PT Dilloway Annual #1

A lot of times in comics they do an "annual" issue which is like an extra issue I guess to commemorate the end of a yearly run.  You could also think of this as the year in review.

Though of course this blog didn't start until April Fool's Day.  Sadly this blog still has fewer "followers" than my Grumpy Bulldog blog.  Probably because I haven't been doing enough blogfests to get people noticing this blog and "following" it.  Which continues to be a thorn in my craw.  (Mixing metaphors!)  I'd love to have hundreds of followers like Michael Offutt or even thousands like other blogs.  But I suppose to do that you need to spend a lot more time going to blogs and making largely generic comments and smiling and curtsying and all that kind of stuff that I never feel like doing.

Hurm, this is pretty much how my boss starts every meeting, by pissing and moaning about the same shit for ten minutes.  I tend to just mentally check out until we get down to something of importance.

Anyway, when I started 2012 I had never published a book except through self-publishing.  And now at the end of 2012 I have 2 books published by other companies.  So that ain't bad.

While the publishing front was a lot better, the writing front wasn't as good as in 2011 or especially 2010.  Most of the year I just labored to rewrite the second Scarlet Knight story.  Then I wrote all the flash fiction stories for We Are Now and the Scarlet Knight Volume 0.  Other times I might be really annoyed I haven't done so much, but this year it's been OK because I've spent a lot of time editing and marketing and all that, so really I've just been more focused on other aspects of "the business."

The goal for 2013 then would be to push for more, because that's how things go.  First you get a publishing contract (finally) and then you want a better one.  Like say a publisher who releases a physical copy at the same time or before the ebook and charges more than $2.99 and actually gives me a release date in advance.  That would be pretty awesome.

If it hasn't yet, then the first Scarlet Knight book should show up in paperback in 2013.  The fate of the rest of the series I will discuss next month so get ready for some big announcements!  In case you don't know, there are eight volumes in the series already written.  And I don't mean like George Lucas when he says he wrote 6 episodes of Star Wars or 9 or whatever but you can't really be sure about it because no one had seen them.  No, all eight are written and if you read my original Rogue Mutt blog you can even find out what they're about.  If you look at the timeline in the special features you can see the titles for them and see how they follow each other.

On top of that, I'd like to find a home for my Chances Are series.  I've mentioned that a few times, right?  The first one is about a guy who dies but thanks to an experimental drug comes back to life as a woman and then goes out to kick ass on those responsible for killing him in the first place.  (The pronouns get confusing.)  At some point I need to work out the query and send it around to see if I can get any interest.  I mean come on, I have credentials now!  If not, I might have to look around for another small publisher or self-publish.  There are three of those already written, which I may or may not have mentioned. 

Anyway, I'm supposed to be looking back, not looking ahead.  So let's get the sappy montage music playing like that Sarah Maclachlan or Green Day song used at like every high school graduation in the late 90s-early 2000s.  (Maybe they still use those for all I know.  Sixteen years from now maybe they'll play those at my niece's graduation.)

When I started this blog, I had a dream.  A dream...to sell books.  Romantic, no?  And perhaps it's been successful.  I don't really know how many books I've sold, but I know it's greater than zero, so mission accomplished.  Through it all we've laughed and cried and lived.  Or not.  Chances are, you learned far more about A Hero's Journey than you ever wanted to.  You probably learned more about old comics than you cared to know.  If you were lucky, you won some money or a free book off of me.  And you learned how to make yourself into a superhero, which is something you should never, ever actually do in real life--can't stress that enough.

Some of the features will be canceled in 2013.  The full schedule posts New Year's Day, but I will give you one hint:  the Two-Fer Tuesdays are gone.  I have something else to put in place there.  I've come up with a couple more things and shuffled a couple of things, so 2013 will get off a little bit of a different start.  Anyway, check back at the start of the year to find out all the exciting things that will be coming down the pipe.

If you've popped in today and read all this, then thanks for your support.  If you read the books, then I hoped you enjoyed them.  If you did, why not go review them on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc?  (And LIKE it on Amazon too.)  And tell all your "friends" on Twitter, Facebook, and in real life.  Or you know, go stand on top of a building with a bullhorn and sing my praises.  That will get me some publicity for sure.  Not good publicity, but you know what they say about that.

Happy New Year!  See you in 2013! 

(Check in January 1, 2013 for the New Blogging Schedule!)