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Here we are again! The year rushes by and we stand at the end wondering what we achieved in the last 12 months!
This is one of the reasons I love blogging β the passing of time is actually trackable. We all change, our goals change, but at least by writing out what we want to achieve and then measuring that, we can keep ourselves heading in the right direction!
Here's what I set out to do this year as documented on 1 Jan 2014, and what I managed to achieve:
(1a) Stick with Plan A: Write more books and attract more readers
I didn't quite create as many new books as I intended, but here's what I did publish in 2014
- Public Speaking for Authors, creatives and other introverts. In ebook and print formats.
- Day of the Vikings. ARKANE #5. In ebook, print and audiobook formats. I'm also giving this away for free on JFPenn.com at the moment if you want to try it.
- Delirium, London Psychic Book 2. In ebook, print and audiobook formats.
- Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur. In ebook, print and audiobook formats.
- Updated Second Edition of How to Market a Book
- I also finished Gates of Hell, it's on pre-order right now, publishing 5 Jan in ebook formats and coming soon in print and audiobook.
I have done quite a bit of research and networking on the screenplay side of things, but I will be leaving that until 2016 as well. I want to write a screenplay but because it's such a new skill, I'll be waiting until I am more settled with my fiction production process.
(1b) Become a better writer
The focus on the craft is ongoing of course, but this year I have done a couple of things to invest in becoming a better writer:
- Masterclass at Thrillerfest with David Morrell – a fantastic full day on thriller writing specifically.
- 4 day STORY conference with Robert McKee
- Courses with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Rusch on productivity, which has included ‘getting out of my own way.' Necessary for someone who still has problems with self-censorship.
- And I have found the right editor, Jen Blood, who both gets my writing style and kicks my ass when I need it. Jen also happens to write great thrillers π Working with Jen has enabled me to learn more about effective story structure and improve my craft.
(2) Exploit more rights and focus on global territories
I do now have an agent specifically for foreign rights but this year I went into joint venture deals with translators. You can read all the articles and interviews here.
As part of 50:50% royalty split, I published the following books. Desecration-Verletzung was published by Ullstein-Midnight for digital rights and we retain print and audiobook rights.
- GERMAN: Pentecost, Ein ARKANE thriller in ebook and print; Desecration-Verletzung in ebook and print
- SPANISH: PentecostΓ©s in ebook and print
- ITALIAN: Profanazione in ebook and print
If you read any of these languages and would like a review copy, please contact me π
In terms of audiobook rights, ACX expanded into the UK in April 2014 and so all my fiction is now available in audio format, and I will be getting into the non-fiction in 2015.
This has added a great new income stream to the business, and I urge you to consider audiobooks if you haven't done so already.
So even though I ‘only' wrote 4 new individual books, I actually produced 19 new products for my author business, each bringing in a new income stream. This is the magic of publishing and intellectual property rights, and if the penny hasn't dropped for you on this yet, read this post.
(3) Professional speaking
My aim was to develop my speaking in 2014 and take it further than before. Things have definitely shifted as because of demand, I have had to decline a number of events. I love to help people but events have to serve one of two other purposes now: revenue or expenses paid international travel, and preferably both of these!
In 2014, I have spoken internationally in New York on a Thrillerfest panel, Toronto at Kobo HQ, Stockholm, Sweden for an event on self-publishing, Frankfurt Book Fair and Auckland, New Zealand. I've also spoken at a number of events in the UK, plus I've also run my own full day events on book marketing as well as how to make a living from your writing, which I hope to repeat in 2015.
(4) Focus more on creative entrepreneurship on the blog, podcast and YouTube channel
I've definitely shifted focus this year, posting regularly on the creative entrepreneurship side of things, to go alongside my own development and the writing of Business for Authors book.
You can find a roundup of the entrepreneurial posts here.
I decided to remove guest posts in April, and am really happy with that decision because it focuses the blog on my personal take on the fast-changing indie world, and I continue to share other people's thoughts through the podcast and interviews.
The Creative Penn podcast hit 200 episodes, you can listen to the round-up episode here. I have two corporate sponsors in 99 Designs and Kobo Writing Life, but now you, the listener, can also sponsor the show through Patreon. Thanks to all the patrons of the show, listed here.
In terms of collaboration, I was part of The Twelve, a thriller writer's collective, and in March 2014, we made the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, selling over 100,000 copies of our boxset, Deadly Dozen. Very cool π
I was also in a couple of other box-sets β The Indie PowerPack, Thrill Ride and Dark Trinity β and will continue to look for collaboration opportunities in 2015.
Overall, I feel that 2014 has been a pivotal year in my creative career and I've stepped up a rung on the ladder in terms of my professionalism as an author, and in my maturity as a writer and creative entrepreneur. I am certain this is what I want to do with my life – it's now about developing my craft and developing my business over time. And of course, loving the journey!
I'm ready to step it up again in 2015 – I hope you will join me!
Care says
It’s so exciting to see all that you’ve accomplished this year (and a little bit daunting as well!). I actually just found you in the middle of 2014, but you have been such an inspiration.
The thing I’m proud I achieved in 2014 is that for the first time in four years, I finished NaNoWriMo and actually have a full first draft! I’ve also decided to start a blog with short stories which also serves to keep myself accountable on my further writing journey.
I’m very excited for 2015 and I’ll be excited to hear about all you’re doing!
Joanna Penn says
Congrats on Nano, Care – that’s a great achievement! Remember, there should be no comparisonitis when it comes to goals and achieving them – we only compete with ourselves! (I say this but I struggle with it too!) All the best for 2015!
Aidan says
Very inspiring Joanne! And I thought I had a productive year travelling for 9 months, starting a blog and spitting out my first 2 novels!
Here’s hoping 2015 is a great year for you.
Joanna Penn says
Traveling is a different kind of achievement – one I hope to revisit more in 2015!
Michael La Ronn says
Congratulations on your great year, Joanna! Well earned! I launched my writing career in January of this year and published 6 books (20 products) while working a stressful full time job and expecting and caring for my newborn. I’m pretty proud of that! Here’s to 2015, and I hope you have a great year next year, too.
Joanna Penn says
Wow! That’s pretty hardcore Michael – congrats on your achievements π
Michael Kelberer says
Way to go, Michael! You’re nearing Pulp Speed (as Dean Wesley Smith says) π
Ben Murray VirtualPioneer.com says
Glad to see you really stepped it up this year. I need to focus on the final thing you talked about, creative entrepreneurship, and start sharing great content through different channels such as YouTube as you mentioned. People connect better through certain channels that others won’t.
Joanna Penn says
I’ve definitely found that I have a different audience through a) the written blog b) the audio podcast and c) YouTube – it’s not necessary to do them all but at this point, I wouldn’t give any of them up!All the best for your 2015
Jane Steen says
Joanna, I’m so impressed by what you’ve achieved in 2014! I don’t think I’ll ever work up to that sort of output, and indeed all I managed in terms of production in 2014 was to bring out the print version of The House of Closed Doors.
And yet it was a good year: I got registration up and running for the Historical Novel Society conference (Denver in June) as my contribution to my OTHER favorite organization (apart from ALLi, of course!) My wish to light a little fire under the topic of author ethics was more than fulfilled when ALLi got behind my efforts, resulting in the creation of the Ethical Author Code.
On the writing side, I had decided in 2013 that what I really needed was to become a prolific and consistent writer. So I set myself the starting challenge of 1,000 words a day, every day, and the 365K challenge was born. I did it alongside my critique partner, Katharine Grubb, the 10 Minute Writer, and her 10 Minute Novelists Facebook group has taken up the challenge for 2015 as a team event involving more than 80 writers worldwide. I think I started something big… and Katharine and I both hit our 365,000-word goal well before the end of the year.
Joanna Penn says
Hi Jane – thanks for sharing π I appreciated your Ethical Author campaign and congrats on the 365,000 words – that’s great and presumably will result in more finished books in 2015 – I’d like to aim for that in 2015 as well!
Russell Phillips says
I didn’t write anything like amuch as I’d intended, but still got created several new products (audio book, translations).
I also made the effort to see you speak, and I’m very glad that I did. It was great to meet you, and you persuaded me to try writing fiction.
Joanna Penn says
Lovely to meet you too, Russell – that was a fun evening!
Happy writing in 2015 π
Peter Mulraney says
I started the year with the intention of completing the second novel in the Inspector West series and writing a YA novel. It didn’t work out that way.
I published The Holiday, the second Inspector West novel, and two books in my non-fiction Living Alone series, and then realised I had a book hidden in my blog posts, which was released later in the year as Sharing the Journey.
I’ve also been working on increasing my chances of being discovered by continuing to blog and being active across social media platforms.
For the coming year, I’m working on the third novel in the Inspector West series, the third book in the Living Alone series and developing a book of short crime stories for a serial release.
Joanna Penn says
That sounds great, Peter – congrats on all your books!
Joseph John says
Congratulations on your accomplishments!
Me, I finally began publishing a serialized novel I finished 5 years ago. I’d been sitting on the thing and continually editing and revising it. I took the leap and decided to publish in serial to force myself to get it out into the world and stop repeatedly fine tuning and tweaking it.
I increased my Twitter following by over 5,000 and met my goal of one Tweet per weekday on a writing-related subject. I also did some paid advertising to build by Facebook tribe and newsletter subscriptions.
I read 31 works of fiction and 4 books on writing. For anyone looking for books about plotting, I highly recommend “Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting” by Robert McKee and “Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need” by Blake Snyder. Although they are books on screenwriting, they are just as applicable for any novelist interested in learning more about the traditional 3 act structure.
I also held down a full-time career as an Army officer and transitioned from helicopter pilot to operation research analyst, and moved from Texas to Kansas–our twelfth move in 16 years of military service. On the plus side, however, I’ll be able to retire at the ripe old age of 42 and spend the rest of my years as a full time novelist. That’s the dream, at least!
Shawna Atteberry says
I finished the first draft of my first novel in October and wrote the first draft of my second novel for NaNoWriMo. The next couple of months will be spent editing, finding an editor who will barter and getting my fiction site up and running.
Richard E Todd says
A very good year of writing and promoting!
In the past 14 months I’ve had 2 novellas publish, 2 ebooks in a series go to market, 1 non-content item publish, multiple relationships built with book sellers, several radio/podcast interviews, many presentations given, wonderful friendships built with people I’ve never met, and even more ideas for additional products yet to create (mostly from The Creative Penn)!
I CAN’T WAIT for 2015!
Garry Rodgers says
Hi Joanna. I’m so impressed with your accomplishments in 2014 and just how much progress you’ve made since we first met ‘way’ back in 2012. It’s going to be fascinating to see where you’re at this time next year π
I managed to get around 200K words done this year, unfortunately they are non-thrilling, technical SOPs I wrote for an emerging pharmaceutical company. On the personal & publishable side, though – my manuscript on the forensics in the US President John F Kennedy Assassination is in with Wiley Publishing for consideration as ‘The JFK Assassination For Dummies’ and I’m talking with an agent about sequels to the ‘No Witnesses To Nothing’ paranormal crime-thriller. Also, I focussed on upping my blog posts with hosting some fairly high-profile guests and it’s seen quite a jump in activity in the past few months. As well, the mailing list and social media followers are growing.I remember you saying something about platform…
So 2015 is going to be interesting for both of us π Thanks again for all the help, advice, and leadership you’ve given to so many writers and if there’s anything I can do to help you on the gun, blood & guts stuff – just let me know π All the best for a productive and prosperous new year!
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Garry – and it’s great to hear about your projects for 2015 – may they both come to fruition! I look forward to sharing gory stuff with you this year!
Leanne Dyck says
Congratulations, Joanna. That is an impressive list of accomplishments.
Me?
I wrote a play and it was staged in 2014.
I contributed to an indie anthology. This book was published in 2014.
I continued to pursue traditional publishing — and made 68 submissions in 2014.
I continued to network and build community. My blog now has over 233,000 page views and I have 4,000 people in my social network.
And I’ve begun making plans for 2015.
Thank you for being a useful guide and inspiring example, Joanna.
Leanne Dyck says
My new blog url is: http://authorleannedyck.blogspot.com
Leanne Dyck says
Thank you for being such a helpful guide and inspiring example, Joanna.
In 2014 I wrote a play and it was staged; I contributed to an anthology and it was published; I sent 68 submissions to publishers; I continued to grow my social network (currently 4,000); and I continued to blog (currently 233,000 page views).
Wishing all a productive 2015.
Joanna Penn says
Wow Leanne – that’s amazing! To write a plan and have it staged is a fantastic achievement! All the best for 2015!
Judy Haar says
congrats on all your accomplishments. This year for me has been constant learning. I launched my career from writing non-fiction how-to business books into fiction thriller/suspense books. I just posted on Amazon as a kdp and createspace versions. Wow, learning marketing for eBooks has been one uphill curve. I have so much more to learn. One thing is for sure, the more you write, the more you sell. Thanx for your wonderful articles.
Joanna Penn says
Learning is indeed a constant thing – as is change! Luckily, if you enjoy these things, going indie is fantastic π All the best for 2015!
Michael Kelberer says
Hey Joanna,
Thanks for sharing your progress and setting a great example by being publicly accountable. And congrats on meeting almost all of your goals! Nicely done!
Best regards,
Michael
Chele Cooke says
I was following some of the creation of the Gates of Hell cover, specifically the design of the key. Just wanted to comment and say that the full cover looks absolutely magnificent.
Your gentle ass kicking in Frankfurt has also been a wonderful motivator for me. Thank you.
So, 2014. I published the second book in my series and also got another ready for publishing on the 8th January.
I have also set up the next dozen books I want to write and publish. Getting ideas I don’t fizzle out on is usually quite difficult for me, so having so many ideas ready to work on is a big thing for me.
I did my first proper speaking event, scary but great.
Mostly, and again I put some of this realisation down to our talk in Frankfurt, I feel like this can be and is my career. Maybe it’s not paying the bills yet, but with time I can get there.
All the best for 2015.
Joanna Penn says
I’m so glad I could kick your ass, Chele! Sometimes we need someone else to point out that we’re doing OK, although it feels difficult. Remember, we all go through the same thing, just at different times. Congrats on the next book and all the best for 2015 – I look forward to seeing you at LBF if not sooner!
P.D. Workman says
Wow. You’re my hero!
I put out seven new books this year (one of them was late, and should have been a 2013 release), each in Kindle and Paperback, and then also through Smashwords and Google Play once they were out of KDP. I’m not sure how many products that counts as! I also did a ‘boxed set’ after releasing the third book in a series, which I’ve just put on sale for New Year’s.
I would like to get into ACX, but since it is not available in my country, would have to incorporate in the US in order to participate. Not a big deal, I know, especially since I’m a legal assistant and know the process, but I haven’t been willing to take that step yet.
I have a couple of translations going through Babelcube, but I’m not sure whether they are going anywhere yet. We’ll have to see. If not, I may have to see what other options there are for translations.
I participated in NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNo x2, as well as completing a couple of other books. I don’t know how many older works I edited, revised, and rewrote during 2014. I have my releases for 2015 mapped out so I don’t get behind. Four new novels planned and six releases.
I did at least one blog post per week, and usually more. Had my first book signing. Tried various different marketing approaches. Listened to lots of podcasts, watched some seminars and went to a couple of conferences/classes. I am definitely a more seasoned self-publisher than I was a year ago!
I am researching my audience, and have a handful of true fans. I have a mailing list, though it is still small. Book sales are low, but I am reworking a couple of covers, checking my keywords, and seeking more reviews. Plugging away. Organic growth is slow, but is going the right direction!
Oh, I was also nominated for an award (that I had not applied for) and am still waiting for the final results of that.
All in all, a good year! 2015, here I come!
Joanna Penn says
Wow! That’s awesome PD – sounds like a great year! I would hold off on ACX for another year – it’s early days and I jumped too soon and it cost me – hopefully they will open up to other territories in 2015. I’m going to do Google Play this year – finally! It’s on the list. All the best for 2015.
Ellen says
This year was the year I discovered I loved writing fiction! I also discovered your podcast, and through it, the SPP, and I’ve worked my way through many of your and their episodes – thank you so much for creating such fabulous and helpful content, and in such a self-effacing way.
I have two blogs, travel and personal/professional development, and I’ve written about 50 posts for the two of them, launched my first digital product, and carried on my management consulting work – but in SE Asia and the ME, no longer working 60-70 hour soul-destroying weeks in London, but basing myself in Thailand and working part-time so I can work on fiction and my blog.
I’ve finished writing my first novel and that’s now with an independent editor (who I chose after reading advice from you and other blogs), and I started work on my second novel (Nano helped, which I finished, yay).
Next year I hope to self-publish two novels, continue my blog, continue working part time, and basically, be creative and enjoy my life a lot more!
Thanks for being an awesome inspiration π
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Ellen and your website looks great – I have that exact necklace in red shades! Also, great to meet another introvert management consultant – I juggled that life for 13 years so I know how hard it is! I hope the move to Thailand works for you.
Congrats also on the first novel – I hope it starts a new creative journey for you in 2015.
Liz Dexter says
Well done on all your accomplishments, Joanna – a good year!
I put out a couple of books, and planned a couple more which I’m starting to put together at the moment. I had some great reviews on my current books, and managed to get my one on beating cholesterol (all of the others are on business, but this one remains the bestseller) mentioned in a popular magazine. I set up a website just for my books so they didn’t continue to get lost in my day-job website, changed the titles of two of my books with all of the attendant fiddling around, and am trying to reach out to make tighter links between non-fiction writers. And ran my business. And got married AND had a honeymoon where I didn’t work AT ALL. Not bad when I write it all down!
Here’s to a great 2015 for The Creative Penn and your community of readers and writers.
Joanna Penn says
Great achievements Liz, and planning several books means they’ll be easier to write when you get to them – something I need to work on for 2015!