The Dragon's Den

[Randomness] Over A Year Ago

**Imma go ahead and repost this even though I think it's from 2017... Might do an updated version? 😂**

This is partially for me, simply to see how far I've come. But it's also for what I am going to say to you all at the end of this. It is in no way bragging.

Over a year ago, I wouldn't have talked to myself if I had been another user. Why? Because I was tiny, and I didn't think someone with so many followers would even notice me.

March 2015 I made the Wattpad account Heart-of-Hope, an original account meant to post my story Never Too Late.

Not until late May of 2016, after stories such as Nightmare and Ultimate Warrior and The Dragon's Scale - then known as Mighty Dragons - had joined Never Too Late in my profile, did I get to 100 followers.

My most popular story at the time, Nightmare, which had been posted June 2015, didn't get 1k views until a year later.

July 13th, 2016, I first posted Midnight.

Really late August 2016, I finally reached 200 followers. I had hoped to get there faster with my other milestones hitting, but it had taken a bit.

September 22nd, I entered Nightmare into FairytaleCommunity 's contest, Fairytale Retelling Community Awards. Didn't even think Midnight had a chance, so I hadn't yet entered it. By the deadline, though, I did.

When December 2016 came, Nightmare had just gotten 3k reads while Midnight and Mighty Dragons were inching past 600.

December 14th rolled around. I had just reached 300 followers and the Undiscovered Writers Awards had kicked off on the relatively new The-Writers-Corner.

Then it happened. December 17th hit. I was walking around in Wal-Mart. Just got Wi-Fi. Opened my Wattpad to find my name mentioned in the winner announcement chapter for the Fairytale Community Retellings Award. It was too much to hope, but I could feel the excitement building. I opened the chapter, and Midnight, the book I had entered on a whim because I thought it couldn't compare to Nightmare, had won in Terrific Twists. I nearly screamed right then and there in a public store.

December 21st I'm suddenly to 500 followers. I know it was because one of the contest rules said entrants had to follow at least one of the admins. I'm still not happy about that rule, but I was still the least popular of the three admins in terms of reads and follows, yet they chose to follow me when they just could have followed the ones who were more popular.

January 1st, entry for the contest ended. I finally gave people permission to unfollow me for that contest. My numbers barely dropped. People were actually encouraged to keep following by me telling them they could unfollow.

I had stopped giving shout outs for every follower number goal because of guilt, but I know by January 4th, I was at 777.

January 7th of this year, Midnight breached 1k reads.

January 23rd. Midnight got it's first rank at #825.

January 26th. Midnight won another contest. Best Voice in the Teen Fiction Awards held by youngadultreads. I'll admit. I forgot it existed. I didn't even realize how big that was when I first won because I didn't even glance at the account. Just the book saying I won.

And that's when the roller coaster that had seemed to so slowly be going up the slope suddenly seemed to hit speed.

And of January, Midnight had reached 2k reads and gotten to #427 in Fantasy. It had taken me from July to January to gain 1k. Yet that doubled within the same month.

Mid-February, Midnight managed to get to #187 in Fantasy. I was getting so many reading list adds. I finally looked at youngadultread's page, and it was then I began to realize just what kind of an account I had won an award on.

Sometime after, it got as high as #104, but I sadly did not document when.

March 1st, Midnight is to 4k reads.

March 17th, 5k reads.

Early April, 6k reads and 500 votes.

April 24th, hit 7k.

May 15th, start up another awards, this time without the mandatory follow requirement. Just barely below 900 followers at that point I believe.

May 27th, I hit 1k followers. Over two years after I had started this account. Most of them came from my awards on The-Writers-Corner. Still to this day not sure how I feel about that.

June 12th , Midnight finally crosses into 10k reads.

July 30th, The Dragon's Scale has finally ranked, even if only at #720.

Today, August 4th? I'm at 1.33k. followers. Midnight is at 12.3k reads and 885 votes. The Dragon's Scale is at 2.95k reads and 418 votes.

Around a year ago today, I didn't yet have 200 followers. I've gone up over 1k since this. Midnight had only recently been put up with nothing more than a prologue. I had pretty much stopped working on The Dragon's Scale, but in the past month have written almost 10k words for it.

None of this is meant to brag. It is 50% for me to drag my nose to this book and tell myself to look at everything that has happened.

And the other 50%? Something I meant to do months ago but was too busy moping because I didn't feel right about how I got my followers. But now I'm doing it.

I am saying thank you for every single mile stone I have hit. I am thanking you for sticking with me despite my suckiness at updating. I am saying thank you for following me, because no matter what I want to say to myself, you all chose to do that, even when you didn't have to, even when you could very easily retract that follow and I wouldn't be able to tell who did it.

Thank you for every read. Thank you for every comment. Thank you for every vote. Thank you for every single reading list add.

Nothing special happened today, but like I mentioned before, I realized me a year ago would have never dreamed of where I am today. I would have seen my profile and been hit by shyness, thinking I would be a pest to even try to interact with myself today.

I can't say it enough, but thank you thank you thank you. I want you to know how appreciated you are for picking up a random book. For checking out the account of this random weirdo. For leaving your love for that random weirdo to see.

So one last time. Thank you.