“Well-conceived goals, when acted upon, can prevent you from getting distracted and wasting time on other less vital tasks. In short, they give you direction, and get you there faster.”

In this chapbook, Lee Murray—the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the Taine McKenna series and editor of Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women—lays out a systematic approach to establishing a vision and setting goals that help aspiring authors build sustainable and long-term careers.

Drawing on the experience and techniques that guided her own rise as an author, Goal Setting (Literally) features Murray’s best advice for scoping out your creative career, setting goals you’ll actually hit, and charting your development as a writer. Most importantly, she asks two fundamental questions many writers ignore: what does success really look like for you, and how are you going to get there?

Whether you’re a new writer planning a pathway to take your career to the next level, or a fan of Murray’s fiction searching for a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the way Murray built an extraordinary career, this chapbook is a peek into the mindset and philosophy of one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed writers of fantasy and horror.