World Map, 1799. Click for source.
Oh, 2012, what a year you have been.
Got my Master’s? Check.
Got academically and commercially published? Check. Check. Check. (You can even find my publications on EBSCO and references to Beyond Victoriana in articles on JSTOR!)
Toured the country as a guest at over 10 conventions and special events, including the premiere of new conventions OctopodiCon & Steampunk Empire Symposium as well as returning as a professional guest at Dragon*Con and an official panel at New York Comic Con? Check, multiple times.
Gotten bowled over by the recognition for the work that Beyond Victoriana has done? Check.
Returned to curate Tor.com’s Steampunk Week for a second year in a row? Check.
Connected with an engaging and intelligent group of fans from around the world? Undoubtedly, so (and thank you!)
Beyond Victoriana’s been active on many different levels. This year, BV created a Tumblr to signal-boost outside content related to history, fashion, sci-fi, technology, and notable PoC (today and yesterday). There’s also Facebook if you prefer.
As the blog turns toward its fourth year, I’m considering major changes to how the blog will be run in 2013. The details are in the works, but stay tuned. For a bit of fun, below the cut are some stats about Beyond Victoriana from the web-minions at WordPress, and a sneak-preview of what’s up for 2013.
Stats & Highlights for 2012
This blog was viewed over 110,000 times. 2012’s top posts were:
- 1 #71 “African Fabrics”: The History of Dutch Wax Prints–Guest Blog by Eccentric Yoruba
- 2 #56 Ten Reasons Why Steampunks (And Everyone Else) Should Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender
- 3 #93 Narcís Monturiol’s Submarines Ictineo I and II
- 4 #55 International Influences: The Rise of Fashion Designer Guo Pei
- 5 #48 Les Sapeurs: Gentlemen of the Congo–Guest Blog by Eccentric Yoruba
Visitors from around the world explored the site, mostly from the US, Great Britain, and Canada. The top 20 countries to check out multicultural steampunk are:
1) United States (47, 334)
2) Great Britain (8,492)
3) Canada (5,344)
4) Australia (3,413)
5) Germany (1.902)
6) Poland (1.708)
7) France (1,639)
8) New Zealand (1,546)
9) India (1,217)
10) Spain (967)
11) Italy (912)
12) South Africa (865)
13) Indonesia (705)
14) Sweden (691)
15) Brazil (665)
16) Mexico (594)
17) Pakistan (499)
18) Russia (437)
19) Nigeria (399)
20) Turkey (387)
Other interesting visitor stats:
– Every country from South America had at least 3 visits (Guyana).
– Every country from Europe had at least 7 visits (Montenegro).
– More visitors were recorded from Croatia (112) than China (23) — I think we can speculate why the hit count from China is lower.
What to Expect in 2013
– My revised Convention Schedule is up for those who want to meet me in person! First stop is in February with TempleCon.
– Tumblr and Facebook will be mostly used for content-sharing from other sites. Beyond Victoriana will focus on promoting exclusive features, as well as signal-boosting relevant work for Tor.com.
– Jess Nevins’ Quest for Unusual & Adventurous International Notations and Tales (Q.U.A.I.N.T.) will make a return on a bi-weekly basis to feature excerpts from his newest Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes.
– Beyond Victoriana didn’t make a big to-do about our fourth anniversary last October — but it totally deserves one! Watch this space over the next couple of months for more details.
– A new monthly feature that will involve our beloved past contributors for the blog, plus fresh faces from the steampunk and science fiction community.
– As always, articles can be submitted for consideration on our website. We highly encourage women, self-identified people of color, and people of other marginalized identities from the US and internationally to contribute. Please check our Submission Guidelines for details.
So here’s to 2013 and another year of expanding horizons and fostering creativity everywhere! ^^ ~clicks glass, throws confetti~
Beyond Victoriana 