Last year, I reviewed my records and did a thorough analysis of the submissions I made and how they paid off: 2014 Submission Recap: You Can’t Argue With Numbers. I could do the same thing again this year, but the point would be the same: you have to submit your work—frequently. So, instead I decided to just throw some numbers out there and hope, in total, they connect to paint a fairly realistic picture of what my playwright year has been like. (If you followed my #365gratefulplaywright series, you probably could have figured all these out yourself, but I did math for you–you’re welcome!)

10,152 page reads on my Words Players post, Dissecting the Most Disgusting Call for Plays I’ve Ever Seen. I’m happy to report that while Words Players seems to have done nothing in the wake of this, the Dramatists Guild–in the new year–will be devising Best Practice Guidelines for such festivals, a tool we can all use to protest.

553 total places submitted to (many with more than one play, but that’s too MUCH math)

490 TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY trades. If you don’t know what TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY is, click now. I’ll wait.

365 entries into #365gratefulplaywright: a year of what makes it all worthwhile

332 full-length opportunities submitted to (often with multiple plays)

233 LGBT ten-minute plays read for BUA Takes Ten: GLBT Short Stories

221 total short play opps submitted to (many with more than one play)

92 shows seen

51 short play productions

49 blog posts

35 states I’ve now been produced in

32 recommendations received on the New Play Exchange (including 7 for ON THE ROOF—somebody take a chance on this large cast play!)

28 recommendations written for the New Play Exchange

11 press/blog/podcast interviews including one with Adam Szymkowicz!

10 notices for BRILLIANT WORKS OF ART, including winner of the Firehouse Festival of New American plays

10 theater trips: three to New York, two to Miami, La Jolla, Richmond, Denver, Phoenix, and Chicago.

9 #PLONY interviews, each one an amazing portrait of a Playwright Living Outside New York: Eric Coble, William Missouri Downs, Lauren Gunderson, Michael McKeever, EM Lewis, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Don Zolidis, Catherine Trieschmann, Topher Payne)

8 full-length productions

7 full-length readings

6 finalist placements, including nuVoices at Actors Theatre of Charlotte and Woodward Newman Drama Contest, which had nearly 1,000 entries

5 continents produced in

4 publications

3 conferences, and spoke on panels at two of them—Citywrights and Dramatists Guild

3 full-length plays written: OPEN AND SHUT (comedy), ELEVATOR GIRL (a cross between rape, superhero, and fantasy cultures), and MEET ME AT THE GATES MARCUS JAMES, an adaptation of Chris Crutcher’s novella of the same title

3 ten-minute plays written, including one on Shirley Jackson for 365 Women

2 canceled flights, and one massively delayed one

2 nights spent in airports (and one more nearly, but I took a ride home from a stranger)

2 contest wins, plus a Perry Award

1 semi-finalist (Princess Grace for THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR)

1 terrific year!

Please follow me on Twitter @donnahoke or like me on Facebook at Donna Hoke, Playwright.

Playwrights, remember to explore the Real Inspiration For Playwrights Project, a 52-post series of wonderful advice from Literary Managers and Artistic Directors on getting your plays produced. Click RIPP at the upper right.

To read #PLONY interviews, click here or #PLONY in the category listing at upper right.

To read the #365gratefulplaywright series, click here or the category listing at upper right.