2023 Achievements

So, in an effort to be more positive about my work, I'm doing a "My Achievements!" article. I tend to focus on what I didn't accomplish at the end of the year, instead of what I did. It's been interesting to see how much I've done, and I should be happy about what I've accomplished. It's true, I didn't get everything done I wanted to in 2023. it's true, I have not sold the thousands of books other indie authors have, but I am chugging along making my way.

Sikode from Wellspring Dragons
Photoshop composite by Shade Melodique (me!) using stock images from
amazingmikael, Envato Elements
arturhidden, Adobe Stock Images
Netfalls, Envato Elements

World Anvil

I ended the year with:

552.77K total page views account-wide
343,211 views for Lapis of Nicodem serial
95,517 views for Evenacht serial
The Wellspring Dragons book site has 141,691 words in 160 worldbuilding articles
Lapis of Nicodem book site has 64,826 words in 103 worldbuilding articles
Evenacht book site has 125,416 words in 105 worldbuilding articles

Lapis in Treve, Dentheria
by Shade Melodique using ClipStudioPaint, Photoshop and Unreal Engine

One of the artworks I did in celebration of Lapis of Nicodem Book 1 reaching 100K views

Other World Anvil Goodness

The Butterfly Sylfaone article (Wellspring Dragons) won an award in the Summer Camp competition
Merdia article (Evenacht) was nominated for Best Worldbuilding Article of 2022
Both Lapis of Nicodem and Ambercaast (Lapis of Nicodem Books 1 and 2) reached 100K views
Brought Knavish Canto (LoN Book 3) to a close and started Broken Dulcet (Book 4). I wrote 108,117 words on Knavish Canto in 2023
Brought Snake’s Den (Evenacht Book 1) to a close and started Greenglimmer (Book 2). I wrote 117,855 words on Snake’s Den in 2023
Revamped the Wellspring Dragons website, and am still working on updating all the pages
Revamped the covers for LoN Books 1-3, and because I needed to split a few chapters in Book 1 (they were too long; yep, I changed my opinion on that over the years), I edited the book and it’s now published as a 2nd edition
Created the Broken Dulcet and Greenglimmer covers
Drew the Greenglimmer map
Sponsor/judge for World Ember 2022 & Summer Camp 2023
Read many, many articles

Wellspring Dragons

Sold 30 copies this year
Published the 2nd editions of Books 1-3
Went wide, using Draft2Digital
The Abyss of Dreams WIP has 116,907 words

Art and Music

Decided on Shade Melodique as my pen name for art
Created over 100 artworks, including book covers and images for worldbuilding articles, ads, and videos
I started drawing some works in a sketchier style, and I really like it
Wrote, recorded, mixed, and produced a couple of songs (and then my computer decided DAW = silence. Just got a new set-up that will hopefully put the music back in music)

Upcoming

I did not get these accomplished in 2023, so now they’re on my to-do list for 2024!

The Abyss of Dreams: Wellspring Dragons Book 4 being published
Revamps of LoN and Evenacht sites
Starting a storefront
Print editions of Wellspring Dragons
Finishing my Evenacht intro video

Death with Rayva
by Shade Melodique using Photoshop

One of my sketchier artworks. It's meant to be faster than my polished stuff.

What Else?

I have a lot planned for 2024. There is a part of me that wants to get one of my other series out there, but I think I'm going to be swamped with what I have!

Start editing/revamping Wellspring Dragons Book 5, working title Unexpected Journeys
Continue the bi-weekly publishing schedule for Broken Dulcet and Greenglimmer
Take breaks when I need them!!!
Try to create and follow a creation calendar, to fit in everything I want to do. I tend to do what I feel like at that point, and sometimes stuff gets shoved to the back burner when I need to focus on it
Draw more
Get more videos out there
Another attempt at audiobooks
Continue journey into learning 3D art
Try to be more social on social, do more reshares, write comments
Be positive about my work–yes, people do read it!

While having a list of things to do is nice, if I don't end up finishing something, that's OK. Sometimes you just have to accept that.

I think that about does it. I'm sure I forgot something. I was really down on myself, thinking I had not accomplished much this year (especially since I did not get the print editions of Wellspring out, nor the fourth book. Burnout on a story is horrid, and clawing your way back into liking it isn't easy). But when I sat down and looked, I think I did a fair bit, and more than I give myself credit for. Thank you to my readers! Your support keeps me going!

Veer Tul. Syimlin of Darkness
by Shade Melodique using Photoshop and ClipStudioPaint