As we say goodbye to 2022 and hello 2023, I wanted to review what I accomplished in 2022 and what I am planning/looking forward to in 2023. So, please bear with me while I go over what I worked on this year. (Or you can jump to 2023 to see what is ahead or find out how you can help.)

What I wrote/published in 2022

Breaking the Pattern (YA)

Henry
Sandy
Bobby

Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator (Paranormal Mystery)

Careful of Thy Wishes
Time to Your Elf
Undiscovered Tomb
Missing Powers

Auntie Clem’s Bakery (Culinary Cozy Mystery)

A Fateful Plateful
Cut Out Cookie
On the Slab Pie

Parks Pat Mysteries (Police Procedural)

Immersed in the View
Skimming Over the Lake
Hazard of the Hills

Medical Kidnap Files (YA)

Fail

Zachary Goldman Mysteries (PI Mystery)

He Drowned in Memory
Their Walls Were Empty
They Came for Him

Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers

Last release in this series was in December 2021, and the next is coming in March 2023. I just have too many active series going right now to release three per year in each series. There are not enough months in the year! But 15 months apart is not too bad, and I did release an omnibus.

Audiobooks

She Wore Mourning
I was hoping to have more audiobooks released in 2022, but book sales were down and I didn’t have the capital to invest in these pricy ventures. Hopefully things will turn around for 2023! I have several narrators waiting to narrate.

Translations

El León Interior
De Luto
Cynthia Tiene un Secreto
Búsqueda de un Sueño
Elle portait le deui
Sie Trug Trauer
Ela Usava Luto
Sus Manos Estaban Quietas

Collections/Omnibuses

Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers 1-4
Breaking the Pattern 1-3
Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator 13-15
Parks Pat Cases 4-6
Between the Cracks 1-6

Limited time Bundles

Halloween Bundle (9 ebooks)
Christmas eBook Bundle (7 ebooks)
Parks Pat 1-6 (ebook or paperback)

Other

2023 Calendar
2023 Planner
Fish Creek Notebook – Spiral or Hardcover

Other things I was working on in 2022

eStore

I also moved from offering my ebooks through PayPal on my website to offering both ebooks and paperbacks through my Shopify store. This meant switching my trim size to 5.5×8.5 in order to sell through Lulu Direct in my eStore, which meant reformatting all 80+ titles previously published into that format and uploading them. This also included coding a number of landing page changes on my website and changing/adding 2 buttons to over 100 pages.

New website theme

The theme that I previously used on my website was not supported by the new version of WordPress, so I was forced to switch themes. This involved not just picking a new theme, but also reformatting over 100 landing pages, making CSS coding adjustments, troubleshooting menu issues, and a hundred other fiddly little things. I am still working away at behind the scenes stuff and have a few more things on my list to change or update.

New Branding

When I started publishing back in 2013, I didn’t know a lot about branding. My logo, bio, imprint, etc. needed to be revamped and updated. My logo is now on-genre for a crime writer, and I love my new imprint.

(back cover of book)

(copyright page)

Social Media Engagement

I have also been increasing my social media engagement and hope to jump into TikTok’s #booktok in the new year. This has been a good revenue funnel for a number of authors and I am hoping to gather some new readers there!

My favourite reads of 2022

This is always a tough one! I did not record all of the books that I read last year, but here are some highlights:
From the Ashes
Dead Men Don’t Crochet
Blind Search
Anteater of Death
State of Terror
Darius the Great is Not Okay
Plaid and Plagiarism
Six Weeks to Live
Five Little Indians
The Bell Jar

Hello 2023!

I have written and queued up the following for publication next year.

Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator

Thrice Spared
Cloaked Campaign
Cat Tales in the Swamp (short story which will be part of a multi-author bundle)

Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers

Rushin’ Death
Posed for Death
Death of a Corpse

Parks Pat Mysteries

Knows the Hills
Spanning the Creek
Sanctuary in the Stream

Auntie Clem’s Bakery

Wedding Cake Crush
A Waffle Death
Murder Meringue Pie

Zachary Goldman Mysteries

Three more books which I am working on now.

More/Updated Omnibuses

I will be releasing omnibuses for the books released in 2022 and updating the full-series omnibuses. I may get the new Reg Rawlins 1-15 Omnibus up before the new year.

More Bundles

I have just posted my New Year New Beginnings bundle! A great deal if you don’t already have all of the books included!

Accessible Books

I have the germ of an idea to help make my books more accessible to those with disabilities. While I currently offer some Large Print editions and a few audiobooks, and ebooks allow readers to increase font size, I would like to do more. Stay tuned while I look into this further!

How you can Help

Despite all of this work, it was a difficult year for me as a solopreneur, with sales dropping dramatically due to the rising costs of pulp and inflation eroding people’s spending power. In order to make a living for me and my family, I need to spend more time on marketing to get books out in front of people and less on creating new content. (And new content is what you want, right?)

Is there something you can do to help? Yes! If you have a friend you believe would enjoy my work, your personal recommendation of one of my books or series would be invaluable—not only would it give your friend something new to read, but it would also increase my sales and give you someone to talk to about your favourite series! If you would like to gift a book to a friend, contact me and we can make that happen.

Parks Pat Swag

As mentioned above, I ventured into some author swag this year with a 2023 calendar, 2023 planner, and notebook featuring photography from Calgary parks where the Parks Pat Mysteries are set. Your year won’t be complete without them! (Well, I hope not, anyway!)

2023 Calendar
2023 Planner
Fish Creek Notebook – Spiral or Hardcover