Hit 2009 Hard.

This is the final week of 2008. Every year I look at the final 10 weeks of the year and it seems an eternity until Christmas. Then in a blink they're gone. Two of my kids have birtdays in those last 10 weeks. There are holidays, family gatherings, dance recitals, more family gatherings, snow storms, more family gatherings...and family gatherings.

So as I stand on the edge of 2008/2009 I take a deep breath and prepare to jump in to the new year.

This year I'm hitting 2009 hard. I have a few goals personally and professionally. The final quarter of 2008 has been a preparation time. I feel as if I've been stretching back in to a giant rubber band. All I have to do is lift my feet and the tension of the rubber band will be too much and I will be slung in to the new year.

Spiritually January is a month of prayer and fasting in our church-and I am participating.
Emotionally January is a month where I'm spending more time reading for pleasure.
As Tiffany January is a month where my husband and I are focusing on building stronger relationships in our family [us and our kids].
Financially January is a month I'm working hard to reach specific goals.
Professionally January is a month where I will jumpstart the year with webinars, articles and public speaking. I've never attempted all 3 in one month-so it will be an interesting challenge.

Everyone wants to make New Years Resolutions but few people take the time to prepare for them. Determine what you'd like to accomplish in 2009 and make January your foundational month. For writers I have a mentorship program that lasts 3 months. The first month is $40, months 2 and 3 are $30 each. You receive "Intro to the Writer's Life" and "Creating a platform" [which together retail for $50].

If you'd like a one hour brainstorming/goal setting session it is only $20.

If you need free then read back through my blogs from January 2008 forward. See what ideas you can glean from them. Go to the library and borrow "Writing the Breakout Novel" and "On Writing" by Stephen King.

If you got gift cards then look at my suggested reading list and see what you can find to build your writing business this year.

But determine to do something. Not a New Year's Resolution-but a foundational shift in your writing business.

My first goal for 2009 is to double our readership that subscribes to the blog by the end of January. You can help me with that by telling a couple of writer friends about this blog and asking them to join.

I'd also like to visit 20 different blogs in January. If you'd like to host me on your blog contact me through my website contact page and we'll get it set up.

Make January 2009 YOUR year. We'll have a number of great announcements in 2009 and I look forward to sharing them.

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your writing business this year. It is my pleasure to share.

And do you have a question? Send it to me via my contact page and we'll talk about it here.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.