My 2023 Business Plan

Now that all the resolutions posts have come and gone, it’s time to share my business plan.

This is one of those posts that always seems to draw attention and good comments. I write one of these out every year and share it. Keeps me focused.

2021 and 2022 were brutal. This caused me to set realistic goals last year, and the theme will continue into 2023.

Everything needs an edit, but I have book one of a Space Opera finished. There is another Lizzie and the hat book in the same status. I’m very close to finishing Once Upon a Time in the Swamp, a stand-alone title.

Setting the bar at two publications seems realistic enough. One Hat story and the solo title should work out well. There is still one draft to finish and a lot of editing, but it sounds entirely possible. I could have a third one, but that will be gravy above and beyond the goal.

Most of my focus is going to be on drafts. I have another fun Hat tale ready to go. I have years of material for that series. I need to write the second volume of the space opera and that’s really my target project.

Aside from that, I want to work on some storyboards for new things. I tend to plot years ahead, but admit to not always making a storyboard for the hat stories. I dwell on some of this stuff so long I don’t always have to map it out.

With these new tales, I’d feel more comfortable with a good storyboard. One of the things I’ve done with The Hat Series is keep the POV with my main characters who are not witches. We get glimpses that can make readers think, but not a deep dive into my witchcraft world. One of my new ideas is tentatively called Dash Goodman and the Last of the Mud Men. Dash would be the main character and readers would get a closer look at the magical world. Don’t get too excited, because this might be two years, or more, out.

I already know what kind of airplane Dash will steal, who his sidekick/girlfriend will be, and even a familiar that he’s going to summon. I can introduce some Native American culture into this one. This one requires some mystery boxes and ties that I haven’t quite gotten nailed down. It will cover several things that I’ve alluded to in the main series, but haven’t gone into detail.

I have another one that ties much more loosely to the Hat world about two kids in Detroit. My idea is to get a bit of Indiana Jones style while exploring abandoned homes and businesses. Ultimately, one of the items they recover would lead one of them to become a magical adapter. In the main series we’ve touched upon a tiny bit of that. My bigger intent would be to have a fun adventure story. I’ve already discovered the Maguffin from a bit of American history. Less committed to this one, but it has potential.

I had a new character come to me almost fully formed and I want to explore what she might have to offer. She feels like she’s reaching her expiration date, has an upper teenage son, and a dead end job. She’s a reporter who is only allowed to do fluff pieces and gossip articles. She wants to do more, but her whole organization avoids hard news because people want fluff, character assassination, and gossip. Somehow, this one feels like uncovering proof that aliens visited Earth at some point. Not completely sure about her, but she’s a fun character with some interesting quirks. I kind of want her to look up a discredited former reporter to learn the ropes, but he was revealed as a workplace womanizer and has a really bad attitude. I already have a bittersweet ending for it that works for this era.

Main Goals:

1.) Publish Goodbye Old Paint and Once Upon a Time in the Swamp.

2.) Draft the second book of the space opera and another hat tale. (Probably the one with the Headless Horseman and the horse racing world.)

Gravy Goals:

A.) Draft another story. Maybe the Red Pill/Blue Pill tale for Lizzie and the hat unless the Space Opera takes on some momentum in my mind.

B.) Storyboard my guts out on these other tales.

C.) Consider if my African Adventure tale could be valid.

It may look like a lot, but there are only two main goals. (Okay, each of those has two commitments.) I think that much is realistic, and anything else that happens is gravy.