year in review – Writer’s Edit

Hi everyone! It's WE Editor Claire here, back again to sum up another fantastic twelve months of Writer's Edit! Yep, it's that time of year again – time to reflect on everything that's been happening throughout 2019 in our bookish and writerly corner of the web. Let's dive right in... Six years of Writer's Edit Another year gone by, another birthday celebrated! 2019 marks six years since Writer's Edit came into being. And every year has seen rapid growth in traffic visiting our website. For the statisticians among you – here's a quick table showing the year-on-year increase in the number of writers who come to our site for writing advice from all over the world... Year Page Views 2013 7,583 2014 41,262 2015 141,545 2016 303,143 2017 614,190 2018 1,428,765 2019 1,914,127 This is a testament to the efforts of everyone who has helped to grow and support Writer's Edit past and present (thank you!). Now with over 600 articles published, four courses on offer and a thriving publishing imprint, our humble writers' platform is bigger and better than ever. Speaking of publishing... The Talem Press family grows 2019 has been the biggest year yet for our fantasy publishing imprint, Talem Press. We kicked off the year with an exciting announcement: Talem signed its first brand-new author, Bronwyn Eley, for the publication of her dark YA fantasy series The Relic Trilogy! Relic, the first book in Bronwyn's series, was released in September to #1 bestseller status on Amazon and a host of great reviews from readers and bloggers. (If you haven't yet read it, jump over to the Talem Press site to get the first chapter FREE!) The final book in Helen Scheuerer's Oremere Chronicles series was also released this year, marking the end of an era for our Founding Editor. War of Mist hit shelves in July, bringing the trilogy to an epic conclusion that shocked and satisfied readers worldwide. And there was one more exciting development for Talem in 2019... In August we announced that we'd signed another wonderful new author, Bonnie Wynne, for the publication of her sweeping fantasy saga The Price of Magic! The Ninth Sorceress, Bonnie's first novel and Book I in the series, will be out in February 2020. All in all, it's been a fantastic year for Talem as our little family of female-driven fantasy books has grown and grown. Image via Helen Scheuerer New writers We were thrilled to welcome two new article writers on board in the second half this year: Jessica A. McMinn and Flavia Young. Jessica is an aspiring author based in NSW, Australia. Since graduating from the University of Wollongong with Distinction in BCA (Creative Writing) and BA (Japanese), Jessica has spent five years in Japan teaching English, all while working on her first dark fantasy novel. Flavia is a freelance writer based in Tasmania, Australia. She's previously worked in corporate marketing, PR and communications and has a B. A. in Business, Advanced Diploma of Arts: Professional Writing and Editing, and a Certificate of Freelance Journalism. Flavia now dedicates her time to writing full-time and helping others realise their own writing dreams. We've seen some fabulous pieces from these ladies so far, and you can expect plenty more in 2020! Favourite articles Speaking of fabulous pieces: let's take a look back at a handful of our favourite articles published on Writer's Edit throughout 2019. For the fantasy writers... 6 Key Questions To Ask When Creating A Magic System – every fantasy novel needs a magic system, so we put together the questions you need to ask when developing yours. 7 Mistakes To Avoid When Creating A Magic System For Your Fantasy Novel – a companion to the above piece, providing some handy insight into what not to do with your magic system! 6 Proven Ways To Add Romance To Your Fantasy Story – a useful guide for those looking to add a touch of love to their novel or series. For all writers... 5 Mistakes To Avoid When Planning A Novel – planning is an essential part of the novel-writing process, so be sure you don't fall prey to these common errors. 7 Mistakes To Avoid When Editing Your First Draft – editing is tough at the best of times, so we thought we'd help make it a little easier with this guide. 6 Lessons I Learned From The Beta Reading Process – Jessica takes us through her experience with beta reading: a must for those new to the process! Image via Unsplash What's in store for 2020? We'll be continuing to deliver plenty of in-depth writing and publishing advice into 2020 and beyond. Stay tuned for more tips, tricks and insight, and feel free to give us a shout if there are any topics you'd particularly like to see covered. It'll also be another big year for Talem Press, with the following releases scheduled... The Ninth Sorceress by Bonnie Wynne – the breathtaking first novel in The Price of Magic series (February 13th, 2020) Dawn of Mist by Helen Scheuerer – a collection of 16 prequel stories exploring the events leading up to The Oremere Chronicles (April 2020) Riven by Bronwyn Eley – the highly anticipated sequel to Relic and Book II in The Relic Trilogy (second half of 2020) That's a wrap Thanks as always to you, our readers, for checking out our articles and courses, engaging with us on social media, buying our books, and supporting our various ventures. Writer's Edit and Talem Press wouldn't be where they are today without you! Thanks also to our indomitable Founding Editor, Helen; our brilliant Head of Tech, Dave; our wonderful Talem Press authors, Bronwyn and Bonnie; and our talented new writers, Jessica and Flavia – all of whom have played essential roles in the continued success of WE and Talem throughout 2019. On behalf of the whole team, I wish everyone in the writing community all the best for a lovely holiday season and an excellent start to 2020! Claire Bradshaw Editor