Platform + Goals

Hello writers and friends. As we attempt to establish ourselves it is important to build a platform. Many of us are already doing what we can. Working tirelessly to update our blogs, connecting with people on social networking sites and building experience in our genre/area. Today I wanted to share with you some advice I got from another writer: submit short stories and other pieces to literary magazines for publication. In doing this, it gets your name out there and (depending on who publishes it) adds a bullet point on your writer's resume.

There is a contest for the month of August that I thought a few of you might want to submit to. You may already have written something you can use. If not, it shouldn't take too much time to write something up.

Glimmer Train Press, Inc. is holding a short story (of up to 3,000 words) competition with all entries due by August 31. Click here for more details.

The following is directly from their website:

• 1st place wins $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue.
• 2nd-place: $500
• 3rd-place:$300

Moving on. I have a question: do you stretch yourself by setting word count or page goals per day, week, or month if at all? Do you think setting goals is imperative to success? Who checks on your goals?

Where I'm at with my goals:
Articles: 3 of 5 down for the month, 2 more submitted- waiting for response
Book: geez, I need help here, where's my motivation?
Blog: posting pretty regularly, want to get to a weekday schedule with optional weekends; reading and writing on blogs has really helped and inspired me of late. Thanks to all of you!