In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* The Future of TNDJ
* The TNDJ Challenges Report
* On Book Covers and Sales Copy
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“One has to regard a man as a Master who can produce on average three uniquely brilliant and entirely original similes to every page.” Evelyn Waugh, of Dr. Mardy Grothe’s ‘mystery man’ (see today’s Of Interest).
For more examples of great similes, see any fiction written by Raymond Chandler.
The Future of TNDJ
Beginning on January 1, 2026, most issues of TNDJ will go only to paid and comped subscribers.
If you’re uncertain of your subscription status (free, paid, or comped)—or if you don’t receive an issue of TNDJ on 1 January and believe you should have—please email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
After December 31, free subscribers will continue to receive only the Monday issue each week and occasional other issues.
If you find TNDJ and my knowledge of use, please support my ongoing efforts here with a paid subscription.
You may subscribe in either of two ways:
- Click the Upgrade to Paid button at the bottom of this email and select either the $6 monthly contribution or the $65 annual contribution (current subscribers are grandfathered in at your current rate), OR
- Set up a recurring $6 monthly donation or a $65 annual donation via PayPal. (My email is harveystanbrough@gmail.com.)
Either way is fine.
- If you pay via Substack, you’ll be added to the Paid Subscribers list automatically.
- If you pay through PayPal, I will mark your subscription status in Substack as Comped (same as a paid subscriber).
Thanks for your support.
The TNDJ Challenges Report
Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer.
There is no cost, and both paid and unpaid subscribers can join in the challenges.
Feel free to jump in at any time. To enter either challenge, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
Bradbury Challenge
The requirement is to write at least one short story or short-short story per week. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Loyd Jenkins ” (No report this week.)
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “The Advent of Judgement Day” 3687 Speculative
- Christopher Ridge “The Discount Exorcist” 1360 horror
- KC Riggs ” (No report this week.)
- Dave Taylor “An Unbelievable Truth” 5,827 Dark Fantasy
- Mattie Fern Worrix “I Will Always Woof You” 3950 Time Travel Romance
The Stephen King Challenge
The requirement is to strive to average at least 1000 words per day. The words can go into any short or long fiction or both.
- Erin Donoho 1500 words this week
- Balázs Jámbor 3000 words this week
- Christopher Ridge 7000 words this week.
Congratulations to all of these writers. Even those who didn’t reach their goal had more words at the end of the week than they had at the beginning.
On Book Covers and Sales Copy
(See the link to Dean’s post in Of Interest._
Bare minimum, book covers should
- contain art that reflects the appropriate genre,
- contain the title of the book, and
- contain the author name large enough to be read in the Amazon (or wherever) thumbnail
On the back cover of a paperback, or in the description accompanying the ebook, the sales copy should intrigue the reader to buy WITHOUT giving away any plot elements.
If you give away the plot, the reader knows the story already, so why should he buy (or read) the book?
Giving away the plot in the sales copy is like telling someone the plot before they’ve seen a film.
Dean’s experience at Amazon was probably typical of thousands or even millions of other readers every day.
And yes, to learn how to write GOOD sales copy (meaning without plot), I strongly recommend you buy Dean’s book, How to Write Fiction Sales Copy.
I also recommend buying the paper edition. Mine is dogeared.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Discoverability SO many of you need to read this.
Are you living in a computer simulation? The famous paper.
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 660
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 660
Writing of Blackwell Ops 53: Jack Striker | The Next Level
Day 1…… 2035 words. To date………… 2035
Day 2…… 2217 words. To date………… 4252
Day 3…… 3751 words. To date………… 8003
Day 4…… 2218 words. To date………… 10221
Fiction for December……………………… 10221
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 764868
Nonfiction for December.………………… 9780
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 274910
2025 consumable words………………… 1032209
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 18
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 122
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29