Well, 2021 is in the can. Err... yeah, it was a shitcan, but it's over. Now let's look back at it so we can move forward...
Out of a possible 365, I did something writerly 157 days. Writing, editing, marketing, publishing, etc. I only got one book published, but I finished writing it in 2021 and I finished writing the first draft (and the first round of edits) of another book this year. I also noodled around with a couple other things. I know I only worked 43% of the days, but that's about all I could manage in 2021. It was an ass-kicking year whose name pretty much told the story - twenty-twenty WON.
I did get one book published - Rumor Has It. It sold 11.38 copies.
Speaking of sales... well, I did worse than 2020. I only sold 69.92 books overall. I made a little bit more money over 2020, but I had fewer 99c sales, so there was that. I won't bother you with the book-by-book breakdown I usually do. It was bad. So bad, that I didn't sell a single copy of Unequal all year and only a tiny fraction of Project Hermes (like a page or two).
In case you weren't following along, I am in the process of removing all my books from the Kindle Unlimited program and taking them wide. All my books are wide except for Fertile Ground (still in KU), Early Grave (waiting on FG to drop), and Project Hermes (also still in KU). Everything should be out and wide by the end of the month.
To try and coax more sales, Dying Embers and Wish in One Hand are now 99c for the duration. This isn't a sale. It's a price change. I'll let you all know if I decide to put the prices back to $3.99.
Looking forward, I hope to have this Untitled Fantasy ready to publish by no later than the end of March. There, I said it. Now I have to stick to it. I also hope to write at least one or two books this year and see those published as well. As long as this year doesn't turn into Twenty-Twenty 2: Son of 2020, I should be able to reach those hopes. (Hopes, not goals, people. After 2020 kicked my ass, I was so over making goals, and then 2021 happened. Blerg.)
How was 2021 for you? Did you reach your goals? Did you even bother to set them after the year before? What are you hoping for this year?
As we've commiserated over the year, you pretty much know how mine went. Also, no sequels! Even though your "movie" titles made me giggle. Always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteSo, like you, I'm talking all my self-pubs out of KU. My page reads were dismal over 2021, which prompted my decision. I'll still have some in KU, but those are through Aces Press (the follow-on for one author after Kindle Worlds went away). All the rest will be wide. I have 5 more. I am starting to see a few more sales from other outlets so that's good.
I had...3(?) books come out last year. One was from Harlequin so it was finished in early 2020. As was the 2nd book, FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE, set in another author's world, and from her pub company. It, too, was finished in 2020. I maanaged 1 self-published, GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES in my Penumbra Papers and damn is that wasn't the hardest dang book I've every written. Oh, I did squeeze out a free short story for Christmas. And I've got over 50K on the book I hope to have out--like you--by the end of March. Anyway.
The rest of the year was a lot of adjustments. LG was home full time. We had Stormy at various times due to the 'Rona and school closures. We did get to watch him play baseball. LG and I started a project to declutter the house. We are making slow progress, but hey, progress!
Other than that? 2021 is pretty much a blur. Nothing big. Nothing exciting. Nothing terrible or bad. Other than Baseball Boy and Stormy testing positive at the end of the year. Neither had serious symptoms and are feeling okay now. Both had been vaxxed. Only kept testing negative so yay. I suspect she has some natural immunity on top of the vaxxes.
Anyway, my year was pretty much a bust. I have hopes for 2022. People are getting fed up and starting to live again. 🙋🏼♀️ I managed to semi-pull myself out of the doldrums and funk that enveloped me pretty much the past two years. Hey, I can watch the news and not get depressed. I'm working on balance--physical, mental, work, home, family. I'm determined to find it, one way or another. So, I have hopes. More books written and published. More de-cluttering. More time with family. Just...more. I'm tired of doing without. (And I don't necessarily mean material things).
So that's mine. Hang in there. We've got this, yeah? 🥰