Publishing Goals- deciding what you want (Patreon)

So goals.

I'm not talking about money goals though that can be part of this. I'm talking about  the goals that you have as a writer and as an individual. If you're going to be writing, you have to decide why you are doing it and why you are publishing. That's two different things.

You can write all you want inside a notebook, and never show it to anyone else. You're a writer, no question from me here. A lot of people do that. 

If you want to publish though, you need to decide why you're publishing.

If you are looking at publishing, there are a number of reasons and not all reasons are the same or equal for every other person. Some just want money, others accolade.

Deciding what your reason is is going to be important to how you structure your writing career. Here are some potential reasons why you'd be publishing.

– Money

– acclaim/accolades

– fame (not necessarily the same as acclaim or accolades)

– a desire to share their worlds

– to change minds / for a cause 

– impartation / recording of history

- bucket list item

- etc.

All these reasons and more are equally valid. They are your reasons. But knowing why you are publishing will also dictate your decisions from this point on. If you are just publishing because you want money, then what you write might be constrained by things like what sells rather than what you enjoy reading.

On the other hand if you want fame and accolades, you're better off going traditional publishing than indie publishing. We still very much forced down on the sidelines when it comes to a lot of the major accolades out there.. 

Before you build a business plan (har! I have strong feelings about that, probably in another post), maybe consider if you want to be a business. You might not be publishing for that reason. Just realise, you need to be truthful - if you want to make money publishing, there's nothing wrong with admitting it. But, you're going to have to weight your desires against practicality.

Or, you know, decide which is more important at this point in time.

So, what are your goals and what are you doing to do to reach them? Are your actions aligning with your goals?