Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Bookish Promises for 2024



Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.    

Here we are at Tuesday again. Hope you're having a great week so far. This week it is time to talk about bookish goals/intentions/objectives, or as I call them, promises. I switched to the word "promises" in 2022 because that word motivates me more than the others. Sometimes, I have to trick my brain. Here are my...

Top Ten Bookish Promises for 2024 

Complete my Goodreads Challenge.

This is the one and only challenge I complete each year. I am off to a good start, with four books read, and only one of them is a picture book. I'm shooting for 75 books this year, which is five more than I read in 2023. The goal will increase if I hit it before December 31.

Read 15 books from my TBR Pile.

That is five more than I read from my TBR Pile in 2023. Two of the four books I've already read are from my TBR Pile, so I'm feeling good about this goal. I know I'll want to read through the remaining books in the Love Comes Softly series this year. 

Read 8 leadership books from my TBR Pile.

Though I read 10 leadership books in 2024, I can't say nonfiction has commanded most of my attention the last few years. Currently, I have 12 non-fiction titles on Audible; most of them personal growth books. Last week, I downloaded John Maxwell's Good Leaders Ask Great Questions and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: 25th Anniversary

Read one book in a genre I don't usually read. 

This is an annual promise, because I like to expand my horizons beyond beloved genres you'll find here. Usually that means something in the fantasy or science fiction realm. We will see what 2024 brings.

Weed out my Goodreads and Kindle freebie "Want to Read" lists.

I started this in December. Though this is a low priority, a more manageable list of each would make my reading life easier. 

Finish editing my NaNoWriMo project.

I am on the third round of edits since completing this project in November. After this, I will give it a final readthrough to pick up punctuation errors. Then I will be ready to draft a query letter.

Plan out the next steps in my writing career.

This is a tough one. I'm conflicted about the direction I wish to go. I've had success as a children's author. Not sell a 100,000 books success, but I'm happy with what I've accomplished. However, writing Home for the Heart in November made me so happy. Is it time for me to consider a new path? Should I switch to writing for adults? Would contemporary romance be a genre that will continue to thrill me for years to come? Never mind the rebranding and substantial marketing effort this would involve.

Re-organize my works in progress.

If I re-organize my WIPs, this could help me decide if I change directions with my writing. My notebooks are filled with dozens of neat ideas for children's books. Would reconsidering them spark more inspiration?

Submit one short story.

This is a carryover from 2023. I had one short story published in 2022. Getting paid for your work is motivating. I will revisit that online magazine first. If I don't feel I have anything to offer them, I will browse through my Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market book.

Participate in NaNoWriMo.

Now that I have a good process, if I come up with a solid idea, I will tackle NaNoWriMo again. It wasn't as intimidating as I remembered it to be. 

That's it for my list. What are you hoping to accomplish in 2024? Do we share any of the same goals?

11 comments:

Snapdragon said...

Good luck on your goals.

Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse said...

Ooo! I love that you're weeding out your GR TBR and your Kindle. I did that in 2020 when there was not a lot to do and it took some time, but it was fun. Once I got rid of everything I knew I wasn't going to read, I made an excel spreadsheet with the leftover books and dedicated time to reading them. I actually read the rest of a year. Now, I just read what I want when I want. I try not to let stuff sit on it too long. Good luck!

curlygeek04 said...

Good luck with your reading and writing goals! I like the idea of reading books on leadership, but I haven't found a lot of good ones.

Kathryn T said...

I like the idea of promises. All the best with your writing ones, especially the decisions about where to go next.

Cindy said...

Yes to weeding out all the lists, LOL! Good luck on all your promises!!

Cheryl Malandrinos said...

Thanks, Deanna. I've been meaning to weed out for years. I am fully committed to it now because I want to work with less.

Thanks, curlygeek04. Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell is a leadership book I could recommend.

Thanks, Kathryn. Decisions are so tough in regards to that.

Thanks, Cindy.

Appreciate the comments, everyone!

Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense said...

Lots of luck with all of your writing goals!

Lark said...

I wish you luck finishing your NaNoWriMo project! And I love your goal...or promise...to read so many books from your own TBR pile. I should try and do that this year, too. Good luck with all of these. :D

Emily said...

They are great promises. I keep mine fairly relaxed as I am quite a slow reader and don't want to pressure myself. Saying that I do need to concentrate on getting my TBR pile down!!

Have a great week and good luck with your goals!

Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/16/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-goals-for-2024/

Literary Feline said...

I think your reading and writing goals are great, Cheryl! My goal is to complete my Goodreads Challenge this month. I have two books to go! Obviously, it's not a challenge I take too seriously, but it does feel good to know I've accomplished at least one. And I like seeing the goal percentage rise beyond 100%. Good luck with all of your goals!

Susan said...

Sounds like you've got some big goals and decisions to work on in 2024. Best of luck to you!

Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!