September 20th, 2019 marks the end of my 10th year in the world of professional publishing.

As such, I thought it would be fun to do a “by the numbers” post to count up what all I’ve achieved, what has happened, and perhaps even what I’ve learned during that time.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I’ve enjoyed the last ten years of chasing my publishing dreams.

The Writing

Books
Concepts: 78 (maybe more)
Books Outlined (only outlined, excludes books written or started): 10
Books started (not finished): 8
Books written (and finished): 18
Books written that are good: 14
Books written that are a “maybe”: 2
Books written that are dead: 2
Books Published: 10
Books Downloaded or Sold: 8,251
Books Printed: about 1,842
KENP Reads (Kindle Pages Read): 153,739

Short Stories
Concepts: 13
Written: 5
Published: 3

Flash Fiction
Written: 22
Published: 10

I’ve written and published a handful of other things too, including dozens of blog posts and a smattering of articles. I’ve also written a few things for the screen but haven’t done anything with them.

Money Earned from Writing/Publishing
Truly, I have no idea how much I’ve actually made from my writing, but here’s what I can tell you based on the data I have…
Amazon Royalties on my Books – TOTAL: $2,300 (roughly)
Amazon Royalties + MagCloud Royalties for Magazines – TOTAL: $2,750
Kickstarter Revenue: $3,300
In-Person Sales Over the Years: Much, much more

Other Publishing
Magazines Published Through Splickety: 67
Flash Fiction Authors Published through Splickety: 675-700 (give or take)
Book Authors Published through Splickety: 8
Magazines Sold: No idea. Not enough, obviously, or we’d still be producing them!

The Editing
Authors/Clients Edited For: 121 (give or take)
Authors Edited For/Published Works: 36
Total Projects Edited (estimate): 300ish
Money Earned from Editing: north of $100k

Accolades
Genesis Contest Finalist – 2010
MacGregor Literary Bad Poetry Contest – 2nd Place – 2013
Oregon Christian Writers Conference Cascade Award – Winner, Speculative Fiction 2014
Oregon Christian Writers Conference Cascade Award – Winner, Children’s Fiction 2015

Writers Conferences
Attended: 7
Taught at: 43 (plus one college semester at Taylor University)
Keynoted at: 2

Comic Conventions
Attended: 8 (was on panels at several of them)

Other Publishing Career Stats
Agents: 2
Publisher “Near-Misses” (nearly landed a contract): 3
Other Jobs Held Concurrently with Writing/Editing: 7
Number of Times Thrown Out of the ACFW Awards Dinner for Wearing a Robot Arm: 1

Personal Stats (For Fun)
Marriages: 2
Marriages Atop a Volcano: 1
Divorces: 1
Children: 2
Step-Children Acquired: 2
Insane/Loving Cats: 1

ER Visits: 2 (neither were for me)
Major Surgeries: 1
Functioning Achilles Tendons: 1 (of 2)
Times Serenaded by Jeff Goldblum in Portland: 1

Places lived: 3
Short Sales on Homes: 1
Vehicles owned: 6-ish
States Visited: 24
Actual Vacations: 3

Hobbies Acquired: 5
Addictions Acquired: 0 (thank heavens)

Computers: 4
iPads/Tablets: 5
Cell Phones: 8-ish

Friends made: countless
Friendships torpedoed due to assorted villainy: several
Professional Contacts made: countless (hundreds?)
Longest-lasting close publishing friendship: 10 years (tied for Robert Liparulo and Tosca Lee)

Conclusion

This is what I was actually able to quantify “by the numbers.” But the experiences I’ve had, good, bad, and otherwise, are more valuable than any quantification could ever demonstrate.

Am I satisfied or “happy” about what I accomplished over the last ten years?

Yes and no. The only areas where I’m truly displeased are in my book publishing and sales numbers. But that will change over the next ten years.

My target for the next ten years is to multiply all of my stats, but especially my income from my writing and the number of books I publish and release.

What have you accomplished over the last ten years, and what do you want to accomplish over the next ten?