Whew. Am I ever glad 2009 is over. For Kate and I, 2009 was a mixed bag. At the beginning of the year we suffered a family tragedy that put us in a funk for much of 2009. But I think the experience brought us closer to our families and helped us understand that you can’t take anything for granted.
Despite that early setback, we had a lot of success personally and with the site. I graduated law school in May in the top ten of my class. Running the blog and doing law school at the same time nearly put me in an insane asylum, and I’m grateful to be able to now concentrate on AoM full-time.
Here’s a breakdown of some of what went on with the Art of Manliness this past year.
1. The biggest news of the year was the publication of our first book, The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for Men. Thanks to your support, we sold out of our entire first print run in just two months. The publisher hopes to have the next print run out in a couple of weeks. We’ll keep you posted.
2. In April we started the Art of Manliness Community where men from all over the world can come together to discuss manly topics-both the fun and the serious. In just 8 months, over 6,500 men have joined up. Thank you to the regulars who make the Community such a great place to hang out. Make sure to stop by if you haven’t already.
3. We teamed up with TankFarm Clothing to create 12 awesomely manly Art of Manliness T-shirts. Show off your Art of Manliness pride by picking one up today. Our thanks goes out to TankFarm Clothing for making the t-shirts possible.
5. In September I started a weekly podcast. The podcast thing is still fairly new to me but hopefully I’ll keep getting better at it. I plan to continue bringing on guests to talk about topics of interest to men as well as our Man Stories series.
The Most Popular Posts of 2009
And now, without further ado, here are the most popular Art of Manliness posts of 2009:
1. 100 Must See Movies: The Essential Men’s Movie Library
2. The Ultimate Push-up Guide: 35+ Push-up Exercises
4. Every Man Should Be Able to Save His Own Life: 5 Fitness Benchmarks
5. 5 Classic Cocktails Every Man Should Know
7. 7 Exercises to Make You Look and Feel Like a Man
8. The Essential Men’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books Edition
10. 15 Manly Smells
11. Motivational Posters: Theodore Roosevelt Edition
12. Motivational Posters: Winston Churchill Edition
13. The Mad Men Guide to a Manly Haircut
14. Choosing Man’s Best Friend: A Guide to Canine Companions
15. 13 More of the Worst Products for Men
16. How to Exit a Room Like a Man
17. How to Shave Like Your Great Grandpa: The Ultimate Straight Razor Shaving Guide
18. How to Look Like a Million Bucks for Under $200
19. 5 Gut Busting Football Conditioning Drills
A Thank You to Art of Manliness Readers
This year the site grew from 25,000 to 56,000 subscribers and from 400,00 to 900,000 visits a month. Kate and I are tremendously grateful for your support. Thank you for sharing AoM with your friends and family. Thank you to those who made the site an interesting and welcoming place to visit by sharing your respectful and insightful comments. I was always amazed at the great dialogue that would take place. Thank you to those who emailed us feedback and suggestions. Thank you to those who shared your appreciation for the site with us and helped keep us going. You all are a wonderful group of gentleman (and ladies), and it’s a privilege to associate with you and have you aboard. It’s truly inspiring to know that there other other men out there who are unwilling to settle for mediocrity and want to become the very best they can be.
Looking Forward to 2010
We’re very excited about 2010. We have so many subjects that we can’t wait to write about and start discussing with you. And we definitely feel there’s a manliness movement afoot that’s getting bigger and bigger every day. More and more men are putting away the kid stuff, are saying no to society’s low expectations and stereotypes of men, and are starting the journey to rediscovering the lost art of manliness. We’re happy we could be a part of it. Let us all push onward and upward in spreading the ideals of honorable manliness in our families, with our friends, in the workplace, and in our simple day to day interactions with others.
What are your favorite Art of Manliness articles from the past year? (Or of all time?) Your feedback is always welcome and helps us improve the site.
Let’s make 2010 the year of manliness!
