Daily Journal

The Daily Journal, Saturday, February 16

In today’s Journal ▪ My guest post ▪ Update on Pro Writers Writing ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers My guest post on crime writer Sue Coletta’s blog posted this morning. If you get time, stop by and take a look. And if you’re moved to do so, please leave a comment. It’ll help with her blog. The URL is in “Of Interest.” *** The Pro Writers Writing site continues to come along. I’m still dithering with Robert’s original logo design, primarily trying to make the overall header short enough that the “meat” below it doesn’t … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 15

In today’s Journal ▪ Update on Pro Writers Writing ▪ Topic: On Being “In the Zone” ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Update on Pro Writers Writing Last night I got started setting up the website for Pro Writers Writing. There isn’t much to see yet, beyond Robert Sadler’s excellent design for the logo that stretches across the top. I anticipate launching the new site in mid-March or a little later. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Pro Writers Writing will be a blog similar to the Kill Zone blog. However, whereas TKZ authors … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, February 14

In today’s Journal ▪ Topic: An Apology ▪ A new blogger ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Topic: An Apology Yesterday in “Of Interest” I posted a link to “Nine Lessons from a Small Indie Publisher.” Had I read it first (I usually do), I wouldn’t have posted it. IMHO, this is not a “small indie publisher.” This is a traditional publisher doing his best to make indie publishing look bad, and he’s doing such a bad job at it that the attempt is transparent. How low will they stoop? Yes, in true indie publishing the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, February 13

In today’s Journal ▪ Draft2Digital ▪ Behind the scenes: an announcement ▪ Crime Writer Sue Coletta ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Draft2Digital, the ebook distributor where you can also create print books, has a new refer-a-friend royalty program. At least it’s new to me. Basically, if someone opens a new account at Draft2Digital and uses my link — https://www.draft2digital.com/referHS — I earn 10% of D2D’s royalty share (not yours) for the next two years. As you know, I’ve been recommending D2D as a distributor for the past couple of years. So if you haven’t joined … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, February 12

In today’s Journal ▪ The WIP ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Weird. As I close in on the end of the WIP (I don’t know what the end will be and it’s probably still some 20,000 words in the future) I seem to be writing it in spurts. Again, every book writes differently, but this is a huge difference for me. It seems every time I sit down my fingers fly over the keyboard. Yet at the end of the day I have fewer words done than I expected. It’s true that I’ve absented myself … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, February 11

In today’s Journal ▪ For fun ▪ The challenge. ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers For fun (and with my friend Dan Baldwin in mind), see the excerpt from “A Love Story Between Business Managers, Written by a Business Manager” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/a-love-story-between-business-managers-written-by-a-business-manager/. Oh dear god, folks, please don’t write like this. *** The Challenge I’m currently on Day 9 of the third novel of my writing challenge (to write 10 novels in 150 consecutive days). When the first novel ended, I had three days in the bank. I quickly wasted two of those days, which left … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, February 10

In today’s Journal ▪ Barely caught a gotcha ▪ Topic: Marketing ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Special thanks to Mike Rom, one of my new first readers. Mike is a pure reader. He reads avidly, and as he does, things pop out at him. He notes those things and tells me about them. Perfect. Topic: A Marketing Thought That Many Miss We’ve all seen the pros and cons re marketing our work: ▪ Use social media ▪ Don’t use social media ▪ Be aggressive in your marketing ▪ Be passive in your marketing ▪ Have … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, February 9

In today’s Journal ▪Topic: The Secret to Success… ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Probably another short edition of the Journal today. UPDATE: Nope. Long Journal entry, short writing day. (grin) Topic: The Secret to Success as a Writer (If You Define “Success” as Yearning to Get Back to the Story) Okay, that’s a crappy title. It’s too long and maybe too restrictive and it has nothing to do with money. At least directly. Bradbury and countless other luminaries have said if you write what you love, the money will come. I assume the corollary is … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 8

In Today’s Journal ▪ Short Journal entry today ▪ On cycling and first reading and how they’re similar ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Not a lot going on today. Got the gate moved and a new upright post in place on the latch side yesterday afternoon. Now I need to rebuild the gate itself. Probably this weekend. *** I was talking with a guy the other day (maybe in comments) about cycling. I don’t recall the whole conversation, but the take-away point was, cycling is all about Story. It isn’t about individual words or sentences. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, February 7

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ Dean’s Kickstarter funded ▪ One more note on first readers ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Wow. Dean’s Kickstarter funded (for about an hour before one guy pulled out). But he’s honoring both stretch goals anyway. That’s the kind of guy he is. So everyone who pledged at any amount gets all the rewards he offered in the Kickstarter stretch goals. Very cool. This is just one more reason I try to support him in his endeavors. *** One commenter on yesterday’s post mentioned that some folks (especially readers of … Read more