With thanks to many new fans and mailing list members, it’s been a great year! I just look at my expanding mailing list subscribers, Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads followers, and book reviewers’ praise, to realize my growing success as an author.
It’s also been a big, busy writing year for me. Six major conventions, four craft fairs, two local store signings, and a weekend at the Renaissance Festival. (And every outdoor event rained hard on one day! All four tent walls had to be replaced.)
With all those appearances, 2019 turned into my highest-grossing year. It doesn’t take the record for most books sold, that belongs to the Spring of 2015, when Inheritance of a Sword and a Path was re-released under a new publisher and appeared on Kindle. Over a thousand downloads! The Widow Brigade was also released that summer, though didn’t come close to the numbers Inheritance brought in. However, I get much less royalties per ebook sale than hard copies in-person, so this year finally surpassed that one in sales money.
As far as non-financial, this year I believe I’ve written more pages than any year previous. As I’d explained in earlier blogs, I started the year writing the 2nd book in the Pilgrims with Blades series, but switched focus after Marscon. Since Marscon, I completed my free, 8,000-word short story, The Wooden Maiden. I’ve also completed the 39,000-word rough draft of Apprentice Storm Mage, and I’m polishing that up for release. Work still continues on Pilgrims with Blades: A02 Grandfather’s Castle, though it’s hard to track the exact word count for this year.
I’ve also expanded my mailing list from a starting total of zero, designed and released an updated world map, released the audiobook version of The Widow Brigade, started the audiobook for Boxer Earns His Wings, and kicked off a new campaign in Dhea Loral for RPG players here at home.
My passion is to write books and share stories, but without YOU, there’s no one with whom to share.