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Making a Living With Short Fiction 2021
Back By Popular Demand… Actually, I am bringing this forward from 2014 and then May 2016 and then again July 2018. It is mostly unchanged. I will put in BOLD ALL-CAP ITALICS when I have changed something. A note: I used to say it was possible to make a living writing novels in traditional publishing. I made a great living in traditional with novels for 15 years. That is no longer the case for novels for all but a tiny few in traditional publishing in 2021, but novels indie published you can make good money. ———— Can You Make a Living Writing Only Short Fiction? Every year or so I…
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A Covid Day…
Kris and I Had An Anniversary Today… We were married 28 years ago on December 20th on the top of a hill in the middle of a tree farm we owned surrounded by small trees and great friends. We had already been a couple for almost seven years at that point. I remember it as a fun day since we went back to our house in the mountains outside of Eugene with all the friends and had a great dinner. At that point in time Pulphouse Publishing Inc. had become a shadow of itself, I was still editing the first Pulphouse Magazine and Kris was the editor of The Magazine…
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A Gift Of Books
Ten Different Holiday Books to Be Exact… Too late now to not spend a fortune ordering a gift online and having it arrive on time. Forgot someone or have a friend you know is a reader and just want to surprise them and not spend a lot? Give them the gift of a bundle full of great holiday books to read. Novels, short novels, and a ton of short stories. Plus a classic book full of the traditional L. Frank Baum stories. The Good Cheer Holiday StoryBundle if full great reading by great authors. And you can get the entire thing for as little as $15. And no shipping. And…
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Friday Night Short…
Only Going to Get a Few Hours Sleep… Today I turned in the April issue of Pulphouse Magazine, introductions and all done. And I just finished a new short story as well, going to wait until tomorrow to print it off because in the morning (actually, only a few hours after I go to bed) I need to be up for a 5K charity run. Even with Covid restrictions, they are making these safe, very safe actually. But starting at 7 am, halfway across Vegas, means I have to get up at 5:30 am. Last night I went to bed close to 4 am. Tonight I’m trying for 3 am…
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Putting Up New Workshops…
January and February Workshops…. They will be up on Teachable over this next week. But hold off until the 26th to sign up for any of them because on the 26th we will be announcing a workshop sale. Everything half price again in an attempt to keep all of you home, safe, and busy learning. Also, yes, we will be starting the new Collections Classes and those will be available for the sale as well. So stay tuned. I am working on getting them active, but tonight I worked on Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. So great to have that coming back strong in 2021. In fact, we are moving from quarterly…
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Stay Home for the Holidays…
I Know… I Know… You really want to see family, be with friends. I know. Just don’t this year. Just hang on until your turn comes to get the vaccine, and then hang on and stay safe until this clears. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Today over 3,400 people died from this. And that is going to get worse, a lot worse, before it starts to get better. This death spike right now is the start from the stupidity of Thanksgiving combined with winter. It was expected because so many people traveled and thought it would be all right just that once to be with…
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A Fantastic Gift to Give…
Maybe the Best Gift to Give in this Crazy Year… To help your family and friends stay safe this holiday, give them the gift of a bundle full of great holiday books to stay home and read. Novels, short novels, and a ton of short stories. Plus a classic book full of the traditional L. Frank Baum stories. The Good Cheer Holiday StoryBundle if full great reading by great authors. And it is scary easy to give as a gift. There is just a check box that asks, “Is this a Gift?” You check that and pay at least $15 for all ten books. You tell them who to send…
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New Poker Boy Story…
Published Today… Monday… In the WMG 2020 Holiday Spectacular. That’s right my story “Hidden Box Inn and Casino” is the Monday, December 14th story in the Spectacular. It’s a Poker Boy story and the newest. And it’s a holiday story, but not what you would think of as a normal holiday story. After all, it is Poker Boy. Here is what Kris said in the introduction to my story. (She writes an introduction to every story.) Hidden Box Inn and Casino by Dean Wesley Smith Genre/Mood: Light and fun fantasy After one of our bleakest stories, here’s one of our most fun stories. Dean Wesley Smith is a co-mastermind of…
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An Idea For Balance for the New Year…
Combining Challenges… This is sort of a simple idea, but it has some catches to it. A lot of writers I know are setting writing goals for the new year. And publishing goals as well. I have my publishing goal half set, my writing not so much. And I have been focusing on exercise and on losing a few more pounds. (How cliche is that for a New Year’s goal?) So need goals there as well. So here is how I have been looking at each segment. Time. Exercise… I want to get back to 10,000 steps a day streak. For me that’s five miles. One to two miles are…
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Went Running…
Well, Sort of… Kris and I and Lisa did a live, in-person race this morning. One of the few the state has allowed to happen. We went out in 25 person waves every thirty minutes, and even inside each wave we were spread apart. Very safe. Beautiful day, sunny, in the 60s. Typical Vegas December day. I managed to run just over a mile of the three miles, walked the rest. Not exercising much for three weeks since the marathon and still slightly sore feet made this an easy one. Kris beat me by a long ways and she’s nursing a sore knee. And I think Lisa tied her best…