Monday, January 2, 2017

12 Days of Christmas 2017- Successes

Not to brag just to look back at some of the accomplishments that moved me farther on my road to even more writing success. The journey is the destination. Looking back help us move forward.

1. Sent out more submissions than the year before.
2. Joined NaNoWriMo for the 1st time. Did not achieve 50,000 words but did write more in 1 month than I ever have before.
3. Wrote in a new genre- turned a PB into a MG - still in progress.
4. Had one of my dream agents ask for more of my work. Did not achieve representation, but was invited to submit new work again. 
5. 1. Began the weekly Story Trail class at the Gahanna Public Library working w/ 5 middle/intermediate students, 2 high schoolers and 2 librarians to write a picture book to be illustrated and mounted at Friendship Park this spring.
6. Continued blogging at the GROG with other kid lit writers. We now have 213, 111 page views. I wrote 14 posts, so at least 1 a month. 
7. Signed up for the spring NESCBWI conference and critique w/Julie Bliven at Charlesbridge. Made new friends and extended myself in a new environment.
8. Did a ReFoReMo read/study Charlesbridge NF bios.
9. Was chosen to be a mini-metee for Stacy McAnulty along with 4 other PB writers. We agreed to critique each others work.
10. Attend many workshops: OH SCBWI workshop "Take Your Work to the Next Level, webinar on "How to Be a Better Critique Partner" w/Heather Alexander, and attended monthly SoCenOH SCBWI meetings. 
11. Worked on another partial revision of PB bio.
12. Wrote a story for Susanna Hill's Valen-tiny Contest. I really liked it an it had a true plot arc. 
13. Dove into reading MG and have read 17 books since September for a reading challenge at the school from which I retired.
17. Participated in  ReFoReMo in March.
18. Presented at 2 professional conferences: Mazza Summer Institute 2016 and Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Children.
19. Revised 4 PB mss to submission level.
20. Taught my first class on writing PBs a the local library and got paid. My first check as a writer!
21. Worked on the Ohio Educational Library Media Association's Author Committee 2016.
22. Reinvigorated my goodreads account.
23. Asked to write a blog post for a company, no pay but publicity for me.
24. Created a professional website w/the help of Lisa Amstutz. Secured my domain name, too.
25. Moderated the intermediate school Battle of the Books in Canal Winchester.
26. Submitted a poem to SCBWI.
27. One ms was chosen for a first pages review from a reputable blog.
28. A submission from "Open Coop" day received a detailed response from an agent.
29. Read and volunteered to lead chapter discussions over at Word by Word FB group. We read: SAVE THE CAT, ANATOMY OF NONFICTION, and SECOND SIGHT.
30. Joined a new critique group. 
31. Met periodically with a small group of Central Ohio SCBWI members to write for 2-3 hours and then share our work.
32. Have several CP partners who have agents or have work in acquisitions. How is this my success? I have helped them hone their mss to a new level. When one boat rises, so do they all.