Year in Review
Thanks for being part of my (writing) life in 2025
2025: See you later!
Are you happy to say good bye or are you sad to see it go?
It was a busy year of writing for me, a year of my highest creative output to date. I generated a lot of content on Substack, writing over at Unveil, creating a new fiction series at The 49, and my Thursday/Sunday double double on TIWD.
I averaged over three original posts for all 52 weeks. That's over 150 original pieces of content. I took some long weekends off, but otherwise churned out words (like butter). I wrote on airplanes, beaches, on trains. I dictated notes into my phone, kept my Keep app busy, and mostly wrote in the early morning hours before the sun or the kids rose.
I dropped an Oped as well, securing one in The Federalist, my debut there. And, oh! I also put out an Advent book and a prequel to my new fiction series, Contesting.
Writing, fyi, isn't my full-time gig. It's something I do because I'm breathing. But I also write to be read.
Thanks, reader
It would be lonely if it weren't for you, my reader. Thank you for tuning in, reaching out, hitting the like button, sending me emails, and dropping comments.
And for those of you who don't comment or like, I see you and thank you, too. Online culture is so much about lurking. I get it. While it’s so incredible to hear from readers, its also sweet to simply see your opens, your click through rates: the data points of your quiet engagement.
I'm so blessed to have subscribers located in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries.
2025 by the numbers - What you read
I was thrilled to see that posts about poetry had some of the highest read counts. The contest drew a lot of new subscribers. And it also brought forth some wonderful submissions. Thanks to all who participated.
You can read the winning and shortlisted poems here.
Poems and Qs ✍🏻
My interviews of the judges of my First-Ever Poetry Contest were among the most-read. I was so inspired by each of them:
I was happy-surprised to see that readers were into the Psalms.
My account of transcribing Psalm 119 had some of my highest engagement, a trend I saw when I adapted the posts into a devotional plan and and brought it over to YouVersion, where it was Unveil’s top plan of the year.
Close to 10k people subscribed to it in the first few weeks!
Robots and round-ups 🤖
AI is a topic of interest. Posts about how the Holy Spirit always will be greater than machines and my interview of a pastor who wrote a book about AI and the Church sparked big interest.
I even trended on Substack's "Rising" list for faith which was fun.
My weekly link round-ups, which I publish on Sundays, and pair with a poem, also got strong reads throughout the year. I'm so grateful you enjoy them and like the blend of humour, politics, poetry, and pop culture.
Movie making 📽️
Some of the most fun I had was with my brothers. Our regular updates while they filmed Daniel on location in India were so meaningful for me. I wasn't able to be there in person, so the daily connect on the set was a delight.
We've been working as independent creators for the better part of 20 years, and this is one of our biggest moments yet. We're aware we went pretty quiet after the shoot, and I hope we'll start some regular updates soon. Each of us were busy in a way we haven't been in quite some time, which is saying a lot!
As the film approaches a 2026 release, you'll be seeing a lot of Matt and Dan, and you'll be hearing from Unveil.
What's coming in 2026
Do you pick a word to reflect on over the course of a new year? My word for the year is deeper.
I plan to dive deeper in the Word and in words this year. I'll share more in the coming days, but here's a tease: when I attended the YouVersion Beyond a Billion celebration in November in Oklahoma, we got an up-close look at Bible- and faith-related search terms. It was eye-opening what people were asking AI about in their quest to learn more about God. Some of it so heartbreaking.
So I'm going to stick to the weekend round ups, and for my weekly articles focus more deeply on faith-related content, hopefully with some humor and surprise.
My first article of the year will be, “Why does God hate me?" which was a trending search topic in 2025. Spoiler: He doesn't.
Speaking of Bible content, we saw such impact on YouVersion this year, it's a channel I want to invest time in. We put out seven plans, all in the back half of 2025. Our Christmas plans always do well, but our plan about Matthew went wild. I adapted it from my skit series.
As our film releases, there's huge opportunity to invite a global audience to read along with the film and get inspired and challenged by the prophets that show up in the story: Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Daniel and friends.
Wherever 2026 takes me, I know that words will lead me there. And I'm so grateful to have you in my life.
Thanks for reading,
Andrew
Joining the substack party... appreciate following your writing and content journey.
I don’t comment on every article you write but I thoroughly enjoy reading anything I can get my hands on. I like your writing! I write myself so I truly appreciate that gift in other people. Keep up the wonderful work so I can continue to devour your beautiful work.