Year-End Review of My Writing, Podcasting, and Freelance Projects

Every year I try to take an inventory of my writing productivity and progress. It helps me stay motivated in reaching my writing goals and gives me ideas for future content. This past year has seen me writing daily, whether I’m working on copy, podcast scripts, book reviews, or revisions on my suspense/thriller novel. Yesterday I sat down and crunched some numbers to see what I accomplished in 2023, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Here’s a look at what I worked on this past year:

For my true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas:

I made the decision this fall to go from a bi-weekly production schedule to a weekly schedule. I did this for a few different reasons, even though it created more work for me, but I wanted to be able to create an environment more attractive for interested sponsors. This year found me weaving more true crime stories from the Carolinas into the episodes, and those have proven to be popular. I’m also focusing more on interviews, whether it’s from families of missing people or true crime authors. I like having the flexibility of the interview format and hope to do more of it in the coming year. All in all, we released 28 new episodes in 2023. The podcast has had 71,200 downloads in the past twelve months.  

In addition, I personally:

• Wrote 90,767 total words for Missing in the Carolinas (probably closer to 85,000 with writing help).
• Conducted six interviews for podcast episodes.
• Created a media kit for the podcast. Up next in 2024 is a rate sheet for potential advertisers.
• In addition, Missing in the Carolinas was featured on WSOC-TV in a segment about Zelle scams.

For WOW! Women on Writing, I:

• Judged six different writing contests (flash fiction and creative nonfiction).
• Conducted 14 interviews with flash fiction and creative nonfiction contest winners.
• Wrote 15 original blog posts on writing, podcasting, and creativity.
• Wrote the introduction for seven different WOW! Markets newsletters (500+ words each).
• Created and presented webinar “You Can Start a Podcast” in March to 19 students. I also taught again in August and am creating one on true crime writing for spring.
• Moderated two different webinars—One on freelance editing and another on writing disabled characters.

Other items of note:

• I was featured on the Strictly Stalking podcast, Season 4, Episode 169.
• I wrote novel-7,000+ new words on my novel revision and came up with the idea for my next project.
• Am creating a spin-off limited series true crime podcast that will hopefully be released in Spring of 2024.
• I also read or listened to 27 books out of my goal of 30. I love the Libby app through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library because it gives me access to audiobooks and books for my Kindle. I’ll do a separate post on my list of books from 2023.

I accomplished so much more than I thought and probably left something out. But I’m excited for 2024! How did your year go?