Farewell 2023
This time of year holds a bittersweet feeling for me. I love the holiday season and atmosphere. I love looking at all the lights and getting cozy with a cup of hot chocolate. But we're also going into a new year. We’re saying goodbye to 2023 and everything that happened in it. Letting go of old goals that didn’t come to fruition. Celebrating our accomplishments and trying to move past the failures.
We still have a few weeks left in 2023, but I wanted to share my end of year recap a little early. I know myself. I’ll get so caught up in everything at the end of the month that I’ll forget if I don’t do it now.
2023 by the Numbers
Books released: 0
This year I didn’t have any book releases. The year before I had two, and the year before that I had one. Because I didn’t have any launches, I was able to focus on writing more books and working on other projects.
Audiobooks Released: 2
I had the privilege of working on two audiobooks this year. One for my first book Constantine Capers: The Pennington Perplexity and one for another book from my publisher, Fly with Me by Julie Hahn. I love doing voice work and audiobooks really push me to my limits.
Books written: 3 (ish)
In 2023, I finished three writing projects:
The Great Sheep Panic
This is a novella that takes place between book 2 and 3 in the Constantine Capers Series. It’s only about 25k words.
There Comes a Midnight Hour
This is the third installment in the Constantine Capers Series. It’s about 80k words and is well on its way to publication.
The Heart of the Meridian
This is the second installment in the Thirteenth Zodiac Saga. It’s still in edits, but right now it’s just over 100k words.
Events Attended: 5
This year I was at LTUE, Storymakers, the AF Library Author Conference, the CMSC open house, and participated in Utah Author’s Day.
I also started doing work as a book designer this year. It’s been a great blessing and I love doing the work. Since October (when I started freelancing), I’ve done the formatting for three novels and two works of family history. I’ve also worked on custom art for five different books.
Successes and Setbacks
Every year has its highs and lows. 2023 was no different. I almost titled this section as “Successes and Failures,” but I realized that that would be inaccurate. Perhaps I haven’t succeeded at everything I’ve attempted this year, but I feel like it would only be a true failure if I gave up now. This time of year is the time to reflect on what worked and what didn't, while prepping for the future.
Successes
I finally figured out how to do taxes!
I was a finalist for the Whitney Awards.
I was invited to be a panelist at LTUE.
I finalized my table/booth set-up for author events.
I started doing freelance work.
Setbacks
I didn't get much done on my Author Compendium project.
I didn't start my Youtube channel
Every year I say I will and every year (up to this point) I don't.
I didn't finish Zodiac 2 by August.
My poor editor is still waiting for her copy.
Some of the setbacks came from thinking that I could do more than I actually could. Some of them came from poor time management. I could blame some of that on my ADHD, but a lot of it just comes from learning proper discipline.
Direction for 2024
Going into the new year, I have a few things that I'm aiming for. I know that I won't be able to get everything done, but I'm hoping that at least a few of the things on this list will make it onto the success board in 2024.
For book launches, I'm anticipating all three of my finished novels to come out next year.
For audiobooks, I'm hoping to do at least one more before the end of next year. Probably for Zodiac 2, but I'd love to do Constantine 2 as well.
For books written, I honestly can't say. I did manage to finish three this year, so maybe aiming for that next year is feasible. My guess is we'll finish another Constnatine novella, Constantine 4, and Zodiac 3. But who knows?
As far as events go, I'm still solidifying my plans. I know for certain that I'm presenting at LTUE 42, and I've signed up for teaching at both of the Quills conferences. I don't think I'll do FanX but I might do Dragonsteel. All in all, things are up in the air.
With formatting, I'm hoping to land some of my own clients. So if you're an author looking for a book formatter, check out my services page here on my website. I'd love to help you out.
Here's to 2024! Hopefully it'll be a good one.
