Accountability is a huge factor in success. As someone who dreams of living a location independent lifestyle I need to start being more accountable for my writing business goals. My dream has always been to be an author who can make a comfortable living from writing novels. But unless you’re Stephen King or Nora Roberts or even Joanna Penn or Nick Stephenson, well, it’s not as simple as just writing a book and putting it out on Amazon. A writing business, is a business, and like any business it takes time, energy, perseverance and dedication to get off the ground. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it will happen.

The online world is quite transparent. Writers, especially indies, bloggers and freelancers, often share details of their progress with income and sales. I plan on doing the same. Although I’ve been writing for two decades, I am only beginning to treat writing as a career. I want to share my progress with those who are interested. I will be posting monthly updates on my progress including goals, achievements, and income.

I work four days per week. Monday to Thursday 8:30 to 4:00pm. This time is dedicated to my job. No ifs or buts about it. As soon as I get into the office I have my employee hat on. I still need to be putting in 100% in my day job otherwise none of this will work and I don’t like half-assed attempts. They make me feel like shit. It’s a hundred percent or nothing at all. I’m a mum with a supportive husband and family standing behind me. We share the chores and the responsibilities and there are no ifs or buts about that either.

I also spend 3 hours commuting on my work days, two and a half of which are on the train. That gives me ten hours a week to work. During this time I managed to write Lethal Disposal. I’m also halfway through the sequel. Time management is definitely my forte, most days of the week anyway.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are days that I can dedicate to creating my location independent business. The great thing about writing is that it can be done anyplace, anytime, all you need is a laptop, a notepad and pen, and working internet to connect with the world.

For the time being my goals will not be monetary. They will focus on output as I can’t gauge how much I can earn in a given month. Once I get my bearings, more books sales and responses from my pitches, I’ll be able to set earnings targets.

We are half way through the month but here are my goals for August:

1. Start a bi-monthly session with a coach. I’ve hired Gina from Horkey Handbook. She went from 0 to freelance success in less than a year. Check out her course if your interested in starting a freelance writing business.
2. Contact 15 reviewers. In order to sell books I need Amazon reviews. Sounds simple enough but it’s hard work finding reviewers who specialise in the niche you’re writing in and have the time to ready your book and post a review in a timely fashion. If you’ve read Lethal Disposal and enjoyed it, please leave a short review. I much appreciate it.
3. Spend 30 minutes per day on social media: Twitter, Facebook & Goodreads by promoting others and posting interesting things. Twitter seems to be easier than Facebook at the moment. Any ideas how to get more Facebook traction?
4. Send out 20 pitches offering my writing services/article ideas/blog posts to job sites, print magazines, online magazines, blogs, websites, and businesses. This is key to getting the work! Do you need a writer? Check out my Hire Me page.
5. Complete draft of the second ‘Lethal’ book which is a sequel to Lethal Disposal. I wasn’t going to do a sequel but I’ve decided that I’m going to write three book series.
6. Interview five authors for my Sunday Sessions segment and post the interview every Sunday to help promote local and international authors. It’s a win-win. Plus I love hearing how other writers work and what their plans are for their writing careers.
7. Read five books – two non-fiction and three fiction and then write a review on each book. Also, leave a review on Amazon for those books that I enjoyed. I’m currently the Leopold Blake novels by Nick Stephenson, and I’ve started reading Prince of the Blood, written by PJ Webb who I interviewed last Sunday.
8. Aim to connect with other writers via social media and/or in person.
9. Run a Goodreads giveaway. If you use Goodreads, check it!
10. Do you want to win an autographed copy of Lethal Disposal? Sign up at Writerly Pursuits where you’ll receive posts straight to your inbox, and I will pick two random winners at the end of the month.

What’s my motivation? Hmm, I need to double my income so I can spend more time with my family and build our dream home.

What are writing goals this month? Are you taking action every day to achieve them?