It’s hard to believe that ten years ago today, I first created this website. And what a ride it has been. This site has gone through a domain name change and many theme changes (the most recent was recommended in a free consultation with Nate Hoffelder I won in a raffle at this year’s Maryland Writers’ Conference).
I’ve seen two novels published (which I’m now getting copy edited and plan to re-launch with new editions) as well as several poems, short stories, and essays featured in anthologies and journals.
I started blogging one month after creating my site, posting once a month. My first post was also featured in one episode of a Great Courses series hosted by a former professor of mine. Here it is:
Why Do I Write?
It continued that way for most of nine years, but I decided last year to be more fluid with posting. My mental health also caused me to reevaluate my social media time and even which sites to be on. Through it all, I still strive to find balance between writing and online marketing so as to protect my mental and emotional health but also keep an active engagement.
I’ve attended and participated in different events and met a lot of happy customers, and I’ve made guest appearances on other blogs as well as podcasts. My work has gotten ratings and reviews, most of which have generally been favorable. Mystical Greenwood, through two different publishers, has acquired over 50 ratings on Amazon US! I’m grateful to all who’ve taken the time to rate/review my work after reading it.
Will I ever become a bestseller? Probably not for years. It seems becoming an overnight bestseller these days requires one of three things, which are all extremely rare:
- Celebrity endorsement (intended or unintended)
- Screen adaptation deal (movie or TV)
- Social media post that unexpectedly goes viral (rarest of all)
But I know being a writer is about more than that. Salman Rushdie, in his 60 Minutes Overtime interview, said he hopes he will be remembered as a novelist with a shelf full of books that he can say is him and that at least some will still be loved and read. That’s what I hope for, too. I hope my books will still be being read long after I’m gone.
Thank you to those who’ve followed my blog and given me support and encouragement, especially those who’ve stuck with me over the years. I’m still amazed I have followers from all over the world. Here are the sites of the top six commentors, all writers in their own right, whom I recommend checking out (one has two sites, and I’ve shared both:
Elizabeth Gaffreau
Sharon Ledwith
Robbie Cheadle / Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Layla Todd
Franci Eugenia Hoffman
LaMarr Wenrich
January 23, 2021 remains my site’s most popular day with 269 views. The most popular month was August 2022 with 917 views (I suspect some internet bots were responsible). The most popular year was 2020 with 6,196 views (no surprise, given a lot of people had time on their hands). This post has the most comments (46):
Change, Perfection, Positivity
As for likes, I can’t seem to figure out for sure which post has the most (not counting pages, whose Like buttons I removed first for mental health reasons and then again after the consultation), but this one has 84, so that’s probably it:
Verse: Rhyme or Free?
Here’s to another decade. We’ll see what new features it brings to my writing and to this site. Next year I’m planning to share past book reviews on the blog, and who knows, I might open it up to guest posts someday.
Andrew McDowell 