Another year has lurched into motion.
This year I want to set some public goals for myself so that in December I can look back and observe the wasteland of my failed ambitions (kinda-sorta-joking-but-not-really).
As part of the goal setting, I’m also trying to be more realistic about what I can achieve to reduce the blight in those inevitable badlands.
So here we GO.
2026 goals
The Slip Saga
2026 is shaping up to be a year of publishing for the Slip Saga, thankfully.
A Phantom in the Forge
Judging by some fairly conservative estimates, I should be able to launch the Kickstarter for A Phantom in the Forge around mid-year.
I’ll also have a sneaky surprise during the campaign 😎, can you guess what it might be?
Book 3 of the Slip Saga
As it stands now, I’m intending to end the Slip Saga with a third and final book, rather than the five I initially had planned. I don’t want to have the series run on longer than necessary, and at this stage my instinct is that a trilogy will be a stronger finish. That could change, of course, but that’s where matters stand right now.
While I know the main beats and arcs in Book 3 already, I’d like to draw up a more detailed outline before I release A Phantom in the Forge, so that’s also on the cards for this year.
New Space Fantasy Series
I aim to start querying agents for the first book of my new space fantasy series in February once I’ve incorporated the feedback from my lovely beta readers.
Trying to score a traditional publishing deal can take a long time, so once I’ve completed Books 2 and 1.5 of the Slip Saga, I plan to use that time to work on the rest of the series.
For this series, I’d like to try penning the first drafts of each of the planned five book before going back to revise them all, instead of doing them one at a time.
That way, if the response from agents and publishers is tepid, I’ll have an epic Kickstarter launch ready to go with multiple books to offer you. I’m not sure which outcome I’m more excited about!
However, this focus on the new series will necessarily mean that the third book in the Slip Saga will take a back seat for a while. I hope that’s not too disappointing to hear.
Newsletter
I’d like to be more consistent with my newsletter schedule this year (and importantly, actually do it). I’d also like to start sharing what I’m reading, my thoughts on those stories, and what I’m planning to read next. My aim is to do that perhaps every month or two, since I’m not a particularly fast reader.
Hopefully, you’re keen to see me in your inbox more regularly 😀
Goal summary
To summarise, here are my main goals for 2026:
- Publish A Phantom in the Forge via Kickstarter
- Outline Book 3 of the Slip Saga
- Send out first book of new series to agents and publishers
- Write the first drafts of Books 2 and (maybe) 3 of the new series
- Stick to a fortnightly newsletter schedule
… and that’s probably ambitious enough for one year!
To sign off, I’ve give my future self a little wave for when I come back to this to see how I did:
👋👋👋👋👋👋🖕
(couldn’t help myself 😂)