My year in review

The year is about to end and it’s time for a summary of what I’ve managed to do. I didn’t make any lists at the beginning of the year that I could handily compare my achievements to—or the lack thereof—but I managed to keep myself mostly moving forward anyway.

I celebrated my ten-year writing anniversary this year. It’s been an interesting journey, and I’m happy to say things are looking good—or they were before the economic slump suddenly hit. I hope people keep reading books though, because I’ve planned to be here for a long time.

I published four books this year. I started with Magic for the Highland Wolf in January. Third Spell’s the Charm came out in March, and Tracy Hayes, P.I. for the Win came out in May. My new series starter The Perfect Scam was published at the end of July. And then it stopped.

My goal was to publish five, maybe even six books this year. Technically, that was achievable, but life intervened. Some kind of writer’s block stalled the next Two-Natured London book. By the time I gave up and switched to House of Magic 4, I’d already wasted two months with it. And then my editor’s schedules jammed up and I had to postpone all my publishing to next year.

I’d like to say I spent the extra writing time well, but House of Magic 4 took me two months longer than scheduled to finish. All in all, my autumn was very unproductive, writing-wise. To compensate, I published a bundle edition of my thrillers Personal and The Assassin that I’ve meant to do for a while.

I didn’t write any blog posts either. I published three posts here (this one is fourth) which is a far cry from returning to a regular blogging schedule that I hoped to achieve. I won’t make any promises for the next year either.

My book review blog faired better. I read 85 books this year, about half of them from NetGalley, and reviewed most of them on my blog, 62 posts. Still, it’s fewer than the previous year when I read a record hundred books. I went through a reading slump the same time my writing stalled—probably related—and couldn’t manage the same this year.

During my slump, I did learn a new skill: video editing. I’ve long wanted to learn to make book videos, but there’s never been time for it. And it was a time-consuming skill to learn. Took me two weeks to create two short videos. I haven’t had time to return to it since, but I hope to make more videos next year.

At the end of the year, I joined a new social media, Mastodon. Twitter, my favourite media by far, has been in trouble, and I wanted a backup place in case it stops operating completely. Mastodon is much calmer space. If you’re there and would like to find me, I’m @SusannaShore@wandering.shop there.

Despite my reading slump, I read many great books this year. Several stood out even among them. The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller, Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney, Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald and my absolute favourite cosy read, Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. It’s a fantasy heavy top four, but I did read other genres too.

My favourite movie by far this year was Everything Everywhere All At Once, although Top Gun Maverick managed to hit the nostalgia spot in me it was meant to hit. And I discovered Chinese fantasy dramas. I’m late to the game, but very enthusiastic new convert. What got me hooked was Love Between Fairy and Devil on Netflix, and I’m currently watching The Untamed.

I’ve made great plans for the next year, but thanks to my procrastination, my publishing schedule for the spring is already lagging behind. Magic by the Book will come out in February 12. After that, everything is open. But I hope you’ll stay with me to find what next year will bring with it.

My publishing schedule for 2023

I’ve had a good year in publishing this year, or at least the first half of it. I’ve published four books, the last of which, The Perfect Scam, came out in July. It was the last day of July, so it’s been out for two months now.

I had planned to publish one more book this year, two if I wrote really fast, but things didn’t go as I planned. First, I spent most of the summer writing fun projects that didn’t go anywhere—yet, anyway—and designing covers for them. It may seem like a time-waste, but it was necessary for my mental health and recharging my creative batteries.

When I finally got back on my publishing track and began to write the next Two-Natured London book, it completely stalled after five chapters. I didn’t immediately give up on it, but nothing helped. So I’ve put it on hold for now to let my subconscious figure out where it went wrong.

I’m currently writing the fourth book in House of Magic series instead. I had hoped to have it published before Christmas, but outside forces intervened. Namely, my editor who turned out to be fully booked until January. It’s good for him—any freelancer would be happy to have work for months ahead—but less good for me and, by extension, my readers.

I had to scrap my plans of publishing one more book this year, and quickly come up with a plan for the spring, before all the editing slots were gone again. It’s a provisional schedule, and I’ll let you know if it changes. But for now, it looks like this:

12.2. House of Magic 4
12.3. Reed Files 2
30.4. P.I. Tracy Hayes 11
23.7. Reed Files 3

As you can see, I’ve dropped the Two-Natured London 8 from the spring schedule, so it’ll be a full year late from the intended date. My apologies for all of you who have been waiting for Marcus’s story. It’ll be a good one, I promise.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of books for you to read. I hope you’ll find new favourites among them.

 

It’s my ten-year author anniversary!

This week, June 7th to be precise, marks ten years since I published my first book, The Wolf’s Call. It’s been an interesting decade to say the least. I wasn’t an overnight success—duh—but my first book did well enough during its first eight months that I could keep publishing through several leaner years.

How the cover has changed over the years

If you’re wondering why it sold well for only such a short time, Amazon changed its algorithms in 2013 and prevented self-published books from appearing in searches before traditionally published books. It cut the income of many self-published authors to a fraction of what it had been, mine included. I was lucky to have started before the change happened. Otherwise I might have given up ages ago.

But I persevered. Last month, I published my thirtieth book, so I’ve published an average three books a year. The milestone belongs to Tracy Hayes, P.I. for the Win. It’s the tenth in the series and I’m glad that it got the honours. It’s my most popular series by far, and the book ends a longer arc too.

What have I learned, then, during this decade? It’s been an amazing curve from a clueless but hopeful to knowledgeable and realistic.

I’ve learned that shorter books suit my writing style best. Mine are fifty thousand words average, though the newer are a bit longer. I can pace them better and make them more interesting than my longer books. They’re better for me financially too, as I can’t realistically ask more than $3-4 for them, whether they’re forty thousand words or a hundred thousand.

I’ve learned that publishing more books really is the key for financial success. When I started, I thought it meant any book that I managed to publish. But it actually means, at least for me, more books in the same series. It wasn’t until book seven of P.I. Tracy Hayes series that people really took notice. And the same goes for my other series too.

I’ve learned that my readers like light mysteries over contemporary romances. I like writing them better too. I have many ideas for romances, but all of them have been postponed to far future.

I’ve learned not to be embarrassed about marketing my books. Back when I started, social media was the only marketing channel for me, but the mere notion of telling people of my books made me break out in sweat. I’m over that, and although I don’t think social media sells books any better than it did back then, it’s easier for me to do it.

I’ve learned that one pen name is better than two. When I started, I had different pen names for paranormal and contemporary romances. Hannah Kane had to retire, and I republished my contemporary romances as Susanna Shore a few years ago. They still don’t sell, but at least I don’t have to maintain two identities.

I’ve learned to make book covers. I’ve always done all my covers myself. They still can’t compete with the professional work, but the current cover of The Wolf’s Call is miles from the original. Good thing people back then didn’t expect self-published books to look professional.

The first cover of The Wolf's Call

I’ve found that I like making covers and it’s a good way for me to relax between books. I have a great many covers waiting for books that might never be written.

But perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned in the past decade is to call myself an author. I felt like a fraud for a long time and didn’t like to talk about it with people I didn’t know. This week was basically the first time that I outright told a random person that I’m an author. It was wonderfully liberating.

I’m still not making a living with my writing. But for the first time, that goal is within sights. I’m in a good place personally and professionally about my career. And there’s a lot to come.

My next book will start a new series, making it the fourth ongoing series I’m publishing at the same time. The Reed Files is a spin-off from P.I. Tracy Hayes books. The first book is called The Perfect Scam and it’s an international mystery set in France. I’m very excited about it and I hope readers will find it. The book will come out on July 31, a perfect way to launch the next decade of my author career.

For my next decade, my goals are to become more entrepreneurial, or at least more efficient about things like advertising. It’s more of a point and shoot tactic now. I’d also like to tackle audio books at some point. Currently, they’re not worth the cost for me. And, of course, I’d like to make a living from my writing. And that means writing more books. Looking forward to it.

Books with magic are for adults too!

I spotted a review of my book today that gave me a pause. I’m not upset with the review. Only a fool would be upset with five stars and a reader actually taking time to write down a few words. What made me do a double-take was the reader’s notion that the book was written for teens.

I’ve never written anything for a younger audience. I didn’t like being a teenager and don’t care to relive the experience, and I don’t understand the current generation of teenagers at all. I’ve read enough cringe-worthy YA where the current day teen protagonist enjoys the things that made the author happy in their youth in the 70s and 80s to know to stay out of that game.

The book in question is Hexing the Ex, which starts my House of Magic paranormal mystery series. The first-person protagonist, Phoebe Thorpe, is twenty-seven, has a university degree, a steady job, active social life, ex-boyfriends, and a current crush on her boss. There are no bedroom scenes, with or without the door closed, but I consider her an adult, and she was written for the adult audience in mind.

The tone of the book is light, and the mystery isn’t terribly gruesome. The next book is slightly darker and the upcoming third book darker still, but the overall reading experience should be joyful. The reviewer here definitely found it such, which delights me.

I have another mystery series too, where the protagonist, Tracy Hayes, is twenty-seven. She has no college degree, but she has an ex-husband and a string of minimum wage jobs until she lands a job as the apprentice to a private investigator.

The mysteries of P.I. Tracy Hayes series are a bit darker, there are murders, and themes that have made readers issue trigger warnings, but the overall tone aims to joyful too, with family shenanigans and romance. There are some references to bedroom scenes, but nothing overt.

Both books have cheery, colourful illustrations on their covers. Maybe younger people like them more, but the idea was to capture readers who like light-hearted books. I think it has worked perfectly. Before this, no one has ever suggested that either series is meant for teenagers.

It’s impossible to know what makes a reader view a book one way or another. I’ve reviewed books myself that others have perceived completely opposite to how I saw them. I can only make a guess at the elements that some readers find more suitable for children, and that is magic and paranormal creatures.

My assumption, fair or not, is what triggered me to write this post.

Book twitter is full of rants by writers of adult fantasy who rage against their books being classified as YA. The tendency of bookstores and libraries to shelve fantasy with YA seems to indicate that only younger audiences are allowed to enjoy imaginative worldbuilding and fantastic creatures. They’re stating that adults should steer away from fantasy, no matter how dark, gruesome, or erotic the books are otherwise. And more often than not, it’s fantasy written by women that gets this treatment.

Maybe that applies to my little paranormal mystery with its urban fantasy setting too. That isn’t to say it’s not suitable for younger audience; teenagers might enjoy it even. But adults need not to be ashamed of enjoying fantasy elements in their reading either. You’re not alone in finding them a pleasure. I definitely do.

If you’d like to check out either or both series, you can find more about them on my webpage, the series starting with Hexing the Ex and Tracy Hayes, Apprentice P.I. If you’re waiting for the next House of Magic book, it’ll come out on March 20th. The name and cover will be revealed soon.