What is my goal?

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about self publishing, and so many of the rock stars of the solo publishing world have suggested to make a clear, defined goal of what you want out of your writing endeavours. Hmm... That's a really good question, because I've never thought about what I truly wanted out of my writing. Really for me its always been about creating a good story, making it the best it can be, and looking forward to hearing the readers who have read my work say "I really loved it when..." or "Can you write a sequel? Because that was awesome!" But now that I am looking to become a published author, I really should have some goals in place for both my books and my website. So after several weeks of really thinking about the question of, "what are your goals?" I think I finally know what I want.


First and foremost, I want to tell a good story and write it well, because writing itself is what all this is about. Its something I'll continue to do whether I become financially successful from it or not, because its part of who I am, and its something that has always brought me happiness even in the darkest of times. So above all, I want to create good works of fiction.


Second comes the other side of writing: reading. After the countless hours I've done on researching self publishing vs traditional publishing, self publishing is the route I want to go, and now that I'm getting knee deep into actually having a finished product out there, I have so much more respect for those that do self publish. And, I've read a few self published books that no agent or traditional publisher wanted to touch, and it made me so sad to think that I never would have found these talented writers with wonderful stories to tell if they hadn't gotten it out there themselves because the traditional gate keepers thought their work "wasn't right for them" or "this won't sell." Showed you wrong because I bought it, and one of those books I had no idea was self published before I bought it. So the second goal of this is to find other indie authors and spread the word about their great books. After all, who doesn't like sharing thoughts and opinions on great books with friends?


Third comes the business side. Realistically, I would consider myself a roaring success if I could earn a steady couple hundred bucks a month from my books and this website. I have no delusions about becoming one of those top earning authors who never has to have a day job again because I make so much from writing, but of course sales are a sort of indicator of success, and everyone wants to be successful while having fun. And really, I think $200 a month from a website and book sales is a realistic goal I could achieve.


So there you have it, my writing goals. I think most authors have the same goals whether they're aware of them or not, because really its all about telling a story the best you know how, sharing stories you love that were written by others, and hopefully making a little extra money on the side for your hard work. What do you think?