In Today’s Journal
* The Bradbury Challenge
* Draft2Digital Indie Advantage
* TNDJ Archives Are Still Available
* Is the Experiment Over?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
The Bradbury Challenge
The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. Feel free to jump in at any time.
During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories:
- Erin Donoho “Aftermath” 1700 psychological suspense
- Loyd Jenkins “Dream of Being a Keeper” 4160 Low Fantasy
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Witherspoon” 3195 Speculative
- Christopher Ridge “The Nicest Neighbor” horror 2368
- KC Riggs “The End of Summer” 4232
- Dave Taylor “Somewhere Down the road” 3,072 Literary
Congratulations to these writers. And welcome back to KC Riggs!
Draft2Digital Indie Advantage
Back on August 21, I touted the benefits of having a D2D account, not the least of which is the Indie Advantage newsletter. Never one to leave well-enough to chance, I decided to share their latest newsletter with you.
Although it’s sent directly only to those with a D2D account, you can find the web version at The Indie Advantage.
TNDJ Archives Are Still Available
The TNDJ archives are still available in searchable PDF format. All you have to do is email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
I’ll send the archives from 2021 through 2024. If you also would like the earlier ones, you only have to ask.
Is the Experiment Over?
This will also go out to everyone over at Your Morning Serial, but I wanted to share it wide.
Yesterday I looked back over Your Morning Serial to see how many novels (and which novels) I’ve already serialized.
I was shocked to see that I’d serialized The Darling Members Club TWICE. Once in May and once in August. Weird. That was an accident, the result of my inattention.
Anyway, here’s a list of what I’ve serialized thus far (and the genre), along with a link to the first installment in each serialization in case you want to read it:
April
Blackwell Ops 41: Leon Garras Action-Adventure Thriller
May
Blackwell Ops 42: Sam Granger Action-Adventure Thriller
The Darling Members Club (the first time)
“Old Times” (short story)
June
The Journey Home: The Ark Science Fiction
July
The Journey Home: Part 2 Science Fiction
August
Body Language Mystery / Detective
The Darling Members Club (the second time) Mystery / PI
That’s it so far.
And the fact that nobody emailed me to say “Hey, why did you repost The Darling Members Club?” tells me maybe I picked up a few new readers.
But I have no way of knowing that for sure because very few readers have commented at all. And none have emailed to say “Hey, I’d like to see this genre next” or “Hey, give us more of this genre,” etc.
Of my current 117 novels and 10 novellas, I’ve serialized only 6 novels from four genres. I also write in Western genre and in Magic Realism (mostly short stories, and I won’t serialize my only MR novel).
You guys are the readers, so I’ll ask you point blank:
- Would you like to see more of these serialized novels at all?
- If so, what genre or genres would you like to see? (You may specify Action-Adventure, Blackwell Ops, Mystery, SF, or Western).
- You can email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
Or Is the Experiment Almost Over?
This notion of offering serialized novels free was an experiment from the beginning.
Primarily I wanted to familiarize more readers with my fiction. My secondary goal was to drive more new readers to my online discount store. That hasn’t gone nearly as well as I’d like.
Your Opinion Matters
So if I don’t hear something from some of you pretty soon via either comment or email, I’ll assume a lack of interest and end the experiment.
Either way, thanks for having read some of my fiction. I hope it provided an enjoyable escape for you.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: “Self-Control”
My Attitude Toward Helping With Copyright This is important.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 690
Writing of Blackwell Ops 47: Sam Granger | Special Duty
Day 1…… 3250 words. To date…… 3250
Day 2…… 1110 words. To date…… 4360
Day 3…… 3323 words. To date…… 7683
Day 4…… 1656 words. To date…… 9339
Day 5…… 1413 words. To date…… 10752
Fiction for September……………… 7502
Fiction for 2025………………………. 534149
Nonfiction for September.………… 690
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 186940
2025 consumable words…………….. 713475
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 13
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 117
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 301
Short story collections……………………. 29