4 days into 2017... How are those resolutions going?

There is something about the start of a new year that gives us courage to say this time will be different. All of us go there at some stage. If you don't believe me, just read your Facebook / Twitter feed on Old Years Eve.

This year I going to ...

get into shape

get out of debt

finish that novel

spend more time with my kids

get organised 

quit being negative

be happy

bath the dog at least twice a month

Sound familiar? So we leap from one year to the next, hoping for change. Some manage to stick to it and if you're one of those, you have my undying admiration! For me, none of it has ever stuck and I think I've figured out why.

Resolutions (goals, if you will) are decisions we make and attempt to see through in our own strength. This can be a set up for failure. Consider this:

• Most new years resolutions are made during the December holidays. You're on holiday. You're going to bed when you feel like it and waking up without your alarm clock. You have time to think and reassess. The pace of life is different, less rushed. The demands of normal life have been shoved into a cupboard with duct tape over their mouths.

• We make resolutions and stick to them by the sheer force of our will. For some of us, this backfires spectacularly. I've discovered that my won't power, is far stronger than my will power. The moment I eyeball myself in the mirror and declare I will stop eating chocolate this year, without fail, the rebel in me rises up with a smirk and says Oh, really? 

• We don't live in a vacuum. We are surrounded by family and circumstances who aren't bothered in the slightest about our resolutions and for the most part won't help us keep them. Trust me, I have two teenagers and one pre-teen. Seldom are my tidy plans and their social lives in sync.

But there is hope for those of us who long for change, and it's to be found at the feet of Jesus. We don't need another set of resolutions, those impossible lines that one can neither limbo under or vault over. 

What we need is vision. God-inspired, God-breathed, God-empowered vision. 

When you sit with Him and He says... Okay girl, how about we tackle this debt?. You're in a good place to start working on it because you are doing it hand-in-hand with the One who is able to do what you alone cannot.

Vision is seeing your life through His eyes and walking it into reality holding His hand. Not relying on yourself, but fully trusting Him and His ability to help you.

So I guess you could say I do have a new years resolution - no more resolutions!

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Setting Goals; Setting Prices

One of the hardest decisions in publishing one’s own book is setting the price. Universal wisdom on the subject is anything but universal: “Don’t set it too low,” “Don’t set it too high,” “Undervaluing your work means it will be ignored.” “Give away as many as you can to get readers hooked.” “Start the series free, then charge for the rest.”

Right. It’s all good advice, if a little vague—what is too low or too high? And different projects and different circumstances demand different pricing. When I began work on my long-held goal to bring 

my six-book series The Cambridge Chronicles on the work of the 18^th and 19^th century Evangelical Anglicans out in ebook I decided I would make the first book in the series permanently free. I hoped readers would be sufficiently hooked that I could then charge perhaps as much as $4.99 for the succeeding books.

I also decided to re-package the whole series to emphasize the romance element of the stories, rather than focusing mainly on the history. I renamed the series Where There is Love, and gave each story a Where Love. . . title. Ken Raney designed gorgeous, romantic covers for me. I duly uploaded book 1 Where Love Begins, making it free on Smashwords and Nook. Then I hit my first snag. Amazon doesn’t allow such charitable views. Still, .99 wasn’t bad, I figured.

I was surprised. First, I was over-whelmed by the number of Smashwords downloads (1020 currently) and disappointed by the nearly nil Amazon sales. The pattern has followed with the release of the next two books in the series. I can safely assume it will be true for the next three to follow.

This made me re-think my goals. Why am I doing this? The answer was easy— if nothing else about this project has been easy. I am passionate about these stories. I want readers to know what these men and women of faith endured to build the Kingdom. I pray daily that readers will be inspired by these stories in a way that will renew their own faith and help bring revival to our own day.

With that ambition in mind I realized that holding out for more remuneration paled in comparison. Besides, these books didn’t owe me anything. They had been published by Victor Books, and republished by Crossway; released in large print, and an omnibus edition; extracts had been printed as short stories in a magazine and in an anthology. I was indebted to them, rather than the reverse.

With that realization I have been freed to make the decision make the entire series free on Smashwords and Nook and the minimal .99 on Amazon. Not every project will allow that freedom. Many books require extensive research which has not yet paid back. Some books need to reach an audience that will believe a book they paid for has more value. And, of course, only in an indie publishing project is the writer allowed a say in the pricing.

Still, in this aspect in the crazy publishing world, as in all other areas of our endeavors, clarifying our goals for each book and keeping those goals foremost can help in making tough decisions.

What are your goals for your current project?

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 50 novels of history, mystery and romance featuring British Christian history. You can learn more about all her books, see pictures of her research trips and garden on her website and follow her on Facebook.