Hi Folks, A little rant this time, but a well-reasoned rant. It really is attrocious what Amazon does to authors regarding royalties. This problem came fully home to me awhile back when I uploaded the new version of The Wes Crowley Saga (10 full novels in one book) to Amazon and Smashwords. At Amazon, to get a 70% royalty, a book must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. All other prices glean the author a 35% … Read more
Note: This post was originally scheduled for October 2014. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now. I’ve revised the original post so it’s up to date. Hey Folks, Received yet another note today from a friend about the “stigma” of self-publishing. What a bunch of crap. There, I said it. Not only is it a bunch of crap that there’s a “stigma” in the first place, but it’s an even bigger, smellier … Read more
Note: This is a guest post by my friend Dan Baldwin. (Thanks, Dan.) Hi Folks, You know more than you know, you know? Hemingway wrote, “A writer, of course, has to make up stories for them to be rounded and not flat like photographs. But he makes them up out of what he knows.” That’s wonderful advice, but there’s a trap in it. I have encountered many writers who have shied away from a project due … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: This post was originally scheduled for 1/10/2014. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now. Instead of a regular blog post I thought I’d toss out this list of URLs this time. I’ve found all of these useful at one time or another, and I still refer to many of them regularly. However, the presence of these URLs on this list does not necessarily constitute my endorsement or recommendation except … Read more
Hi Folks, More and more often recently, I’m being asked about ghostwriters. Why to hire one, and why not to hire one. So I put together this handy list for you. When folks ask me why I recommend hiring a ghostwriter, my first answer is always this: First and foremost, a professional ghostwriter is a professional writer. When we want something done right, we employ someone who’s already mastered the learning curve. Hiring a professional always … Read more
This content was previously posted on June 26, 2016 in the Daily Journal. I posted it here because of the valuable topic included below. Soon I might begin posting the Daily Journal here every day. Hey Folks, Probably today will be another non-writing day for me. Despite the fact that when I take a day away from writing fiction I feel itchy and annoyed. I gave my word to a couple of folks who quickly took … Read more
Hi Folks, Because many of you still haven’t made the switch to my Daily Journal, I decided to post this over here as well. This is for you, not me. Workshop Report I finally watched and listened to the Week 1 videos from Dean Wesley Smith’s Teams in Fiction workshop at about 6:30 last night. I expected them to be bland and boring in the first week. Nature of the beast. In the first week, because … Read more
Hi Folks, Every now and then I offer a post about writers’ resources. Most of the ones I use are in the left sidebar on my website. I add to them often, and I change one every now and then. So it’s a good idea to check them out from time to time to see what’s new. Awhile back I added a Readers’ Resources section too. The Writers’ Resources are below that. Also, Dean Wesley Smith, … Read more
Hey Folks, I almost forgot to post something for today. This probably will be brief. First, my apologies for allowing two short stories to post yesterday. On the home page of my website at HarveyStanbrough.com you can scroll down to see both of them below this post. Or you can click the Free Short Story tab and see both of them there. I’m finally on the verge of writing again after a very long (for me) … Read more
I’m not going to spew a bunch of extra stuff here. It should go without saying that I believe the “rules” in this appendix are good ones to follow. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have included them. One note—please don’t be so closed minded that you see (for example) Robert Heinlein’s name and automatically assume the rules that follow apply only to science fiction. They don’t. I’m not joking. Seriously, if that’s who you are, please … Read more