By WALLY MONK – Paint Monk’s Library Editor

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.”

Robert Burns, 1788

A happy and blessed New Year to all of our readers! As we make the plunge into a brand new year in a mere five hours (as I write this, it’s 7 p.m. EST), I’d like to take a moment to look at all the neat things Paint Monk’s Library has done this year and give a shout out to the people who made 2019 possible for this site.

Sadly, we’ve also lost some familiar faces along the way. Dean Plakas, one of our regular feature writers and a contributor to our Classic Conan Countdown, put the temporary brakes on library blogging as did Troy Chrisman and associate editor Joeseph Simon. To the three of you, your contributions were excellent and I’m grateful you came aboard. You are all missed, and are welcome to be guest writers at any time you want to put fingers to keyboard again.

Here are some of the highlights of 2019 at the Library:

The Classic Conan Countdown Resumed!

On Nov. 1st, 2018, I was in a precarious position time-wise and decided to conclude the Classic Conan Countdown. I even posted a “good-bye” message, which was met with a slew of personal emails asking that the Countdown continue, and in fact, run to completion.

Thanks largely to Librarians Andy Maglothin and Bob Freeman, the Countdown resumed and continues today! You’ll see the latest installment – Conan the Barbarian #111 – tomorrow afternoon.

Interviews Aplenty in 2019

It’s amazing what can happen when your blog begins to attract readers. Paint Monk’s Library scribes had some great opportunities this year for industry interviews, talking with tremendous talents like Tim Truman, Rik Offenberger, Don Glut, Jim Zub and Scott Oden.

Even more interviews are being planned for 2020. If you missed any of these great articles, you can find a link to all of our interviews here.

A New Website – Goodbye eBlogger

To kick off 2019, Paint Monk’s Library ported over to WordPress from the eBlogger platform that was used since the Library opened its doors. A new and improved blog was hosted at www.paintmonkslibrary.com and it was a monumental project – don’t believe anyone when they say “porting over from one platform to another is easy!”

I am still editing and re-formatting old articles from the previous blog, and this involves cutting, pasting, new images and in some cases re-writing entire articles in the new interface. This process will continue throughout 2020, and my hope is to have EVERYTHING updated to our new WordPress format by year’s end.

Library Followers & Page Likes Increase

I’m proud to say that in over two years of blogging, I’ve spent a whopping $30 on ads promoting the Paint Monk’s Library. This means that the bulk of our growth is organic and not manufactured.

2019 began with a mere 422 followers on our Facebook page, and as of today, we’re 8 individuals away from 700. While not monumental (yet!), it’s refreshing 1) to know that we’re gaining new readers and 2) that our growth is a result of genuine interest and not the result of click bait advertising.

We entered 2019 with an average of 100-250 clicks on new articles daily, and that has grown to 5-7K clicks each week from unique users and repeat visitors (yes, I do account for spam bots, otherwise the numbers would be even higher!)

Thanks To – All of You!

Paint Monk’s Library wouldn’t exist without you – our readers. I’m so grateful for each page click, comment, like or share each of you choose to give us. My hope is to keep you coming back in 2020 with even more exciting content (big news tomorrow!), more interviews, and more surprises that are in store.

Last but never least, a HUGE thank you to my right-hand Librarians, Bob Freeman and Andy Maglothin. This blog wouldn’t be here without your dedication, your writing skills, and the time you donate each week to share your thoughts with PM Library readers. Faithful readers and followers, please take the time to show Bob and Andy you appreciate their work too with an occasional comment on their reviews and interviews.

You’ve got no idea how much a kind word and some feedback can mean to a writer, especially one who is writing as a labor of love and for the benefit of fellow comic fans.

Now, let’s sing that verse of Auld Lang Syne and ring in the new year!

As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)