It’s New Year’s Eve and so another year draws to a close. In order to make a plan for the year ahead, I like to summarise the good, the okay and the bad for the year, to see where I am at. With that in mind, here is my 2023 reflection:
THE GOOD
Books published in 2023:
I published three books: my third full poetry collection, Toebirds & Woodlice; my first short story collection, Diabolical Dreamscapes and my fifth novel, Matthew’s Twin.
Award wins in 2023:
The Blue Man won a Chill with a Book Premier Readers’ Award in March 2023 and The Fairy Lights won an Author Shout Reader Ready Award in the category of Recommended Read 2024.
Bindweed Anthology summary for 2023:
Bindweed entered its 7th year of publication in April 2023. Midsummer Madness 2023 and Winter Wonderland 2023 showed a significant increase in the number of submissions that we received for our publication.
Health goals in 2023:
I managed the entirety of 2023 without eating any chocolate or other sugary desserts and baked goods. This is the first time in my life that I have ever managed to do this, and for the first time, I really feel that I have conquered my sugar addiction. Here’s to a sugar free 2024!
THE OKAY
Books sold in 2023 compared to 2022:
In a blog post last year, I mentioned how I planned to spend far less money on advertising than I had in previous years, mainly as I wasted so much money on ads in places where readers weren’t directly book shopping. In 2023 I tailored my advertising budget to focus on only sponsored ads.
This year, my sales are down by 117 books, compared to 2022. At first glance, this seems like a move in the wrong direction – however, my net profits in 2023 have been much higher overall than last year, when you factor the balance between advertising costs and royalties gained – in other words, my sales were much higher last year because I spent more than I made back on advertising. This year, I actually made a profit on one or two books, as I spent far less on advertising, yet more people bought books from my back catalogue. So, it turns out putting my marketing budget in the right places has been a sensible business plan and is paying off in the right direction. I plan to continue the same targeted marketing in 2024.
THE BAD
At the start of the year, my two most popular books (The Blue Man and The Fairy Lights) were spammed by 1 star ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. This happened after I was invited to a book event as guest author to do a Q&A session, just before Christmas of 2022, during which most audience members were gracious and welcoming, but 3 specific people sat sullenly and then, in the weeks after the event, proceeded to troll my books. One of the 3 then added another 1 star rating after my book received press in a national newspaper doing an article about my prize win. Sadly, for the spammers, none of their bad feedback impacted my sales. Guess nobody takes a troll too seriously.
Then, December 2023 ended on a similarly sour note after I received more publicity in a local magazine. A few Grinches took the time to make snide and sarcastic comments about my appearance in said magazine, or took a swipe at my books.
Why are some folks so mean-spirited? I personally don’t get such behaviour. I myself like to lift people up, not try and tear them down. Then again, I’m not a psychic vampire.
Outlook for 2024
Write and diet and exercise and…repeat! I have learned that mental and physical health are key to everything. 2023 has had it’s challenges, but staying focused on the good things, which really do outweigh the bad, has helped.
A final reflection and a thank you!
An author needs readers, and a literary blogger does too. Thanks to you for sticking with me on my bookish journey. Whether you have read my books, or just my blog posts, I’m thankful to have you on this journey. Here’s to a great 2024 for us all.
Happy New Year!
Leilanie Stewart 