Year in Review

Happy Holidays! Whatever occassion you celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful time filled with family and friends.

I’ve tried over and over to start a blog and make it stick, but this is the longest I’ve ever been able to sustain one, and I think there are a few reasons for that. 

1. Planning, Planning, Planning — I have become best friends with Google Sheets this year. I plan my content, including my social posts (which have slipped a little over the past couple months) in Google Sheets. This gives me a birds-eye view of what I’m publishing on the blog and sending out via email. It also helps me remember what I’ve written about in recent weeks so you get something fresh to read each time you visit my blog. 

2. Content Pillars — In the past, I’ve written about whatever I felt like writing about, and I still do to a certain extent. The biggest difference between EmilyBabbitt.com and past attempts is that I typically stick to three main categories or “content pillars” with my blogs—family, religion, and creativity. These are flexible buckets, but they are a starting point for my writing, and they give readers like you an idea of what to expect from me each week. They are also things I deeply care about. 

3. Reader Accountability — I would be remiss not to mention you, my treasured reader. I am so grateful that you signed up for my email list and blog. I know there is a lot of content out there, and taking the time to follow me and read my work means the world to me. Sharing it with you each week keeps me accountable to writing, and getting emails and comments from you always puts a smile on my face and stokes the fires of motivation.

As I think about my year in review, I’m grateful. I had some audacious goals at the beginning of the year, and while I haven’t achieved all of them yet, I’m moving closer each day. This blog is a big part of it. In 2024, I wanted to…

• Send a monthly newsletter ✅

• Publish a blog weekly ✅

• Get at least one short story published in a literary journal ✅

• Sign with a literary agent for my novel, Shards of Clay ❌

• Read 36 books (I read 75!) ✅

• Beta read at least one book to become familiar with the process ✅

• Stay active in my local writers group ✅

While I haven’t signed with a literary agent yet, I’m still working on it. It was my biggest goal and the one I was most excited to accomplish. It’s really easy to look at my list and let all of the smaller goals fall to the wayside because I didn’t achieve the one I was really wanting to, but I’m choosing to be proud of what I have accomplished and learn from the journey. 

It’s also important for me to remember that my smaller goals have helped me work toward the larger goal. 

• Publishing this blog each week and building an email list will help me be more appealing to literary agents and indie publishers—I’m building a platform to help with marketing my book, which is appealing to publishers. 

• Reading lots of books helps me become a better writer and storyteller, and writing reviews further strengthens those skills. 

• Beta reading is a great way to establish relationships in the writing community, strengthen my critique skills, and improve my critical thinking ability—all of which will be beneficial when my book is published.

I also wanted to share some fun statistics with you…

• 12 newsletters sent

• 33,000 words published across 37 blog posts

• 197 comments on my blog posts

• 78 new email subscribers

• 122 new Facebook subscribers

At the end of the day, though, none of this matters if I’m not enjoying the work I’m doing. I’m not making money from my blog, and I don’t have to do it. I know I’m not going to enjoy every single moment I spend writing, and there are times when it’s hard and stressful to get a blog out on time, but overall, I can honestly say that I’ve loved writing this blog and interacting with you all.

It has been hard to write something new each week, but it has helped me become a better writer and a better thinker. It’s forced me to sit down and think through things, even when I don’t feel like it. It’s given me the opportunity to share my heart, practice vulnerability, and build something that I can be proud of. It’s allowed me to strengthen relationships and build new ones. It’s made me slow down and think through my experiences. While it has been hard work this year, I’m better for it. 

Cheers to 2025!