Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal: Opportunities, and Misinformation

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * StreetLib * Misinformation * Listening to Dean * Mentorships Revised * The Reading * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Our lives are but specks of dust falling through the fingers of time. Like sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Socrates Today’s Journal is filled with opportunities, and there’s a note to clear up some misinformation. Opportunity: StreetLib If you’re still looking for an aggregator or distributor for your books, you might check out StreetLib. I’ll be taking another look at them. StreetLib … Read more

The Journal: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books * The Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Q: I WROTE LESS THAN 200 WORDS TODAY. DO I STILL DEPOSIT THEM IN THE WORD BANK? A: Yes, because every word counts… (and you have written more than 99% of writers today).” FAQs at “THE 200 WORDS A DAY CHALLENGE.” Can this be true? Topic: Mentorships vs. Books I’m looking for feedback here. As I was looking over all the topics in The Writing Craft I mentorship, it dawned on me that … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday, and Computers

In today’s Journal * Yesterday, and Computers * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, and Computers Well, I planned to spend the day yesterday reading Wes Crowley 1-12. I decided I didn’t need to create a separate reverse outline for each book—that would just be silly—but I will create a series bible as I go and maybe publish it as a “companion” book to the series. It will contain all the names, locations, physical descriptions of places and characters, etc. Don’t worry. I’m not going to offer to let anyone else write in the Wes Crowley world. For one thing, … Read more

The Journal: The Novel Wrapped

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Novel Wrapped * Reverse Outlines Again * Publishing Schedule * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[F]ocus your thoughts only on what you can act upon, and forget the all the rest. … On a daily basis, it’s you and the page. You control what words you put down, and how many.” James Scott Bell “[A]nyone touching your work will dumb it down. Try being an artist and standing up for your own work.” Dean Wesley Smith “I can publish a novel indie for around $5.00. And … Read more

The Journal: The Novel and the Free Ebook

In today’s Journal * The Novel * Of Interest * The Numbers The Novel Well, as I reported several days ago, I planned to take my time with this one. But I seem unable to do that. On days when I reined myself in, I still wrote a lot of words. And so far I have zero cuts included in that word count. So it looks like this one could wrap as early as today, and probably no later than a few days from now. I’m hoping the characters will throw in a new twist or two. I’m very much … Read more

The Journal: I love a good argument

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I love a good argument * Of Interest * The Numbers I love a good argument, and I have two to report today. Re a point made in the first item in “Of Interest” today, I am an indie publisher, and I don’t believe traditional publishers make the lion’s share of book sales. The author of the article points out (correctly) that “The majority of the cover price of a book goes to the retailer—the book store—and the distributor.” I agree. The assertion is indisputable. So I would never say the … Read more

The Journal: Writing Your Story Description

In today’s Journal * A Favor to Ask * Topic: Writing Your Story Description * Of Interest * The Numbers A Favor to Ask Apparently my posts from HarveyStanbrough.com (author site) no longer go out, which means nobody on that large mailing list received my special promo announcement about the ebook giveaway. It will take me some time to figure out what happened and why and how to fix it. I’m also no longer on Facebook. So if you don’t mind, please share this link with your friends and on social media. It would be a big help. Thank you: … Read more

The Journal: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks (Uh, No)

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * PQ Topic: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks * This morning I left a comment * Of Interest * The Numbers PQ Topic: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks Actually this isn’t a Persistent Question so much as a Persistent Misbelief. A myth. Something even writers sometimes pass along to other writers. And it’s male bovine excrement. My immediate response to “Readers like to fill in the blanks” is a pair of arched eyebrows, a head shaking slightly side to side, and “So?” As a writer, do you really care what … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and Bundlerabbit

In today’s Journal * Yesterday, I wore out a mouse * Yesterday, also * Yesterday, III * By the way * Bundlerabbit * A very short PQ Topic: Less Can Be More * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, I wore out a mouse. (Microsoft Mobile Wireless Mouse 3500 in Lock Ness grey) Over the past several years of writing fiction, I’ve always had the same mouse with my writing ‘puter. Over the past six-plus years I’ve gone through probably three or four writing ‘puters, but whenever I changed from one to the other, that mouse went with me. I … Read more

The Journal: If I May Share

In today’s Journal * If I may share * A Special Treat * Of Interest * The Numbers If I may share something near and dear to my heart and on the edge of personal, this will pertain especially to those of you who enjoy reading or writing (or both) westerns. It will also be suitable for dreamers, like my friends Russ J, Robert S and Dan B. In the original Wes Crowley novels, Wes rode on horseback from Amarillo Texas to Agua Perlado, a fictional fishing village in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Although I have a detailed map … Read more