Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Not everyone does. (I don’t.) And many of those who do make resolutions find that by the middle of February, if not the middle of January, they’ve broken several if not all of them.

Here are some resolutions we hope you’ll consider, most of which should be easy to keep. Resolve to:

~ Read more

~ If you have kids, assuming they’re younger than teenagers, read to your kids, even if they’re old enough to read by themselves

~ Leave reviews of books you’ve enjoyed reading

~ If you didn’t enjoy a book, don’t leave a snarky review

~ Explore different genres. Don’t read ONLY sci-fi or ONLY romances or ONLY biographies or ONLY mysteries

~ If you enjoy a particular writer’s work, send him/her an email (c/o their publisher if you can’t find their website with a contact link) or a FB message telling them you enjoyed their book(s) and why

~ If you’re a writer, make a genuine effort to set some time aside every day to write

~ If you’re a writer, don’t hide your light under a bushel. Talk up your books. Tell people about them. Ask for ideas for publicizing them. Have a pin (the political campaign kind) made up that says something like ASK ME ABOUT MY NEWEST BOOK or ASK ME ABOUT MY POLITICAL THRILLER or ASK ME ABOUT MY SPY NOVEL or ASK ME WHO (name of the protagonist in your book) IS or (for a kids’ book about a dragon) ASK ME ABOUT MY DRAGON. You can pin it to your clothing or your fanny pack or do as I do if you’re a woman and pin it to your purse.

~ If you’re a writer, resolve to help other writers in any way you can. They’re not “the competition.” They’re fellow strugglers in the quest to get noticed, get read, and earn royalties