I feel confident saying that this year wasn’t the best. my day job was more than I could’ve imagined. E-learning for my kids was never part of my plan. That just contributed to my daily stress being more than I could handle for the majority of the year.
Normally, I would be disappointed that I didn’t release a novel in a calendar year. But as I wallowed in self-pity for a lack of publishing in 2020, it dawned on me that just because I didn’t release a novel doesn’t mean that I didn’t do plenty of publishing.
As I mentioned last year, I devoted a lot of time and energy into posting regular content on my website. The same goes for this year, and while I didn’t quite make my mark of a new post every single week, I was very close to that goal and still managed to publish 46 articles this year. My total number of site visits also reflected my increase in content production for the second straight year. While I didn’t quite hit my main goal for the year (so close!), I breezed past my secondary goal late last month, which was a sizeable increase (70%!) over the record numbers I had last year. So if you’re reading this, then thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my posts!
I also (finally) set up a website dedicated solely to Circle City Publishing (CCP). With that, I also began creating original content for that website. I published some really great articles that I think can be very educational for new authors and readers alike.
Earlier this year, CCP released its first anthology of short stories. The Fun Size anthology was a great success for my first effort, and required a ton of work. I handled all the submission reviews and editing duties. I organized the stories, formatted the layout, and got everything ready for printing. On top of that, I created all of the teaser graphics for each story and the cover reveal as well, along with a few marketing images too.
As I’ve previously noted, I’ve also taken on a pet project this year. Because of its fan fiction nature, and the characters belonging to TriStar Pictures, my distribution will be quite limited. At least in a profitable nature. The e-book released earlier last week for free download, I just won’t be able to sell physical copies. Along with this novella, I made my first attempt at designing a cover. I wanted it to hark back to the source material, without being so obnoxiously ‘80’s. If I’m being honest, I think it turned out pretty bitching.
Beyond that, I wrote and submitted six new poems to two projects, one of which I was selected for, and it just released last month. I also had the honor of having two short stories included in other anthologies, unrelated to CCP. Those projects took a lot less organizational work on my end, but the writing and editing process was as thorough as anything else I put out. You can find the Ephemera Anthology here, and the Nightmare Whispers Anthology here. They’re both great collections and you should totally check them out if you’re looking for some shorter, quicker reads!
Lastly, the latest call for submissions for CCP’s second anthology closed on November 1st. I received some great stories for that, and again was responsible for all submission reviews, editing, and formatting. I’ve already worked up story teasers and author intro graphics. I also decided to take it a step further and take a crack at designing the cover for this project too. From there I made cover reveal teasers, and some marketing graphics to go with it.
Oh, one last thing; I feel I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention that I also have a solid start on the next installment in the Kings of Chaos Motorcycle Club Series. I haven’t opened that file in over six months, but I think I left it somewhere between a quarter and a third finished. Wrapping up this series will be my main priority in the coming year.
It seems like this post is simply bragging about everything I’ve done this year. While I am very proud of my output these past twelve months, it’s not intended to be braggadocios. Sometimes we just need to remember what we’re capable of and everything we’ve accomplished. As bad as 2020 has been, it’s been pretty good for my writing career. Thanks for joining me on the journey, and hopefully we can keep it going into a much better 2021!
CK Fiction 