My 2023 author recap
Word count, sales, and future plans
Dear reader,
As I reflect on 2023, it was a year of ups and downs in my author journey. Let me catch you up on what I wrote, published, and sold, plus some updates on projects in the works and plans for 2024 and beyond.
What I wrote
I worked exclusively on my forthcoming book, Clashing with the CEO. I didn't track my word count, but Scrivener estimates I wrote over 144,000 words while reworking this manuscript, which sounds about right to me. I expect the finished manuscript to come in at about 120,000 words.
What I published
I did not publish any new books in 2023 🥲. I really hoped Clashing with the CEO would be done and dusted by now, but it’s still not quite ready. I look forward to finally hitting publish in 2024!
What I sold
The good news is my backlist kept selling copies throughout the year. I sold 295 ebooks and 216 print books, totalling 511 books sold for the year. My Kindle Unlimited page reads came in at 353,508 pages read. These are pretty small numbers but in line with what I expected. I sold a bit less than in 2022 overall.
Project updates
Clashing with the CEO: This rewrite has been all-consuming, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my process which has made it take this long. I'm about 85% done now and will start edits in April, on track for an August publication date.
Author planner: I got very far along in this project, but my idea to include writing prompts for every day ended up burning me out. I'm going to replan the layout before trying again this year.
Free novella: This got placed on the back burner but is still something I want to tackle in 2024.
Plans for 2024
Finish writing & prepping Clashing with the CEO for a hard launch
Write and release a free novella/short story
Outline my next novel
Finish and release my author planner/workbook
Plans for 2025
Relaunch My K-Drama Life series with new covers
Write & release next novel
I appreciate you following along on this ride with me. Your support keeps me motivated even when the road gets bumpy. Here's to an amazing 2024!
-Sara
Pre-order Clashing with the CEO
Link roundup
📚Book world news and views from around the web
75 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2024 [Electric Literature]
I maintain the hope that, one day, American letters will be so inclusive that a piece like this will no longer be useful. But for now, here are some 2024 books I’m excited to read.
The Fine Art of the Paperback Makeover [NY Times]
Redesign? Relaunch? Regret? Take a look at the ways publishers aimed to seduce new audiences by changing up the covers of notable books.
24 Romance Books being published in 2024 to add to your TBR [Culturess]
The end of the year can be bittersweet but there’s one thing to get excited about and that’s romance books.