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.






16 comments:

  1. Wow, this is a fantastic list! You should be very proud of yourself, Kathy! Here's to an even better 2017.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie, thanks for being so supportive of us all.

      Delete
  2. Love this Kathy! Onward and upward to 2017!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this Kathy! I bet 2017 will be even better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TY, Ellen. Bigger leaps into the future this year and more efforts on my part.

      Delete
  4. Great list! Keep the mojo going in 2017!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's a super impressive list of achievements, Kathy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on all your successes, Kathy! May God bless you even more in 2017!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Quite the list of achievements for 2016! Hope 2017 is even better! You've inspired me to figure out what I've achieved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make a list and let me know. I want to cheer you on!!

      Delete
  8. See there, don't sell yourself short. You knocked it out of the park in 2016.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You, Inned to see it to beleiv sit was real and actually something, Sherri.

      Delete
  9. Hi Kathy. You've got a great list of successes! Congratulations on #20. It is always nice to be paid for all our hard work.

    ReplyDelete