Smashwords

The Journal: Two Mentors and a Little History

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Two Mentors and a Little History * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I spend a lot of time indoors blending with the furniture and scaring my cousin.” from “10 Fun Facts About Me” by Tari Philip Note: More on the unique voice. I love finding sentences that I suspect never have been said before. This is one of the most interesting sentences I’ve ever read. Thank you, Tari. Topic: Two Mentors and a Little History Today is the eighth anniversary of the day I rediscovered Dean Wesley Smith and … Read more

The Journal: Your Unique Voice, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 2 * AI For Audiobooks? * D2D Acquired Smashwords! * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I’m only the author. I don’t know anything. And I mean that honestly when it comes to my own work.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 2 In my previous post I mentioned that to take advantage of your unique, original, authorial voice—to relax and let it flow—you must trust yourself. That’s the simple truth. In this post I’m going to break that truth down to help you … Read more

The Journal: Happy February

In today’s Journal * Aggregators (Distributors) and a new resource. * Of Interest Only a very short post today.For some reason I wanted to mark the passing of February 1 or something. Hey, a happy belated welcome to February 2022. Full disclosure, frankly I’m still wondering what happened to 1978. Anyway…. You can still get a PDF copy of my slightly outdated but still very useful book The Essentials of Digital Publishing, a $10 value, free if you email me and ask. The addy is harveystanbrough@gmail.com. Also, you can still get the full PDF searchable archives of this Journal all … Read more

The Journal: And So It Begins

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Einstein’s quote * And So It Begins * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein “[A]t 2,500 words I knew it would be a novel, but managed to go back and wrap it up into a short story. But no doubt this will be a start of my next Mary Jo Assassin novel. I will just remove the … Read more

The Journal: Well, Fooey

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Well, Fooey * Smashing Smashwords * Daniel Fellows * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Governments always claim noble purposes as the basis for limiting speech or other rights.” Jonathan Turley I started a new novel yesterday morning. As usual, a fairly slow start. And then around noon I realized, well, fooey. In talking with a friend, I came to know that I have five unpublished novels: Terra 2, the last novel in the FOH SF series (so far); Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter, the 12th … Read more

The Journal: Mourning Characters, and Rewriting vs. Recasting

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * As you will see * Topic: Mourning Characters, and Rewriting vs. Recasting * Now it’s almost 9 a.m. * Yesterday and today * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s never too early to start something new, and it’s never too late to fix what’s broken for next time.” Wes Crowley “WRITING A BOOK is a lonely pursuit, one that can take years of solitary work.” Kate Knibbs, a senior writer at WIRED “Yes. Alas, writing a book is such terrible drudgery. BWAAAAAhahahahahahahahahaha!” me As you will see, it seemed appropriate … Read more

The Journal: Dave Farland and Poetics

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dave Farland and Poetics * Everything I’ve ever written * Topic: Sometimes Comparisons Are Useful * Yesterday and Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The most durable thing in writing is style, and style is the single most valuable investment a writer can make with his time.” Raymond Chandler “Scarcely anything in literature is worth a damn except what is written between the lines.” Raymond Chandler In his post today, Dave Farland talks about the importance of eloquence and originality in writing in “Poetics” at https://mystorydoctor.com/poetics-2/. … Read more

The Journal: A Hodgepodge

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I’m gonna harrass you a little * Dean’s writing in public again * Update on the Street Team * The 50%-off sale continues * Smashwords Presents * If you enjoy podcasts * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There is always something, and something else, to discuss.” Joe Hartlaub Hey folks, I’m gonna harrass you a little bit here. Please bear with me. As I write this, I have in mind a few specific friends of mine whom I know would benefit greatly. In fact, I … Read more

The Journal: What Is a Story Idea?

In today’s Journal * Correction * Quotes of the Day * Over the next few months * Topic: What Is a Story Idea? * I talk too much * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Correction Yesterday, I really screwed up the math in my post on time, as pointed out by Céline in a comment. I’ll re-address the time thing in a future post. And I’ll double-check my math. Quotes of the Day “Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try.” Brad Cook, professional fiction writer, St. Louis Writers Guild (Wow. Is this appropriate for writing into the … Read more

The Journal: A Cover Reveal and On Being Prolific

In today’s Journal * Clive Cussler * Topic: A Cover Reveal and On Being Prolific * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Clive Cussler, one of our better authors, passed away today at the age of 88. May his family and friends heal quickly and well. Topic: A Cover Reveal and On Being Prolific Part 1 I’m taking a day off today, sort of. Early this morning, I was tempted to let Heinlein’s Rule 4 slip. But not from fear of what readers might think of my story. I was tempted to let it slip because publishing just isn’t … Read more