Series

In today’s Journal * Series * Of Interest Series For awhile now, I’ve been casting about looking for a Jack Reacher type character, by which I mean one who would carry a series that was both interesting for readers and fun to write. To that end, I’ve gone through several series: Joseph “Joey Bones” Salerno, a Brooklyn mob-guy anti-hero, stood up and carried several short stories and a novella. But I had neither the chops nor the permission to write a Joey Bones series. Then along came Nick Spalding in the exploratory Hemingway-esque novella Jobs Like That. Spalding was fun, … Read more

Elizabeth Sims, Fiction Lengths, Critique Groups

In today’s Journal * Elizabeth Sims and Fiction Lengths * Critique Groups * Of Interest Elizabeth Sims and Fiction Lengths In Elizabeth Sims’ article on why fiction writers should write short stories (see “Of Interest”) I was pleased to see her offer “a general guide on length and terminology.” It spurred me to look at my own fiction length and pricing guide, and to revise it for the first time since 2017. I use fiction lengths and terminoloy to determine price. There’s no difference in how I price a short story and how I price a long short story (novelette), … Read more

Adobe Walls, and Great Marketing Advice

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Adobe Walls * Market Your Work * Of Interest Quote of the Day “A Positive Indie Author/Publisher Mindset — This is the most important factor of all. Once I made the decision (February 17, 2020) to treat my indie writing and publishing as a business, things really changed. It takes time and persistence, but it’s worth it.” Garry Rodgers Adobe Walls My wife found a couple of pics of me in and near Adobe Walls. If you’d like to see them, I added them to the Old Promo Pics page on … Read more

OMG: K.M. Robinson

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * K.M. Robinson * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[W]riting … is the smallest part of being successful in this industry, whether you’re traditional or indie published. The vast majority of it is marketing, engaging on social media, handling edits, reading contracts, communicating with design professionals, and interacting with fans.” K.M. Robinson “I’ve been both traditionally and indie published, but my career and financial security in this industry is heavily due to my indie work.” K.M. Robinson “If reviewers do it accurately, the post will only help other readers decide yes … Read more

Tidying Up Loose Ends

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Wes Crowley * Thanks * The Vote Wasn’t Close * Stanbrough Writes * The Little Writing ‘Puter * Of Interest Quote of the Day “[Y]ou as a writer can prepare for success without dealing with the insecurity at all. It’s easier now than it ever was, because writers can publish their own work and keep it in print for decades.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Wes Crowley (giveaway) In case you missed it in the mishmash of news yesterday or the day before, in honor of the 8th anniversary of starting my first … Read more

A Major Personal Anniversary

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Major Personal Anniversary * You’re Seeing This in Your Inbox * And Some Exciting News for Readers * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A contract is always cheaper than a lawsuit.” The Passive Guy “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” Seneca ‘the Younger’, Roman philosopher and poet, c.4 bc–ad 65 “So yesterday, without the slightest bit of fanfare or the nano-slightest bit of intent on my part, I started writing my first novel. When I realized what was going on … Read more

Thank You

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Thank You * In Other News * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” Pablo Picasso “For most [people], an ignorant enjoyment is better than an informed one; it is better to conceive the sky as a blue dome than a dark cavity; and the cloud as a golden throne than a sleety mist.” John Ruskin Absolutely true in my case. I hate it when anyone feels the need to suck all the wonder out of wonderful objects … Read more

A Minor Conundrum

In today’s Journal * A Minor Conundrum (and Your Opinion Counts) * Of Interest A Minor Conundrum Despite my having checked the box at MailerLite to “send only when there’s new content,” today it actually sent a BLANK email that contained only the header and the unsubscribe information. Because, um, there was no new content. If that isn’t a human being snubbed by a machine, I don’t know what is. And when I tried to click the minuscule Help link at the bottom of the page at MailerLite, it was greyed-out and unresponsive. Its little eyeballs were rolled up in … Read more

A New Short Story Market, and Marketing

In today’s Journal * A New Short Story Market * A Tiny Marketing Strategy * Of Interest A New Short Story Market From subscriber and writer friend Dawn M. Turner, “Do you have subscribers who write horror and/or paranormal short stories? A YouTube channel I follow … is now offering .03 per word for short stories they narrate on their channel. “They provide credit to each writer when stories are presented, so it might be a good way to get some spare change AND help with name recognition.” For details, see https://www.youtube.com/c/DarknessPrevails. And (not about writing, but) if you’re interested … Read more

Spreading the Word, and Memes

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Spreading the Word * Memes * Of Interest Quote of the Day (maybe even the year) “You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Carrie Fisher What excellent advice! Spreading the Word In reply to my comment on Garry Rodgers’ TKZ post yesterday, Garry wrote, “I checked your math and it works. BTW, WTF do you do in your spare time?” I couldn’t pass up an invitation like that: “In my spare time I do things I enjoy, of course. Like writing. … Read more