My “year in review” posts have become a tradition since I started this website back in 2016. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to relive the journey over the years, you can read my annual review posts from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it… the last two years have been extremely difficult for artisan vendors. Unpredictable tariffs, skyrocketing energy bills in my area, and consumer unease about the economy definitely had a huge impact on small businesses. However, I somehow managed to hold pretty steady, which is a GIANT accomplishment considering that the vast majority of vendors I’ve spoken with are averaging a year-over-year decline of about 20-30%.
My booth display continued to evolve throughout the year, and I’m very proud of the aesthetic I’ve developed over time. I had some great events, and some not-so-great ones, but overall, I’m continuing to refine my annual event schedule. I ended the year on a high note with some successful (and fun) new Halloween and Krampus festivals, along with a brand-new collaboration and the publication of Book IV in my award-winning Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms fantasy series.
It was a year of struggle, perseverance, adaptation, patience, and triumph. But it did take a toll on my mental health. I’m trying to find balance in the wake of the burnout. Looking back to see how far I’ve come sometimes helps remind me that I am moving forward even when it feels like I’m spinning my wheels. Here is 2025 journey:
2025 Timeline of News & Events
January 01, 2025
I kicked off the new year with the first public sneak peek at Book IV’s cover (although Patreon subscribers had already seen progress updates as I was working on it.
January 02, 2025
I added my limited first editions of the books on my website, giving fans an opportunity to purchase early pre-award copies that are no longer in print.
January 09, 2025
I unveiled the new Book IV button designs featuring Jay’s silver eye from the cover, Wesly Cooper in “Werewolf’s Howl,” ECANI, anti-AGC, and the book title, Lab Rat.
These buttons are available for individual sale on my website and in my event booth, but they’re also part of the collector’s bundle accompanying Book IV along with a mini Ghost Realm candle and a bookmark.
January 16, 2025
Patrons got the chance to explore the AGC in a series of videos and posts as I worked through the concept sketches of the new map and drafted the linework for the floor plan, which would be published in the fourth book to join the other three maps of the Ghost Realm, Phantom Heights, and Saros Manor.
January 20, 2025
Lab Rat was officially submitted to the line editor for its final, intense phase of editing.
January 22, 2025
Book IV’s front cover was revealed!
Fans outside of Patreon finally got to see Jay’s full (half) face on the cover for the first time.
January 23, 2025
Preorders for Book IV went live on my website, allowing fans to secure a numbered edition from the first print run along with a collector’s bundle including the buttons, bookmark, and candle.
**These numbered copies sold out almost immediately after the book was released in early December! There are none left.
January 24, 2025
I was featured in a Bookstr article!
The article highlights several female authors from all around the United States, and I was incredibly honored to be included on the list.
January 25, 2025
Event #1: Annual Master Gardening Show in Valparaiso, IN
I added “Werewolf’s Howl” to the keychain collection at this event.
January 31 – February 01, 2025
Event #2: PopiCon Gaming Convention in South Bend, IN
I added new bookmarks featuring the cover art from all four novels (so far) in the Chronicles of Avilésor. This was also the first event with my lighted mini humidifier as part of the display, and it’s been a major eye-catcher!
February 06, 2025
My artwork was on display at the New Carlisle Public Library for the month of February.
I displayed a range of photographs, book prints, stickers, and art prints on artboards and canvases.
February 08, 2025
Happy 2nd book birthday to Blood of the Enemy, published on 02.08.23!
February 14-16, 2025
Event #3: Polar Vortex Game Convention in Lisle, IL
February 28, 2025
I created a new “Birthday Kit” emoji on Discord in honor of my assistant’s birthday!
This design was later added to my sticker and keychain collections available in my booth and on my website.
March 08, 2025
Event #4: Spring Artisan Market in South Bend, IN
March 15-16, 2025
Event #5: Shipshewana On The Road in Valparaiso, IN
My booth looked a little different with a new floor display for the postcards and notecards. My assistant and I had taken a road trip to Muncie, IN a few days before to pick it up. We were happy with the upgrade!
March 19, 2025
I was featured in Bookstr‘s series of Author Questions, where I answered, “What programs and techniques do you use to write and to create the worlds you are writing about?”
I discussed my writing methods as well as my preferred art mediums…
March 29, 2025
Event #6: BookCon at the St. Joseph County Public Library in South Bend, IN
April 05, 2025
Event #7: Fandom Fest of SW Michigan in Benton Harbor, MI
April 11-13, 2025
Event #8: Kalamazoo Comic-Con in Kalamazoo, MI
This was the first event with the trinket trade in my booth. We had so much fun interacting with cosplayers, catching up with our Michigan author friends, and making new friends with other vendors!
April 26, 2025
Event #9: Spring Market in Nappanee, IN
May 02-04, 2025
Event #10: Southern Indiana Renaissance Faire (Fantasy Weekend) in Seymour, IN… a new record for the MUDDIEST event I have ever done!
May 10-11, 2025
Event #11: Royal Stagg Renaissance Faire in Marshall, MI
At this event, I added charms to the build-your-own bookmark station in my booth for the first time.
May 15, 2025
I was featured again in Bookstr‘s Author Questions series, where I answered, “What is your favorite fan interaction?” and discussed the first truly memorable moment I had when I was still a brand-new author and met a starstruck fan… who hadn’t even read my book yet!
May 17, 2025
Event #12: The European Market in Chesterton, IN
May 24-25, 2025
Event #13: Southern Indiana Renaissance Faire (Viking Weekend) in Seymour, IN
This event was on a working racehorse farm! It was the farthest I traveled for an event this year… about 4 hours away from home.
May 30, 2025
I was accepted as an affiliate partner for Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.
These two distributors support independent bookstores by sharing the profits from book purchases, audiobook downloads, and subscriptions. Customers can select their preferred local bookstore to support. If they don’t choose a specific shop, then the profits go into a pool that is divided among all of the participating bookstores.
All four of my novels in the Chronicles of Avilésor are available for purchase through Bookshop.org. You can use my affiliate link to shop for books or gift cards.
My first book, A Fallen Hero, is the only one that’s been produced as an audiobook so far, and it’s available on Libro.fm: https://tidd.ly/43DrCRs
These two options are fantastic alternatives to Amazon/Audible since they put money back into communities by supporting indie bookstores. If you haven’t heard of them before, I definitely recommend checking them out!
June 01, 2025
Event #14: Rebel Art Fest in South Bend, IN
I added the mini 2oz Ghost Realm candle size to my booth and upgraded collector’s bundles with this larger size replacing the tea lights.
(The mini candles are not available on Old Soul Artisan’s website.)
June 07, 2025
Event #15: Kzoo Pride in Kalamazoo, MI
June 13, 2025
I added a new product—feather ballpoint pens. Calypso thought they were neat!
June 14, 2025
Event #16: Pride Fest in Michigan City, IN
(My first time wearing my aro colors at a Pride event!)
June 18, 2025
Books and Whimsy in La Porte, IN started carrying autographed copies of the Chronicles of Avilésor in addition to some of my book-themed stickers and keychains.
June 20-21, 2025
Event #17: Roxx Music Fest in Portage, IN
June 28, 2025
Event #18: Independence Day Celebration in Mishawaka, IN
July 05, 2025
I created four more Kit emojis for the Discord server: Sleepy Kit, Popcorn Kit, Unamused Kit, and Bookworm Kit.
This batch started with Popcorn Kit so I would have some on-theme merch to celebrate my second year as a vendor at the Valparaiso Popcorn Festival. All four of these designs were added to the sticker collection, but only Sleepy, Popcorn, and Bookworm joined the keychain collection.
July 08, 2025
Happy 4th book birthday to Phantom’s Mask, published on 08.07.20
July 12, 2025
Event #19: The European Market in Chesterton, IN
July 13, 2025
Three more Kit emojis joined the Discord server! Kissing Kit, Winking Kit, and Exasperated Kit. I wasn’t planning to make any more for a while, but after the previous batch, these three extras came to life!
July 19, 2025
Event #20: Battle Creek Pride in Battle Creek, MI
July 24, 2025
Flourish Books & Plants in New Buffalo, MI began carrying autographed paperbacks of the Chronicles of Avilésor.
July 26, 2025
Event #21: ARTS in the Street Festival in Plymouth, IN
(I set up my booth inside a bridal shop due to a series of several storms rolling through the area.)
July 31, 2025
Fans got a first look at the photograph I took for the back of Book IV’s cover. (Patrons had early access and saw the full dust jacket in progress a few weeks earlier.)
August 02, 2025
Event #22: The European Market in Chesterton, IN
August 07, 2025
Happy 7th book birthday to A Fallen Hero, published on 08.07.18!
August 09, 2025
Event #23: Art Beat in South Bend, IN
August 16, 2025
Event #24: OUTFest in Lafayette, IN
August 23-24, 2025
Event #25: Michiana Ren Fest in South Bend, IN
I added the new Project Alpha map to the poster board collection at this event.
August 29 – September 01, 2025
Event #26: Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, IN
My booth evolved again with a minor but dramatic change when I added side tapestries to fully enclose my space and curate a more immersive fantasy vibe while concealing distractions from neighboring booths so visitors could focus on my displays better. I also completely sold out of ALL books!
September 06, 2024
Event #27: Popcorn Festival in Valparaiso, IN
September 13, 2025
Event #28: NWI Pagan Pride in Crown Point, IN
Story time! An enthusiastic customer at this event asked if my books are available on Kobo (clearly braced for me to tell her no because many indie authors are exclusively on Kindle Unlimited). But I opted for wide distribution, so my ebooks are available through many retailers, including Kobo.
She asked if I made very much from those sales. I admitted that I didn’t. She then bought all three books in paperback to support me and have autographed copies in her collection even though she’ll be reading the ebooks.
THAT is an incredible way to support an indie author!!! And that is why I love doing these niche events that tend to bring out people who support artists and indie authors.
September 18, 2025
I finally made the switch from UV resin to epoxy resin when crafting my book page holders. It was a steeper learning curve than I expected, and I have a newfound respect for resin artists!
I felt that this upgrade was necessary to improve the overall quality and durability of my products. Sanding them smooth, however, was extremely time consuming, and I played around with my technique throughout the rest of the year to become more efficient.
September 20, 2025
Event #29: Sunflower Fair in La Porte, IN
September 27, 2025
Event #30: Bizarre Bazaar in Valparaiso, IN
A fan gifted me this beautiful handmade raven! (I named him Obsidian)
October 04, 2025
Event #31: Wolf Hollow Witches Market in Belvidere, IL
I added wooden page holders with burned designs to accompany my resin options and give readers a lighter alternative.
October 11-12, 2025
Event #32: Hallow-Fest in Lisle, IL
Surprise! I somehow ended up doing two unplanned author panels over the weekend. Luckily, I connected so well with the other authors that the panels went smoothly despite my total lack of preparation!
October 18-19, 2025
Event #33: Tabletop Adventure Con in Warsaw, IN
This was my first opportunity to test out my new PVC frame setup to utilize my three tapestries during indoor events for the first time. (Otherwise, the full display was only possible at outdoor events when I had my tent frame.)
October 22, 2025
I was pleasantly shocked to notice a very familiar book cover inside the fall 2025 issue of PAN-O-PLY Story & Art Michiana!
This was a huge surprise because I had not submitted the book for a feature. I still don’t know if someone else submitted it, or if the publisher happened across the book somewhere in the local sphere since I do a lot of events around the area and sell autographed copies in a few brick and mortar locations.
October 25, 2025
Finally, after a successful test run at the end of 2024, I was able to add pocket notebooks to my booth and website. I also introduced a test run of sticker books, which are made with a special release paper that allows you to place stickers, peel them off, and reposition/reuse them without losing their stickiness.
October 25, 2025
Event #34: Nightmare on Chicago Street in Elgin, IL
October 30, 2025
I was honored to have my ekphrastic poem “The House Inside the Glass Box” chosen as one of two winners in a local contest through the Lubeznik Center for the Arts Sandcastle Writers.
November 01-02, 2025
Event #35: Lodge Con in Peotone, IL
You can imagine my surprise when a fan showed up cosplaying as Azar from the books!
November 08, 2025
Event #36: World Oddities Expo in Indianapolis, IN
November 09, 2025
The official unboxing of Book IV: Lab Rat! The proof copies arrived, and I gave fans a look at the newest installment of the series with all four books together for the first time.
November 15-16, 2025
Event #37: Fall Artisan Market in South Bend, IN
Although Lab Rat wasn’t for sale yet, this was the first time having it on display at the booth!
November 21, 2026
After months in the works, I was thrilled to finally share that I had partnered with Apothica Teas in Niles, MI to create three unique blends inspired by different regions of the Ghost Realm from the Chronicles of Avilésor!!!
These “witch’s elixirs” are canonically related to the series with fantasy versions of the real-world ingredients.
My assistant and I made multiple trips to Apothica to meet with the owner, test samples, and finalize the blends. I had complete freedom to come up with names, label designs, and fantasy ingredients that correspond with the real-world ingredients.
The teas are inspired by different regions in Avilésor:
- Azulean: sourced from the Arstenya tropical forest — fruity & floral
- Solarid: sourced from the Haeminall Desert and Lowlands — mildly sweet & nutty
- Tenebryst: sourced from the Grey Forest and Evermist — earthy with spiced & smoky notes
**Patreon subscribers not only got an early announcement about the collaboration, but they also had the opportunity to read an in-depth, exclusive post about the naming process behind the fantasy plants and ingredients.
November 22-23, 2025
Event #38: Autumn Artisan Market at the All-American Factory in Valparaiso, IN
This was the first event with the new teas in the booth!
December 05, 2025
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!!!
Lab Rat was officially released into the world as a hardcover. The paperback and ebook will be coming in early 2026.
Autographed hardcovers are available on my website.
December 06, 2025
Event #39: Old Town Krampusnacht in Lansing, MI
December 20, 2025
Event #40: Book Signing at HotSpot Café in La Porte, IN
For the first (and only) Book IV signing of the year, HotSpot made it special by collaborating with me to create a custom bubble tea inspired by the books! This off-menu drink is still available, so you can give it a try by ordering a gemfruit bubble tea.
(Through the end of January 2025, you can get 25% off this drink by mentioning the code word “Phantom” when you order!)
December 27, 2025
Only a few weeks after its release, I submitted revised files for a second edition of Lab Rat, meaning that its first edition was an extremely limited run of less than 80 copies. (I have the remaining first editions listed on my website for as long as I have stock… but I’m down to only about a dozen left. So, if you want a first edition, I suggest you don’t wait to order!)
If you noticed the date, you probably guessed that I spent most of the holidays working on this task, which was necessary due to a few of my initial page designs being oversaturated with ink and not printing the way I wanted. The bleed margins also needed to a slight adjustment since this was the first book in the series to require a full bleed with ink extending all the way past the edge of the pages. Unfortunately, adjusting the margins had a cascading effect on the layout, which required a tedious extra round of checks to make sure there weren’t any new errors with breaks for lines, sections, and chapters.
These things can happen with publishing! Support from my distributor took a full month of back-and-forth communication to finally confirm that the printer capabilities and paper thickness could not support the amount of ink needed for my inverted text designs, so I had to either upgrade the paper (which would make the book way thicker, heavier, and more expensive just to accommodate four measly pages) or improvise with new title page designs.
Below are the new second-edition title pages, currently in production now. I switched from solid black to a gradient to keep the inverted text but reduce the necessary ink. Some other minor changes, such as a corrected header and an addition to the glossary, also occurred in the second edition.
Reflecting on My Accomplishments of 2025 & Goals for 2026
My biggest goal of the year was, of course, publishing Lab Rat. Although I did reach that goal by releasing the hardcover version in early December, the publication took longer than I had hoped.
Ideally, I wanted to release Book IV in late spring or early summer before event season shifted into full swing. Not only did I run into early delays, but I also underestimated my capacity. Right off the bat, the line editor was several weeks behind schedule from her initial estimate. By the time I received the edits at the end of April, market season was beginning, which meant I had events lined up almost every single weekend from May through early December. On top of that, I traveled a lot more in May than I have in the past with a record three Renaissance faires that month, all between 2-4 hours away and each lasting two or three days.
It was a hectic start, and event season really didn’t slow down from there. Summer and fall are the busiest time of the year with festivals. It might seem like working the booth only on weekends is a dream job with plenty of time off on weekdays, but there’s actually a LOT of work that happens in between events to keep up with inventory, especially if I sold a lot of handmade items that needed to be replenished.
I did my best to edit the manuscript in between events, but I underestimated the work that needed to be done and the time needed to do it. (Keep in mind that I also have to keep up with my blog, Patreon, social media, and newsletter, not to mention the administration side of the business, event planning and applications, website updates, marketing, etc.)
I had also underestimated the work that went into the supplemental material for Book IV. The glossary just kept growing and growing, ending up at a whopping 533 definitions! Delays with the Apothica tea collab also dragged out Book IV’s publication toward the end because I wanted to include the fantasy ingredients in the glossary to make them canon, but I needed the full ingredient lists.
And then, of course, publishing at the end of the year meant running into printing/shipping delays with the holiday rush.
It was a busy, stressful year. However, I did learn to recognize my capacity and finally let some things go. For example, I’d always been a stickler for publishing at least two blog posts before each newsletter, even if that meant staying up all night to get them done at the last minute. I became much more forgiving over the last few months when I had to drop the blog down to only one article a month so I could focus more attention on Book IV. I also relaxed a bit with the monthly artwork. I did still share a new feature every month, but some of them were loose sketches, simple experimentations with a new style, or a concept sketch rather than a detailed drawing.
It was hard to admit that I simply couldn’t do it all by myself. I didn’t have enough energy or hours in the day to make everything happen. So, I had to prioritize and scale some things back.
Looking back, I had three big goals for 2025:
- Publish Book IV – Check! The hardcover was published on the fifth of December, and I had my first local Book IV signing on the twentieth.
- Reduce my number of events by prioritizing quality over quantity – Check, although this is a continuing goal. I did three less events in 2025 than I did in 2024. That’s not as big of a cut as I would have liked to make, but I did replace several of my less successful past events with new ones that performed better. I also did fewer markets and more Ren faires, Pride fests, and conventions.
- Make progress on my two side-project books – Not really. Cobblestones and Inked had to shift to the backburner while I focused on Lab Rat.
For 2026, my goals look very similar:
- Publish Book IV – The hardcover is out, but the paperback and ebook still need to be formatted. That’s a top priority for the beginning of the year!
- Reduce my number of events by prioritizing quality over quantity – I’m not sure how confident I feel about this goal. This calendar year is shaping up to be a bit frustrating with several events overlapping on the same weekends for the first time. That puts me in a tough position where I have to choose one, leaving extra gaps in my schedule that had been filled by the other event(s) in previous years. I suppose the silver lining here is that it’s forcing me to seek out new events instead of relying on the same ones year after year…
- Rest and recharge – This isn’t something I’m particularly good at doing. I’m constantly hitting a goal and then immediately looking forward to the next one without savoring the victory and giving myself a break. But I’m recognizing the telltale warning signs of burnout after the mad rush to get Book IV published before the end of the year, so this is something I really need to do for myself.
How am I feeling about 2026? A little apprehensive, to be honest. The last couple of years have been rough for vendors and small business owners, and I don’t see any signs of that struggle easing anytime soon. I’m grappling with bigger bills myself (my monthly healthcare premium increased ALMOST SIX-FOLD last month!!), and I know other people are also in a similar situation. Somehow, we’re expected to keep going as if these giant expenses and setbacks are a sustainable cost of living. That doesn’t bode well for artisans like me who sell “non-essential” products. Customers have to watch their spending and cover their bills first before they can splurge on the little things, like books and art, that bring them joy. I absolutely get it… but that has a cascade effect on my revenue and puts my livelihood at risk.
Frankly, I’m nervous. I wish I could have a more optimistic outlook, but the reality is I’m mostly just rolling with the punches and doing my best to stay afloat for as long as I can.
On a more positive note, Lab Rat is already getting a great reception from readers who purchased the hardcover and finished it already, so that’s a good sign! I’m hoping there’s enough demand for Book IV to help offset the extra challenges I’m facing with my business. Time will tell if my small business can survive…
Artwork
Every month, I draw a new piece of art and share a Patreon-exclusive timelapse video of my process from start to finish. Here are the sketches I drew this past year:
Blog Posts
- Author’s Year in Review | Reflecting on 2024
- Author Trips: 10 Tips for Better Business Traveling
- Book IV Preorders, Publication Updates, & More
- Author Tip: Finding Your Unique Display Aesthetic
- Vendor Advice: 10 Tips to Find Great New Events
- 6 Ways to Leverage Your Newsletter (Beyond Signups & Sales)
- Entrepreneur Tip: 9 Hacks to Save Money for Your Slow Season
- 5 Tips to Help Authors Sell More Books in Person
- Author Q&A: Should You Make Your Books Returnable?
- 4 Affiliate Programs for Authors to Earn More Money with Their Books
- Preparing for Outdoor Events: List of 20+ Essential Supplies
- Collaboration: Chronicles of Avilésor x Apothica Teas
Newsletters
I wish everyone a happy, healthy, positive new year!
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.
After some time working as a freelance writer, I was shocked by how many website articles are actually written by paid "ghost writers" but published under the byline of a different author. It was a jolt seeing my articles presented as if they were written by a high-profile CEO or an industry expert with decades of experience. I'll be honest; it felt slimy and dishonest. I had none of the credentials readers assumed the author of the article actually had. Ghost writing is a perfectly legal, astonishingly common practice, and now, AI has entered the playing field to further muddy the waters. It's hard to trust who (or what) actually wrote the content you'll read online these days.
That's not the case here at On The Cobblestone Road. I do not and never will pay a ghost writer, then slap my name on their work as if I'd written it. This website is 100% authentic. No outsourcing. No ghost writing. No AI-generated content. It's just me... as it should be.
If you would like to support my work, check out the Support The Creator page for more information. Thank you for finding my website! 🖤