Tuesday, December 28, 2010

My Year in Review: Publishing Highs and Lows, and How Much I owe to the Booby Jar

2010 in Review and by the numbers

Number of separate hits on my blog: 23,928

From: 120 Countries

Most hits: USA

Most surprising hits: Yemen (?)
(My goal to target Yemeni readers: check!)

Strangest search entries that actually led to serious time on my blog:

"Brodi Ashton Walmart Marshmallow Peeps"
"Brodi Ashton Booby Jar"
"Jacob's Abs"
"Bodyguards in Pakistan"
"Naked Mondays"
"Saggy Bladder"

Some of these make total sense. I did spend a fair amount of time blogging about Jacob's abs. (Specifically the left one, third from the top. It was beautiful.)

And I did blog once about a saggy bladder. And Naked Mondays. And I blogged extensively about my bodyguard in Pakistan.

Okay, sadly each of these makes sense. 

Number of times I posted on a Tuesday: 1 (Today!)

Publishing highs:
Signing with my new agent. (Hi Michael!)
(Michael "You Could Sell his Smile on the Internet for Money" Bourret and me)

Selling my book. (Hi Kristin!)

Number of Book Launches I attended: a plethora

Authors at those book launches:
Bree Despain (The Lost Saint- party tonight!)
Ally Condie (Matched)
James Dashner (The Scorch Trials)
Matt Kirby (The Clockwork Three)
Kiersten White (Paranormalcy)
Sarah Williams (Palace Beautiful)
Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl (Beautiful Darkness)

Number of quarters I owe to the booby jar (as a penalty for using the word "booby"): 486

Number of posts about my secret lover Rafa: 10
He's not impressed.

Number of conferences I attended:3
(Emily, Bree, Brodi and Sydney Salter at the SCBWI conference in L.A.)

Number of times I danced the Love Shack with M.T. Anderson: once (I'm sure he'll be blogging about it too, in his own "year in review")

Number of rejections I received throughout the year: 486 (at least, it felt like that)

Number of times I thought getting published was just a pipe dream: loads

Number of times I wondered what, exactly, is a pipe dream: once (like right now. What does that mean? anyone? Does it mean my dream was stuck in a pipe, right next to a hairball?)

Number of days my book was on submission to editors before we got an offer: 2 

Number of times I was pretending to take notes in church, when really I was writing my book: 52.  (There are 52 Sundays in a year, right?)

Number of Thursdays spent writing at Borders with Bree Despain and Emily Wing Smith: 40

Number of times in any given day Sam and I just look at each other and say, "I can't believe the book is going to be an actual book.": at least 3

Number of times in any given day I declare my undying love for my agent: at least 3

Number of times Sam rolls his eyes at me: countless

Number of times I'm grateful for blog readers who've stuck with me for another year: let me count the ways.

I'm taking the rest of the week off. See you next year!!

24 comments:

  1. I'm new to your blog, but the posts I've witnessed so far have been fun =)
    Looking forward to reading more in the New Year.

    Have a great week off!

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  2. Yay! A post! I'm so happy... but so sad you're intentionally skipping Wednesday and Friday. How can you do this to us?

    Congrats again on all your awesome success this year. 2012 is your publication year... whatever will you do in 2011?

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  3. PIPE DREAM: an illusory or fantastic plan, hope, or story.

    Origin-From the fantasies brought about by the smoking of opium
    First Known Use: 1896

    So, in other words, how's all that opium consumption going?

    Just kidding. It's been such a great year! Glad to see a post after all!

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  4. Love the review.Looking forward to seeing you tonight, and at the party on Thurs? Oh and did you know a few people landed on my blog searching for your name? I was flattered.

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  5. Wanetta- Welcome to the blog! Hopefully I won't scare you away for at least a few months. :)

    Robin- 2011 is gonna be so boring. I'm going to spend each holiday going: "This is the last Mother's Day ever before my book comes out!... This is the last Arbor Day ever before my book comes out!!" It will drive everyone to death by friction.

    Which will actually make it not boring.

    Lulabell- I knew you'd come through on the origin! At this point, I'd love to try the literal context. Ha ha. Just kidding. Don't tell your mom. Seriously, don't tell her. Kay?

    Debbie- A few people found my blog by searching for you! We're forever interconnected! (Sorry about that.) I'll definitely be at the party Thursday night, and tonight. See you then!

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  6. This has been a great year for you, Brodi! And, I'm so excited for you! Here's to next year and continued success! Happy New Year and see you tonight! :)

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  7. Never.....not once did I think you were taking notes at church.I knew you were multi-tasking!!!!!! You are so smart.

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  8. Amy- I could never fool you! And "multi-tasking" implies doing more than two things at once, when really I was only doing one thing at once. :)

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  9. Ha...What a year! Thanks for sharing -- I will now snicker all day about "booby jar." And, "saggy bladder," and oh, everything.

    Also, I, too, posted on a Tuesday! Must be the drugs, er, the season...All best to you in 2011!

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  10. Amanda- Maybe there's something in the air...

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. taking notes in church???

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

    now who exactly did you think you were fooling?

    happy new year brodi!!!

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  12. I love Jacob's abs too!! I've never been so grateful for a dark theater as I was the first time he whipped his shirt off... no one could see me blushing! BLUSHING over a SEVENTEEN year old!

    In other words, number of years younger than me: 12

    Any chance Everneath will become a movie starring Taylor Lautner?! Is it gross that I'm even asking? : )

    I plan to read the book no matter what. Hope the New Year brings you all the success you deserve!

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  13. Loved the "Year in Review." The last post of 2010! Where in the world did this year go? Oh well. Adios 2010....come on 2011!!

    I hope you had an amazing Christmas! Have a Happy New Year!!!

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  14. Dorien- You knew?!?! :) Yeah, I guess I didn't hide it very well. Especially when it was my turn to play the piano, and I'd just sit and keep writing. Like the previous speaker was SO GOOD I had to take it all down!

    Gina- Aren't they heavenly? Jacob's abs, I mean. And if you're only 12 years older than him, that makes me even creepier!

    Kristin- Have a Happy New Year too! And thanks for reading the blog. Hopefully next year will fly by too. (Because that will mean I'm that much closer to seeing my book on the shelves.)

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  15. Congratulations on a great year Brodi! You're hilarious and I cannot wait for your book!!!

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  16. Hello friend! How are you doing? I have been missing you but my work blocked all blog sites from our network and I never, never, never have time or remember to check up on you at home! Hope all is well with you! So very excited for your book - can't wait to get my hands all over it (in a plutonic way of course!) Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year...my resolution will be to check blogs more.

    PS...did you get the toffee?

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  17. Leisha- thanks, girlfriend!

    Cam- Yay! You're alive! I've missed you too. My blog has gone for many months without enough snark.

    I totally got the toffee, and holy wow it was good. I meant to email you to say thanks, but my fingers were covered in chocolate.

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  18. Brodi I LOVE your blog posts! I think, when I first started following you on Twitter, the first comment you made was about a stomach pimple? Haha Good times my dear! I am excited for your new year and your book-publishing journey. I can't wait to read your book!

    Enjoy your time off!

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  19. Ashlie- Ah, yes, the infamous belly-button pimple tweet! I'm surprised I have any followers left after that one. Thanks for following the blog!

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  20. You had an excellent year! I've never seen a picture of Michael Bourret before. He DOES have a smile you could sell!

    Looking forward to another excellent year for you, Brodi. Knock-em-dead!

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  21. L.T.- It's true. I have a few of his smiles for sale right now in my Etsy shop. Feel free to browse.

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