2023 Revisited
Note: This article was originally posted on my Patreon site on December 27, 2023. I thought it might be useful (or not) to make this the last post of 2023.
It was the best of years, it was the worst of years, and there was a whole lot of “meh” in between. I don’t know anything about wisdom or epochs.
It’s been a busy year. I haven’t had as much time for writing or art as I’d like. There are certain responsibilities in life that take precedence. That’s just the way it is. This doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned those efforts entirely, however! That’s what this post is about. Here are the main points — high, low, and everything in between — for 2023.
My Year in Review
My experiment with Simily left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve finally deleted my account. Or, should I say, their admin has deleted it after a few e-mails. How convenient. The lack of response when problems arose, the change in their business model, and the fact that the platform didn’t seem to be growing made it a waste of time. I’ve read the creators are now building a dating site, so Simily may get even less support. I have better ways to spend my time. You can read more about this HERE and HERE if you care to. You could say being on Simily went from a positive to a negative.
I’m continuing to review Medium. They’ve changed the rules here, too. Right after they did that, my earnings disappeared. As in zero for several months. Then, just when I was beginning to think Medium was another lost cause, my earnings for December are the best in over a year. It won’t quite cover the monthly payment on a new Maserati, but it is a sign there’s life on this platform. Overall, my haiku have been the biggest earners. Still, I’ll be pulling my serialized story, The Dark Scent of Rain, from Medium, finishing it, re-editing everything, and moving it to Kindle Vella. This type of story just wasn’t doing anything there. I’m going to have to figure out what works on Medium. Overall, I consider it a positive. Not much of a positive, but I’ll take it.
Shore Leave this year was good, but the future is a big question mark. The old Delta Marriott Hotel, where it has been held for years, has shut down. The new location is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I did give away a lot of books and attended a few interesting panels. I need to finish a few posts about it (usually, they’re on my Blogger site). I have been lazy, what can I say? The problem for the next convention is nobody knows how it will work out. Will attendance drop? Will it go up? Where will I pass out books? I had a good spot in front of one set of elevators at the old hotel. People even seemed to know to look there. And it has yet to be determined if there will be an art show — although I haven’t done anything new to sell. We’ll see what happens. Overall, Shore Leave, as it now stands, is a wash. I’ll let you know more next year. And I will be giving out books there no matter what.
I’m still on Blogger. While I’ve been using Patreon more often as my blogging platform, I’ve still managed to put more posts on my blogger site this year than during any of the last three. I do get a good number of reads there, but interaction is a zero. I do know a couple of people who only read my Blogger site, though. I guess I will keep it going for a while, but it’s another wash.
I do get a good number of views on Patreon, but I don’t get a lot of interaction. I’m not sure how to change that. Like Blogger, I’ll stay and see how this shakes out. Another wash, but I’ll eventually have to decide between Blogger and Patreon at some point. I don’t want to keep both going forever.
X. Some folks hate it, some folks love it, some folks leave because they hate Elon Musk, and then there are folks like me who use it as a tool and don’t get into all the rest. I know there are people who will have a problem with that, but I’m not here to amplify or influence anyone’s political/social/ethical ideals or platforms. Do whatever works for you — I won’t mind. There are, however, a lot of people, groups, and businesses I follow that are on Twitter/X who aren’t on any other similar social media site. I know many authors are saying to go to Bluesky. Well, I’m there and it’s a bit underwhelming. I don’t even think it’s reached the point of being whelming, to tell the truth. It could be a good site eventually, but it has a long way to go. Several authors and social media developers at Shore Leave pushed Bluesky big-time yet I can’t find most of them anywhere on the site. Maybe I just haven’t found them yet. Both X and Bluesky are a wash as far as positives and negatives for me.
What I have written this year has been a success, even if it is a minor one. I had three stories accepted into Miranda Kate’s reworked sci-fi/time travel anthology, Slipping Through. The book has done reasonably well. She set the Kindle version to be free in December and has had a good response (Miranda sent me the following image with stats as of December 20, 2023).
At the very least, I should get some exposure for my three stories (flash fiction On the Flip Side & Wrapped in a Mystery, and my short story, Memory Lane). Perhaps someone will leave a new review! Most of the reviews posted are for the old version of the book. Overall, I consider this effort a positive. (Note: Just before publishing this article, Miranda posted on Bluesky that as of December 26, 2023, the download count came in at just under 2,000. Slipping Through stood at #17 in the US and #4 in the UK in Amazon’s Top 100 Free Best Sellers in Science Fiction Anthologies category. It will be free on Kindle until January 4, 2024.)
I’ve also been able to write additional episodes for The Dark Scent of Rain (that will not be posted as I’m pulling the story off Medium). I want to complete it before moving it to Kindle Vella. I have ideas for cover art, too. I’ve also added slightly to my other Kindle Vella project, The Orb of Ostara. I know how the story will go, but there is much to do. While it’s a negative that The Dark Scent of Rain didn’t work on Medium, it’s a positive that I still like the story and want to continue.
Looking back, I suppose I haven’t done so badly this year. I’m hoping next year will be better, however. I’ve even made a list!
What to do next year
- Get The Dark Scent of Rain on Kindle Vella
- Continue working on my other story for Kindle Vella, The Orb of Ostara
- Work on getting pieces together for my two poetry books (booklets?), Dark Rhythms and Frivolous Rhythms
- Finish a few more short stories so I have something to submit should the opportunity arise
- Paint or draw ANYTHING (I need something for potential art shows)
- Revisit Substack to determine if I want to continue there
- Re-evaluate my social media presence
Looking at this list, I can almost start laughing. If I get even half these things accomplished, I will be happy! I have plenty of ideas for both writing and artwork, so writer’s (or artist’s) block won’t be a problem. Finding the time to work on these projects could be.
I know there are still a few days left in 2023. Unless something miraculous happens, however, I think this year is a wrap. If anything miraculous does occur. I’ll do an update. So, onward and upward to 2024! It would be nice if next year had more positives and fewer negatives. We’ll see!
NOTE: The photo on this post is a cropped image taken by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash.
