In today’s Journal
* Topic: More on (My) Priorities
* More Mentoring Options Now Available
* Daily diary
* Of Interest
* The numbers
Topic: More on (My) Priorities
Yesterday I talked about priorities. My own priorities lately are shifting.
I recently realized, for a few months now my number one priority has been this Journal. (If you don’t believe that, look back over how many topics I’ve written in the past few months.)
Writing fiction slipped to being my second priority.
At about the same time, writing fiction also got tangled up with learning about licensing, and to a lesser degree, more about the writing craft.
Writing fiction also got tangled up with rebuilding and rebranding my publishing company, a process that’s ongoing.
And finally, I’m applying what I’m learning as I go to turn StoneThread more from a publishing company to a licensing company.
Licensing is a much, MUCH larger world that includes publishing. After all, when you upload your book to Amazon (or whomever), you’re licensing it, not selling it. And through Amazon (or whomever), you’re licensing it to the end user (the reader).
That transition alone will continue for much of the next year. (I’ll also continue to write. But see that “also”?)
I liken the transition to moving through a heavily populated minefield. I don’t have a map, so I don’t know where any of the mines are. I only know where I am now and my eventual destination.
But I also know that only a few of the mines are sink-your-battleship dangerous. And to defuse those, I only have to slow down and read the contract or the terms of service.
Finally, most of them aren’t really mines at all, but exciting new possibilities that will spring up from the formerly fallow soil along the way. Because in licensing, unlike in traditional publishing, your partners are striving to actually Help you, for your and their mutual benefit.
Sometime during this next year, I’ll realize that we’ve made the transition and I will have settled into the licensing mindset: Story (or IP) first, licensing possibilities second, and writing (or however I’m going to license the IP) third.
Of course, those will mingle to the point that they’ll be more first, first, and first. (grin)
The Journal will be mixed in there somewhere too, most likely second. And it should continue to be interesting (if you find it interesting now) as I share what I learn while moving through the minefield.
Recently I talked with a couple of close friends about me possibly taking a hiatus from everything else—fiction writing, the Journal, etc.—and focusing solely on learning licensing and negotiating that minefield. They both gave me excellent advice.
Then I had two days away to think about it. And I settled on a few facts:
1. I can only learn as fast as I can think (another diminished capacity). It comes as it comes. So I’ll focus on learning but I’ll try to be patient with both my mentor and my thought process.
2. I want to continue to share what I learn with you. I enjoy teaching and at least some of you find this stuff valuable. So I’m not going away. I’ll continue uninterrupted with the Journal, where I can share with you in at least a limited way.
3. I’ll work on licensing my own huge IP and my ongoing and future IP as I go. At times that will still mean writing and licensing the story in ebook form. At other times it will mean licensing Story, World, Character, Props etc. in other ways.
So that’s my plan. How about you? Have you developed a plan yet? If not, maybe after you read the topic tomorrow, you will.
More Mentoring Options Now Available
As you know, I take on mentoring students. I don’t do so specifically to make money, but to focus my knowledge-base on the student’s process, work, overcoming difficulties, etc. That said, I have to charge a fee or my offering would have no perceived value, and frankly, my students would have no skin in the game.
Naturally, if you’re my mentoring student, I can share more with you because I can tailor what I know to suit your work. If learning the craft of writing and/or the business side is important to you, I urge you to sign up with a mentor, even if it isn’t me. (And of course, I speak from experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to have three great writing mentors.)
As a direct result of all that I’ve learned recently, I’ve decided to open a few new levels of mentoring. So here are the levels:
Level A — This is completely focused on You and your writing. The mentoring consists of literally whatever You need to jump-start your writing overall.
Some possible areas include abstracts, like help overcoming the critical voice, prioritizing and/or scheduling your writing, or adjusting your attitude toward your own work. Other areas are more concrete: from writing sentences and scenes to pacing to publishing, cover design, blurb writing and so on. Whatever You need.
This also includes licensing (and convincing you it’s worth your time and effort to do this Right Now). Both the instruction and brainstorming are tailored to your specific IP. We’ll define what IP actually is with regard to licensing, what to include in your inventory, and possible ways to market it.
I have one student enrolled in this program at the moment. I could take on one more, and possibly two. Email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com if you’re interested. The fee is $150 per month, paid in advance on a month by month basis.
Level B1 — No abstracts, so you need to have cleared out most of the myths already, though we’ll deal quickly with any dregs that pop up.
This is focused on one or more specific aspects of your process, especially as they go to structure and actual writing. For just a few examples, sentence (or fragment) structure and use, paragraph structure, scene (and/or chapter) structure, and pacing to suit the scene. To that end, I’ll review your WIP if you have one. I can also give you specific assignments (and check them). Whatever you need.
This level includes licensing tailored to your IP (and convincing you it’s worth your time and effort to do this Right Now). As before, both the instruction and brainstorming are tailored to your specific IP. We’ll define what IP actually is with regard to licensing, what to include in your inventory, and possible ways to market it.
I could probably take on up to three students at this level. The fee is $120 per month, paid in advance on a month by month basis. I expect this one and the next two to fill fairly quickly, so email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com if you’re interested.
Level B2 — Like B1, this is focused on a specific aspect of your process, especially as it goes to structure and actual writing.
No abstracts, and we’ll talk only peripherally about licensing. Our focus here is on you creating new IP. To that end, I’ll review your WIP if you have one. I can also give you specific assignments. Whatever you need.
I could probably take on up to five students at this level. The fee is only $75 per month, paid in advance on a month by month basis. Again, I expect this one to fill fairly quickly, so email me if you’re interested.
Level C — This is licensing-only, tailored specifically to your IP. If you have a pretty good handle on your writing process, etc. this is a lower-cost alternative and the one you want.
We’ll begin by working on your inventory, especially as to a definition of what IP actually is with regard to licensing and what to include.
Because the instruction and brainstorming are tailored to your specific IP, this will be much more in-depth than anything I can post in the Journal.
I think I can take on up to five students for this one, but it has to be first-come, first-served. The fee is only $50 per month, paid in advance on a month by month basis. Again, email me if you’re interested.
Of course, I have my own company to work on and my own writing to do. (grin) So I reserve the right to lower the number of available student slots per level if necessary.
***
Rolled out at 3:30.
I wrote the topic, then a topic for tomorrow, then took a long break for breakfast and a little business talk. Later in the day, I wrote.
Talk with you again tomorrow.
Of Interest
Via The Passive Voice, see “Why, After 12 Books, I’m Self-Publishing” at https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/why-after-12-books-im-self-publishing-the-goat/.
See “Mark Twain Before the House Judiciary Committee” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/mark-twain-before-the-house-judiciary-committee/.
See “Discovering Family Secrets via DNA Testing” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/discovering-family-secrets-via-dna-testing/.
See TPG’s take on “Three Years of Misery Inside Google…” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/three-years-of-misery-inside-google-the-happiest-company-in-tech/.
See “Story Ideas” at http://prowriterswriting.com/story-ideas/.
See “Two New Guests at the Master Business Class” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/two-new-guests-at-the-master-business-class/.
See “Free Fiction Monday: Scars” at https://kriswrites.com/2019/08/12/free-fiction-monday-scars-2/.
See “Defeating the Bad Guy” at http://mbyerly.blogspot.com/2019/08/defeating-bad-guy.html. This is from the Things That Shouldn’t Really Have to Be Said department.
Fiction Words: 3191
Nonfiction Words: 1520 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 4711
Writing of Blackwell Ops 7: Glen Marco (novel)
Day 1…… 3222 words. Total words to date…… 3222
Day 2…… 1170 words. Total words to date…… 4392
Day 3…… 3191 words. Total words to date…… 7583
Total fiction words for the month……… 7583
Total fiction words for the year………… 366320
Total nonfiction words for the month… 14070
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 232140
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 598460
Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 194
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31