Midlist Writer: My Writing Year: A Look Back and a Look Forward

Sunday, 1 January 2017

My Writing Year: A Look Back and a Look Forward

So here we are at the start of another year. Time to look back at what we've accomplished in the past 365 days and what's coming up.

All through 2016, I've been keeping a running tally of my word count, including fiction, nonfiction, and blogging. I also include editing, at a ratio of 10:1, so editing 10,000 words counts as writing 1,000. While this is the first year I've kept track of my word count, I'm sure this is my most prolific year so far. I ended up with 900,750 words, an average of 17,322 words a week. While this sounds impressive, writing is my day job. There are plenty of professional writers who blow my word count out of the water. James Reasoner has written a million words a year for the past 12 years. No wonder he has 344 novels under his belt. I'm downright lazy by comparison!

The first of my novels to come out this year is the one I'm most proud of. The Last Hotel Room was picked up by Kindle Press. It's about the Syrian refugee crisis, and as I promised during my Kindle Scout campaign I donated $500 to Doctors Without Borders for their excellent work on the ground in Syrian refugee camps. Thanks for your support! I'll be donating a portion of my royalties too once I pay though my advance.

That same month I also released Warpath into Sonora, a Western from the Apache point of view. It's my first Western unless you count my Missouri Civil War novels.

On a related note, Osprey Publishing also came out with my Apache Warrior vs US Cavalryman, part of their Combat series that takes a grunt's-eye view of conflict from both sides. This is the seventh book I've written for them. You can see all my Osprey titles here.

The bulk of my work has been ghostwriting. I've ghostwritten five novels and a short story this year, plus the bulk of a sixth novel. You can read more about this aspect of my career in a post I did for Black Gate.

So what's in store for 2017? I want to hit a million words this year! I already have two ghostwriting contracts lined up, plus a bunch of my own books. You can keep track of my progress with the word count bars on the right side of this blog.

If you're a writer, artist, or other creative type, how did your past year go? What are you plans for this one? Tell us in the comments section!

Happy 2017!

3 comments:

Sioux Roslawski said...: Sean--I have word count envy. Certainly, my word count is puny compared to yours. However, during November and NaNoWriMo, I got down 30,000 words, and those words were written while I was sitting surrounded by 6th, 7th and 8th graders (who were also writing). The result: I am 4/5 (or so) through with the first draft of a middle-grade historical fiction manuscript.

Congratulations on such a prolific year, and may 2017 be even more successful. (And I love your idea of counting the words you edit/revise, and that they weigh more heavily, because it IS more difficult to revise/edit.); 2 January 2017 at 06:09
Yolanda Renée said...: Congratulations on your win in the IWSG Anthology!
Happy 2017!
Wow! Great goals and wonderful achievements! Keep at it!
1 million words!; 4 January 2017 at 06:50
Chrys Fey said...: A million words? Holy cow! That's an awesome goal. Good luck! And congratulations on placing in the IWSG anthology!; 4 January 2017 at 09:46

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?

Pages

Sunday, 1 January 2017

My Writing Year: A Look Back and a Look Forward

3 comments: