2014 was a good year for me creatively. I wrote the next two books in the Parted Veil series--Lovecraft's Pupil and Lovecraft's Trial. I've also been planning the next couple of books as well as a spin-off series that will take place in the Parted Veil universe.
I did a lot of copywriting for Kitbash--my pal Jeff Rodgers' brand design agency, and together with the awesome crew there we helped revamp and launch a bunch of great websites this year. You can see some of the things we worked on over at the Kitbash website. The work I've done with Kitbash has really made it possible to work on a lot of other creative projects, as it's the one area of my writing that's actually making me some money right now.
I participated in three NaNoWriMo events and reached my goals in all of them. In April I finished the first draft of Lovecraft's Pupil during Camp NaNoWriMo. In July, I wrote the first draft of a middle grade book that I'll be talking more about in the coming months. And in November, I wrote the first draft of Lovecraft's Trial.
I started a new blog called Sunday Night Videos, a project that celebrates '80s rock and metal music, and I had a blast with it this year.
I attended a ton of comic and pop culture conventions this year, culminating in New York Comic Con this past October. At those shows, I sold some books, moderated some great panels, and got dozens of interviews for the Secret Identity podcast.
And speaking of podcasts, I did a heck of a lot of podcasting this year. The Secret Identity podcast passed the 600-episode mark this past Summer, and we're not slowing down anytime soon. I also just wrapped the second season of the See Brian Write podcast, which now has 24 episodes in its library.
And finally, Mo Stache, the comic I write (which my good friend John Cordis illustrates) hit 130 pages this month, all of which you can read online for free at www.mostachecomic.com. We are in the final chapter of Mo now, and it should conclude sometime in late 2015.
So, a pretty solid year on the creative front. Am I satisfied, though? Hell. No.
As good a year as it was, there were several goals I fell short of this past year. First and foremost, I am super disappointed that Lovecraft's Pupil is not out yet. I really wanted to have that book out by the end of 2014. As it stands, final cover design is still ongoing (the pic above is a small tease of one of the draft designs), and I am still making edits and getting feedback.
That middle grade book I mentioned earlier? That didn't come out this year, either. I still need to finish final edits on that one and get the cover designed for what I hope will be a Spring 2015 release.
I also have a long way to go in terms of marketing my work. It's just not something I'm good at, and I didn't do enough to get better at it in 2014. I'm much better at helping others spread the word about their work than I am getting the word out on my own stuff. That has to change in 2015.
So, as I get ready to begin the New Year, I've already got plenty of projects and goals on my plate. I'll be setting up interviews and getting the next season of the See Brian Write podcast underway. This season will be all about NaNoWriMo, so I'm very excited about that. I'll be releasing Lovecraft's Pupil in early 2015, and plan on getting Lovecraft's Trial out in late 2015. I'm finishing the script for the final chapter of Mo Stache as I write this. And of course, the Secret Identity podcast will be rolling along, which means I'll be at a bunch of shows, doing a bunch of interviews, and hopefully selling a bunch of books. I do plan on doing more horror-relates cons this year, as that's more of the target audience for my books, and I haven't sold nearly as well at comic shows.
As always, I'll be blogging about all of the things I mentioned above right here, so stay tuned! I hope your 2014 was great, and you've got some big goals set for the New Year!
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