In Today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Becoming a Rapid Release Author
* Rapid Release is for Novelists AND…
* On Artisan Authorship
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“The idea that writing frequently is inherently ‘lesser’ or that creativity can only thrive when it’s slow and tortured is such a strange myth, and it does a disservice to both writers and readers.” Elizabeth Cooper, in a comment on yesterday’s post.
“If you write a lot you’ll get better and produce steady quality. If you continue writing a lot of steady quality, you’ll end up with a lot of stories to publish.” Emilia
Becoming a Rapid Release Author
If your goal is to become a “rapid release author,” I recommend you work up to it. That’s what I did without even realizing it. And it’s what you’re probably already doing too, although maybe also without realizing it.
After I started writing short stories in earnest (early 2014) I wrote and released (published) one per week, sometimes two, plus the occasional 5-story or 10-story collection.
Once I started writing novels (late 2014), I wrote and released a new novel every month. I didn’t write “fast.” But I wrote into the dark (yes, from the beginning) and I put the time in the chair every chance I got.
I didn’t think of myself as a rapid-release author, but I guess I was even then. Actually, I was just writing, then publishing (‘releasing’) when I finished.
But maybe you aren’t able to release a new novel every month. Maybe you don’t have that kind of time to spend in the chair.
That’s okay. You can still build up to rapid release.
Rapid Release is for Novelists AND Short Story Writers
Say you’re writing as often and as much as you are able. That’s the basic requirement, that you do something you love doing. I know. How harsh is that punishment? “Oh no! I have to actually write?” (grin)
If it takes you six months to finish a novel (bear with me here), that’s just the way it is for now. Fine. So…
Set yourself to release a new novel every six months.
In the meantime, if you’re also writing short stories, you can release a new short story or two every week. Maybe on a Substack if nothing else. Hey, published is published. (And frankly, every novel—yes, even yours—is crammed full of short stories.)
So maybe you can set yourself to release a new short story collection once a month or every other month. Even if you’re doing so only to get your name out there and keep your name in front of readers.
That’s the main point behind rapid release, right? Keeping your name out there and in front of readers and giving established readers what they want: more of your work.
The other, more selfless point behind rapid release is to give as many of your characters as possible the chance to tell their story to you and to your readers.
Bam. Just like that, you’re a rapid-release author. You’re releasing two novels, six or twelve collections, and a boatload of new short stories every year.
Plus you’re still writing more novels. As you gain in confidence (and maybe your available time increases) you realize you’re writing and releasing a novel every 4 months or every 3 months.
And you’re still writing short stories and compiling collections too, right?
The point is, if the notion of rapid release appeals to you, that’s fine. You can do it.
Maybe you won’t be releasing 8 or 12 or 24 novels in a year, but short story collections and novel omnibuses count too. And individual short stories count.
Each of those “releases” feeds all the others by getting your name out there. Which leads us to….
On Artisan Authorship
Fiction Writer is what you must want to be and what you are before any of the stuff above matters in the slightest.
As I wrote above, I consider myself a writer. Since I publish regularly and often, I am also a “rapid release” author, although I only realized that recently. But I also consider myself an artisan author (a term I first heard only a few months ago).
From my understanding, most of which comes from Johnny B. Truant (see Of Interest), being an artisan author primarily goes to
- Quality, and with an eye to building
- Yourself as brand (vs. your series or your books or stories as a brand).
In other words, the goal of artisan authorship, as I understand it, is
- to provide quality, entertaining, authentic books and stories to your readers (Duh), and
- for the readers to love and enjoy the work Because It’s Your Work, not because it’s in a particular genre.
In other words, your readers will go looking for You first, then Genre.
I haven’t figured out quite how to convey myself as my brand to my own readers yet (except my first reader Russ… Russ loves everything I write).
But here’s my spiel: If you enjoy reading my Blackwell Ops stuff, you’ll also enjoy reading my westerns or my magic realism stories or my mysteries or my action-adventure novels or my SF novels and stories. And vice versa.
That’s EXACTLY why the short stories on my Stanbrough Writes substack are a mishmash of genres, and it’s why the novels I serialize on Your Morning Serial will shift soon into Mystery and SF (in one order or the other) and probably later into Western and maybe Action-Adventure.
Because I want my readers to understand that when they read a book by Harvey Stanbrough, regardless of genre, they will get a quality story that will entertain them.
Or as I put it on my websites and in the signature of every email I send out, “I am a prolific professional fictionist. I will lie to you—and you will enjoy it.” (grin)
Back tomorrow with a three-fer guest post of sorts. Three writers bring you valuable information on translations and AI, free virtual writers’ retreats (with prompts), and the lowdown on using stock photos for covers, plus a very special deal. You don’t want to miss it.
Of Interest
ODBC 037 – The One In Which Emma Goes All-In on Johnny’s Artisan Author Schtick For a great deal more on Artisan Authorship look up Johnny B. Truant’s substack and subscribe.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 1050
Writing of Blackwell Ops 43: Sam Granger | The Quiz Master
Day 1…… 2242 words. To date…… 2242
Day 2…… 3315 words. To date…… 5557
Day 3…… 3192 words. To date…… 8749
Day 4…… 3439 words. To date…… 12188
Day 5…… 3017 words. To date…… 15205
Day 6…… 4041 words. To date…… 19246
Day 7…… 2706 words. To date…… 21952
Day 8…… 3302 words. To date…… 25254
Day 9…… 2335 words. To date…… 27589
Day 10…. 3531 words. To date…… 31120
Day 11…. 3685 words. To date…… 34805
Day 12…. 3299 words. To date…… 38104 done
Fiction for May………………………… 23989
Fiction for 2025………………………. 402402
Nonfiction for May…………………….. 4890
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 105980
2025 consumable words…………….. 501872
Average Fiction WPD (May)………… 3998
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 10
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 26
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 114
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 296
Short story collections……………………. 29
Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!
If you’re new to TNDJ, you might want to check out these links:
- On Writing Fiction
- Gifts
- Writing Resources
- Oh, and here’s My Bio. It’s always a good idea to vet the expertise of people who are giving you advice.
Questions are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. But please limit yourself to the topics of writing and publishing.