In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Traditional Publishing
* CovID-19 Fraud
* Of Interest
Quotes of the Day
“Let me be clear: I don’t dislike traditional publishing, but they’re operating in an antiquated system that has worked for them previously, but really doesn’t support the author or, for that matter, further book sales.” Penny Sansevieri (see first item in “Of Interest”)
“Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own reason!” Immanuel Kant [Wow. Let that sink in.]
Traditional Publishing
We talked about this not too long ago. The Penguin Random House/S&S antritrust trial has forced publishers to reveal a lot of damning information, stuff they kept strictly under wraps for years.
In the first item in “Of Interest” today, Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts discusses what a lot of that means, specifically for self-publishing and for other kinds of publishers. Even Barnes & Noble is trying out a new publishing model.
Funny, really. B&N, for which various folks have been ringing a death knell for years, might be around longer than traditional publishing will.
CovID-19 Fraud
First, a disclaimer: I mention this strictly for potential story ideas. Because in fiction, despite so-called “cancel culture,” you can write whatever you suppose the truth to be. And remember, your fictional truth is never weirder or stranger or more harmful than what really happened.
More and more news and revelations are coming to light about CovID-19 related fraud. There are two posts in today’s “Of Interest” alone. However, please don’t expect to ever know the depth and breadth and history of that fraud. You won’t.
I was born and raised in New Mexico. I learned very early to recognize fresh bovine excrement by smell. I didn’t have to step in it to know it was there.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “A Hard Look at Self-Publishing a Book v. Working with a Publisher” at https://www.amarketingexpert.com/2022/09/20/a-hard-look-at-self-publishing-a-book-v-working-with-a-publisher/.
See “U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges…” (Minnesota CovID-19 Fraud Scheme) at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future. Story ideas, anyone? If you felt like something fishy was going on, here you go. And there will be more, for example….
See “DOJ finds more than $8 billion in COVID aid fraud” at https://thehill.com/policy/finance/597764-doj-finds-more-than-8-billion-in-covid-aid-fraud/.
See “…30 Words Merriam-Webster Just Added…” at https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/merriam-webster-dictionary-new-words-2022.
See “1968 to 1972: The Awful Years” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/09/1968-to-1972-the-awful-years.html. Interesting. They weren’t really “awful,” but they were definitely interesting.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 390 words
Writing of Carmen Morales (novel, tentative title)
Day 1…… 3007 words. Total words to date…… 3007
Day 2…… 2842 words. Total words to date…… 5849
Day 3…… 3283 words. Total words to date…… 9132
Day 4…… 3106 words. Total words to date…… 12238
Day 5…… 3644 words. Total words to date…… 15882
Total fiction words for September……… 19159
Total fiction words for the year………… 85590
Total nonfiction words for September… 16890
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 145120
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 230710
Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 67
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: Along with discussing various aspects of the writing craft, I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. WITD is NOT “the only way” to write, and I’ve never said it was. But it is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun.