#YearInReview 2013

In 2010, Seth Godin asked people to make a list of what they shipped that year. I did the exercise in 2010 and 2012 and decided to do it again this year. I have come to believe that this is a important exercise, especially for solopreneuers to see what they have accomplished.

  • The Phoenix Project (1/15/13) – We spent much of 2012 building on this project and I spent most of 2013 launching and spreading word of this book. We have sold 28,000 copies of The Phoenix Project and learned so much about shipping. We used Google Adwords to test titles and subtitles. We followed up with SurveyMonkey gathered invaluable feedback on the book and how we were promoting it, which lead us to a 3-day Free Kindle giveaway and 20,000 downloads. We have more planned for this book and another in 2014.
  • Year Two at NCNM – My wife spent the last 12 months in school full time studying Chinese Medicine. It was a lot of work
  • 1000 Lunches – With my wife in school, I am the primary person shipping three kids off to school every day and picking them back up. 200 nights of homework. 250 loads of laundry. This is a nod to everyone who is doing the same.
  • Monster Loyalty (5/2/2013) – I helped my friend Jackie Huba find a home for this project at Portfolio. It was great to see Jackie take her passion for Lady Gaga and expertise in marketing to create a great book.
  • Teaching Publishing at Wizard Academy (9/4/13-9/5/13) – I was honored to teach a wonderful group of authors in Austin. I shared the stage with my good friend Ray Bard and got to spend two days talking about what make book succeed.
  • I started a Zen Buddhist practice when we moved to Oregon in 2010. This year, I decided to take the next step in my practice and take a teacher. The most visible part of that choice was the three month process of sewing of a rakasu.

2014 is shaping already to be a big year. I’ll start to share those goals next week.

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