2016 was a great year for Sci-Fi & Scary. I can only hope it gets better from here.

2016 Wrap Up

I blew my 2016 Horror Reading Challenge out of the water.

My Goodreads Reading Challenge was for 250 books. I pretty much obliterated that one too, coming in at 368 books for the year. (The link goes to Goodreads so you can see the full list of books I read this year if you’re curious.) I reviewed about 360 of those.

Can’t forget that Sci-Fi & Scary also celebrated its first anniversary in August!

In terms of how the site performed: Views: 34,799 | Unique Visitors: 15,206

Posts: I still managed to do at least one post a day, with 5 out of 7 of them, on average, having at least 2  posts a day.

Most viewed post was 2017 Science Fiction & Horror Novels to Look For with over 1000 views. 

Guest Posts: I had a ton of great guest posts this year. Everyone from Bill Schweigart, to Konn Lavery, to Christa Wojo and many, many more. Thanks again to all of you for helping make sure this was a good year.

I introduced 2 new features that were a much bigger hit than I expected them to be. What’s Up in Horror / What’s Up in Sci-Fi will continue in 2017, with some minor changes.  I wasn’t really happy with the names or the banners, so I decided to switch things up a bit. I’ve given you a preview of the banners below.

Sci-Fi & Scary in 2017

Well, the biggest change for 2017 has got to be GracieKat13, who I’ve brought on as the new co-host for Sci-Fi & Scary.

Gaming on Sci-Fi & Scary – I can’t play horror games. They scare me. I think my imagination makes it a little too realistic for me. But GracieKat can, and so there will be regular features from her on horror games. Stay tuned!

I have another guest blogger that’s going to be giving me two reviews a month for a bit. If it works out, you may see him around like that on a regular basis. David, from The Scary Reviews, reads all the horror books I won’t touch. So he’ll bring some more diversity in.

I know with bringing other people into the fold, there’s going to be some bumps in the road. I just ask that you bear with me. One of the reasons I selected GracieKat was because I felt that her ‘style’ was very similar to mine. I want fresh content for Sci-Fi & Scary, but I am determined to make sure the quality level doesn’t drop. GracieKat will need a few months to get her feet under her, fine-tuning things, but I know she’ll do a great job. 

Your feedback during this time is much appreciated for both of us.

I plan on deliberately reading less in 2017 than I did in 2016.  My goal is to read no more than 20 books a month.

I want to be able to spend more time working on original content for the site.

I’m going to continue to actively recruit guest bloggers for the site. So if you have something interesting to talk about, let me know!

Kids Book Reviews – While I’m going to continue to review science fiction and horror books for kids here on Sci-Fi & Scary, I’m not going to be reviewing the educational kids’ books on this site anymore. I love them, but they really don’t fit in with the site theme. So I’ve created another site where I will be posting all those reviews. Own Your Geek will be where you find all sorts of information on cool gadgets, fun science, awesome people, and great non-fiction / educational books. It will be updated 3-4 times a week.

Except for very special circumstances (ie: a topic I can’t not do) I will no longer be participating in Top 5 Wednesdays.  Nothing against them. Just having 2 “Top” posts back to back can be a bit much sometimes.

You might notice that the thrillers section is no longer easily accessible. I’m keeping past reviews around, but Sci-Fi & Scary will no longer be reviewing thrillers unless they have a science fiction or horror element to them.

Once I actually get a few reviews posted for 2017, I will be clearing out the Horror and Science Fiction Reviews pages. I’ve already transitioned 2015 and 2016 reviews into archive pages.

Oh, and if you haven’t done it already, make sure you join in the Sci-Fi Reading Challenges for 2017

I think that’s everything! Thanks for sticking with me us y’all!