Hugh J. O'Donnell

It’s a new year! The champagne has been toasted, friends have returned home, and the holiday decorations have been put away for another year. The only thing left to do is report back on my Page of Awesome results for 2016.
The Page of Awesome is the space in my notebook, and the widget on this page, where I keep track of my tasks for the year. And without further hedging, here are my totals:
Podcasts: 50
Blog Posts: 52
Short Story Submissions: 28
Patreon Posts: 17
Agent Submissions: 0
Self-published eBooks: 0
Compared to 2015, I stayed even on Podcasts. I had hoped to do better last year, but there were some lengthy absences on The Way of the Buffalo.  Some of these issues were technical, others were personal, and some were just me not putting enough time in the chair or prioritizing other projects. The good news is that I finally finished The Dark Wife, and am currently remastering it to submit to ACX. More on my podcast plans for this year below.
I fell way short of my expectations on blogging and reviews last year. Part of this shortfall came from bookkeeping. I reblogged a lot of podcast content here to create a new main podcast feed, but did not count these as new blog posts. I want to do more reviews and personal writing in 2017.
I also stayed about even with fiction submissions, and even had a few pieces published in 2016! Last year saw the publication of my story “A Woman of the Old School” in Andromeda Spaceways, after a delay due to technical issues. I also had a pair of pieces published on The Melting Potcast. The crew in the Disaster Kitchen are always a delight to write for, and I plan to continue writing for them in 2017.
My Patreon post count was lower than I would like, but I didn’t focus on Patreon as a major outlet or revenue stream last year, so I’m not particularly worried about it.
The last portions are where I really fell down in 2016. I didn’t finish any major editing projects last year. That means I didn’t send anything out to agents, and I didn’t self-publish anything, either. While a writing career isn’t a race, I know that editing is probably my biggest weakness. I need to focus on getting my butt in the chair and polishing manuscripts rather than chasing the latest shiny short story idea.
But 2016 is over! It’s dead! Time to move on!

So with the Page of Awesome reset to zero, what are my plans for 2017?
First of all, after finishing the last round of short fiction for The Way of the Buffalo, The podcast will be going on an indefinite hiatus. It may come back later in the year, or a new interview podcast may rise to replace it. I have some compelling ideas about what I want to do next with the format, but first, I need to focus on other projects. The City is going to get an audiobook edition in 2017, either on this page or through ACX. Maybe both. After that, who knows? I’ve been considering a gaming microcast, but the project might work better as a vlog.
I’d like to continue blogging as well, but it might take a backseat to other projects this year. I’ve set a simple goal of two blog posts a week, and will add more if time and workflow allows.
This year I’m going to up my game and get serious on story submissions. I recently joined a new writers group that is a mix of experienced and new writers, and their feedback has given me a lot more confidence in my editing. I’d like to double my output over the last two years.
Patrons will hopefully see a steady stream of early podcast episodes, and I will be releasing a brand-new Freelance Hunters novel chapter by chapter in my Patreon feed. I don’t think Patreon is a great model for growing an audience, but I hope to pull in more Patrons this year through marketing elsewhere.
One of those places is Wattpad! In late 2016 I started using Wattpad to rerelease The City, and Freelance Hunters shorts. I’m going to use the platform to try and grow an audience with more 140 Characters stories this year.
Those stories will also get eBook and maybe even print releases. I always start the year with ambitious plans for self-publishing, and I invariably fall flat due to my inexperience. This year I will reach out to experts, editors, and cover designers to make my work shine and make sure it gets out the door.
I also have some projects that I’m keeping close to the vest, but will hopefully see an agent’s inbox by the end of the year. I am doing prep work for second-round rewrites on a novella I began at the Smoky Writers retreat in 2016. I earnestly believe in the project, a YA Fantasy series set in later days of a crumbling empire. I’ll be blogging more about it as the year goes on.
And that about covers my look back at 2016 and the year ahead. Professionally, at least. Art and entertainment are torches in the night, and the world looks to be headed into a dark place in 2017. Keep safe, and keep making things.