Well, I guess I’m darned… I didn’t publish a single book in 2019 (I stated earlier that I’d be darned if I didn’t at least publish Black Lily in 2019) but I did finish one! So, I guess I’m only half darned. Black Lily, the fourth book in The 9 Lives of the Outlaw Known as Crazy Cat series was completed late last year and will be published January 15th.
I reached a new epic low in books sold in a year in 2019, with a total of only 123 books sold. I don’t, however, worry about that at all. Like the year before, I have done absolutely nothing to peddle a single book since my previous annual report. I work a full time job and have been distracted (to put it mildly) this year with other projects besides my writing. I like to call these things I’m passionate about “projects,” the rest of the world seem to insist upon calling them hobbies. Either way, they all claim a fair amount of my time. I became quite obsessed with diorama and miniature making in 2019, and as usual I’ve hosted several wetplate workshops and done a few memorable shoots, I even found the time to open up a proper web store (see previous post). So, I’m juggling a full time job, writing, wetplate photography, a web store and miniature making… it sounds like a lot, but I’m not the least bit tempted to quit any of it.
My plans for this year is to publish Black Lily (it’s all set, so there’s no question about that), make two photo projects with Ingvild Eiring come to life in some sort of book/magazine form, finish the first draft for the sixth book in The 9 Lives of the Outlaw Known as Crazy Cat series and maybe, just maybe, finish editing the fifth book – I don’t expect to publish it this year, even if I do. I’m eager to move forward with the Crazy Cat series, I love working on it, but I don’t want to rush it and publish something that is half-assed.

My #2019bestnine on my @studiostandstill profile on Instagram
The Numbers
As you’ve probably deduced from the title, I’ve made five similar blog posts to this one in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Scroll down or hit the “Annual Report” category to find them. I started doing these annual reports and sharing the actual numbers of my success and failures as a self-published author because I missed this kind of information myself when I published my first novel in late 2013.
Copies Sold
As always, when I say “sold,” I mean all copies in distribution, including free books, giveaways and gifts. This blog post is about being honest, so I must honestly admit that I’m not making any money off this yet and I’m still very much in a place where it’s all about building an audience. I guess the PDFs will pretty much speak for themselves, here’s the first one: Books Sold 2013-2019
Goodreads Numbers
Here are three charts, featuring the numbers of “To Read”s, “Ratings” and “Reviews” of my books on Goodreads. The numbers are the accumulated total, including all years, for each year. For example: My total reviews received for Embers at Dawn was 8 in 2015, 2016 and 2017. I didn’t get any new reviews those years, 8 are the most reviews of that book for all years combined. Goodreads Numbers 2013-2019
Social Media
You can find me on Instagram as @julieloen – a mess of misc. and personal stuff, and @studiostandstill – an account dedicated to my wetplate work. I changed my @polaloen account to @ingvildandjulie last year, where I post photos from my 60+ shoots (and counting) with Ingvild Eiring. It’s fun to share images from our huge catalogue of work, but I’m not including it in my overview here (the number of followers on this account is, oddly enough, exactly the same now as it was a year ago).
You can also find me on Facebook as JC Loen (where I post mainly about Crazy Cat related stuff) and Studio Staa Stille, which is dedicated to my wetplate work (in Norwegian). I have, of course, a social media presence for my web store too, but I don’t think the numbers for that particular “project” belongs here.
Here’s my Social Media Numbers 2014-2019
Merchandise
My Tictail store closed last year (they were shutting down, so I had no say in the matter) and I chose to shut down my Zazzle store. I didn’t sell a single item from my Society6 store, but I did sell a couple of tintypes from my Etsy store.
All in all 2019 have been pretty darn good! They way things are looking, 2020 ought to be even better… It’ll be the year I become a train conductor! I currently have less than a week left in my old job and less than a month until I start the new one. Here’s to hoping!