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2018 is OVA, BABYYYY!!!
And thanks for tuning into the round up and wrap up of my Epic, Fantastical Journey of Creative Achievements for 2018!
So, THIS. YEAR. WAS. ON. FLEEK. Publishing? On point. Directing? Super fly. Dramaturgy? Total domination (even though I didn’t want to, lol). Not to gas my head up, but I really bust my rump this 2018, and I DEFINITELY saw the fruits of my labor, and I’m super proud!
I have recorded these achievements on a vlog and a podcast, but you can also choose to just look at the bullet points below for a quick summary of what I got done this year!
Vlog Version
Bulleted Summary of My 2018 Creative Achievements
My 2018 round up is divided into a few sections, so check out the Table of Contents below to find the one you might be interested in!
Table of Contents
- Novel Writing and Publishing for 2018
- TV Writing & Series Development for 2018
- Research, Worldbuilding, and Shadow-development for 2018
- Directing for 2018
- Dramaturgy for 2018
- Reader & Author Relationships for 2018
- Marketing & Platform-building for 2018
- Professional Development for 2018, I: My Personal Creative Uni
- Professional Development for 2018, II: Graduate School
- My Media F’empire: Rebel Ragdoll in 2018
- New Adult Noir(e)
- Rebel Ragdoll Press
- Rebel Ragdoll Productions
- The Bohemian Badass
- Brands & Subsidiaries in Development and Up to Bat: The Blackheart Boulange, The Dollhouse, ChickRogue Studios
- Rebel Ragdoll
- Personal Achievements for 2018
Novel Writing & Publishing Achievements for 2018
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- finished and published The Camille (novella)
- finished and started editing The Lock In (BOE #3) (novella)
- co-published and launched the 2054 anthology
- co-published and launched the UPRISING box set
- became an Amazon bestselling author in SEVEN categories!
- wrote for / worked on The Books of Ezekiel series, the ASYLUM series, The Godsman series, The Camille novella series. The Hitmen of Happily Ever After series, and The One Percent series
Worldbuilding, Plotting, and Development Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- Researched, developed, did worldbuilding, and developed story bibles for:
- The Asylum series
- The World of Never After (covers The Hitmen of Happily Ever After series, The ForNever Files series, and the Godsman series)
- The Books of Ezekiel series
- The Rapture series
- the 2054 Anthology
- The Morien serialized novel series
- The Immortal serialized novel series
- The Camille serialized novel series
- The Surrogate serialized novel series
- Prepared cover production spec docs for series covers
TV Series Development and Writing Achievements for 2018
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- started development on the Morien TV series (drama)
- started development on the Ezekiel TV series (sci-fi/fantasy)
- started development on the Immortal TV series (urban fantasy)
- started development on The Camille TV series (sci-fi)
- started development on Surrogate TV series (survival horror)
- started development on When in Rome TV series (a TV mini-series adaptation of Shakespeare’s Roman History Tetralogy)
- designed a TON of TV writing worksheets, templates, and courses for my personal use & for The Bohemian Badass
Directing Achievements for 2018
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- Directed ALLIES (spoken word performance)
- Co-directed GENERATOR: DEATH OF KING ARTHUR (full production)
- Directed MORIEN within the GENERATOR: DEATH OF KING ARTHUR (full production)
- Co-directed ERASED (full production)
- Directed SEEKING BETTY (10-minute play)
- Directed DELETED (10-minute play)
Dramaturgy Achievements for 2018
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- DEVELOPMENT DRAMATURGY:
- finished a one-round development process for LOST SOULS + dramaturgical protocol (10-minute play)
- finished a three-round development process for THE PARASITES + dramaturgical protocol (10-minute play)
- finished a three-round development process for THURSDAY + dramaturgical protocol (10-minute play)
- finished a one-round development process for JAZZ + dramaturgical protocol (full-length play adaptation of Toni Morrison’s novel)
- finished a one-round development process for BLOOD + dramaturgical protocol (full-length original play)
- PRODUCTION DRAMATURGY:
- actively dramaturg’d THE PARASITES during our 5-week rehearsal process for ERASED
- actively dramaturg’d THURSDAY during our 5-week rehearsal process for ERASED
Rebel Ragdoll F’empire Achievements for 2018
The Bohemian Badass Achievements for 2018
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- Infrastructure
- set up accounting and financial management software for The Bohemian Badass
- applied and GOT LLC status for The Bohemian Badass
- filled out the majority of my business plan for The Bohemian Badass, including doing competition research and researching my target market and audience
- set up SEO for The Bohemian Badass through Google Analytics
- finished the REST of the legal pages for The Bohemian Badass: Badass Privacy & Comments Policy, Badass Copyright Policy, Badass Terms & Conditions Policy, Badass Cookie Policy, Badass Return & Refund Policy, Badass Affiliate Links Policy, and added them to the website
- renewed domain name
- Branding
- chose branding, colors, fonts, and graphics templates for business
- rebooted & re-designed the full website for The Bohemian Badass, including deciding on the content, categories, webpages, and general layout for the brandBranding & Building
- optimized website for mobile
- developed a dope Affiliate Marketing strategy and opened accounts at select Affiliate sites
- installed WooCommerce online store
- Content Creation
- The “Breaking Badass” Challenge: fully outlined the challenge
- The Self-Care Journal for Artist-Entrepreneurs: designed the content for the journal and FINISHED the basic templates and layout for the journal!
- The Bohemian Badass Scrivener Templates (for courses and lead magnets): worked on the Plot like a Badass template; updated and FINISHED the Badass Horror Novel Scrivener Template, the Badass Horror Screenplay Scrivener Template, and the New Novel + Plot Builder Template
- The Bohemian Badass Podcast: recorded, uploaded, and posted episode #5 (1 podcast)
- The Bohemian Badass Blog: recorded a MailerLite tutorial for an author; and then turned it into a blog post (1 blog post)
- Created, edited, finished, and polished a bunch of worksheets, workbooks, and writing tools, including:
- Log Line for Your Life Worksheet
- Mastering Your Genre Workbook
- Horror Film Development Workbook
- Horror Film Story Grid Template
- Horror Film Character Development Worksheets
- Horror Film Site/Situation Worksheets
- Horror Film Case Studies STUDY GUIDE
- TV Series Development Checklist
- Testing Your TV Show Concept Worksheets
- TV Series Development Workbook
- TV Series Bible Template Workbook
- Plot & Character Arc Planner for Your TV Episode
- Five-Act Planner for Your TV Episode
- Mysteries & Reveals Planner for Your TV Episode
- The Elements of a TV Series Franchise STUDY GUIDE
- TV Series Pitch, Proposal, and Bible Development STUDY GUIDE
- Screenplay Development Workbook
- Sequences & Beats Checklist
- finished the script breakdowns for “A Quiet Place”, “Alien”, and “Aliens”
- generated over 600 of blog post ideas, over 200 different info products, and organized them into MASSIVE spreadsheet
- planned out monthly blog content theme for the next 6 months (Sept ‘18 – Feb ‘19); worked hard on filling in editorial calendar for 2018
- finished creating a rough draft of the Badass TV Course, Part I: The Anatomy of a TV Series, including the Study Notes and TV Series breakdown templates, TV Series Development checklist
- finished creating a rough draft of the Badass TV Course, Part II: Developing Your Badass TV Series, including the TV Bible template and development workbook, created a TV Series Plot Development worksheet
- finished creating a rough draft of the Badass TV Course Part III: Developing the Pilot, including the Perfect Pilot worksheets, TV Dev Act Planner
- finished creating a rough draft of the Badass TV Course, Part IV: Writing the Pilot, including
- designed an awesome coaching program for The Bohemian Badass
- wrote a “best practices” sample guide for ARC recruitment
- wrote a “best practices” sample guide for List Engagement
New Adult Noir(e) Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- Wrapped up the December 2017 “25 Days of Box Sets” giveaway, which was SUPER successful
- Created an awesome lead magnet and landing page for New Adult Noire
- Updated New Adult Noir(e) website
- Ran two FREE BOOK promos for January 2018 and February 2018
- Ran two AUTHOR EXCLUSIVE PROMOS for April 2018
- Put NEW ADULT NOIR(E) on hiatus for the rest of 2018
Rebel Ragdoll Press Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- published a novella (The Camille) and a new start to a brand new series
- re-uploaded e-book covers and new e-book files to all distributors for both THE GIVEN and THE TAKEN
- published the paperback version of THE GIVEN
- published the paperback version of THE TAKEN
- started publishing process for THE LOCK IN (BOE #3)
- applied and GOT LLC status for Rebel Ragdoll Press
- finished marketing plan and model for Rebel Ragdoll Press
Rebel Ragdoll Productions Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- went shopping for film scheduling and budgeting software
- engaging in gaining directing experience
- worked more on my film trilogy, SANDMAN
Other Rebel Ragdoll Brand Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- The Blackheart Boulange
- updated, designed, and edited The Blackheart Boulange, The Blackheart, Bakery, and The Blackheart Boudoir websites
- updated some websites and did some backend website development
- decided to put The Blackheart Boulange on hiatus until fall of 2019 / fall of 2020
- MYSTERY Romance/Erotica/Lifestyle Author Brand
- went brand kit shopping
- worked more on developing a brand identity
- developed a preliminary visual business model
- started developing blog posts for brand
- The Dollhouse
- got back and approved logos for Badass Black Single Mom
- reserved the domain name for this brand
- created and uploaded 5 video content pieces for the brand
Marketing & Community Growth Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- learned a LOT about marketing through mostly hands-on experience
- invested in and collected a bunch of industry research materials for science fiction and fantasy markets at Amazon.com
- Marketing Plans & Marketing Models
- created standing marketing plan for co-published box sets and anthologies
- finished designing full marketing model for my Colby R. Rice brand
- finished designing full marketing model for my Rebel Ragdoll Press brand
- Co-Launches & Co-Publications:
- co-planned and co-launched the 2054 cyberpunk anthology
- co-planned and co-launched the UPRISING box setCo-Launches:
- Marketing:
- General: did some exploring of social media outlets; updated squeeze pages and pop-ups for New Adult Noir(e) and for Colby R. Rice; updated websites as needed
- Patreon Page Launch: updated Patreon page with ALL new posts, revamped Patreon description, and launched it! (I still need to update my milestones/goals + reward levels)
- Scored an Instafreebie special promo for GHOSTS OF KOA!
- FINISHED a complete reboot of my author marketing funnel!
- Reader Community:
- Reader Interaction: noticed a significant uptick in reader engagement, retention, and feedback
- Reader Demographics: finished my reader survey, and now I have a great idea of who is in my reader community (nearly 400 respondents took the survey)
- Growth & Culling of Reader Community: added 16 members to my Dark Council list (rabid fans!), 7 members to my Dark Council FB community, and 5 members to the Offworld FB community; removed all cold subscribers and add back active subs
- Growth of Patreon Community: I have TWO Patrons now!
- Co-Creator Community:
- Author Community: community has grown through my online interactions with authors, the 4-author collaboration, and New Adult Noir(e) Author Community; engaged in many individual author promos and NL swaps
- Blogging / V-logging:
- recorded, uploaded, posted 37 new episodes for the Epic, Fantastical Journey of a Black Female Sci-fi Writer Podcast
- added 1 episode to Unapologetically Melanated Media Crit vlog
- recorded and posted 5 new episodes for creative single mom vlog
Professional Development, Part I of II: Graduate School & Teaching
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- officially reached the 5/6 mark of my graduate program!! I am ALMOST DONE!
- finished all my final four grad classes (Theatre & Culture II; Period Styles – Architecture; The Dramaturg & the New Play Process; Experimental Dramaturgy)
- managed two TAships at once in the spring (Pop Entertainment 160D; The Haunted Screen) and one in the fall (Pop Entertainment 160D); graded a BUNCH of papers
- learned a HELL of a lot about international horror film history, re: the aesthetic movements and the industries
- taught five full lectures, one on Gothic Architecture, one on Blackface Performance, one on Aristotelian drama, and two on Suzan Lori Parks
- FINISHED my Artist’s Manifesto
- job prep by brainstorming all my skills and experiences and trying to figure out how to monetize those skills
- MASTERS THESIS
- finished and submitted prospectus for Shakespeare MFA thesis, which will become the necessary background research for my modernized adaptation of Shakespeare’s Roman history tetralogy
- finished a first read through of Shakespeare’s Roman History Tetralogy, which will also be the foundation for a TV show adaptation
- finished my Masters thesis plan for a TV pilot adaptation of Shakespeare’s Roman History tetralogy + a TV Bible + a dramaturgical casebook
Professional Development, Part II of II: My Creative Uni
- GENERAL
- TV series development and TV writing (via my summer study)
- Novel, anthology, and box set promotion (via hands-on experience)
- MARKETING
- 5 New Ways to Get Instagram Followers in 2018 MASTERCLASS (Later)
- How to Create a Proper Marketing Plan for Your Next Book” masterclass (Reedsy & Draft2Digital) masterclass
- How To Master Amazon Data To Sell More Books
- “Mastering Amazon Data To Sell More Books” masterclass (K-lytics)
- ENTREPRENEURSHIP
- How To Build a Business with Your Current Skills (Tiffany the Budgetnista)
- Publish Your Thing: Audience Magnet Arsenal 2.0
- Publish Your Thing: Create Your Own Service & Coaching Business Already
- sat the Publish Your Thing: Make Your Site Remarkable Already
- sat the Publish Your Thing: Visual Arsenal
- sat the Publish Your Thing: Launch Your Engaged Group Already
- sat the Publish Your Thing: Create Your Profitable Funnels Already
- 5 Shifts to Turn Your Expertise Into a Profitable Business That Transforms Lives
- YouTube Jumpstart Course (Jesse & Kong)
- Author Success Method course (J Thorn)
- “5 Shifts to Turn Your Expertise Into a Profitable Business That Transforms Lives” masterclass (Rosetta Thurman)
- “Your Lifestyle Service Business Course” classes
- “From Prospect to Paid Client” Masterclass
- CREATIVE
- started learning Unity
- finished the script breakdown for “A Quiet Place”
- The Creative Penn PODCAST
- The Sci-fi Fantasy Marketing PODCAST
- The Indie Film Hustle PODCAST
- How to Create a Binge Worthy TV Show WEBINAR (Screenwriting U)
- Learned to use Dragon Naturally Speaking Software
- The History of International Horror Films
- Creating a Binge Worthy TV Show, MODULE #1: Developing Your Series
- The Perfect Story (JA Huss) masterclass
- Shonda Rhimes Teaches TV Writing masterclass
- The Business of Fashion Course (Business of Fashion)
- Marc Jacob’s Fashion Design Masterclass (Masterclass)
- Diane Von Furstenberg’s Building a Fashion Brand Masterclass (Masterclass)
- Mira Nair Teaches Independent Filmmaking (MasterClass)
- Spike Lee Teaches Independent Filmmaking (MasterClass)
- PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- The Happy Black Woman PODCAST
Self-Care, Wellness, and Glow Up Achievements for 2018!
ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY:
- Self Care Upgrade: recommitted myself to self-care FIRST, sleeping better, more common spiritual practice, created and maintained a self-care, exercise, and food diary, kept my self-care in mind if not at the forefront of my day-to-day experiences
- Physical Health Upgrade: LOST 16 LBS!; celebrating new body; eating better, regular exercise regimen, better physical care, LESS MEAT, MORE VEGGIES (on a trial basis) and am doing my research on meal planning; got real info on nutrition; started a slow transition into a mostly veggie diet
- Spiritual Health Upgrade: maintained a relatively regular spiritual practice & deeper spiritual awareness; learned to trust my intuition and divine guidance
- Deep Focus: reminded myself of how to take one thing at a time and to focus on it until it is done (has worked really well)
- Hobbies and Play: started lightly dabbling back into some hobbies (drawing, crocheting, coloring, fashion design)
- Hired My Village… because single moms NEVER have to do it totally alone if they don’t want to! 😉
- Grad School Recusal: took days off when necessary; stood up for myself and my rights when necessary; tried my best to stay out of grad school politics; stayed away from campus/grad school/faculty as much as possible
So there it is, y’all! My 2018 in a nutshell. This year was BALLER!! SUCH an amazing year, and I’m SO EXCITED for all the cool stuff I did! I hit a LOT of goals that I set last year, and I exceeded others I hadn’t even planned. Year of the Director, Shadow Developer, and Novelist indeed! The leftover goals from 2018 are now being marshaled into my Creative Goals for 2019, so stay tuned for the next post: CREATIVE GOALS FOR 2019!
So grateful. So elated. So ready to start the new year! Hope your 2018 was just as fulfilling, and here’s to a brand new year! <3 xoxo
Write on, rock on,
<3 Colby