Each year in the year-end review, we look back at the accomplishments of the year but also we pick a word that represents our intent for the new year, the motto to drive us and become our North Star for the year ahead. These chosen words and year-end reviews are a great education on our company evolution: In 2015, the word was Passion; in 2016, the year we did our first-ever author retreat and relaunched SheWrites.com, the word was Community.  When we sat down to write the year-end review at the end of 2016 and pick the 2017 word, it was just following the Presidential election. Needless to say, the word we predicted for 2017 ended up being two powerful words: Action and Activism. Little did we know just how true those words would be for what happened in 2017. The action and activism our company and clients showcased on all types of issues was and is truly inspiring. And, there’s more work to be done.

Which is why our word for 2018 is Equality.  There’s still such a long way to go for inclusivity and equality with respect to women, with respect to women of color especially, with respect to our LGBTQ communities, and even with respect to what we are doing in the publishing industry as we strive to be seen as equally viable and on par with traditional publishers. There is great momentum for us as a company in that regard (we have over 430 awards for the books we’ve published at this point!). There is also an important movement happening with regard to women and equality right now (#metoo, #timesup) and so the word Equality will be our North Star for the year as we continue these tough conversations that are happening, as we bridge gaps and focus on inclusivity for all rather than divisiveness, and as we keep showing that our work is equal, our stories are equally important and our publishing model in this industry is equal and viable to our counterparts.

When I look at this Year-End Review infographic, I am blown away: nearly 3000 pieces of media coverage for our authors including several repeat appearances in the biggest national media out there (People, Entertainment Weekly, Skimm, Today Show); our biggest BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge yet with nearly 400 pieces of summer reading coverage and over 4.5 million readers reached, amazing partners like Apple iBooks and Books on the Subway; we now have signed on 400 authors to publish their work and have over 400 award wins on our books.

2017 has been a banner year and we cannot thank you all enough for your support and making this journey possible.