2023 retrospective

Reflecting on another year and setting a mindset for the twelve months ahead

Before I sat down to write this post, I reviewed my retrospective from last year and was hit with a massive wave of deja vu. Nearly everything I wrote about my career twelve months ago, I could say again today. (If you want to read that post yourself, you can find it here.)

The fact that so much remains unchanged isn’t great, nor is it how I hoped 2023 would play out. 2022 was already hard, and 2021 was the start of this trend, which means that I have felt like my career has been in a struggling funk for three straight years.

That said, I still managed to accomplish quite a bit this year. In 2023 I…

• Drafted/revised a MG novel

• Drafted/revised an adult romance

• Completed an R&R for a YA novel

• Queried/changed agents

• Continued to pursue a WFH opportunity

• Tackled freelance design projects for many authors

• Taught several character arc workshops to online and in-person audiences

• Launched the paperback edition of Dustborn

• Brainstormed a new book idea

• Wrote and posted biweekly newsletter content on this Substack

I am especially proud of the newsletter writing I did in 2023. Here’s a roundup of my most popular 2023 newsletters¹, plus a few personal favorites:

• “How to Query” series

• How much do authors make a year?

• Developing—and choosing—between book ideas

• Reflections a decade after debuting

• The exclusivity effect

• So you’re stuck in the query trenches…

• The secret to good comp titles

• Your hero has to be wrong

• A writing career isn’t glamorous

• Remember when writing was fun?

Putting out quality content has always been a matter of pride for me, but perhaps even more rewarding is the way I’ve been able to connect with all of you—my subscribers. I came to Substack about 15months ago, feeling like I’d lost the personal connection with readers due to constantly changing algorithms and evolving social media platforms. This newsletter format has helped rekindle some of that connection. You guys ask great questions. You’re engaged in the comments. I feel like we’re all on this wild writing journey together. Honestly, it’s a joy. I’m really grateful for each and every one of you. And for those of you who are at the paying tier, I want to shoot a little extra thanks your way. Your contributions allow me to confidently dedicate time and energy to this newsletter, which has always required many hours of hard work to maintain. Thank you.

If you have a friend who you think would enjoy my newsletter, please consider sharing it:

Of course, the most important part of my career as an author is writing actual books, and while I drafted/revised several this year, none have gone on to enter the world as published novels.

To be blunt, I haven’t had a new book to talk about or promote in awhile now, and sometimes social media makes me feel like that’s all that matters—the new releases, the freshly minted novel. But this is exactly why it’s so important for me to make lists to begin with. A list forces me to reflect on what I have accomplished. Sometimes I forget just how hard I worked or how busy I was until I see everything bulleted out. And though I may not have a new book to talk about (yet), I clearly have a lot to celebrate. I am healthy. My family is healthy. I was productive and worked hard, and hard work is cumulative. It’s never wasted.

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Looking ahead…

Instead of making resolutions, I like to pick a certain word to carry with me through the new year. A theme, a mindset.

2023’s word was “brave.” As in, to brave whatever the year had in store for me and to be brave in the process. It ended up being a very apt word, because I had to do some brave things in 2023, and also because many of the career hopes I had for 2023 did not come to fruition, and I have indeed had to brave those disappointments. In many ways, I’m still weathering that ongoing storm.

So what do I want my word to be for 2024? This year, I’m going with…

Delight (v., n.)

It’s no surprise I’m going with a word that highlights pleasure and positivity. Writing/publishing is a hard industry. It is not a meritocracy. The brutality of it tends to steal your joy, while simultaneously making it very very hard to remain optimistic.²

In 2024, I want my time spent writing to be delightful. I want to take delight in the brainstorming, the drafting, the revising, and yes, even the promotional side of things. I don’t expect to be in a constant upbeat, bubbly state—that’s unrealistic—but I want to make a conscious effort to channel positivity whenever I can. (It is so easy to slip into negative spirals in this field.)

Above all, I want my goal to be uniquely different from the last two years, when I used persist and brave as my words. At the time, these words served me well. But now? Well, both these words meant approaching the subsequent year with the mindset that it was already destined to be hard and/or hold disappointments, and while I know this is likely any year—I’ve been an author far too long to romanticize it—I can’t take another year of this “brace for it” mentality. It’s engrained in me a bit at this point anyway—I’m subconsciously channeling grit and stubborn determination every day—so that perspective doesn’t need to be my focus, my theme.

I want more joy in 2024. Enchantment. Optimism. Delight.

I’ve been working hard behind the scenes since the start of my career, but especially these past few years. I’m been writing and pivoting and writing some more, and all the while, dreaming big dreams. Because that’s really all I can do at this point: work hard and dream big. The rest is out of my hands. I might as well enjoy myself along the way.

If you’d like to take delight in your writing in 2024—be it by protecting your joy or focusing on the positive and/or dreaming big dreams—please join me. The more the merrier.

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I’ll be back with more posts in 2024, but until then, I’m stepping away to enjoy the holidays with my family.

If there is a topic you’d like to see covered once I’m back, or if you have a specific writing/publishing question you’d like answered, please drop it in the comments! I’ll use your suggestion(s) to plan the 2024 newsletter schedule.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday and very happy New Year,

XO,

Erin Bowman is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for children and teens, including the Taken Trilogy, Vengeance Road, Retribution Rails, the Edgar Award-nominated Contagion duology, The Girl and the Witch’s Garden, and Dustborn. A web designer turned author, Erin has always been invested in telling stories—both visually and with words. Erin lives in New Hampshire with her husband and children.

1. If you’re new here, you likely missed many of these. (Posts are paywalled one year after publication, so now is your chance to read before they’re archived.)

2. This is especially true given the current publishing landscape. I’m not trying to be negative or alarmist, but things look pretty bleak from my view on Shrinking Midlist Island, and every author I know (even those on Bestseller Island) are feeling concerned.