2014 is nearly over and I've spent the last few weeks celebrating holidays, missing Pooh, and finishing (finally) Saint. In a few days, I'll publish my 7th book of the year and the final one in the Damaged series. Candy Girl, Sally, and my beta readers saved my ass with this one.
Let me get nostalgic and look back at the year. I had planned to blog less because of time constraints. The BBA blog took a lot of my time. Making those idiots seem funny ain't easy, you know? Fortunately, the main BBA imploded, turning on her allies. In her heyday, she posted private emails and group conversations. After she pissed off enough people, her emails and group conversations were posted. She threw whiny fits and played the victim, but no one was impressed. Especially not karma who is known to be a bitch.
Miranda and I were able to put the BBA blog on vacation after posting our payback (you know, for them posting our private info). STGRB stayed around for a while longer, running with paranoid accusations. All we had to do was not refute them and the dorks lost their minds. It was pretty funny.
Other bloggers now focus on the leftover BBAs since STGRB went silent. We share our info when someone asks for help, but otherwise the entire scene is old news.
Professionally, I had a weird year. Aiming for ten books, I was lucky to publish seven. Gator and Little Memphis expanded my Bijou brand. I enjoyed a productive late spring/early summer when I published three books in three months. This year, I also had long stretches when I didn't publish anything. Saint alone took over three months to finish. Not cool.
In 2015, I'm aiming for eight books since the last three years I've published seven. I plan to focus on both series and standalone novels. I'm also expanding my brand by working on a box set with a lot of really cool authors.
I tried a few different marketing avenues with varying success. I've never requested a spot on Bookbub, so it's something I'll try next year. I know it's tough to get approved, but I should have plenty of books to submit. Fingers crossed that one of them will make the grade.
Next year, I need to stay focused and keep doing what's worked. I also plan to try new things like marketing towards non-Amazon outlets and international markets. Finally, I'd like to get a few audio books out. If I had one major publishing problem this year, it was my lack of consistency. Even with the large gaps when I didn't publish, I earned $15,000 more than in 2013. The readership is out there, despite the naysayers. I just need to keep my fanbase while reaching new readers.
My resolutions aren't so different than last year's. Write more. Expand my marketing techniques. Focus on positive people. Ignore the negative ones. This year was full of stress and sadness along with peace and joy. I have a wonderful family, a great BFF, and awesome readers. With so many blessings, can I really complain?
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