A full-service literary agency that focuses on books for the Christian market.

Setting Goals for Your Writing Career

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By Wendy Lawton

As agents, we often talk about our roles in career planning. That is often misunderstood. There are aspects in our control and aspects completely out of our control. Let me list a few of those:

Goals within our control—

  • Sending out only the finest proposals
  • Never knowingly making a sale that will jeopardize future career growth for our client. (We call that making only strategic sales.)
  • Working with our client to come up with outstanding book concepts

Goals outside our control—

  • Timing of the first sale
  • Changes within the publishing houses pre- or post- sale
  • Publishers’ platform expectations

I could go on and on. We work hard to set goals in the areas we can control and we cover those out-of-control areas with prayer. We can’t control who will make offers on the books we propose but we can hold ourselves to a goal of getting excellent proposals out on a regular basis. It is the same for writers who want to make a career of writing traditionally published books.

I often hear writers say:

  • I plan to have a book on the store shelves within x-number of  years.
  • I will win a Christy, a Book of the Year, a Pulitzer Prize or a Rita Award multiple times.
  • I want to make the New York Times Bestseller List.

What can you do to make those happen? You might say, “Have a top notch agent,” or “Write an extraordinary book,” but the truth is, all of the above goals depend on other people. They are out of your control. Those are dreams (and good dreams) but they are not goals.

So what are some things that could be considered goals?

  • I’ll add 1000 readers to my newsletter list this year.
  • I promise to start writing a new book soon after finishing a book whether it is sold or not.
  • I pledge to keep learning. Reading books on writing. Attending classes.
  • I’ll seek tougher, more experienced critique partners.
  • I will build my colleague “bank account” by writing reviews for other authors and helping them with marketing so that when my turn comes around, I’ll have plenty of help.

Can you add to the list of goals within your control? Please comment and share some with us.

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  1. The most challenging for me is disciplining myself (and my family) to keep my writing time sacred. Next is keeping everything organized. With a half dozen ideas competing for time in my head and my keyboard, it’s important to set everyone down and make them be quiet until it’s their turn to speak. Sort of like bringing order to a noisy classroom, says the old English teacher.

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  3. To pray! Not so much, “Lord, get me a great agent, the best publisher and astounding success,” but “Your will be done–You know which readers need these words and the best way to get it to them.” Over the years, God has refined the picture of future readers I keep in my head. He’s added reluctant readers to that audience, people who think the Bible is too big and too hard for them. I’ve had to rework some of my favorite projects, putting the same ideas in simple words and short sentences. I was thinking, “I’m done,” but God was saying “Do-over.” Thus my new goal: run my work through a readability index, aiming for 4th-5th grade reading levels–easy reading adult thoughts.

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  4. These are the goals I’ve set:
    to write and grow and learn.
    It’s not the accolades I get,
    still less how much I earn.
    I write a very simple story
    in many gay disguises,
    all about God’s bright glory
    wrapped up in His surprises.
    As iron sharpens iron,
    this tale may sharpen me,
    disciplining to discern,
    and compelling eyes to see.
    When the last earthly draft is done,
    the real work will have just begun.

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  5. Wendy, I have long distinguished between a dream and a vision, and I suppose there are many overlaps between goals and vision. A dream, as you noted says, “Gee, that would be nice,” whereas a goal or a vision says, “That is where I am going, and these are the steps I must climb to get me there.”

    As always, thank you for the generous sharing of your wisdom and insight.

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  7. Thank you, dear Wendy, for the comforting reminder we can pray over the things we don’t have control over.
    I can control how early I go to bed so that I can rise early to enjoy uninterrupted writing time. As a grandmother helping out with childcare, I’ve been going to bed earlier than everyone else in the house. Earplugs are wonderful.
    Blessings ~ Wendy Mac

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  8. Goal = Purpose = Fun

    The only writing goal that’s left
    is to make you share a smile;
    to show that I am not bereft,
    and that I’ll go out in style.
    Last week brought out the shade
    of my personal end of days,
    but please know that I’ve got it made
    in the very best of ways.
    Wife and dogs, they got me covered,
    and I found unexpected skill
    now known to all whom I have bothered
    with inexhaustible doggerel.
    I spread ’em wide, across the land,
    dreadful rhymes to drive you mad.

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  9. I so appreciate how you differentiate between attainable goals and those that are more like “I hope . . . ”

    There are things we can control, that we can intentionally work toward and have some control over the outcome. And there are things that need more than the “I think I can! I think I can!” mentality.

    Even our goals need God’s influence, but those “beyond our control” hopes/goals are impossible without God’s intervention. Which is why I love the reminder to pray.

    Great post!

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  11. I am super thankful for my tougher, more experienced crit partners. I knew I needed it, but I didn’t know where to start. I’m really glad that goal found me, through ACFW and my Dallas area group.

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