In the month of December, I’m writing five essays on my New Year’s Resolutions that I’m committing to for 2017. Read the first essay on “More Art” and stay tuned for one essay each on what I want to create, cultivate, give back, and my 2017 challenge goal. I encourage you to join me in reflecting on your goals for the New Year!
In this second of five essays, I’m focusing on what I want to create in 2017.
In mid-2016, I decided to embrace my identity as an academic creator and maker.
For my day job, I published over 30 podcast episodes, wrote a large research grant, created two reports for original research results with accompanying webinar presentations, drafted a peer-reviewed article, and put together proposals for two edited book collections with a range of collaborators.
On the side of my day job, I launched a new podcast, created three new websites, began writing a weekly newsletter essay to keep my writing muscles warm in the midst of other more academic writing projects, did a bunch of creative stuff to promote my second book, began writing my third book, pitched a new book series to my publisher, and began the process to launch an LLC.
This was also definitely the year that I discovered the power of social media (I’ve previously written about my love for Canva) and played around more than I ever have with graphic design. I upped my social media game in 2016 with the help of Edgar and developed a more consistent presence on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
I think I can safely say that 2016 has been my most creative year yet and it’s definitely going to spill over into the New Year…
In 2017, I have a lot on my plate in terms of what I’ve already committed to, so I know that I’ll definitely be creating:
- My third book. This is probably the project that I’m most excited about and challenged by. I’ve gotten three chapters partially drafted and I’m planning a 10-day writing retreat at the end of 2016 to see how much more I can get written before the New Year starts. The manuscript is due to my editor in summer 2017, so finishing is a top priority for the first half of 2017.
- Podcast episodes. I‘m now a podcast producer/host for two weekly shows and both will continue production in 2017. I have a lot of ideas for how to grow both shows in the New Year and I’m super excited to continue to connect with audiences through this medium. (I talk more about my love of podcasts here and more about how I produce them here and here.)
- Weekly essays. I don’t think I realized how refreshing it would be for me to have weekly writing deadlines. I wrote about my decision to produce more regular content here, and it was one of the best decisions I made in 2016. In 2017, if all goes as planned, my newsletter readers will see 52 new essays posted throughout the year.
- Two edited collections. These two projects also have due dates in summer 2017 and I’m already starting to get initial chapter drafts from contributors. Both of these books have a ton of potential for being promoted at academic conferences and beyond, so I’m excited to get creative with my collaborators and our publisher to see what ideas we can come up with to help spread the word about these books.
- A new academic book series. My editor is pitching this new series this month to get final approval, so fingers crossed that part of my 2017 will be spent nurturing the authors who are committed to the first three books we hope to publish. This series is one of the most creative projects I’ve worked on and I’m really looking forward to seeing our vision come together.
- Data. For my day job, we’re going to be launching some new research projects in 2017 with the help of a new staff member. I. Can’t. Wait.
I also have some stuff that I’m choosing to create without outside commitments holding me to it:
- A top-secret third book promotional project. Stay tuned for something that I’ve already started working on to help promote my third book and that I’ll continue creating in 2017. This project is something I’ve never seen anyone else do, so I’m very interested in how people will respond to it. I can’t say much more, but I’ll definitely be sharing more in the New Year as I get closer to finishing the book.
- A course on academic book promotion. I learned a LOT promoting my second book and would really like to share that information with other academics who are also working to get their books out in the world. This is a project I hope to launch in summer 2017, so stay tuned for more information on this as well.
As you can see, creating is one of my absolute favorite things, so 2017 is looking very bright.
To think on:
- What do you want to create in 2017?
- What creative projects are you most excited about in the New Year?