In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* The Shared World short story
* Still looking for a publisher
* And where do I leave a legacy?
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. The writer who has to go into the streets is a writer who does not know the streets. . . when you leave your typewriter you leave your machine gun and the rats come pouring through.” Charles Bukowski (via The Passive Voice)
Well, yesterday I stopped writing the short story with what I believe was a good ending and sent it to Dean at 6997 words (the limits were 3000 to 7000 words).
But a curious thing happened on the way to the word count: I fell in love a little.
I enjoyed writing the story so much, I decided to keep going and turn it into a novella or a novel. So that’s the new project. (grin) You’ll see that reflected in the Numbers section below.
I’m still looking for a publisher. Not a traditional publisher and all that. I’m looking for someone who wants to take over my own publishing and marketing business. I think I’ve mentioned it here before.
I just don’t want to stop writing in order to publish what I’ve written. I’ll still do it, but not anytime soon. I’m not a business person. I’m a writer.
And I’m writing so much that I’m drastically behind in publishing. I’ve reached critical mass. So I posted this notice to Facebook this morning. We’ll see what happens.
I’m also at the age where I’m thinking about my legacy, which is to say my writing, and where it will repose after I’m gone. Ownership of my copyright extends to 70 years after my death.
I am blessed with five children. Unfortunately, none of them read my work. So I’m looking for a person or organization or institution who will keep my work alive.
And frankly I’m amazed at how very few people and organizations or institution know anything at all about licensing or the actual worth of intellectual property.
As just one example, I recently contacted the president of my university alma mater. I was thinking of donating my IP — all of it, thousands of bits of IP potentially worth millions of dollars — to that school after my wife passes. It might be worthwhile, I thought, because that university holds the copyright to all of SF Grand Master Jack Williamson’s works.
All of his books and manuscripts sit in their library. Yet they do not have a program or even a single person on staff who promotes those works or the million bits of IP included within them.
If you’ve never heard of Jack Williamson, direct from his brilliant mind came words and phrases we hear every day: terraforming, android, The Prime Directive, etc. etc. ad nauseam.
The search continues.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Improving Your Dialogue” at https://mystorydoctor.com/improve-your-dialogue/. I almost choked at the second sentence of this blog post. (grin) But after you get past the first paragraph, this is actually a fairly good article. I recommend it.
See “Holy Smokes!!! Was That Fun!!!” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/holy-smokes-was-that-fun/.
See “First Page Critique: Whose Face Is Behind That Pebbled Glass?” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/02/first-page-critique-whose-faceis-behind-that-pebbled-glass.html.
See “Book PR and Marketing Questions Answered” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/book-pr-and-marketing-questions-answered/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 560 words
Writing of “How ‘Best’ Is Defined” (short story)
Day 1…… 2893 words. Total words to date…… 2893
Day 2…… 4104 words. Total words to date…… 6997 (done)
Writing of How “Best” Is Defined (novel, tentative title)
Words brought forward……………………………………………… 6997
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for February……… 27113
Total fiction words for the year………… 124590
Total nonfiction words for February… 7400
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 32730
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 157320
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 56
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 215
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31