Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Last Blog of 2013

Like some novels I’ve read, 2013 started out pretty good, sagged seriously in the middle, then picked up toward the end. Not the greatest year but still better in almost all ways than the years 2010 through 2012, each of which saw major family losses and serious illnesses strike. I’m glad at least the trend for health issues was up.

School was school. No great victories. No great tragedies. I’m glad for that. I do like things on an even keel. Personally, Lana and I continue to be very happy together, although Lana did have some serious back issues for several months that caused us great concern. The worst of that seems to have passed.

In writing, I mentioned before that I wrote about 80,000 professional words, which I’m confident was up from the years 2010-2012. The best thing was the completion of the fourth book in the Talera series, which should be out in 2014. I did not have any books published through Borgo/ Wildside in 2013 and much of that was because I’d decided to focus on some long term projects and some personal self-publishing concepts I had.

In early 2013 I put up the three volumes of the FictionTechniques series, “Creating Suspense,” “Characters Wanted,” and “The Twist Ending.” These actually sold pretty well, although I have not gotten many reviews on them. They also helped earn me a couple of speaking engagements, which is nice.

In the spring I put up MicroWeird: Tiny Tales of the Strange. Despite garnering 4 five star reviews, it did not sell well and ultimately has been my slowest seller of any self-published title. In the fall, though, I put up The Machineries of Mars, which also gained 4 five star reviews but which has far outsold “Micro Weird.” It’s been my best seller since Harvest of War.

The only other publishing related thing I did was putting the Louisiana Inklings anthology into print. I was glad to learn how to do this and may start doing print editions of some of my other self-published work in the days to come.


All in all, a pretty good year that reversed the trends I’d been experiencing in the three years previously. Let’s hope I can keep the momentum going into 2014. And let’s hope that all of us here in the blogosphere have a great 2014 with lots of success. 
---
---

18 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sagged a bit in the middle for me as well. That's all right - we get next year to do better.
Happy New Year, Charles!

Brian Miller said...

you have had a pretty good year overall...and hey you can learn something from the micro maybe, i dunno...nothing is ever truly a failure unless we fail to capitalize on the opportunity to use it to move forward...not a bad year for me either...

happy new year.

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, thanks man. Same to you and yours.

Brian, yeah, I'm still trying to figure it out but I have some ideas I may expand on at some point.

Ty said...

Pertaining to writing, one of the things I've learned is that no matter how much work gets done, you always feel like nothing got done. It takes looking back to see just how much did get accomplished.

Riot Kitty said...

Happy New Year to you! Being happy with your partner is a rare thing - enjoy.

Rahul kesharwani said...

THANKS FOR THE LOVELY COMMENTS! I AM GLAD YOU LIKE THE POST ASWELL! MORE TO COME!
Self publishing books - We have a range of affordable services including book cover design, editing, ISBN and CIP lodgment, printing, ebooks, global POD and ebook distribution and more.

the walking man said...

So you want community hope you can keep the mojo going for the year ahead? OK count me in. May your vision become concrete reality and may you find some fun in teaching again...find a couple of students and experiment on them. That's be fun making a kid not worry about their GeeaPeeAy.


Be Well Charles, you and Lana both, may you live well in every moment.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I'm happy that health issues are behind you and that 2013 was a good year including for your writing and publishing. I wish you and Lana a new year filled with peace, health, and happiness.

Ron Scheer said...

I'm glad to be knowing you and following the ups and downs of your life. I look forward to more of that in the New Year.

sage said...

Does sound like you had a good year--the middle of my year was better than both ends!

Charles Gramlich said...

Ty, yeah, I often feel like that too. When something gets published that feels good, but in a week or two that also just slips into the background.

Riot Kitty, wasn't happy before for sure.

Rahul, that appears to be an advertising.

Mark, experiment on some students. Now my mind is awhirl. :)

Prashant, thank you. And I wish the same for you and yours.

Ron, yes, I've made some great friends here online.

Sage, that's a different kind of novel. :)

BernardL said...

New year, new goals, new successes, and your fourth in the Talera series. It will be an exciting year, my friend.

Charles Gramlich said...

Bernard, I hope for us both. SOunds like yours is well begun.

Cloudia said...

Good luck - good sales!



ALOHA
from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^=

Charles Gramlich said...

Cloudia, thankee much

jodi said...

Charles-success, love and health? What more could you ask for? You and Miss Lana stay strong and in love!

Charles Gramlich said...

Jodi, that part I'm confident in.

laughingwolf said...

yay!