(Our) Year in Review
Monday, January 04, 2016
I always wind up writing 3,000+ word versions of these posts, and then delete them: there are few things on the internet more annoying than bloggering (verb. 'to blog about blogging, at the expense of saying anything remotely interesting'). Rather than bore you with sixteen pages of cod philosophising and blithering self-aggrandisement: bullets!
Executive summary
- This is the year we went from 'a couple of people yelling into the void' to 'a dozen people yelling into the void'
- By the numbers, our most successful year ever. And growing.
- We published 260ish articles from a dozen regular contributors and a horde of guests. That includes 175+ reviews of books, comics, films, radio plays, games and stuff.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you. Being read feels awesome.
About that dozen people thing
- Your 2015 team was made up of Molly, Jesse, Jon, Bex, Rob, Minal, Kuzhali, Stark, Becky, Mahvesh, Anne and Jared.
- Buy their books.
- Working in a big ol' group is really fun.
Fictional stuff
- We published eight original stories on the site this year, all of which are marvellous:
- "Bundle of Joy" by Tiffany Angus
- "The Time-Traveling Mystery-Solving Teens in... Murder on Dinosaur Island!" by Benjamin Blattberg, art by Sarah Anne Langton
- "The Lost City of Osiris" by Carol Borden
- "Mass Hysteria and You" by Amy Coombe
- "Killing Time" by Jennifer Moore, art by Sharon McGill
- "The Choreography of Masks" by David Pomerico, art by Jeffrey Alan Love
- "Mephisto the Unruly" by George Sandison, art by E.G. Cosh
- "The Dragons of Kraków" by Michal Wojcik, art by Vincent Sammy
- The fiction is time-consuming and published erratically, but we like the results, so, we'll keep doing it.
Numeric stuff
The top 10 most read articles of 2015:*
- "Hello, my name is K.J. Parker"
- "The Hugo Awards: An entity at war with itself" by Justin Landon
- Five for 2015: 5 TV Characters of the Year
- Robocop (1987 & 2014)
- H.P. Lovecraft's Selection of British & Irish Horror
- "Fuck You, Legolas" by Daniel Polansky
- Words of Radiance
- Emperor of Thorns
- The Goblin Emperor
- Mad Max 2, The Road Warrior
*This excludes perennial favourites "We are Sansa" and "The Wise Man's Fear" - both of which keep hanging around in the top 10.
Soapbox stuff
- We're not, and will never be, a site for hot takes, cover reveals, trailers or press releases. That stuff is useful - but other people are already doing it much better than we ever could.
- We're don't (and won't) take money. No ads, no affiliate links, no Patreons, nothing. We have tons of respect for sites that do find a way of making some cash - more power to them! - but it isn't something we want to do.
- If you like our stuff, buy some books.
- We will remain unpredictable (even to us), experimental, amateurish and, above all, enthusiastic. Please stick with us.
In conclusion
- Our goal is to have fun.
- In 2015, we had fun.
- Year = success.
Thank you
- Seriously, thanks.
- If there's anything you'd like more of, or less of, or whatever - let us know!
- Happy new year!