Aligning for 2026

In preparation for my upcoming work year, I’ve been doing a little behind-the-scenes work to get myself and my process into better alignment.

Basically, I want my actual strengths as an author/creator to line up properly with my work efforts. Put my focus where it needs to go, that kind of thing.

I’ve been asking myself what I love MOST about being an author and how I can emphasize those elements of authorial life. And, in contrast, I’m also analyzing what I love LEAST about this author-life, so  I can deemphasize those aspects.

Here are my favorites:

-          Coming up with new stories. My brain (now that I’m no longer in burnout) is CONSTANTLY sparking on new ideas which I am so keen to develop. So many ideas, so little time!

-          Writing. I love the ACTUAL process of writing. Which is not a guarantee with every author! Plenty of authors (including me at times) prefer to HAVE WRITTEN than to actually write. But, at least right now, the ACT of writing is my absolute favorite.

-          Writing FAST. I honestly love getting deep into a book and blasting it from zero to DONE in four/five weeks. It’s an adrenaline rush and creatively satisfying. (And, oddly enough, I’ve never found that spending more time on a book produces a better book. Fast works for me if my creative brain is in gear.)

Here are lesser favorites I do enjoy but not as much:

-          Formatting. I like (but don’t love) the creative process of creating a beautifully formatted book. This is a job I technically COULD farm out, but the control freak in me still likes to be in command of this process, so . . .

-          Creating ad copy and ad images. Part of my job as an independent author is to advertise my work. And I like (but don’t love) creating eye-catching ad images and intriguing ad copy.

-          Working with artists—cover designers and illustrators. This is always exciting, and while it can be time-consuming, I do enjoy working hand-in-hand with an artist to see a vision come to life!

-          My newsletter. I actually quite like this. It’s always fun to sit down and organize a newsletter three times a month. Is it as fun as writing books? No! LOL. But I do enjoy it.

-          Blogging. Another thing I don’t HAVE to do to be a happy person, but I do enjoy it. Technically this isn’t part of my job, as I don’t have any intention of monetizing this blog. It’s just a place to put my writing-related thoughts and behind-the-scenes stories. But I enjoy it. (Again, not as much as actually writing books!)

And here are the work-related things I just absolutely detest:

-          Social media. I HATE the constant pose and push, the trying to present myself as one thing while all the while FEELING a completely different way. (Like, trying to present myself as some sort of super-successful author when I’m really just struggling along day after day. Ugh.) I hate flogging my books while pretending that’s NOT what I’m doing, when in reality that’s ALL that I’m doing. I hate having to constantly watch what other authors are doing so that I can try to copy their successes, and the inevitable comparison game that preys on my mind and drains my creativity. Just . . . EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.

-          The IDEA of “write to market.” Not even necessarily the REALITY of “write to market,” but the IDEA that it has become in my head. Which is the idea that I need to look at whatever the absolute top sellers in my genre are doing and then somehow copy that. The truth is . . . I don’t read the top sellers in my genre. Because I don’t enjoy them. (No shade on either those who enjoy them or those who write them! My tastes just don’t currently coincide with what’s hot on the market right now.) So if I don’t enjoy them, why would I try to write them? But if I feel like I HAVE to write stories like those in order to be “successful” (whatever that means), my creativity just completely dries up.

Honestly, those are the two big drains on my creativity. The more I get caught up in either of those two fields, the more frustrated and depressed I become.

So in the spirit of alignment . . . what am I going to do about these established factors?

Starting with the detestables:

-          NO MORE SOCIAL MEDIA. In 2026, I am committing to avoiding social media ENTIRELY. No TikTok. No Instagram. No Facebook. I’m out of there. Now you will still see “me” posting regularly . . . but that’s actually my PA, just keeping my social media presence “alive” (because it’s a marketing avenue I can’t really avoid to ignore completely). But I -- myself, the real me -- am avoiding the social media space for the next year.

-          NO MORE WRITING TO MARKET. At least, not in the sense I’ve had fixed in my head, i.e. trying to emulate the top sellers. Not that I was ever any good at emulating the top sellers anyway! LOL. But I’m really going to focus hard on MY ideas, even those that seem a bit “out there” and less likely to be “big hits.” For instance, I’m going back to indulging in sloooooooooooooooooow-burn romance. Which is my favorite. Y’all might have to wait for books and books and boooks before you even get a kiss, much less any spicy content! Because slow-burn is my FAVORITE, and I don’t care (much) that the market seems to be more focused on insta-lust and lots of spice in book 1. It’s not for me! Also, I’m going to indulge in some of the more “conceptual” ideas I’ve been avoiding because I’m afraid my audience won’t follow me. Because there have to be readers out there who love what I love, right? Right???

Now for the likes-don’t-loves:

-          I’m going to keep formatting. For now. I just don’t feel ready to hire out.

-          I’m going to keep creating my own ad images and copy as well, because I just don’t know if I would trust this to anyone else. For better or for worse, this job is on me!

-          And of course, I’m going to keep working with cover designers and artists. I’m on the schedule in 2026 to have SO MANY INCREDIBLE WORKS OF ART created with SO MANY INCREDIBLE artists . . . it’s actually a bit overwhelming!!! But it’s going to be fun.

-         Obviously I’m going to keep doing my newsletter. I’ve been running a newsletter for so long, since before I even started publishing! I can’t imagine NOT doing it.

-          And I’ll probably keep blogging. But it will continue to be very sporadic, as-I-have-time-and-inspiration. Just a place to DUMP thoughts swirling in my head, with absolutely no expectation that anyone else will read them! LOL

As for the loves:

When looking at the list of loves, one thing has become clear to me. I need not only to WRITE more . . . I need to PUBLISH more. Because with as many ideas as I have, with as fast as I enjoy writing them, it just doesn’t make sense to produce at such a slow pace.

So I am planning on going back to the style of storytelling/publishing I was doing back at the beginning of my career—rapid-release of shorter novels.

Basically, all of my ideas for trilogies are getting broken up into six shorter books (each with their own climax and resolution, so they feel satisfying!), and I intend to rapid-release them, either once a month or every-other-month (depending on how far ahead I am in the actual writing).

My hope is that this will enable to me actually make my way through all of these crazy ideas of mine more quickly, rather than getting bogged down in the creation of large volumes.

This will also mean that my initial focus will be ebook-only for these releases, with print editions happening after the fact. (But when they come, the print editions may just be nicer/fancier than they’ve been in the past . . . we’ll just see if I can pull it off!)

Anyway, we are going to TRY this method for 2026 with the rapid release of seven novels over seven months, then (if all goes well) carry that plan over to 2027 with another six-book series.

___________________________

BUT – all of these are just thoughts and plans, not guarantees! But I feel excited at the prospect of bringing my career into alignment with MY STRENGTHS rather than fighting desperately to compensate for my weaknesses. It may not be the path to A-list success or anything glamorous like that . . . but I hope to be a happy, creative, and prolific storyteller.

And that will be success enough.