2020 somehow feels like it’s already gone by so fast, until I stop and realize it’s only the second week.

Anyway, now that I’ve reviewed the numbers for this site in 2019, it’s time to go back to my book marketing goals for a final check-up.

I ended up revising my 2019 marketing goals at the midway point, since the first half of the year was rocky for me, to say the least. So here are the revised goals I strove for in late 2019.

2019 Marketing Goals (Revised)

1. Sell 30 books.
2. Earn 600 reads on my Wattpad story.
3. Hit 600 followers on WordPress.
4. Connect with other authors.

So where did we end up for the year?

Sell 30 books?

Nah. I sold 17 copies of The Warden of Everfeld: Memento in 2019, and 12 of those came at Awesome Con way back in April. Three of the other five sales came after I gave a presentation on self-publishing to a high school English class in October, so I’m going to attribute those sales to that speaking gig.

What’s especially cool is that I sold 13 direct print copies, to four Kindle copies. Obviously, 12 of those 13 were from Awesome Con, but I like the idea that that many more people have my book in their possession.

It’s interesting to note that none of those sales led to new reviews of my book online (that I know of). One person reviewed my book on Amazon in January 2019, but I know him, and I know he bought my book before that. I didn’t have a particular goal for new reviews, but I’m hoping to see more this year.

600 Wattpad readers?

No, but my mythic fantasy series on Wattpad has earned 95 reviews total, up from 69 in my third-quarter check-in. That’s the biggest increase I’ve seen since publishing the first chapter a year ago.

It turns out that 600 reads was a lofty goal, but I was really just testing the waters with Wattpad as both a publishing platform and a community. I love the platform, and staying active there is definitely part of my plan for this year. I just need to think about the best ways to find new readers and adjust accordingly.

600 WordPress followers?

Yes! You people are awesome. Somehow, during the website-traffic doldrums of the winter holidays, our follows seemed to accelerate. I still can’t say for sure what drives people to follow this site, but I am ever grateful.

As much as I love seeing the follower count tick upward, I need to focus my goals around engagement on this site: likes, comments, clicks. That means that I need to reciprocate and actually engage with other blogs, but I’m working on weaving that back into my routine.

Connect with other authors?

I don’t know. I think so? There are a couple of authors that I’ve traded follows and maybe some friendly messages with on Wattpad, even if I don’t know them.

This goal was less tangible anyway, so I’m not too concerned. But I definitely want to keep meeting other authors in my writing journey, so, I guess, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Overall Year-End Feeling

I feel pretty good about 2019. Awesome Con was definitely the highlight from a sales perspective, and planning for that was really engaging. Same with my speaking gig at the high school. I’ll announce my 2020 book marketing goals in a couple weeks, but those kinds of in-person engagements with readers will be a big priority for me this year.

Steve D