Happy Blogoversary to Raychelle Writes!

My oh my, how time flies! One year ago today I started my blog, Raychelle Writes, in an effort to network with my fellow authors, illustrators, lit folks, and book lovers. I was just getting started as an indie author and trying to learn and share everything I could about the publishing world. I have self-published 7 books with 3 more on the way this summer. Blogging has kept me writing consistently and has afforded me more opportunities as a freelance writer.

On this journey I have "met" hundreds of smart, talented, and creative people who are all a part of an incredibly supportive community. I am grateful to all of our followers and contributors to Raychelle Writes. Here are some highlights of what we have accomplished together over the last 12 months:

1)  On  July 13, 2011 Raychelle Writes was founded.

2)  We currently have over 70 loyal subscribers.

3)  Raychelle Writes has had over 20,000 page views.

4)  We have reviewed over 20 books in our Raychelle Reviews series.

5)  On January 9, 2011 we launched The Writer's Block and have since conducted over 80 interviews.

6)  We established a Raychelle Writes Facebook page  with 273 "Likes" so far.

7)  We have hosted over 10 guest bloggers.

8)  We have supported several book releases including my daughter's first middle-grade novel, Riley and the Kitchen Katastrophe!

9)  We won our first blog award!

10)We also hosted our first illustrator's contest, Sketch the Story!

So, what's next for us? Starting this fall we will offer an editing, proofreading, and critique service: Raychelle Edits. Raychelle Designs will  offer book cover designs and layouts. Raychelle Blogs for You will provide high-quality, yet affordable, blog content. So stay tuned for details!

For the next 6 weeks, I will be concentrating on finishing my next three books: Smart Girls Like You, Smart Boys Like You, and The Living Well. The launches will no doubt be pretty labor-intensive, so don't panic if I seem to be a little less active in my posts. My hope is that you will keep reading and contributing to Raychelle Writes. Together, we can continue to accomplish great things!