2020 Accomplishments | 2021 Goals

It’s coming up on the end of the old year and beginning of the new, and you know what that means… Goals.

Look at how you did on the old ones and set some new ones to keep that forward momentum. I do this every year for personal and professional goals. Let’s take a look at those author ones. This should be an interesting exercise given…well 2020.

2020 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

While 2020 was personally challenging for all reasons, it was also professionally very productive with new releases, new contracts, time with wonderful friends (mostly on Zoom), and growing my skill set. Here are some of the highlights:

PUBLICATION

I hit all my publication goals for 2020!

• 8 novels/novellas & 3 anthologies released!
  • Landing the Lawman (Hills of Texas #5) as Kadie Scott
  • Her Demigod Complex (Brimstone Inc. #1) rerelease as Abigail Owen
  • Shift Out of Luck (Brimstone Inc. #2) rerelease as Abigail Owen
  • Bait N’ Witch (Brimstone Inc. #3) rerelease as Abigail Owen
  • The Blood King (Inferno Rising #2) as Abigail Owen
  • Snowball’s Christmas as Kristen
  • Try As I Smite (Brimstone Inc. #4) rerelease as Abigail Owen
  • The Protector (Fire’s Edge #4) as Abigail Owen

WRITE BOOKS

I hit all my writing goals for the year and then some. Contracts to fulfill means a ton of words written and books edited…

• 600k+ words written
  • 4 novels written, 1 novella written
    • Try As I Smite
    • The Protector
    • The Traitor
    • The 12 Days of Snowball
  • 6 partial book written/started/completed
    • The Warrior King
    • Inferno Rising #4
    • Dominion #1
    • Best Friend #1
    • The Gift of Hope
    • The Gift of Joy
  • 5 novellas/novels added/rewritten
    • Shift Out of Luck
    • Bait N’ Witch
    • A Ghost of a Chance
    • Blue Violet
    • Hyacinth
  • edits on 14 novels/novellas
• 3 proposals written and submitted (and 2 contracted)

CONTRACTS

• 5 books contracted
  • Snowball’s Christmas Series (2 books) as Kristen McKanagh – Kensington
  • Dominion Upper YA Fantasy Series (3 books) as Abigail Owen – Entangled

FUN & FRIENDS

My goal every year is to spend time with people I enjoy and make sure I’m doing my best because my team does their best for me. This year had to take a swivel and do a lot of that via technology, but I’ll take what I can get.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this a great year. Especially those who really believe in my books! In particular:

• My awesome readers. Your words of enjoyment and encouragement mean more than I can express. xoxo
• My husband & kids
• My family
• Evan Marshall, my agent
• Heather Howland, my Entangled editor
• Sinclair Sawhney, my Tule editor
• John Scognamiglio, my Kensington editor
• Kristine Swartz, my Berkley editor
• Kay Copeland, my self-pub editor
• The awesome teams of folks who make me a better author in so many ways @ Entangled Publishing, Tule Publishing, Kensington, Berkley, and Wild Rose Press.
• Every author I get the opportunity to share my love of writing with throughout the year, because y’all are my people, my friends.
• The fantastic bloggers/reviewers who took the time to read my books an post reviews. You rock!
• The fantastic groups I’m a part of (RWA, Austin RWA, Paranormal Romance Guild, FF&P, Contemporary Romance Writers, & Paranormal Romantics )
  • This year I was the VP of Programs for Austin RWA and, starting in November, am now the President
• The awesome team at Wild Rose Press who I do covers for under AOAD
• The contractors who I get to work with for AOAD
• The clients we get to do business for at AOAD (we hope we were a small part of your success this year!)

TRAVEL & EVENTS

• RWAU – Organize Your Writing Life Workshop
• 2020 Inkers Con – Sprinting to the Finish Workshop with Nicole Flockton
• Fountain Bookstore | Bookstore Romance Day
• Katy Budget Books | Virtual Book Signing
• Entangled Author Happy Hour
• LitRing Author Takeover
• September Bae Crate
• West Houston RWA – Sprinting to the Finish Workshop
• The Ripped Bodice – Fall into Love Author Panel
• The Print Bookstore – Virtual Book Tour
• Word Bookstore – Virtual Book Tour
• Buns & Roses Romance Tea for Literacy
• RWA U – Sprinting to the Finish Workshop
• Fresh Fiction Boas & Tiaras 2020
• Farmgirls Book Club LIVE Chat
• 2 awesome retreats with bestie Nicole & new sprinting friend Teri
• Several Facebook parties, online

AWARDS & HONORS

• 2020 Golden Leaf Award | The Rogue King
• 2020 Bookseller’s Best Award | The Rogue King
• 2020 PRISM Award | The Rookie
• 2020 PRISM Award | The Rogue King
• 2020 RONE Awards | The Blood King
• 2020 Stiletto Award | Claiming the Cowboy for Christmas
• Entertainment Weekly Featured Book | Snowball’s Christmas
• Apple Books Romance of the Week | Saving the Sheriff
• SyfyWire FANGRRLS Pick for SFF Romance Reads | The Blood King
• Mary Jane’s Farm Book Club Pick | Snowball’s Christmas
• 2020 Fresh Fiction Fresh Pick
  • The Enforcer
  • Landing the Lawman
  • Shift Out of Luck
  • Try As I Smite
  • Snowball’s Christmas

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2021 GOALS

Like last year, my goals this year surround completing contracts already signed and releasing several books that have been ready for a while.

• PUBLISH BOOKS
  • 5 releases this year and I can’t wait for each and every one!
    • The Warrior King (Inferno Rising #3) as Abigail Owen
    • The Gift of Hope (Unexpected Gifts #1 as Kristen McKanagh
    • The Traitor (Fire’s Edge #5) as Abigail Owen
    • The 12 Days of Snowball as Kristen McKanagh
    • Inferno Rising #4 as Abigail owen
  • including all the marketing shenanigans
• WRITE BOOKS – Contracts to fulfill means a ton of words to write as well as go through the editing process on…
  • Expected word count will be around…400,000 words
  • Write and submit
    • The Gift of Joy (Unexpected Gifts #2) as Kristen McKanagh
    • Dominion #1 as Abigail Owen
    • Co-Written Rom Com w/ Nicole Flockton as Kadie Scott
    • The Cursed King (Inferno Rising #4) as Abigail Owen
    • How Snowball Stole Christmas as Kristen McKanagh
• CONTRACTS
  • We’ll see how things are going with all the new releases. 🙂
• FUN & FRIENDS – Great times with fellow authors
  • President, Austin RWA (local chapter)
  • Resume conferences and signings by June (fingers crossed)
  • Spending time with my awesome readers/authors/editors/agent/and friends. One of the best parts of what I do!
• TRAVEL & EVENTS
  • Still working on my conference schedule for the year.
• EDUCATION – Get Better
  • It’s a goal of mine every single year to continue to improve as an author by attending lots of workshops.
• BUSINESS
  • This is a passion, but also a business. A few business goals this year.
    • Cut spending by 20% YoY (already have a plan here)
    • Hold income flat YoY (I had a great 2020, and will be thrilled if 2021 does as well.)