In Today’s Journal
* My Quote of the Day
* The Bradbury Challenge Report
* Reader Preferences
* More About Author Intrusion
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* Of Interest
My Quote of the Day
“The most common comment readers make on my stories is that they feel as if they’re ‘in the scene’ with the characters. And since the events take care of themselves, that comment is down to the description of the setting and the dialogue.”
The Bradbury Challenge Report
Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer.
The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Erin Donoho “The Violation” 3600 crime
- Balázs Jámbor “Shadow customer” 3,000 words, fantasy, religious
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Fuzzie Naval” Horror 3045
- Christopher Ridge “Where the Children Play”1261 horror
- Christopher Ridge “Laundromat Leeches” 1952 horror/sci-fi
- Christopher Ridge “Insufficient Screams” 1549 horror/ dark comedy
- KC Riggs “Canyon Stars” 1898 Magical Realism
- Dave Taylor “Road to Nowhere” 4,007 Paranormal/ Post-Apocalyptic
Chris Ridge is competing with himself in his story-a-day challenge for May. So far so good. As of yesterday, May 3, he’d completed the three stories you see named above.
You can still jump in if you want to. Just let me know and I’ll connect you with Chris.
Congratulations to all of these writers.
Reader Preferences
Given my recent discussion with a long-time friend and professional fiction writer regarding ebooks, paperback books, hardback books, and audiobooks, I thought you might find the following interesting:
A recent unscientific poll conducted by The Arizona Flyover asked readers “How do you prefer reading books?”
Respondents answered as follows:
- Print (meaning paper, either hardback or paperback): 28%
- E-book: 21%
- Audio: 18%
- Other: 16%
- I don’t read books: 17%
I have to assume those who selected “Other” mean they read one combination or another of paper, ebooks, and audiobooks. So 83% of the reporting population in Arizona read (or listen to) books in one form or another.
Only 17% reported not reading books at all, but taking into account the 16% who chose “Other,” the percentages are close among the three major modes: paper, ebooks, and audiobooks.
Rounded off, roughly 1/3 prefer reading paper editions, roughly 1/4 prefer ebooks, and roughly 1/4 prefer audiobooks.
Sigh. That tells me I need to get more of my ebooks into trade paperback editions. Unfortunately, my propensity for laziness has thus far superseded my desire to climb that particular learning curve.
And with 133 novels and novellas, several nonfiction titles, and around 30 short story collections (and only maybe 20 of those publications in paper over all) I don’t want to hire it out.
(Why yes, thank you, I’d love some cheese with my whine.)
My pro-writer friend has the opposite problem. He uses a lot of illustrations and line drawings in his novels, so translating his paper books to ebooks presents more of a problem.
What’s your biggest hurdle with publishing?
More About the Author Intrusion Book
I got a few good comments about the Author Intrusion posts. Nothing to expand or correct, so I’ll call Chapter One good and gone.
To read the three posts on Author Intrusion, begin here.
Beginning tomorrow I’ll post Chapter Two. I broke it into three parts, so each post will be a little under 1000 words. If it’s only two posts, the first one will be a little over 1600 words. Any thoughts?
Again, after you’ve read the posts, if you have any questions or would like me to clarify anything, email me or leave a comment.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Double the Love at WITS: Star Wars Edition Not vetted. Some maybe good resources in this blog, including free writing courses.
All About Arizona When It Was Still Arizona (13-minute video)