Hi Folks, Note: This post appeared previously in slightly different form in the email in-boxes of my patrons in early December and then as a topic on my Daily Journal. “Oh, He’s Indie Published? Then I Won’t Bother!” (said only brain-dead lemmings ever) There. I said it. Aloud. There are people in this world who live only to be protected. They want to be told what and when to eat, which medicines to buy for real … Read more
Hi Folks, This special post comes mid=week because, well, it’s important. If you write at all, you need to understand the value of your short story or novel. You need to understand what you own—Copyright. Intellectual Property (IP)—and you need to understand that you own the right to license that IP. As an aside, THIS is the big reason I’ve always been so frantic about getting the next short story or novel out. Because that one … Read more
Hey Folks, Dangerous as it sounds, sometimes I feel as if I’ve been through it all as a writer. I say “dangerous” because such a feeling is the surest way to stop learning and reach a plateau. Which is to say it’s the surest way to death as a writer. When we reach a plateau, a flattening-out of the attempt to keep learning, little things we’ve learned but haven’t yet tried tend to sift down through … Read more
Hi Folks, In a recent post (as I write this), Dean Wesley Smith wrote “…all that matters is the writing, not the end product.” That seemingly innocuous statement is only one of the many truly major lessons I’ve learned from him and attempted to pass along. To establish credentials, Dean Wesley Smith is a USA Today best selling novelist with over 200 novels to his credit. He has also written several hundred short stories, almost all … Read more
Hey Folks, Breaks are a necessary part of life. For the professional fiction writer, they might be even more necessary. I suppose it all depends on how you define “break.” I have more than enough days when I don’t write any fiction. There are days when life intervenes with chores that have stacked up or shopping trips to the next town over or minor emergencies. You know, like coating the roof of the camping trailer because … Read more
Hey Folks, Get a free ebook containing five mystery stories from Dean Wesley Smith at http://dl.bookfunnel.com/316tz5t3km. Then go to his website and sign up for his newsletter (right sidebar). It’s supposed to be a freebie for signing up. (grin) But I doubt he’d mind me sharing this link. Well, I’d like to start a new novel today. We’ll see. I’ll ease my way into it, though. Partly because at the moment I have no clue what … Read more
Hi Folks, Usually, attempting to sell fiction to other fiction writers is not a good idea. Even folks like Stephen King have a hard time selling fiction to fiction writers. The fact is, other fiction writers don’t want to buy your books. They want You to buy Their books. (grin) BUT I DO buy novels and stories written by Stephen King. I also buy (some) novels and stories from Dean Wesley Smith, Isabel Allende, Lawrence Block … Read more