2019 Wrapup
End of a year. Shit, end of a decade, actually. And oh boy, what a decade it was. This was the one where the writing career started for me, and 2019 was a great cap-off year to that milestone. As is customary, it’s time for the Yearly Wrapup of what has come, as well as a look at next year’s horizons.
In terms of books, 2019 was a unique year, in an aspect I don’t think will be repeating again anytime soon: it was the first year in a while to feature more new books than sequels. Between 5-Minute Sherlock and Underqualified Advice filling two slots, that leaves Undeading Bells as the only entry into an existing series of 2019. That was a lot of fun, getting to work with Audible again as well as dip my toes as lightly as possible into the non-fiction market. Speaking of Audible, this was my first year being nominated for an award, and while Second Hand Curses didn’t ultimately win an Audie, getting to attend the ceremony and meet the staff who made that book was incredible.
Of course, we can’t talk about 2019 achievements without mentioning Authors & Dragons Con. While this was a year in which I attended more cons than ever and met a lot of wonderful fans, the standout has to be the one I was part of throwing. 2019 will forever be marked (for me) as the year of successfully holding our first convention, attended by the Authors & Dragons fans. We had so much fun, as we hope did the visitors, and have been working hard for the next one. And the A&D team did more than just a con, as well. We had another full year of Shingles, putting out a second audio collection with a third currently in the works.
That said, as those of you who’ve been with me for a while know, at the stroke of midnight it’s the start of a new game, all accomplishments relegated to the past. 2020 is a new year, a new decade, a new chance to see what we can do. Rather than resolutions, I write New Year’s Goals, things I want to do in the coming months. Since most of them are career based, at least the ones I post here, it also serves as a handy roadmap of the coming projects.
1. Release Villains’ Code #2: While this bad boy ate a considerable amount of my writing time this year, the effort was worthwhile as I’ve gotten deep into the book by this point. The end is in sight, for the rough draft, but there will still be lots of editing and revising to go, with time compounded by the book’s exceptional size. All that is to say while I’m sure I’ll get this goal met, barring some outstandingly unforeseen circumstances, just not early in the year. More content takes more time to polish properly.
2. Write and Release 5-Minute Sherlock #2: First off, huge thanks to everyone who supported this oddball of an idea making its way from blog to actual book. While I always planned on writing more of these, the strong response makes it look likely Audible will be up for working on another with me, and I love that we’re launching an audio-focused series. I might not be able to do these every year, depending on how a schedule shakes out, but I’m excited to hop back in and keep building up that world.
3. Write and Release Fred #7: After 5MS, time for another Fred entry. Depending on how scheduling works out, there is a chance this one could be done early in the year but pushed back since Villains’ Code might be taking the next open release slot. If that happens, I’d love to get Tantor enough notice to do a simultaneous audio release with print and ebook. Can’t really call that part a goal, a lot of factors I don’t fully control have to sync up for it to work, but definitely something I will do if the opportunity arises.
4. Write Spells, Swords, & Stealth #5: Once Fred is ready for edits, it’s back to the gaming table for more magic and adventure. Truth be told, knowing how long the Fred and 5MS books are, there’s a chance this one could be written before 2020 is over. However, given all the other releases and late-in-the-year start, I don’t feel confident this will be publishing ready before the next time I write one of these Wrapups. I’d expect this as the first release of 2021, barring any scheduling shake-ups.
5. A&D Con 2020: No surprise here, right? First one went well, and we definitely want to have a repeat. In fact, we’ve been working so hard on this one we already have dates and a location. A&D 2020 will be held in Nashville, TN August 14th – 16th. We’ve got plans to have even more fun and content this year, so I hope you’ll be able to come join us! Tickets and hotel info coming soon.
6. More New Cons: A quick bit of clarification on the behind-the-scenes bit of conventions: I’m not really in control of which cons I can attend. When folks reach out to me, letting me know there’s fan populations in their area, I’ll usually drop a guest application at the nearest major con I could afford traveling to. After that, it’s fully in the hands of the con staff. There are some options I have, like buying table space when available, but obviously with the associated cost I can’t do that all the time. That’s why this is a New Year’s Goal, rather than just something I change in my booking policies. I love getting to meet you folks, and I hope I can see even more faces and places in 2020.
P.S. This is also why if you want an author at a con, one of the best things you can do is reach out to con leadership (through proper feedback channels) and let them know that guest has value to you. If enough people are asking for a guest, makes it a lot easier to get accepted when that application hits their desk.
7. Continue to Grow Shingles: This is one I can’t talk too much about yet, except to say that we are happily keeping the Shingles brand rolling for another year, with a few additions and surprises in mind to keep things fresh and fun. Stay tuned for news once we’re deeper into 2020.
8. Movie/TV Deal: My yearly tradition of swinging for the fences persists. No luck in 2019, but 2020 is a whole new game, may as well start by calling an near-impossible shot.
That’ll do it for looking ahead to 2020, and as usual there might be a surprise or two I’ve left off the list to keep the year fun. As for you folks, sound off below and let me know how your year’s goals went, then feel free to set some new ones. Now’s the perfect time to decide what you want your new decade to be.