2023: my work year in review
Gosh what a rollercoaster this year has been. I touched on it briefly with my post on why I hated writing full-time, but I think it’ll be useful (for me!) and perhaps interesting (for you!) to go into more depth about exactly what happened to me work-wise this year.
As I’ve said before, I’m super interested in how writers make a living - how they juggle their books with bringing in a sustainable income.
Even though there are some authors who make an absolute fortune, we all know they are in the minority. Most authors don’t earn anywhere near enough from their writing to live off, and have to do a second job alongside.
Looking back to 2022, I didn’t write a end-of-year round-up post like this one because, if I’m honest, I secretly wondered if I would ever actually come back to web design properly.
My writing in 2023
At the end of last year, everything was looking super rosy with my writing career.
I had a big American deal for my bookclub debut, I’d sold the film rights to the same book plus multiple translation rights, and I’d also signed for another suspense novel with my existing publisher (for my biggest advance yet).
I was over the moon, and so full of hope that 2023 would be my ‘break-out’ year.
But then stuff happened. Like it always does in publishing. And life.
The hardback of my book didn’t get picked up by retailers. My UK editor left right after it was released and she wasn’t replaced for six months.
And many early reviews of my book were not favourable. Unfortunately it had been listed as a Romance on Netgalley and so it upset a lot of readers who were expecting something cosy and uplifting. And instead they got suicide bombs 🙈
I struggled a lot with writing my second bookclub book to deadline. I’d never had ‘second book syndrome’ before, but suddenly it felt like I’d completely run out of inspiration.
I think because The One That Got Away was so unique, it was hard to know how to follow it up.
My other half also had to have a really nasty operation on his head, and for a while we were worried he had cancer (he didn’t thankfully, but the wait for results was horrible, and it took him four months to heal from his operation).
Then, the storage unit where we had many sentimental possessions stored (especially from my partner’s side of the family) burnt down, and we lost everything.
Plus, of course, there was a cost of living crisis, and the fact we’d just moved to a very draughty old house that needed lots of work and was costing us an absolute fortune.
With the US edition of The One That Got Away
It really felt like one thing after another!
It’s really hard when the editor who bought your book leaves their job. The truth is that no-one else at that publishing house is ever going to be as passionate or as enthusiastic about the book as they were, and I’ll be honest, when the UK hardback of The One That Got Away didn’t get the retail slots everyone was hoping for, I took it really badly.
To me, it basically meant the book was going to fail before it was even released.
I think the problem with having had multiple books published is that you lose some of the shiny-eyed optimism, and become a little jaded.
My agent keeps telling me not to write my books off before they even come out, but when you’ve seen how hard it is for novels to get any traction, it’s really tough to keep the faith.
However, the paperback of The One That Got Away is out in January in the UK, with a stunning new cover, and I’m really pleased that it has already had two supermarket slots confirmed, which is AMAZING in this market, so maybe there’s hope for a second wind!
I’m keeping everything crossed (and if you’ve enjoyed my blogs this year, then perhaps I could tempt you into downloading the Kindle version of the book?! You can find it here →)
It wasn’t all bad news either.
Some good things happened to that book in 2023 too - like when it was featured on the Today Show in America!
That was pretty awesome.
Writing my new suspense novel
As I mentioned, I sold my next suspense book to my existing publisher in 2022. They very kindly bought it on a partial - so I had only written 10k words.
I then had to have a break from writing it to focus on my second bookclub book, which initially was fine because I had a long deadline.
I had it all worked out. I was so cocky.
Two books in one year when I had nothing else to do? Easy peasy!
BUT I have never sold a book on a partial before, and then had a long break from it, and had to go back to writing it six months later.
I’ve realised there’s a lot to be said for keeping up the momentum when it comes to writing a novel.
I think you basically get infected with a story idea, and you need to be obsessed with it and completely consumed by it in order to get the first draft written.
But during the six month break I had from writing it, a few things happened.
Several books were published or announced with very similar premises. This is really common - I think there’s a lot to be said for zeitgeist themes in commercial fiction - but at the same time it worried me.
My book wasn’t publishing until 2025 and I didn’t want to look as though I was really late to the party, or like I’d just copied everyone else.
Also, I found it difficult to feel the same way about the book when I came back to writing it as I had when I first sold it.
I think I had lost some of the infection - and I had also fallen slightly out of love with the idea.
As a result, the book has changed drastically from its original premise.
I am very grateful that my publisher allowed me to do this, I know!
Celebrating a (much-needed) breakthrough on my suspense novel in the summer!
I’ve written it now, and we’re working on the final edits, but it’s been by far my most difficult structural edit and the most difficult book I’ve ever written.
I’m really excited about the new iteration the story has taken, but it has taken A LONG time to get there (currently we’re working on draft 7! 🫠).
Hopefully I’ll be able to talk more about that book in the new year as I do think it’s special, and different, and hopefully a ‘step up’ in my writing.
But time (and Goodreads) will tell!
Author web design
I did VERY sporadic web design this year.
I told people that I was having a year off, and I did, pretty much, but I still managed to fit in a few clients who enquired at times when I had a bit of headspace.
I built four custom websites, one for non-fiction author Scott Walker, one for film director Michael J Chaplin, who is releasing his first novel next year, and then another for his wife, Patricia Betaudier Chaplin, who’s an artist (yes, not an author! I do sometimes build websites for non-authors, but only if they are very special 😉)
And I am about to launch a shiny new website for crime author Marion Todd - more on that project soon, because it’s one of my favourites.
Alongside that, I made updates for lots of my lovely existing clients, including Gabriella Braun, Lucy Weldon, Vanessa Edwards, Penny Batchelor, Louise Mumford, Harriet Tyce, Emma Christie and Katie Marsh.
Go check out all their books because they are all awesome.
I also did two Author VIP Design Days, my newest service. One for Sam Holland and one for Eleni Kyriacou.
I didn’t build their websites originally, but they wanted to give them a makeover, and that’s just what we did!
I LOVED doing these site refreshes, and would love to do more of them in 2024!
It’s so satisfying being able to transform someone’s entire website in a matter of hours.
So if you have an author website that’s in need of a spruce-up, then please get in touch →
My DIY Author Website Course
I think this is my biggest achievement for 2023.
After three years of talking about it, I FINALLY launched my author web design course.
And OMG, I cannot tell you how much work went into creating that course.
I am now in awe of people who run online courses, because trust me, it’s anything but easy.
There’s a lot of chatter online about the benefits of running courses and ‘passive income’ but I would definitely say getting that course done was the hardest thing I have EVER done inside my web design business.
Maybe that’s why I put it off for so long?
I’d had a waiting list for the course set up for AGES on my website, and I noticed more and more people signing up.
I also had a rare break from book-stuff in the summer holidays, and my daughter was in holiday camp, so I set myself a target of two weeks to get everything recorded.
And then, the DAY AFTER I finished recording it all, Squarespace released a massive update to their interface, meaning that tons of my carefully recorded videos no longer made sense.
I cried. A lot.
And then I re-recorded them.
Luckily it’s true that it’s generally quicker the second time around, but my god it was soul-destroying.
Promoting the course
I sent an email to the waiting list to tell them that the course was ready, and I was really happy to have a 12% conversion rate from that list, which is pretty good.
I earnt a few thousand pounds in one day (which was very nice!), and it meant, in a sense, the course did wash its own face.
However, the beauty of an online course is that you create it once and can sell it over and over!
So, I also created a 45-minute training video to help drive interest in the course, which I launched in November.
Basically if you sign up to watch the video, you’ll be added to an email funnel (you have been warned! 😆) which offers more info on all-things-author-websites and then eventually leads to a discount code off the course.
I’ve had 57 people go through the funnel so far, and one sale off the back of that, which I’m quite pleased with, as it’s a conversion rate of 1.75% (the average for online courses from email lists is 1-2%).
However, if I’m honest, I need to get more people into that funnel!
I think perhaps the issue is that it’s just TOO niche, there just aren’t enough authors out there who want to build their own website but also feel they need a course to help them do it?
I think that most authors either a) are quite techie and think they can do it on their own or b) hate tech and definitely DON’T want to do it on their own.
I’m not sure there’s a huge pool in the middle of those two.
Or perhaps it’s too pricey? I’m not sure.
Or perhaps I’m just impatient (it has been known 😆).
If anyone reading this was considering the course but decided not to go for it, I would LOVE to know why.
I’m going to spend some time next year getting to grips with how I can promote the course more, as I do genuinely believe it offers a lot of value, and I’ve had some great feedback from people who’ve taken it (and then gone on to build their own sites!)
I’m also thinking of doing a five-day ‘Get Your Author Website Sorted’ challenge at some point in 2024, so keep your eyes peeled if you think that might be of interest.
I definitely need to do more marketing in 2024. Other than blogging, which I only started doing again in the summer, I basically did none this year.
Blogging
As for blogging! Phew.
As you’ll know cos I’ve banged on about it loads, I completed my 30 day blog challenge in September!
I’m not going to talk about that in detail again as I have a blog post all about it.
What happened when I blogged everyday for a month →
But I am really proud of the reaction the posts got, and it’s definitely made me fall back in love with blogging all over again.
I’ve been publishing two a week since October, and while I’ve had some amazing traffic to certain posts, I do find this schedule quite tough.
I think in 2024, I’ll go back to one post per week, but alternating between technical posts and posts about life as a writer, as the latter are really popular (and quite cathartic for me to write 🫢)
Looking forward to 2024 (in both senses!)
I’m going to write a separate post all about my plans for 2024, because this is already super long!
But I know one thing already - 2024 is going to look very different for me.
2023 has been a really tough year, both personally and work-wise, and I’ve not enjoyed it, which makes me sad as usually I’m quite a happy person.
I think I felt too much pressure with my writing, and the feeling that it was ‘make or break’ with my big US deal, and it made me incredibly anxious.
I don’t ever want to feel like that again.
I’m a self-starter, I like working independently and I trust myself to always get things done. I’m a control-freak basically, and I work really hard to achieve the results I want.
So when things are out of my control (book sales, anyone?!), I find it very difficult, and I hate the insecurity.
(Yes, I am aware that trying to be an author for a living is just about the stupidest decision I have ever made given my inherent Type A personality, but alas, it is a curse and we cannot help ourselves!)
So next year is going to be all about getting some security and stability back, and perhaps shifting writing to the side slightly to focus on my web design business, which I KNOW can deliver me an amazing quality of life, and immense satisfaction, and most importantly - for me - is within my control.
Anyway, like I said, more on that soon…
If you’ve made it this far, then you deserve a medal!
I hope, whether you’ve been writing or not, you’ve had a great 2023! And I want to say a huge thank you to all the authors out there who have read my blog, commented on or shared my posts, signed up to my mailing list or recommended me to their friends.
The best thing by far about writing is the community, and I’m so grateful to be part of it ❤️
