A Bookish Year in Review, and a Few Stats From a Number Cruncher

And a look ahead to what is in store for 2022

Hi readers,

What a year this has been; the world seems to be in chaos most of the time, but for readers, escaping into the make-believe world of books is a welcome respite to the confusion and chaos. I started thinking about creating a blog many years ago. My thoughts went through several content ideas. I read so much about starting a blog that I had enough knowledge to write a book about it, but I always came back to the underlying problem—not having the time to learn how to set up and maintain a website.

Over Memorial Day weekend 2021, I created SoNovelicious, Books, Reading, and More Books on the Substack platform, which solves the problem of maintaining a website. I had doubts about my writing skills and abilities as English and Writing weren’t my favorite subjects in school. I doubted that I could develop content week after week as I was sure that I’d run out of topics to write about very quickly. I didn’t know if I’d have the time or the gumption to stick with this because of an almost year-round tax season and my quick ability to quit things when they become problematic. I surprised myself, and I’ve not only stuck with it, but I’m excited about what 2022 holds for SoNovelicious. I’m a numbers person at heart, and I couldn’t help setting up a spreadsheet to track all the different metrics, and I wanted to share some stats with you. For the more recent subscribers, I’ve highlighted some posts and links below to help you get caught up. For readers that have been here longer, I so appreciate you and your continued support; thanks for your patience with the walk down memory lane.

• I’ve written fifty-nine newsletters of varying content, including the welcome and introduction newsletters and this final 2021 newsletter.

• I sent the first newsletter to two of my bookish friends to let them know what I was doing, and I received such encouragement from them. Both have continued to encourage me time and time again throughout this process. Thank you, Michele and Carol; I appreciate both of you.

• In those fifty-nine newsletters, I wrote about books, book clubs, bookish podcasts, other bookish newsletters, audiobooks, book journaling, authors and their books, bookstagrammers, and several tips here and here to make your reading life better. You can view the archive to see all of the backlist newsletters.

• I’ve met many people through my newsletters throughout the year who have shared such thoughtful comments. I’ve also met other bookish newsletter creators who graciously shared my content with their readers, bringing many new subscribers to my little corner of the internet. Thanks go out to Mel at Strong Sense of Place, Sarah at Can We Read?, Elizabeth at What to Read If, Mark at Mark Writes, Kenneth at SHuSH, Jeremy at Read More Books, and Betsy at Spark. Your generosity is so appreciated. Readers, if you haven’t checked out these newsletters yet, please do as they all contain so much bookish goodness for readers like us.

• Books are prominent in the newsletter; a whopping 107 books were shared in some format, including book introductions/mentions, book reviews, and listings of new books publishing soon. Readers have commented many times providing many other great books to read too.

• There have been twenty-one Happy Friday Links newsletters sharing 151 links related to books, reading, travel, cooking, and other fun and interesting bookish goodness.

• In the run-up to Christmas and as part of the Happy Friday Links, 26 gift links were shared to support small businesses and others selling bookish-related items.

What’s new for 2022

I’ve spent a lot of time this month thinking about what changes I might make with this newsletter in 2022. Some things will change a little, I’m going to add a few new topics, and much will stay the same. Things evolve, and I expect this newsletter to do the same over time. But for now, here is a quick look at what SoNovelicious is going to look like in 2022:

• The Happy Friday/Saturday links newsletter will no longer be a weekly feature; it will move to bi-weekly and, depending on other content, may even be less frequent.

• I plan on at least a couple of author and industry professional interviews, most likely during the summer when I have more time to devote to the newsletter after tax season.

• Many books take place in real cities, not fictitious places, and many books are set in famous locations across the USA. I’m combining both of these to introduce the reader to some new books and some new places to visit. The thought hasn’t completely revealed itself to me yet, so this is a work in progress.

• I’m not retired yet, so I can’t travel across the country at will, but a few Indie bookstores are close enough to me to make a weekend trip to check one out and learn what makes it unique and introduce it to readers.

• I am a member of Net Galley, and I read many books as ARCs. I want to organize and schedule my ARC reading a bit better to feature more of the books I read closer to when the books are released.

• I have identified more authors to continue the Author and Their Books series newsletters. The author may be known, but sometimes the author’s backlist isn’t well known, and this series allows for that introduction.

• More book adjacent topics are coming; some will be sharing additional content of some 2021 newsletters, and others will be entirely new for 2022.

• I still have two more newsletters in the Book Club series, but part three isn’t coming together as easily as the first two parts did. I feel like I’m trying to shoehorn my ideas into the newsletter, but those ideas have their own thoughts, and they do not want to participate willingly. I’ve set it aside for now but will try to whip it into shape soon.

• There are also two more newsletters in the audiobook series that aren’t as uncooperative as the book club newsletters are; however, I’m still fighting with those too, but I think I’m winning the battle. Those will be coming soon.

Whew, that is a lot of looking back and looking forward; thanks for indulging me. I’d love to hear if you have any ideas or requests for future newsletter topics. I’m a numbers person and not naturally creative, so I’m always open to new ideas from other readers and creatives. You can tell me your thoughts in the comments below.

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I’ve learned a lot this year through writing this newsletter. I’ve met so many readers and other creators in the comments and emails; I treasure the “internet” friends I have made. You have been generous with your time in messages and suggestions for books to read and topics to feature in the future. You open the emails that you receive twice-weekly without fail, and you keep showing up week after week in support of the newsletter. I appreciate you, I thank you, and without you, this endeavor wouldn’t be possible or fulfilling. Happy New Year and happy reading!

Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.