Nicole M. Miller

In my journey towards traditional publication (getting my novel published by a royalty-paying publishing house), building my personal platform has been a priority. In 2009, I created my blog, website, Twitter account and started taking my writing career “seriously.” Since 2009, that blog and website hasn’t gained much traction… at all. Granted, “success” is a subjective word and I would not trade any of those experiences for anything. Through trial and error, I learned HTML, blogging basics and a lot about self-promotion. But there were some key lessons I’m taking to heart and adapting: 1. Stay focused. “Oh, you’re blog is a little all over the place, isn’t it?” Yes,...

As we all should, I routinely check in on my goals from the last year before/while making my list of items to “finish” in the next year. {Jon Acuff introduced me to the idea of a finish list, which I found works far better than generic “goals.” So check it out.} In 2012:  1. Polish In Dawns Shadows and prepare proposal. Done! I love that story.  2. Attend OCW Summer Conference and ACFW National Conference. Hit half of this goal! The funds and stars were not properly aligned for the ACFW National Conference to happen.  3. Continue blog 3-5 days a week with good, solid content. Hit 5/6th of this goal –...

A year ago, my “word” was Discipline. And in 2012, I believe I stepped up my level of self discipline, though there certainly were some ups and downs. I learned it might take 30 days to start a new habit, but only one day to break it. I learned all the discipline in the world won’t help if your priorities are misaligned. I learned sometimes doing things for the sake of routine and not for a purpose is counter-productive. I learned discipline is something you embrace or ignore, but it is something everyone has within them. For 2013, I begin brooding on a word in December. I made a lot of...

  Hello, my name is Nicole. I’m a volunteer-aholic. (you say: Hi, Nicole…) Over the course of my career both as a social media coordinator and event/newsletter coordinator, I’ve amassed a certain set of skills… (Cue the Taken music here.) Skills that mean I’m adaptable and able to take on pretty much any sort of administrative/creative task from website building to video editing to folding brochures. Not life-saving skills, I’ll admit, but usually they are common needs amongst organizations. This means, when I see a need that I’m able to fill, I jump in. But as I’ve come to learn over the past year, I tend to jump into things I simply can do. Not...