It’s time again for the end-of-the-year writing review. This is where I try to zoom out and look at the year from a thousand feet up, see the forest instead of the trees etc etc. Mainly, I’m trying to assess if I hit my goals, areas I could improve, and get a feel for what to aim for in 2025.
To be perfectly honest, in many ways, 2024 was not the writing year I hoped it would be. There were a quite a few disappointments and realizations behind the scenes that I’m still grappling with. But this year also held some fun surprises I wasn’t expecting too, so overall, it was definitely a mixed bag.
So what does that mean for 2025? Well, let’s dig into 2024 and see if we can take a guess.
first, the numbers
- Words written: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark novella) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 35,000 (my half of Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes, coauthored with E.P. Stavs) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella, Title TBA) + 20,000 (House of the Chosen, still drafting) + 9,500 (still drafting Odds & Ends with E.P. Stavs = 285,500 words (+89% from last year)
- Words revised: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 70,000 (Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella) = 291,000 (-10% from last year)
- Words published: 94,000 (Into the Fire) + 32,000 (A Churn in the Dark) = 126,000 (-30% from last year)
- Words on sub: 83,000 (Ninth Circle) + 76,000 (Midnight Falls) = 159,000 words (+55% from last year)
- 2024 Total Words Worked: 861,500 (+8% from last year)
Sales Numbers: ~589 self-published books sold (-28% from last year, includes audiobooks but not my titles with Whimsical Publishing). Another 9,523 downloaded for free. (-58% last year’s count)
And the Goodreads numbers.
- Odriel’s Heirs: 259 ratings (+19%) / 4.24 stars
- Burning Shadows: 40 ratings (+25%) / 4.65 stars
- Idriel’s Children: 82 ratings (+17%) / 4.44 stars
- Night of Ash: 28 ratings (+17%) / 4.64 stars
- Time’s Orphan: 91 ratings (+23%) / 4.62 stars
- The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 103 ratings (+5%) / 4.10 stars
- Into the Churn: 338 ratings (+139%) / 4.25 stars
- Into the Fire: 72 ratings / 4.60 stars
- A Churn in the Dark: 15 ratings / 4.80 stars
- Into the Abyss: 4 ratings / 5 stars
My Goodreads total: 1036 ratings (+57%) / 4.34 stars
If you want to compare the totals to last year more directly, my 2023 summary is here.
As far as words go, I think my efficiency is higher than ever, and it certainly shows. I drafted a ton this year… to the point I was actually asking myself why I was pushing myself to move so fast.
Sales-wise, I worked my arse off promoting my Into the Churn series which had two releases this year, and so my self-published backlist naturally took a backseat in the promotion realm. The consistent downloads all year have been cool, but I think in 2025, I’ll try to snag another BookBub deal to really capitalize on the king of all promos.
the highlights
- Into the Churn books #2.5, #3, and [redacted] were all greenlit! When I was writing Into the Fire (Into the Churn #2) I thought I’d have to settle for a duology, so this was huge news. Sales and interest really jumped with the cover rebrand, and I’m so thrilled we got to give this series the ending it deserves.
- The Into the Churn series got an *amazing* audiobook adaption
- The Ninth Circle & Midnight Falls went on sub! Being on submission is a journey, but I’m so lucky to have my amazing agent, Kristen Terrette from Martin Literary, to champion my books, and I’m excited to see where the journey takes these stories.
- Several of my books won awards! Odriel’s Heirs won the 2024 YA IndieReader Discovery Awards, and each book in the trilogy one an Indie BRAG medallion. Idriel’s Children was A Wishing Shelf Book Award Silver Medal Winner, and The Gatekeeper of Pericael was a Literary Titan Gold Winner and a finalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards. Meanwhile Time’s Orphan was a bronze medalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards, a semifinalist in the 2024 book blogger novel of the year awards, and a semifinalist in the 2024 kindle book awards.
- This year I joined the WriteHive team as a mentor in their mentorship program, and I’m so excited to pay forward everything I’ve picked up from the writing community.
What I learned
- At this stage of the game in promoting my backlist, if it’s not a BookBub Promo, it’s probably not worth it. I’ve tried so many other newsletters and promotions, but they really just don’t measure up. However, I think I’m reaching the point in my backlist lifespan where I just kind of let them coast along and focus on promoting my current releases.
- This year I entered quite a few book awards as I try to figure out which ones are worth entering. These remain my favorites:
- So, last year, I listed social media, my newsletter, and this blog as all areas I maybe needed to grow in. I gotta tell ya though. Right now, I’m kind of at peace with the fact that I’ve consistently posted this year. I’m still on the look out for any epiphanies that may happen upon me, but I can exist in marathon (not sprint) mode, and I think that’s okay. Also, my newsletter subscribers increased by 60% and my website views increased 31% so that was pretty solid.
- While I love working on sequels/series, and I 100% see the value in them, I’ll be real, releasing them isn’t as exciting. They’re harder to individually market, because you’re not courting new readers with a brand new book ripe with possibility, rather, you’re courting the readers who loved book one. (A much smaller population.) Which is all to say, I’ll be so stoked when the entire Into the Churn series is out there in September and I can market it as a completed unit. (Squee!!)
The bumps
- Being on submission is mentally tougher than I thought it would be. There, I said it. I’m writing a separate post on why I think this is the case, but kin, I was not prepared. I think next year I need to slow down and take more time for my mental health to be able to shoulder this better.
- So… I had a “stepping backward” moment with one of my manuscripts which was super disappointing. In the end, I had to make a decision in line with my values that unfortunately, also meant losing out an opportunity I was really looking forward to. I don’t regret the decision, but I think I’m still mourning the loss. I really can’t give the details, but just… blah.
Goals
All right, 2025, what are we going to do with you? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable. (Goal small. Dream big.) Last year I’m proud to say I hit all of my goals (Though I did not write the specific two next books itching at my brain… because sequel and co-WIPs jumped in front of them) So for 2025 I’m aiming to…
- Get Into the Abyss out into the world in March and [redacted] out into the world in September to put a bow on the Into the Churn series.
- Finish my two current drafts (House of the Chosen & the Odds & Ends co-WIP) and send to my agent.
- Write the next book for Whimsical and send it their way!
With those details now, let’s zoom out. 2024 was an… unexpected year for me. I walked into 2024 thinking I would write the two books I had outlined, and instead I wrote *four* completely different ones. (Three sequels & a co-WIP) And while I’m happy with that, I think there’s still a part of me that’s desperate to write those other two books I’ve been daydreaming about.
Being on submission was harder than expected, and in a way, I’m half-expecting 2025 to be a make or break year for me. Also, the manuscript “step back” situation behind the scenes also hit me harder than expected. But no one said the journey would be a straight line or without bumps along the way.
With that in mind, I may try to purposely slow down, and make sure I’m taking more breaks for my mental health.
The sum up
So after last year’s effervescent wrap-up, I’m worried I’ve been too real with this one. But if I just want to give an accurate look at the ups and downs at the writing journey, this is all part of it.
It’s kind of funny because both my kids had a tough soccer season this year in the bottom of their age groups, and we discussed that sometimes we have learning years and sometimes we have performing years. Similarly, writing-wise, last year felt like a performing year for me, while this year felt more like a working year. It takes the working years to make the performing years happen, but that does not mean they are all equally exciting.
That said, I’m also very prepared for 2025 to be a working year too. Still, I’m here for it with tenacity to spare, and I’m excited to see what stories spill onto the page this year. Thanks for reading and cheers to another year of adventures!
Hayley Reese Chow 