YA INDIE CARNIVAL: Indie Resolutions

This week at the Carnival we are sharing our Indie Resolutions.  What did we learn this year?  What worked and what didn't?  We will be sharing our thoughts, dreams, and wishes for the new year.  Feel free to share yours with us. 

My Indie Resolutions:

1.  Take Reviews with a Grain of Salt:  This year I published my first three books as an Indie Writer.  Most of my reviews have been good, but there were a couple that had me thinking I should find a new career path.  Other people (writers, friends, and family) told me to ignore them, that some people just want to be mean because they are annonymous and know I can't do anything about it.  Still, it hurts when someone rips apart something that you worked so hard on and put your whole heart into.  If you aren't a writer, think about it this way.  How would you feel if a stranger came up to you and told you that your kids were ugly and shouldn't be in public?  Because that's how I feel when someone slams my characters, plot, etc.  I do want readers to be honest.  If they don't like the book, they don't like it.  I'm just talking about the ones who are mean and nasty about it and you can tell they are just trying to be funny or show how smart they are.

2.  Market without Spamming:  Before I got published I'd never heard about spamming in groups on places like Goodreads, but since then I have been accused of doing it.  Some places don't want you to mention your book at all.  So I vow to find other ways of letting people know that my books exist.

3.  Spend More Time Writing:  My computer crashed a few months ago and I sort of used that as an excuse to procrastinate.  I've been working on finishing up the same book for five months now.  That is a long time for me.  Usually I work on writing at least a few hours each day and all day long when I don't work.  So I promise myself that I will work harder and spend more time with my butt in the chair and my hands on the keyboard.

4.  Daydream:  I got so caught up in the mess that is sometimes my life that I haven't been daydreaming enough.  This is a resolution I know I can keep.  In fact I've already started.  I love to daydream and let my characters live instead of trying to figure out what they should do.  I love to give them room to move.

5.  To Write Entertaining Books:  Most of all I want to write the best books that I can.  I want to touch peoples' hearts, to make them laugh and cry.  Then my job is done.

Please click on the blogs below and read their resolutions too.

.	Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	Heather Self	4.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga	6.	Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7.	Lexus Luke	8.	Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
9.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	10.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
11.	Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series	12.	Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
13.	Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews	14.	Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
15.	M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping	16.	Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
17.	Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind	18.	Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
19.	Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler	20.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
21.	TG Ayer	22.	Melissa Pearl, author of Golden Blood
23.	Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga