me.  But that is at some point in the future.
  9. Write and illustrate a children’s book
    • I have a series of stories that are children’s detective stories that I would love to publish as chapter books. I have two picture books that I already have written, and now I just need to make them pretty by illustrating them myself or finding the right artist.
  10. Make a living writing
    • This is the dream of every writer.  To do what you love for a career and to make enough money to not worry whether you need an additional job would be fantastic.
  11.  Choose a Pen Name
    • I have toyed with the idea of writing under a pen name, but I was never satisfied with the pseudonyms that I came up with.  I’ve also thought about having several different names, and to use them for different genres or age ranges. 
    • Jayne Ann Krentz uses multiple pen names in a really interesting manner.  Jayne Ann Krentz is the name that I initially found, and this name is where she writes her contemporary romance novels.  I then found the author Amanda Quick, and enjoyed her books even before realizing that this was Krentz’s pseudonym for the Regency and Victorian eras.  Then I found that she has an additional pseudonym, Jayne Castle, for her futuristic novels. 
  12.  Make the Amazon best seller’s list
    • When a book has the “Bestseller” icon, people are more likely to buy it.  I want people to read my story children. And if I’m being honest, I would also like the paycheck that comes with more people buying my book.
  13. Make the USA Today best seller list
    • Although Amazon is a huge retailer for the book market, many people still trust the traditional media’s opinion over Amazon.  Hence, the reason why USA Today and NY Times are 13 and 14 on this list.
  14.  Make the NYTimes best seller list
    • See #13
  15. Be satisfied with my writing
    • As an overthinker and a writer, I often want to fiddle with my writing long after deadlines have arrived.  I always think of different ways I could have worded sentences, or different actions characters could have taken, so I often feel like my writing isn’t good enough. 

I would love to be able to be satisfied with my writing; I want to complete a book and send it out for people to read while thinking, “This is a really good book.  People will like this.”

Those are the 15 items on my Author’s Bucket List.  I had fun in the process of making this list, and it also helped me reaffirm some of the goals that I am working towards.

I encourage you to make a bucket list for yourself, either a general one if you have never made one, or one specific to your career, like this one.

In the comments, let me know what’s one thing on your bucket list that you’ve already accomplished, and what is the thing that you are most looking forward to completing.

Love,

Jules the Dawdling Writer

Also, it’s my mom’s birthday today! Happy Birthday, Momma Dawdler!

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