Now 2009 is starting off with a bang!  Huge congratulations to Erica Ridley, who has just announced her first sale–a two-book deal with Kensington.  Hooray, Erica!  Congratulations are also in order for former Fanlitter Lori Brighton, who also recently inked a two-book deal, also with Kensington!

My own exciting news: As of today, all three of my books are available for pre-order on Amazon!  Here are links to Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion.  (I just have to stop once again and marvel at the fact that I actually got to keep my books’ original titles!  How often does that happen?) Over the holidays, I completed my copy edits on SIREN, and now it’s back to working on Stud Club while I wait for book three edits.

Everyone’s talking and blogging about New Year’s resolutions this week, it seems.  Well, 2009 is going to be a busy year for me.  I have three novels and one e-book novella releasing.  I plan to complete at least 2-3 more new books.  I’m serving on the board of my local RWA chapter, and I’ll be sending my first dareling off to kindergarten.  So I think it’s appropriate to renew my first resolution from last year:  “Maintain tenuous hold on sanity.”  Coincidentally (or not), it was the only one of my three 2008 resolutions I managed to keep.  The other two were “Walk more to prevent brain atrophy” and “Go to England”.  I’m renewing those, as well.  Actually, I think a walking tour of England is in order!

Aside from resolutions, I do have professional goals for the year.  It’s very easy to get all fretted up about promotion, as a new author.  I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about it–not just the how’s of it, but the wherefore’s.  I do not have a “sales” personality–in my entire life, I’ve had exactly one job that involved selling goods for profit, and I detested it (even though I was selling books!).  I am the girl who would rather sit at home and miss the Girl Scout camping trip than go door-to-door hawking 48 boxes of perfectly delicious cookies to the neighbors.

My complete aversion to commercial enterprise (I’m reminded of that whole speech from Say Anything–”I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything…” Here, read the t-shirt.) was largely responsible for my career choice.  In addition to being a writer, I’m also a public librarian.  And I had a little epiphany this week:  librarianship (at least, the kind I practice) is all about book promotion.  The best part of the job is discovering great books and putting them in the hands of people who will love them, too.  It’s connecting with fellow readers–people who adore books, live for compelling stories, and are forever in search of the next great read.  Aha, I said!  I don’t need to force myself into a “sales” role to market my books.  I can take a cue from my years of librarianship instead.  When I stopped thinking about it in terms of sales and dollars, and started focusing on ways of connecting my books with the readers who might enjoy them, promotion suddenly seemed like a whole new endeavor–one that almost sounded fun!

My promotional strategy for the year is this:  To continue writing the best stories I know how to write, and to get those stories into the hands of readers who’ll enjoy them. No buying, selling, or processing required.  (Unless you count word processing, which I don’t.)

So, which of last year’s resolutions did you keep?  Are you extending any for a second (or third or tenth) year?