Here we are again! Another year and another yearly review, thank God! To start, I’m giving thanks for seeing the end of another year. This year was a perpetual rollercoaster with wins and lessons. Like, literally, the wins and lessons were 50:50 split for me! And while 2022 had its share of lows, the highs were everything. Let’s start with the books, though!
I Released Four Books In 2022
This year I released four books. Home Before Midnight brought that number to four because before it and for three whole calendar seasons (7 months!) I didn’t release any books. We’ll get into that below.
Envy came first, then Ready or Not, So This is Love next, and finally Home Before Midnight. All these books were a pleasure to create, especially Ready or Not, since it served as an update on Rylee Daniels from Last Comes Love. It also stands as book one in a spinoff to a new series, A Paralleled Love.
So This is Love completed another series for me, The Forbidden series, Envy continued the Love is Cure series, and Home Before Midnight gave me an opportunity to publish an update on one of my favorite couples, the Gordons.
With each book, I tried something different to get the word out for them. My proudest release was Home Before Midnight since I released that one on ByBK. More on that later below!
I Attended My First Book Event
Indie Love exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were very high. The event was in New Orleans and my family and I traveled there as total newbies. Besides it being such an amazing experience, visiting New Orleans gave what it was supposed to give plus more. As my first event, I shocked myself with how well we did. I sold out, which I wasn’t expecting, and got to meet a lot of the beautiful people I converse with online, in person.
I Relaunched ByBK
When I opened an online store a few years ago, it took a lot of thought. But even when you think until your head hurts, the best experience is in actually doing the things you’re thinking about doing. In running the store, I realized its shortcomings. And that realization led to me shutting the shop down and migrating to a more versatile platform. I’m still getting the feel of it all after relaunching the store and there are still some learning curves to overcome. But I’m happy with my choice and very proud of what ByBrookelynMosley.com is today. I have plans for the shop in 2023 and I can’t wait to share them!
I Debuted A Series On Kindle Vella
And I almost didn’t. I went back and forth on deciding if I would publish a series on Kindle Vella. It was a new platform for me, and I didn’t know enough about it, so I was iffy about giving it a shot at first. But publishing seemed straightforward, and their payment system was clear. I had an idea for a story I felt would do well on that platform, and I’ve been happy with my choice ever since. So far so good, but if things change, you already know lol. I’m about to publish the last three episodes of the series with plans to publish its KV series spinoff in 2023. God willing! The series Cali & Lee was just what I needed to keep me busy and my mind sharp in the gap between creating and completing Gluttony.
I Released My First Novelette Off Amazon
When I finally gave into the idea of self-publishing on Amazon years ago, I didn’t know what I was doing and not much about it scared me. When I opted to release a book on my website first, I knew exactly what I was doing and the choice to do so was scary lol. Ignorance really is bliss because the more I knew about independently self-publishing a story by myself, the more cautious I was about doing it. Releasing Home Before Midnight on my website was a scary thought, but actually doing it wasn’t so bad. The feeling of being independently self-published is one I wish I could bottle and give to others. It really is fulfilling and a full circle moment because self-publishing was almost something I didn’t do at all. Like I always say, if it weren’t for my husband, my stories would still be on thumb drives and for my eyes only.
To be very clear, I’m not ending my relationship with Amazon or their KU program entirely, but I have exciting plans to create more digital products only for ByBK.
I’ll have a post detailing my future on KU soon.
I Wrote My First 100K+ Manuscript
And for a writer like me who once upon a time could barely finish a book, this called for champagne! Gluttony, which is fittingly the biggest book so far in its series, is over 100K words and took several months to complete. But the time taken to brew this book baby was well worth it and I can’t wait for you to see what I mean by that. I didn’t think I needed to write a long book because I can get it done in fewer words, but working these 100K+ with a purpose showed me how rich a story can really be and how much more I could flesh out my characters. It was a game changing experience. I’m excited to share what I created with those 100K+ words.
What 2022 Taught Me
The most valuable lesson I’m taking with me in 2023 and life is to get out of my way. So often I come up with an idea or a plan and focus too much on how it won’t work. I can be very hard on myself, which is why I work so hard to keep limited thinking from restricting myself. But whenever I’m doing something new, it can be overwhelming depending on the mindset I go into it with, and I focus too much on what could go wrong and not enough on what could go right. 2022 taught me to just decide to go for it. It really just comes down to deciding to do something and taking the steps to do it. The brain will then figure out ways to get it done. And for a lot of the moves I made in 2022, this was my thinking.
And Now Onward
We all make resolutions before a new year. I do. But I also work with mottos. One year it was “think bigger” another year it was “Godfidence.” For 2023, it’s “just start.” If there’s one thing I learned, it’s even if the journey doesn’t lead you to what you think you want, you achieve more by starting than you do thinking about starting. I want to go for all the things that scare me, and to go big when I do. People become great from the growth they experience, not from being stagnant and staying in the same place. So, I’m ready to grow beyond my wildest imaginations.
My focus is on building new relationships and nurturing the ones I have now in the new year. A lot of us want the same things but for different reasons and can get farther working together. So, if you’re a bookclub (regardless of how big or small) and you’re interested in reading a book by me or if you’ve already read a book and are holding a discussion, invite me. Send me an email if you would like an interview. I would be very interested in collaborating if my schedule allows it.
If you’re a book blogger or bookstagrammer and you’d like to join my ARC community, I’m adding a form for you to fill out below for consideration to join.
Let’s really make moves in the new year so we’ll have something to talk about and reflect on next December, God willing.
See you next year!
So… want to join my ARC community? If selected to join, the first book you’ll receive will be Gluttony, scheduled for release on January 27th. For consideration, CLICK THIS LINK to fill out the Google form at the link below!
*The last day to sign up for consideration is January 6, 2023.