I’ve opened my merchandise store with 5 distinct designs, as well as a recolor of one and a reorientation of another.
If you like my work and want to support me, please review the store at your leisure via either the image above or the link below, and see if anything catches your eye.
My newest book, 2014: The Year of Labours, is now available on Amazon for $7.99 at the following link: http://ow.ly/Wva6308W6Cq
I’m proud to announce my new book “2014: The Year of Labours” is available on CreateSpace for $7.99. It will be available on Amazon soon (it takes a few days).
The full cover (front and back) is pictured above!
I’m currently finishing the last of my editing on 2014: The Year of Labours. I’m working on the final draft right now, and should have it ready for a February release. Until then, please enjoy this preview of the cover.
As December comes around again, it’s time for my annual anniversary update post. I’ve got a lot to say this year, so I decided to split the usual single post update into two. The first post went over what I’ve done this past year, and this second post will talk about what I’m planning on doing next year.
So without further ado…
I’ll get directly to the point: I will no longer be posting content on a schedule after December of this year.
I’ve been writing for seven full years now, and I’ve published over 1450 unique posts to my sites in that time. I’ve given a lot of thought to what I want to write and how I want to run this site as well: I’ve written shorter content with a frequent posting schedule, larger content with a slower schedule, and experimented a little in between. I have published 8 paperbacks in that time frame (counting the first book’s original and re-publication), published 5 ebooks, and I have another book deep in the stages of publishing a paperback.
And all of that has been very exhausting.
Keeping my publishing schedule over the past few years has taken a lot out of me – especially when working on freelance and side projects at the same time. It’s stifled my ability to learn new skills, carved a swath through my social life, and devoured my free time like a candle lit at both ends. And after doing some soul-searching, I’ve decided that writing on a schedule is tearing me down more than it’s helping me. I’ve always been proud of how tightly I’ve stuck to my schedule, and the decision to abandon it has not been an easy one.
So what does that mean for my writing and the site?
Again, the decision to make these changes has not been an easy one to make, but I believe it is the correct one for me right now.
So what won’t be changing in 2017?
And what will be new in 2017?
And that’s…about it. I don’t want to over-commit to too much for 2017, and there’s plenty that I can work on. And that’s what I still aim to do – work, just in a different way than I have in the past.
Wish me luck.
As December comes around again, it’s time for my annual anniversary update post. I’ve got a lot to say this year, so I’m going to split the usual single post update into two. The first post will go over what I’ve done this past year, and the second post will talk about what I’m planning on doing next year.
So without further ado…
This year I continued my two-posts-per-week schedule from last year, but all poetry this time (no blog posts or short stories like last year). I placed a heavy emphasis on audio recordings, and uploaded a recording with every post to my main website, a second post with a recording to Tumblr, and a recording on SoundCloud. I also reopened my Patreon, and uploaded the poems and recordings to it.
Additionally, I began regular visits to open mic nights in my area beginning in April. I did two of them nearly every month of spring and summer, with outings tapering off in the fall. These were mostly at the River City Blues and Darts Club and HB Lovedrafts in Harrisburg, PA, though I believe I was at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center’s open mic night a time or two as well.
My goal for the year was to to finish republishing my first book, “A (Wise) Man of Two Faces”, using Amazon’s CreateSpace publisher, and publish three new books of my work: all of my 2014 writing, the 2015 poetry, and the 2015 blog posts. Unfortunately, I fell short of those goals. I ran into multiple significant issues with the 2014 book, and have yet to finalize and publish it – though it is close. I also did not complete any of the ebooks I meant to pair with these releases. However, I did manage to republish my first book and both of the 2015 books, which I have pictured below. They are available through CreateSpace and Amazon.
I also went to three local festivals/events as a vendor to sell my books – two in May and one in November. I was able to rush and get my new paperbacks done in time for the first two festivals, and I was able to bring the streamline my setup by the November event (pictured below).
Armstrong Winery in Halifax, PA (May):
Fort Halifax in Halifax, PA (May)
Upscale Art Sale in Ebenezer, PA (November)
On top of all that, I worked on two freelance projects this summer in which I proofread and edited the dialog and script of visual novel-style video games. I haven’t gotten clearance from my clients to discuss the one project, but I do have it for the second – Invisible Apartment 3, released by Vysoko Anime Production. I’m including some game images and links below. You can follow their producer and developer on Twitter at @BunnyJessican.
And between all of that, I had a very busy year – so I’m going to end the first part of my yearly update post. Check back later this week for the second installment – what I’m planning on doing with my writing going forward.
This past week was the 6th anniversary of beginning my online writing. And per tradition, here is my yearly post updating all on the state of the blog and myself.
I: The year in review
This year I decided to publish two posts a week starting in March – a blog or short story on Tuesdays and a poem on Thursdays. I did this to experiment with larger styles of writing while still putting out poetry. Additionally, I decided to focus predominantly on larger styles of poetry as well – both to stretch myself, and to get away from my recent focus on short forms like haiku and limericks. While I did slip a few shorter poems in this year, I kept up with both of my goals, and I’m proud of the work I posted this year.
I also spoke last about wanting to write more side content in other areas of writing, as well as having important matters in my personal life that I’d been neglecting. The bad news is that I still have not done much towards the goal of side content, aside from the short stories I’ve published here. The good news, however, is that one of the biggest personal issues was resolved this year – I got a new job in July that pays me very well, and that’s been a HUGE load off of my shoulders.
While I have not made much progress on the writing front, I have made some strides in another, unexpected, direction: performance. I started reading my work at open mic nights earlier this year, and even was one of the featured poets at a special art night at a local business this summer. I was also invited to and performed at the 5th Haiku Duel in the Bowery in New York City this past November. And while I’m on hiatus from performing at the moment, that’s because I’m currently taking an improv class to help improve my stage-work. If everything goes as planned, I’ll start performing again after the New Years.
II: Plans for next year
First and foremost, what’s in store for the blog? Well, blogging posts will be ending at the end of December. I’ve said it a couple of times throughout this year, but I’m really not enjoying this style of content. Additionally, I spend significantly more time on blog posts than poems, which doesn’t give me as much time for some of the other things I want to work on. So, no more blogs after December – except maybe as a special treat. But starting in January, this blog will go back to being a full poetry blog.
Secondly, I have a few more books to publish. The publishing contract on my first book ran out this year, and I am currently in the process of republishing it through Amazon and CreateSpace. This will be a republication of both the paperback and the ebook – though it will be the first time the paperback is available through Amazon. The ebook previously was listed there by my former publisher. (No hard feelings with them though. I’m happy with the work they did on book one – I just like using Amazon and CreateSpace as an online store.)
Additionally, I would like to publish paperbacks and ebooks for my 2014 and 2015 content. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to split 2015 into two books, but that looks likely – one will have this year’s poetry, and the other will have the blog posts. I’ll keep you posted on that. But as of right now, one of my goals for next year will be to release 3 to 4 new books.
Thirdly, I WILL work on additional content. This will probably consist of short stories and flash fiction, and I will probably publish these to my Patreon page – both as a way to hold myself accountable, and as an excuse to get my Patreon back up and running. I also started doing some audio recordings of my work earlier this year and posted them to SoundCloud, and I may do more of them (possibly even an album).
Fourth and finally, I will put a focus on getting my name out there. This includes not only performing here in Harrisburg, PA, but also submitting stories to writing contests and blogs. This has always been one of the weakest areas of “my brand” (I hate calling it that). But if I want to make a living from my writing, and I do, I will have to step up my game, get out there, and make some noise.
So…that’s where I’m at right now, and that’s what I’m planning to do going forward. What do you fine folks think of my plans? Was there anything you were especially excited about? Was there anything you were looking for that I didn’t mention? Please leave a comment, and let me know.
Thanks for six wonderful years everyone. Here’s hoping there are plenty more to come.
You can pick up your copy of my newest book from:
And thank you, for all of your support 🙂
This December marks my fifth year writing and posting poetry online. As per tradition, here’s my yearly update on me, my writing, and where I’d like to go for the next year.
First of all, I would like to thank all of you for reading and supporting me this year. It means a lot to me. Y’all are awesome 🙂
I: State of my writing now
This year I successfully published, or scheduled for publication, five poems per week for each of the fifty-two weeks of the year. That means I’ve publicly posted ~260 poems, of which ~156 were haiku and ~104 were another, longer style. This is the second year in a row that I’ve set and met that goal. This also brings the total count for my collection of poetry to ~1230 over five years.
I also had the goal to publish all my poetry through the end of 2013, and I am well on my way to completing that. “2011: The Year I was in Love” was published by the end of April and “2012: The Year I Fell Apart” was published by the end of August. The third book, “2013: The Year I went in Circles”, is finished, and I will be announcing the links once they’re available. I would like to publish a book of my 2014 work sometime next year, but that isn’t on the top of my priority list at this time.
II: What’s up with me
First and foremost, I think I need a vacation. I’ve been running a writing gauntlet with 5 or more posts per week since August of 2012 – nearly two-and-a-half years. And I frankly feel burned out. So, I’m taking a vacation during which I will not consider myself obligated to write. I’ll still allow myself to write, but I won’t be posting anything to my blogs during that time period. This write-cation will last at least the month of January, perhaps even some or all of February. I will be back by March at the latest with new content.
But that brings me to the other side of the issue: the schedule I put myself under to produce that much content burns me out and doesn’t leave much time for other work. I’ve been writing poetry and nothing but poetry for the past few years. And while I do enjoy it, I would like to expand into other areas of writing: flash fiction, short stories, novels, and novellas. I’m interested in working on visual poetry and other mediums than just text. But I don’t feel my five-per-week schedule allows me to work on projects like that.
Additionally, I have important matters in my personal life that I’ve been neglecting while working on this blog and publishing my books this year. And I need to get on them ASAP. Because once they’re resolved, it should take several HUGE loads off of my shoulders and put me and my life in a healthier place.
III: What’s next
I am announcing the official end of my “Shorties” haiku project with the close of 2014. It was fun while it lasted, but it’s time to close the curtain on that project. So shorties are done, and they won’t be coming back for a long while.
When I do return to the blog, I will only be posting poems one or two times per week – similar to what I did in 2011 and early 2012. I will try to focus on quality over quantity though, so I will try to make as many of them sonnets or other longer-style poems as I can. I may throw a few limericks or cinquains in there, but I feel like I have gained sufficient skill with those styles and don’t want to rest on my laurels.
I WILL be working on other writing content and methods in 2015. I would like to complete several short short and/or flash fiction. I also wrote a short story a few years ago which I’d like to expand into a novella/novel. I’ve toyed with the idea of writing plays and screenplays to practice dialogue – a weak spot in my writing (5 years of poetry and not much dialogue lol). I’ve also thought about doing a topical blog. I used to do reviews of movies and series and I’m debating starting that up again. But I’m not sure what I want to focus on, nor where I want to post the content. I feel like posting movie reviews and/or opinion pieces to this blog would be awkward, but starting up a new site carries issues of its own.
Furthermore, writing blog or review content is something I would need to do on a regular schedule, and I’m worried about taking too much on and triggering another burnout. I’m still mulling over the details, and I’ll share them as soon as I’ve made my decisions.
What I CAN say will happen is that I will definitely continue writing, in some way, shape, or form. And I’m going to work on developing a pro-writing schedule what will encourage regular writing without triggering burnout. Beyond that though, I can’t say much – those personal matters have to take precedence over starting new writing projects.
IV: tl;dr (Too long; didn’t read / a summary)
I published ~260 poems this year; the grand total goes up to ~1230. I met my goal to publish 3 books this year. I won’t be publishing content in January and maybe February too, and when I do start again I will only post 1-2 times per week. No more haiku, limericks, or cinquains – unless I think they’re extraordinary. I will keep writing poetry and start writing prose content, but I’m not sure what, where, or on what schedule.
What do you guys think?
A (wise) man of two faces 