Turning Pages

A quiet farewell and a new beginning

Hey! How was your year?

When one chapter closes and another begins, it’s always a good time to look back at the stories told so far, the ones unfinished, and the ideas in the margins.

While there is still plenty to overcome, I thought it would be fun to share a few numbers—it certainly makes posting today a little easier.

Bookseller

There are two easy-to-grasp things I can imagine most people would like to see:

• Books Sold

• Substack Subscribers

So, let’s jump right in with how many books I sold in 2024:

165 copies sold, compared to 112 in 2023.

That is a generous reading, considering my bookselling adventure only began in mid-2023.

But if there’s anything countless excel sheets and powerpoint slides have taught me, it’s that growth is always good—no matter the circumstance or methodology.

For those interested and to better read the graph, here is the data for each book sold on kdp in 2024:

Wordsmith

Now, another metric that is perhaps even harder to notice from the outside is how many subscribers I have here.

I can only find subscriber numbers for 30 days, 90 days, or the entire lifetime, so we’ll have to get a little creative, but I think it’s still interesting enough to share.

First, let’s take a look at the pageviews for 2024—that is people who saw something on my substack:

From there we’ll zoom in on the last 90 days for subscribers, since that’s the more interesting period of time anyway.

Overall, I’ve had somewhat stable engagement with a noticeable upswing in October. This corresponds to when I was more heavily marketing myself, especially when I was getting more involved on Notes and other communities on Substack.

It’s not very much, but it is entirely built by my own hands!

Inconvenient Artist

As we look forward to the new year, I’ll try to carry that spirit with me for the ride.

There are more than a few dangling threads, but I’m working hard to stitch and sew them together. More than anything, I hope my words and stories connect with you all somehow and some way.

I wrote today’s newsletter quickly as I’m deep into writing Significatorius. I hope to have something to share soon and who knows where things will go from there.

So here’s to another year of storytelling, dreaming, and drowning in the chaos.

Happy New Year, and may your days be Peaceful and Warm for this Frithlic Nyun—and as we walk into my new book, I hope you enjoy the Vindem to come.

Until next time,

—JMB