Spotify* wrapped**

*And by Spotify I mean reading and writing.
**And by wrapped I mean last year’s and a whole life of stats.

Reading stats:

• In 2024 I read 18 books. Fine.
• 8 of the books I read in 2024 were published in 2024 and 1 was published in 2023. I am proud of this; I like to think I know what’s up out there.
• In 2024 I checked out 0 books at the library. I am ashamed of this.
• Since I started keeping track, the most books I’ve read in a year is 36 and the least is 7.
• In 2024 I went to 6 author readings in Denver.

Writing stats:

• In 2024 I wrote 11 blog posts.
• Since I started this blog in 2012 I’ve written 297 blog posts.
• The least I’ve written in a year is 3. Wow, what a slacker.
• The most I’ve written is 42 which was in 2012 and let that be a reminder to everyone to not come out so hot in the beginning or you will never be able to improve on your own stats.
• In 2024 I wrote a bunch of emails, journals and poems. Yes, that’s the stat–A BUNCH.
• In 2024 I finished writing and editing 1 book. I swear I’m done.

Submission stats:

• In 2024 I queried fifteen agents.
  • 12 declined representation.
  • 1 requested the full manuscript but ultimately declined.
  • 2 queries still pending.
• In total I’ve queried 37 agents.
  • 32 declined.
  • 2 requested a full and then declined.
  • 1 requested a half and then declined.
• I submitted my manuscript to 1 small press that declined.
• I submitted to 1 novel contest that is pending.
  
• In 2024 I submitted 0 short stories and essays.
• In total I’ve submitted at least 88 stories and essays. I’ve recorded 88 submissions but I know I didn’t record everything.
  • 82 stories/essays have been rejected. But probably much more because I didn’t keep track of everything.
  • 6 stories/essays have been accepted for publication. Check out my portfolio page- wow!
• The longest I’ve waited for a rejection is 2 years and 25 days. “First and foremost, we thank you for your patience through this unprecedented wait time as we’ve been reading diligently…. While this particular work wasn’t quite what we’re looking for, we were impressed by your writing and voice.” I often receive rejections in my inbox for things that I’ve forgotten that I ever submitted.
• My favorite rejection: “I apologize that we have held onto ‘San Francisco’ for so long and that now I have to decline it. It came so close for us–we really found it a lovely, quiet, sad story. But we received a surprisingly large number of submissions…and we just haven’t been able to publish all the good work we have received. We are so sorry–we know how tough the submission process is. We do hope you will try us again in the future.” This rejection lives in my inbox and I read it every once in a while.

Thanks for letting Spotify wrap your life! Happy 2025!