• I’ve got at least five novels that need finishing (first drafts). I plan to get all of them done by Labor Day weekend, so I can spend the fall editing and polishing.
• I’ll be putting my house on the market later this month, which means I’ll be busier with house-related stuff for the summer.
• I have a couple of fun blogs I’ve started, just for the heck of it.
• I want to start freelance writing for print magazines and such, which will take up more of my time.
• I have a new website project I’m working on, geared toward writers and authors, which will hopefully launch later this summer.

So, if you want to check out what I’m up to this summer, you can follow me in a variety of other places:

• Twitter
• Authonomy (I’ll probably be posting work there as I finish it, at least for a little while)
• WeBook (I’m addicted to their PageToFame contest)
• Stuff I Luv (this is one of the fun blogs I’ve started)
• A Cracked Pot (another of my fun blogs)

I hope everyone has a great summer, gets lots of writing done, and meets some of their own goals. If you need to get in touch with me, use the contact form.

Image by j/k_lolz, via Flickr

That leaves me with quite the conundrum. Anyone who reads this blog regularly or follows me on Twitter or Facebook is probably familiar with my support of indie publishing and authors taking charge of their own careers. You’re probably also familiar with the fact that I’ve already self-published my own non-fiction book, Internet Famous, and have my own publishing company set up.

When I decided to self-publish Internet Famous, I had very set reasons for doing so. First, I wanted to get the book out quickly. I didn’t want to spend six months to a year finding an agent, then another six months or more finding a publisher, and then another year or more getting the book into print. The subject matter was timely, and I was afraid that if I waited that long, there could be a dozen books on virtually the same topic out in the meantime. The other big reason was that non-fiction has an easier time in the self-pub world, as it’s often easier to reach your niche.

So self-publishing Internet Famous was kind of a no-brainer. And while sales have been much slower than I’d hoped for, I consider it an ongoing project, and one that will soon be seeing some big changes. But more on that in another post.

Back to fiction. I love the indie novelist/author/publisher movement. I think it’s wonderful and empowering and a great thing for both writers and readers. There’s so much possibility there, so much room for growth, and I want desperately to be there, to contribute to it, and to challenge the conventions the publishing industry has held dear for generations.

But, and this is a big “but”, I wonder if I wouldn’t be better served by a mainstream publisher. That was a very difficult statement for me to type. As I’ve said, I love indie. I love everything about it. It speaks to the control freak that lurks not-so-deep within me. (Unless you’re an agent reading this; then I’m not a control freak at all and am the easiest writer to work with in the world. Promise.) And my book isn’t particularly niche-focused. It’s contemporary women’s fiction. Pretty mainstream, pretty commercial.

The other drawback to indie publishing for me at this point is time. I don’t have a whole lot of it. I have full-time blogging/editing/writing commitments already, none of which I want to give up. I have one self-published book out there that needs further attention. And I also have a lack of access to large numbers of book buyers. I live in a small town, I’m not particularly involved in my community, and there aren’t any real cities nearby. While I do have a large number of people who are familiar with my blogging (even a few fans, I think, which makes me smile every time I think of them), they’re not really my target market for this book.

So, I think I’ve developed a plan. I’m going to try the traditional route with this one first. I’ve created a list of roughly forty agents who I both admire and who I think might be a good fit for this book. I’m going to start querying them in the next couple of weeks, now that my rewrites are basically done. If I get no bites, then I’ll go through every publisher I think might be interested. If I still have no bites (which will be really depressing, btw), then I’m going to self publish.

What I’m hoping is that by the time I’ve gone through all the agents/publishers/whatever, I’ll have my next women’s fiction book finished (this would be either the sixth or seventh). And then I’ll release this one, the fifth one, for free to build a platform for the sixth. I’m honestly hoping I’ll find an agent, land a decent publishing deal, and start a long career as a novelist. I’m also not holding my breath and realize it’s a tough market out there.

So, while I will continue to support my indie friends, I’m gonna sell out and try my hand at mainstream for the moment. I may rejoin their ranks before long, and I’m sure at some point I’ll have a novel or two that don’t fit into the mainstream and will better fit the indie mindset.

Now, I’m not one for starting resolutions right away on the first of January. I prefer to make them year-long goals. A few years ago one of my resolutions was to quit smoking. And on February 2nd of that year, I did (and haven’t touched a cigarette since). Had I tried to do that on the first of January, I probably would have failed miserably. So don’t force yourself to start your new goals on the first. Give yourself the time to ease into them, to get used to them, and to reach them successfully, in your own time.

So, without further ado, here are my ten New Years resolutions for 2010.

1. Write at Least 1,000 Words of Fiction Each Day.

This is one that I used to do almost religiously, but have become very lax about in recent months. Part of this has to do with increased work obligations. But in any case, I want to start writing at least a thousand words every day. I have two novels currently in the works, so lack of material isn’t an issue. And I can do a thousand words in less than an hour usually, so finding the time shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s just a matter of developing the habit. It’s something I know I can do once I find my motivation.

2. Do Less.

I have a tendency to commit to things without fully thinking them through. I’ve gotten better about this, but it’s still something I have to be careful of. So this year, I want to do less. I want to take the time to do whatever it is I’m doing as well as it can be done, which means devoting more time to individual projects. And since I have yet to find that elusive 25th hour in the day, the only option is to take on fewer projects. Which is tough considering I get ideas for brilliant new projects approximately every two minutes and forty seven seconds.

3. Drink More Water & Tea, Less Coffee and Soda.

This one should be easy. Theoretically. Of course, I’m saying this as I sit here drinking a double espresso…

4. Eat Healthier in General and Get More Exercise.

I’ve been struggling with my weight for a few years now. I’ve managed to lose around thirty pounds and have kept it off, but I still need to lose more. And with my ten year high school reunion looming on the horizon, now’s as good a time as any! And if anyone decides the class of 2000 needs to have their reunion in March, I’ll kill them (October fits in much better with my weight loss plans). The best way I’ve found to lose weight is to eat healthy and exercise. I know, that’s like rocket science, isn’t it?

5. Finally Set Up My Etsy Store.

I’ve been wanting to get involved with Etsy for awhile now. I lurk on their forums, read the blog, follow them on Twitter, and obsess over the products found there. And there are a few things I’d like to start selling on Etsy, I just haven’t found the time. Of course, this may contradict resolution #2…

6. Finish a Novel.

As in, finished, no more work to be done. I’ve finished first drafts of five novels, second drafts of three of those, and third drafts of one. But I have yet to get a novel into what I would consider anything close to “publishable” quality. I’m very close on one of those, so my goal is to finish it this year, to get it to the best quality I can possibly make it.

7. Apply to Bread Loaf.

I considered making this one “Get Accepted to Bread Loaf”, but considering they accept less than 20% of applicants and I still have no idea what I’m even going to apply with, I thought just managing the application would be ambitious enough. Bread Loaf is one of the oldest and most prestigious writers’ conferences in the country, and is conveniently located less than three hours from my house. If I get in, then that’ll be like icing on the cake.

8. Have More Experiences.

We all get so wrapped up in the idea of “stuff”. Our lives begin to revolve around things and possessions rather than the experiences and people who surround us. I want to have more experiences, make more memories, and stop focusing so much on the “stuff” we all accumulate. In fifty years, I won’t look back fondly on the things I owned, but rather the things I did and the people I did them with.

9. Be a Better Friend.

I’m horrible about staying in touch with people. It’s just in my nature. If it’s easy to keep in contact with someone, then I’ll do it. But if it requires a lot of effort, I’m not so good at it. Which has nothing to do with how much I care about a person or how important they are to me. I’m just easily distracted and have a hard time with following through on the whole “picking up the phone” thing or “writing a letter”. No more! This year, I’m going to make more of an effort to stay in touch with the people who matter to me.

10. Get Out of the Northeast Kingdom.

The area where I live is beautiful. It’s a nature-lovers’ paradise. It’s one of the few places left in the Northeast that’s really rural. It’s also almost entirely devoid of opportunity and cultural anything. Sure, there are bright spots within the Kingdom in terms of those things, but they’re few and far between. I love Vermont, and think I’ll always call it home, but I’m thinking it might feel more like “home” in other parts of the state. So I’m hoping to relocate this year, somewhere a bit closer to “civilization” and with a bit more to do. The house we currently live in was supposed to be temporary, something we could fix up and sell within a couple years, but it’s been our home now for more than six years. It’s definitely time for a change.

So there they are: ten resolutions for 2010. Not all of them are writing related, though some of them are. Feel free to share your resolutions in the comments below.

I’m working on international distribution at the moment. The issue I’m running into is shipping costs. For international priority mail, the cost is about $13. But what I’m seeing is that first class mail is nearly that much to most areas (with the exception of Canada) and it can take twice as long. Can international orders be done through Amazon.com? Or through Barnes & Noble’s US website? If anyone knows the answer to this, please let me know!

At some point in the next couple weeks I plan on writing a post outlining the entire publishing process. Until then, feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments here. And thanks to everyone for their support!

At some point in the next few weeks, I plan to write an in-depth post about getting to this point.

You can also become a fan on Facebook (where you can vote in the poll to determine the subtitle of the book) or follow us (me) on Twitter (@internet_famous).

I have to give a giant shout-out to my beta readers (in alphabetical order to be fair): Dan Holloway, author of The Man Who Painted Agniezska’s Shoes (did I spell that right?) and Songs from the Other Side of the Wall and a founding member of Year Zero; Jason Horger, who did a superb job of pointing out the many grammatical and other errors in this book; and George LaCas, author of The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue and founder of Witchy Hat Press.

Editing on the book is basically done, and I’m expecting to release the book (both in print and digital formats) sometime in August.

Tomorrow I’ll reveal the title of the book and give you all the URL for the new site. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the cover (and a hint: the number of question marks corresponds to the number of letters in the title):

Publishing Renaissance had a great post titled “Does Indie Nation Have Talent?” I’ll let you read it for the answer.

Wired Magazine has a great article on The Future of Reading in a Digital World. It’s time for writers and publishers to stop thinking about the future of publishing and start thinking about the future of reading. There’s some great stuff in there that might be of particular interest to indie authors and publishers.

Another great post from Publishing Renaissance was this one: Why self-published music sux. It’s a great bit of satire comparing the indie music industry to indie publishing and definitely worth a read. There’s a lot of truth to it and it definitely makes you sit back and think.

And in case you hadn’t heard, Google is getting into the eBook publishing business: MediaPost Publications Google eBook Deal Could Provide Interaction With Ads.

On a personal note, I’m finally getting ahead on all of my assignments! This is good, as it means I’m not having to work until all hours of the night to avoid missing deadlines. My number one tip for aspiring writers: don’t work too much! Schedule your time and don’t over-commit. There’s nothing like looming deadlines and no clue as to how to meet them to take the fun out of writing!