#Writing Wednesday: Looking Back At 2017

OK, so... Let's take a look at what 2017 was like for me as an author, shall we?

As I said in this post from January 2017, my goals for 2017 as an author were as follows:

*Complete production of the paperback version of "Ulrike's Christmas" as soon as possible.
*Add to already written poems so as to publish a new poetry collection.
*Continue working on stories, and publish at least one.
*Spend a bit more time on marketing.

So, how did I do?

*"Ulrike's Christmas" is available in paperback. In fact, it's also now available in audio.
*I published a poetry collection in April 2017 called "Catching Snowflakes And Other Poems" and have even written a few new poems since.
*I published a stand alone story called "How To Trust Your Human" in July 2017, and even have it available in paperback and audiobook as well as eBook already. I've made some progress with working on other stories too, though not as much as I'd have liked to have done, nor as much as I'd hoped/planned to do. Still, any progress is a good thing, right?
*I did several guest posts and interviews, as well as a couple of blog tours. I even attempted a live Facebook event during one of my blog tours. I know of a few other things I could have done, but it's an improvement on previous years, when I only did the odd guest post or interview from time to time. Plus, some of the things I could have done are things I don't plan to do... Not every marketing option works for everyone, after all.

I also did something that wasn't part of my goals list, which was to arrange for a large chunk of my books to be made available in audio. Almost half my books are now available in audio, with several others in various stages of production, and the rest awaiting their turn to be produced. I've been working with a great bunch of narrators to make this possible.

So, the writing and publishing of new stories wasn't quite as successful as I'd hoped it would be, the same goes for marketing. On the other hand, I hadn't planned when I'd be starting audiobook production, yet I've made great progress with organizing that, which helps to counter the fact I didn't do quite as well as I'd hoped to with other things. Besides, even though I'd hoped to do better with actual writing progress, I did meet my goals for the year, so I can't complain, and it does seem - looking back over the year - that 2017 was a successful year for me as an author.

Next week I'll share my goals for 2018. In the meantime, if you had any writing/publishing goals of your own in 2017, how did you do with them? Are you joining me in looking back or moving forward? I'd love to hear how you did. Let me know in the comments.