(Guys, I have a different sort of post planned for tomorrow, and it’s something pretty important to me, so I’d appreciate it if you all could check it out. )
Warning: this contains a lot of information about me, and information about me has been known to get boring, frightening, and/or burn your eyes out. If you’re just here for the giveaway, you can skip to the end. 
***
Oh 2012.
You have been incredibly awesome to me. It doesn’t necessarily feel that way, I know, but when I look back on where I was in early January, it’s amazing how far I’ve come. (I can sense you all rolling your eyes already. Here comes the bragging.) I was, let’s be honest, pretty clueless back then, and in just a year, I feel so much more knowledgeable about books, about writing, about publishing. To the point where I feel like I can give decent advice and help people, when a year ago, I was the one who had only a very vague idea of how this whole writing and publishing thing works. I’m going to attribute this jump in knowledge to the literal hours each day (I FEEL YOUR JUDGEMENT) I spent reading blog posts, reading critiques of other’s works and getting critiqued myself, reading Publisher’s Lunch and publishing discussions, and researching publishers and agents (okay, maybe a little bit more to the point of stalking. But in an innocent way! I swear!) and learning what to do and what not to do when writing. Also, you can add reading and beta-reading to all of that. But more than just the above, 2012 was a successful year for me because I met amazing people online and learned from them. Every blog post, every tweet taught me something, and just listening to what all of you have to say has gotten me so far. So thank you, writing community, for being awesome.
And now we’re to the part where I brag about what I accomplished this 2012. Quick! Close your eyes! Cover your ears! Don’t let me win!
- I discovered John Green. Okay, so this is not bragging, but SERIOUSLY guys, how come no one got me hooked on John Green before this year?! And I don’t just mean his books–I love them too, of course, but I can also understand how you wouldn’t–but his YouTube channel and his personality and everything. Vlogbrothers, in which he vlogs with his brother Hank, is basically the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time watching his videos. They’re not only fun but they’re enlightening and weird and OHMYGAWSH SO GOOD. Anyway. *coughs* *puts on professional face*
- I met awesome people. This has got to be my highlight of 2012, if anything. Seriously. It sounds kind of pathetic, I know (I FEEL YOUR JUDGEMENT AGAIN), that I made friends with people who exist only in my phone–rumor has it they’re real or something, but I don’t buy it–but honestly, this online writing/publishing community is the greatest. It has definitely been the greatest part of my year. All of your support and advice and jokes have been amazing, and I appreciate all of you, and that I have the opportunity to do this, to follow my passions, because a lot of people don’t have that opportunity. You guys make writing less difficult and stressful. It is definitely a more interesting process with the internet involved, but interesting is good. Interesting is fun. So to all of my critique partners and people-I-beta-for and online friends: I’m just so glad to have met all of you. You are beyond great.
- I got my remote agent internship. And I am SO GLAD and SO THANKFUL for it. I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity.
- I beta-read a ton of manuscripts. I don’t know how many manuscripts in total I beta-read, but it’s at least twice as much as I read normal published books. Yeah. I know. I’m crazy.
- I finished my second novel, also known as my first not-totally-sucky novel. Yeah, pretty much says it all. I guess all of that time spent writing and critiquing and reading about writing paid off in the end, at least sort of. I also got my first R&R from an agent! (Revise & resubmit, for those who do not know.) Woohoo!
And then a ton of other things happened, like me becoming an author assistant, getting my first ARC, etc. but I’m currently on 12 a.m. brain so I can’t remember all of them. But regardless, thank you all for such a great year.
Looking forward to 2013, I have a few small goals:
- Spend less time on the internet. I know, I KNOW, but this has become a problem, guys.
- Write more. This year, I hope to start and complete two novels on top of my current rewrite. Can I do it? We shall see.
- Blog more. I was a blogging fail this 2012. Let’s fix this.
- Querying. This is the part where I’d put my goal of getting an agent this 2013, but I don’t know, I’m not sure if I’m there yet. Instead, my resolution is to finish a book I am truly proud of, revise it to the best of my ability, write an awesome query for it, and send it off. Even if it gets no agent bites, I still want to be proud of what I did.
- Make at least $10. Okay, so this is a weird goal, but I’d like to be able to profit from either writing or editing this year. Maybe sell a short story to a paying magazine, or maybe freelance edit for someone–I feel like, from all of my beta-reading, I’ve become a pretty good editor. I don’t actually care about the money, of course, but I want to feel legitimate, you know? (Translation: I’m weird. Just go with it.)
I think writing/publishing-wise, 2011 was, for me, about experimenting and experiencing and getting my feet wet with “all of this.” 2012 has been my learning year, where I’ve gone from a pretty-horrible-and-clueless writer to a decent-and-actually-pretty-knowledgeable writer. And I’m hoping, that if the pattern is followed, 2013 will be my breakout year. But even if it isn’t, I know it’ll rock anyway.
In the end, 2012 was great. 2013 will be even better.
Giveaway!
And to celebrate the great year/even better coming year, I’m giving away eBook copies of three 2012 books. The books:
An eBook copy of SHADOW & BONE by Leigh Bardugo
***
An eBook copy of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green
***
An eBook copy of CRUSHED by Dawn Rae Miller.
***
Since Rafflecopter is mean and refuses to post in WordPress, click here to enter the giveaway.
Note: if you win a book you don’t want/already own/you’re outside the U.S. for winning the ARC, please let me know and I’ll select a new winner.
So, what books are you looking forward to in 2013?
