2017 Accomplishments

written by Betsy Flak on 2018-01-05

All right, I know I already talked about 2017 in terms of the rather black-and-white goals and goal reviews, but I want to take a step back. Before I move on to 2018, I going to look back at 2017 and pick out my top three accomplishments in terms of my writing and writing business. As usual, we'll dive right in.

Writing: Top Three Accomplishments

1. The triple publication of The Impossible Creation, which is either a short novel or a long novella depending on who you ask, The Unleashed Creation, a novelette, and The Impossible Adventure, a choose-your-own-adventure type of story where each path is about the length of a short story (but there are several different paths). Launched all three at the same time (June 2017).
• Looking back, this was insane. I mean, I did what I had to do and I made it happen, but saying that it was stressful was an understatement. That said, I'm proud that I managed to do it, even if some things had to fall through the cracks to make it happen (example: The Impossible Creation paperback which is still on hold).
• Side note: Although The Impossible Creation was with an editor by the end of 2016, The Unleashed Creation and The Impossible Adventure were just fun ideas swirling in the back of my head. I'm pretty proud to have taken them from idea to published item in about six months, even if they are both on the shorter side of things.
2. Getting Book 1 (used to be Part 1) of The Clan-Vampire Clash about 97% of the way to publication. I'm working on the last few tweaks over the next couple weeks, then it's off to the Certain Cell (my advance readers group).
3. Putting together a detailed outline for the entire The Clan-Vampire Clash book series. I now know the climax for each semester (and fixed some issues I didn't even know I had) and how each book leads into it. And I'm super excited to write all these books, even if it's probably going to take me half a decade to do so.
4. Honorable mention: Getting Book 2 (used to be Part 2) of The Clan-Vampire Clash ready for its print readthrough (I estimate about 80% of the way to publication).

Business: Top Three Accomplishments

1. Published The Impossible Creation, my first book! (And the shorter The Unleashed Creation and The Impossible Adventure)
2. Grew my email list from 0 to over 2000 active readers (defined as a subscriber who's opened an email in the last 90 days). Had over 1000 readers open an email (current record).
3. Developed a strategy (and a system to manage said strategy) for how to promote my various books at different times, such that they're getting attention throughout the year and through different sources (examples: cross promotions with other authors, Instafreebie, giveaways).
4. Honorable mention: Experimenting with and analyzing different launch and promotion strategies and refining from there.

Now of course, I'm not perfect, and I had some shortcomings in both writing and business. But I make it a point to continuously improve, and my 2018 goals will reflect that (which just happen to be the next blog post).

And because it's fun--and informative--to look back, here are my 2016 accomplishments.