Hi Folks, Man things change quickly in this new world of publishing. On the first of this month, so just over two weeks ago, I devoted an entire blog post to telling you why I was no longer going to publish and distribute my books through Smashwords. And then this morning, I uploaded and published ten new titles to Smashwords. It seems Smashwords recently signed a contract with Gardner’s, a massive book distribution agent in Great … Read more
Hi Folks, This topic doesn’t really fit with the current series of how-tos I’m posting here, so I thought I’d slip it in as a bonus. Just some things to think about. A couple months ago on Facebook, which as we all know is a fount of absolute wisdom, someone posing as a professional fiction writer posted that writing is a “deliciously tedious travail” or some such nonsense. Yeah, I’m not kidding. Being who and what … Read more
Hi Folks, First a couple of announcements— 1. On September 23, Author Earnings released a new report that ALL writers should see. Especially if you’re locked into traditional publishing or if you’re on the fence. The previous report I mentioned talks about market share in ebooks from traditional publishing vs. indie publishing. So it was kind of abstract. But this report shows the actual distribution of income to individual authors who choose to publish traditionally vs. independently. This probably … Read more
Rolled out a little before 3. I had forgotten how much “little work” would be necessary to create a new publisher website. This morning I created folders for covers. I filled one with covers that are 150 x 225 pixels, another for 180 x 270 pixels, and another for 300 x 450 pixels. That and sorting them took three hours, but it’s necessary when you have to upload covers for 9 novels, 20 short story collections, … Read more
Okay, coming to you a little earlier again. This one is set to go out at 6 now. My short story of the week will go out at 5 every Monday from here on out. Well, I didn’t get up this morning. Wide awake, I looked at the clock and thought it said 1:45 a.m. That’s close enough to 2 to start a normal day (for me) so I got up. But in actuality, it was … Read more
The Journal, Monday, 9/28: How I Write Rolled out a little after 3, having stepped outside to watch some of the lunar eclipse last night. More than likely I won’t get a lot of writing done today, at least on the novel. I do have to write the short story of the week. It posts tonight at 6 p.m. But I also have to take my pickup to Sierra Vista again to finish the repair I … Read more
Rolled out right at 2, anxious to get back to the novel. Every now and then I check up on my lists and purge them. On this weak little list, I had only 31 subscribers. Of those, six had never opened the email when they received it. This blog has been running from my main site since July 1, pretty much every day. I think that’s a long enough time to indicate interest. So I unsubscribed … Read more
I slept in this morning until almost 3. Sure felt good. (grin) Then I got up. Not a great day around the Stanbrough camp. I won’t bore you with the annoying, frustrating, aggravating details. Just not a good day. I almost made the topic of this post “writing for therapy,” but that would’ve been a hoax. Or politically correct. I get confused. I do know nowadays when you tell an outright, bold-face lie it’s most often … Read more
Rolled out early again, about half past 1. My little cat needed me to get up for some reason I still don’t understand. She woke me about 12:30 and I laid there for an hour before she finally nagged me out of bed. (grin) Did much of nothing the first couple hours again. I’d like very much to change that. For now I guess it’ll be what it’ll be. At the end of the day if … Read more
Rolled out early, a few minutes after 1. One of my sons dropped by on his way from California to New Mexico (return trip). We visited for an hour or so before I went to bed. He was up and back on the road at around 3. Enjoyed seeing him but any visit messes up the routine a bit. I was going to walk later this morning, but I’m not feeling well. Nothing serious. Just blah. … Read more