Reflection of 2024

My first year as an author began on March 5, 2024, when A Kingdom of Promises and Lies was published.

Here are a few things I knew at the beginning of 2024...

1. I had created my author social media accounts in January

2. I was really doing this with publishing a book

3. I could have hit published in January, but wanted to come full circle and publish 1 full year later after I had handwritten my first scene for AKOPAL (you'll probably see me acronym, A Kingdom of Promises and Lies, a lot like this).

4. I had begun writing Kierian's book in February, referring to it as "FaeVille" because I didn't have a title for his book yet, and about 2 months before release day on September 24th, I decided I wanted to write Tennyson's book. Thus, The FaeVille Series was born.

5. I created my website and kept it to a very 'basic' theme until I knew what aesthetic I was going for. I knew I wanted my website to be my main author platform for my books, signed copy for sales, events, and more!

The placeholder logo

6. I designed a temporary logo as a placeholder until I knew what I was doing.

7. I had invested in a lot of things to jumpstart my author career. I promise I will write another blog about this later on.

8. I was trying to figure out my "brand" which kinda encompasses # 5-7...

9. I was trying to network with others on social media, which in turn was a combination of friends I had made previously in the book world and new to me people on my author accounts

10. My anxiety was making me question, if I was really doing this. Meanwhile, my heart was whispering, 'Yes, you are.'

Whew, thats a list of ten things and I am sure I am forgetting quite a few things in that list. But currently, that is what I can recall off the top of my head.

I didn't really send out ARCs (advance reader copies) for AKOPAL. I gave a few digital copies to maybe 10 people to make sure I was on the right track with telling a story. I had 24 preorders before March 5, 2024!! When AKOPAL released, I shared it on every social media platform, and from there, friends and family shared too! AKOPAL hit # 1 rank in New Releases in Love Triangle Romance category on Friday, March 8! (It still, a year later, floats between the top 100 in Love Triangle Romance on a good day and, on average, 300-500 on a slow day).

In the first release month of AKOPAL, I sold 54 copies (not including those preorders!)!!! I celebrate all successes, and for a debut novel, this exceeded what I had ever imagined. To say I am a blunt realist is an understatement. I am a very blunt person, and because of that, I put my expectation of books sold in my first month to 10-20 copies... I was quite blown away that with preorders I was at 78 copies sold before we even hit April 1st. Maybe to some people, this is a lot for debut authors, and to others, this is considered a 'bad book launch,' but for me, I view it as a success. I don't compare/compete with anyone else. In my author career, I just do what works for me.

Why do I put these numbers out there? For a few reasons...

1. When I am reminiscing, I can look back on this blog post and be like, "Ope! That's where I started!"

2. For new authors beginning out, I know. I am a beginner as I write this in 2025, starting my 2nd year as an author, but who knows where I'll be in 5-10+ years from now? New authors, keep reading for Kierian's release results...(spoiler alert: not as good as AKOPALs)

3. For all those nosey-rosies out there. Lol, to be honest, I am a very open book. I don't see the point of gatekeeping or holding secrets.

4. Really, it's more because of reason # 1. I may have a spreadsheet with these numbers, but this is a quicker way to reflect back.

Now, we're entering the middle of the year of my first year as an author. I'm writing between

This was the original cover art for Kierian. Now, it's character art.

the next book in The Courting Seasons Series, Serenity's book, A Queendom of Heartbreak and Deceit, and then finishing up Kierian, the first book in The FaeVille Series. Initially, I was not going to release Kierian in 2024. My sole focus was on Serenity's book, but I continued to write Kierian's book and then somehow ended up creating character art when I was in an artsy-fartsy mood. I finished Kierian's book in July and picked September for the release month.

Through all this, in May, my Dad went to emergency care on my birthday. We're thinking it's one thing, but the news we receive is worse. My dad has terminal cancer.

To be honest, the summer months are a bit of a blur to me. A lot happened during those summer months, with a lot of medical information hurled my family's way. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The good news is, the chemo has been kicking my Dad's cancer in the rear and extending his life expectancy! We celebrated the holidays together, something that initially was not expected to happen during his initial diagnosis.

During those summer months, my husband and I had a tripped booked to Savannah, GA in July. We still went on the trip (when I say the summer was a blur, I had to refer to my calendar of things happening and then double-check with pictures that we had actually gone on the trip...). Savannah's historic district area is one of our favorite places to visit in the USA. We have taken multiple trips there and always end up doing something new each and every time.

The first picture I took with A Kingdom of Promises while still rocking my purple hair

Another thing that happened in the summer is I returned to being a brunette... I know to some, that is not a big deal... but my 5 years of having purple hair with pink and blue peekaboos was a part of my identity, and to me, an era came to an end... and that was a hard pill to swallow. The inflation price of upkeep went higher than I could justify. Soooo now I'm rocking my natural locks. Will I go back to having purple hair? Who is to say, but for now, it's not in my cards.

Now we're approaching fall, and I was asked to participate in a fall league sand volleyball that I agreed to..? I am not a sports person, I have never been a sports person. The only sport I will voluntarily watch is the local hockey team. I have been asked in years past to join volleyball teams, but it wasn't until my gal pal started the message off with, "We have never won a summer game, and it's all for fun!" Guess what? We never won a fall game; we had the lowest points scored, but man, did I have a blast with those girls! We plan to continue this year on the summer league again! From non-sports girly to sand volleyball player!

Now back to the author career...

The new logo as of August 2024

I decided it was time to revamp my author aesthetic, brand, logo, and website in August. Now, as I write this, it is the beginning of 2025... My aesthetic became a loving combination of Kawaii and goth. Two aesthetics I have always struggled with finding a common ground on but fit my personality oh so well. I was a goth kid from junior high on up, but I also adore the kawaii aesthetic... Who knows, maybe when you're reading this in a few years, it'll still be the aesthetic, or maybe I'll overhaul everything to a new aesthetic. But for now that hot pink, purple, mixed with a black background and those stars are my everything vibe!

Alisha & me at Swamp Fox on our outing for Iowa & Midwest Book Lovers

Moving on...

Thanks to an Iowa & Midwest Book Lovers outing with my best gal pal, Alisha; my books ended up in 2 local bookstores (Swamp Fox & HEA Book Boutique) in Marion, Iowa! Which then led to a few weeks later, me hosting a morning tea event at HEA Book Boutique and getting to meet so many new readers! Then my books were found in the wild at RiverLights Bookstore in Dubuque, IA!!

Okay so, website, aesthetic, brand, and logo has now been updated to reflect my author brand and more importantly me as a person!! ...and now I am being encouraged by my bestie & PA, Amy, to start a street team for the release of Kierian. This woman has a lot of titles in my life. We met back at the end of 2021 on Booktok, and she is definitely one of the contributors to helping push my author's social media presence further than it was. Alright, so the street team and everything in it is curated with Amy and Heather's nurturing hand. Next up was setting up ARCs and then promo, promo, promo.

Obligatory pic of me holding Kierian at HEA book Boutique. Notice the brunette hair while rocking a Bookish Siren's merch shirt!

Kierian ended up with 21 preorders and 12 books sold in the first month of release. To be fair, Kierian came out on September 24, 2024.. the end of the month compared to AKOPAL that released at the beginning of its month. So, if we "wanted" to give it a more fair chance against AKOPAL and included the whole month of October for sales... we can add another 10 and make it 22 books. Meaning between preorders and sold in that "first month" of release were 43 books in total! Remember how I mentioned in that list earlier the spoiler of Kierian not doing as well as AKOPAL's launch? Was I disappointed? Nope! And why is that? Because to me, it's still a success! Not to mention, now I have an amazing squad of people on a street team to gush about my characters with. Psst. Montgomery and Tennyson are just as popular in that chat as those 2 book boyfriends are with all other readers, lol.

As an author, I am writing for myself and what makes me happy.

Why am I including Kierian's results in here? Because any new author reading this can see it happens to anyone on the difference of launch results. Once again, I am by no means an expert or anything on this stuff. This, after all, is the result of my first year as an author. I am just including it for others to see and for me to reflect back on down the road.

We're closing to the end of my first year as an author, and here are a few things that became lost in the jumble for timelines...

1. I am accepted to my first book signing, Pack in the Readers in Green Bay, WI, on June 13-15, 2025

2. I am accepted into my next book signing, Booked in Eau Claire, happening Eau Claire, WI, on September 13, 2025

3. I am accepted to my 3rd book signing, and it's an Iowa one that I adore! Romance Rendevous Book Blast in Cedar Falls, IA, on August 9, 2025

4. I am accepted to another Iowa book signing event! Flirty in Iowa happening in Des Moines, IA, on November 15, 2025

5. I am accepted to my first book signing for 2026 & a new event coming to Iowa from some of my favorite local midwest authors putting it on, Frisky in the Field, happening in Sheldon, IA, on May 16, 2026

6. I have been asked to participate in 3 anthologies! 2 coming in 2025 and 1 in 2026, I will release more information when the time is closer!

7. I participated in my 1st anthology, "Pawliday Love" in which my story "Mistletoe Kisses"

   features a short story of Regalius and Serenity celebrating their first holiday as a newlywed. (If you have read Mina's story, this is not a spoiler.. if you haven't read her book yet.. I'm sorry for the spoiler....🫣)

If you haven't picked up on it... I enjoy lists.. a lot. LOL. Anyways, now you have read all the things I have remembered in my first year as an author. Now, I started this post on things I knew at the beginning of 2024, so why not end with...

Things I knew by the end of 2024...

1. I have loved and enjoyed my first year as an author! I am so happy I took this leap and hit published on my first novel!!! I will say that I never anticipated the easiest thing about being an author is writing the book. There are so many hats an author wears in this industry! (I thought I knew how extensive to be, but I underestimated) And while I have a business marketing degree and masters in business, I can honestly say I am using those degrees in overdrive with my author career.

2. Research. Every week, I am researching something. What programs are the most user-friendly & cost-effective for an author? How did the algorithm change on a social media platform, and what can I do to adjust to it? Any advice other authors drop, I pick up and research on. I enjoy researching and investing in my business. Being an author means being a business; they go hand in hand.

3. I am grateful I started on social media as a book influencer from 2021-2023, to have some adept knowledge on how algorithms work... cause, whew-wee.. it is a whole other beast being on the author side of things... whew, lol.

4. Publishing 2 novels has opened the floodgates to soooooooooo many book ideas. I am not complaining; the only issue is I want to write them all right now... I have learned to prioritize what story comes next. (-cough, cough- I have stories planned for many years to come and a notes page in my phone growing longer by the day)

5. As an author, I choose to write the stories that bring me happiness. If I find what I am writing becomes boring I scrap it. In my mind, if I am finding it boring, most likely, the reader will as well. I also choose to weave the stories that I want and hope my readers enjoy the ride I take them on.

6. Not everyone who seems to be in your corner actually are... and that is okay. This applies to both author life and personal life.

7. Author life means sacrificing sometimes. Aside from ATVing, many of my other hobbies have been put on the back burner. I am still learning how to balance everything in my life.

8. My author plan has changed and been re-adjusted multiple times since the beginning of the year... As I grow, it will continue to mold, adapt, and change with me as well. There is no 1 size fits all. My marketing plan, may not work for another author and vice-versa.

9. I have a far better foundation for my author life than when I began at the beginning of the year, which makes me excited to see what another year will bring me for my knowledge and foundation.

10. I am beyond ecstatic to see what the upcoming years have in store for me.

And now, I am coming to a close on this blog post. 2024 launched my first year as an author (I think I have mentioned that at least once or 5 million times in this post lololol. PS I am a millennial through and through, it just who I be) and there has been a lot of success and reflections to look upon between both my author career and my personal life. If you have stuck it out this far, thank you for reading my ramblings 🫶🏻