Hey Folks,
Nothing much going on yesterday, so no Journal entry for July 6.
This will continue the previous Journal post and topic (see http://hestanbrough.com/the-journal-thursday-july-5/).
In that post, I wrote that “…professionals (including Dean) seldom say ‘Don’t worry about the money. Write for joy.’ Dean does say writing should be fun, but he also talks a lot about making money from it.”
Dean’s post yesterday was about copyright. (It’s in “Of Interest” today.)
In one comment, a writer said (jokingly) she would buy the Copyright Handbook “someday.”
Dean roughed her up a little bit.
Now in my previous Journal entry, I also mentioned it takes about 5 years before writers can expect to begin really making money with their writing.
And I listed several things they need to know in order to be good enough at storytelling to begin that process.
But by the time indie publishing rolled around, Dean and other professional writers who made the leap from traditional publishing already had mastered the techniques I listed. They also already had established careers as writers.
Bearing that in mind, it’s easier to see why Dean et al talk so much about making money from writing in this indie world.
But again, the indie writer who started out as an indie writer and publisher still has to learn those things I listed in that post.
And bearing THAT in mind, here’s my slightly modified response to Dean’s reply to the writer’s comment, again as a contination of the topic from a couple of days ago:
Just a thought, or maybe a caution….
I’ve had work published traditionally, though it was through a small publisher. I earned only a 10% royalty, and when I dropped them, they were trying to cut that back to 8%.
Now I publish independently, and I would never go back. And I wouldn’t chase an agent even if I was carrying a stick or a pitchfork. On that basis…
Learning copyright — learning what we actually own (IP) and how we can license it — is massively important.
But keeping writing fun is even MORE important.
I was reminded of that again recently in a filmed keynote delivered by Ray Bradbury. I want storytelling to remain something I look forward to. (The video URL is https://www.uctv.tv/shows/An-Evening-with-Ray-Bradbury-2001-5533.)
If writing the stories and novels weren’t fun, I wouldn’t have anything to sell in the first place, and neither would my heirs.
But I can’t allow worry about selling to overlay or infiltrate the writing.
That’s exactly why I occasionally fall off Heinlein’s Rule number 4. I always get back on, but not because it’s important. More because I have the stories anyway, and publishing them costs me only a little time, so I might as well.
For me, personally, I have to keep that separation in there. If my characters ever stop telling me stories that get my blood circulating, well, I’ll count myself fortunate they ever spoke to me at all and I’ll find something else fun to do.
Just my two cents.
See you soon.
Of Interest
See “A Copyright Question” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/a-copyright-question/. And read the comment by Tony DeCastro and Dean’s response.
From another commenter on Dean’s post, for Canadian writers, here’s a valid link to Canadian copyright: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00003.html.
See “The Inspiration Behind SCATHED May Surprise You” at https://www.suecoletta.com/the-inspiration-behind-scathed-may-surprise-you/.
Fiction Words: XXXX
Nonfiction Words: 550 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 550
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX
Total fiction words for the month……… 2946
Total fiction words for the year………… 237162
Total nonfiction words for the month… 4580
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 83766
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 320668
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 5
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 31
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 6
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………………… 193