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Tomorrow… Third Part
TONIGHT… Getting Workshops Live… The day got swallowed by workshop stuff and a couple major naps and some writing so that I didn’t leave enough time to do the post on indie publishing, so I will finish that tomorrow. For now, those of you who got the special workshops from Case Card Kickstarter should have gotten a letter from me with all the links and codes. And all May workshops, including the collection classes, have started up. So with that, I have done my blog for the night and am going for a much longer nap. Might be called a night’s sleep. But got to finish a chapter first.
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One Way To Go…
Of Two Major Directions… As I wrote last night, new fiction writers (because we are in the middle of a distribution and form transition) are torn between two paths. A lot of old timers (not me or Kris) spread the gospel of how they broke into publishing in the 1980s or 1990s or early 2000,s. And new writers should do the same. But now the writers who have gone indie publishing outnumber the traditional fiction writers and are making a lot more money (recent survey) and so the new writers wanting to enter the field of fiction writing are torn. Both sides seem valid. And the myths on both sides…
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I Feel Bad For New Writers…
Coming Into Fiction Publishing Right Now Is Confusing… And I do mean really, really confusing. As I said a number of weeks back, we are solidly in the middle of the transition between traditional paperback publishing and indie electronic publishing. So writers coming into fiction publishing now have no idea what to think and are faced with a million myths from both sides. When I came into fiction publishing back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was only one way in. We were flat in the middle of the 50 year run of the paper traditional publishers. Everyone around me knew the way in. It was hard work, sure, but…
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May Workshops One More Time
One More Reminder… Before I move on to other topics, I just have to remind everyone that the May workshops have all just started and time to get into them. Here is the post I put up a few days ago. —— There are some really great classes starting. Actually two Advanced Craft classes, four Collection classes, and seven Regular workshops. You can find them all on WMG Teachable. So here they are listed. ADVANCED CRAFT CLASSES… (Nine weeks long… Depth Workshop required for both. Dean gives feedback on eight assignments.) Floating Viewpoints… (Oh, my, maybe one of the toughest classes we have ever done.) Advanced Pacing… (My suggestion is…
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37 Years
Kris and I Met May 4th, 1986… Can’t imagine living the last 37 years without her. So I am going to celebrate with some memories from the past. We had a wild and fun time in those 37 years. These pictures will not do that justice… But you can see what we looked like young. (Kris still looks young.) Kris going by me in a flash… Note how she is laughing at me. (grin) This was just a year or so ago. Oh, my god were we young… 37 years ago. Kris’s first pizza after being unable to eat pizza for over a decade due to health issues. Damn that…
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Fun Pictures…
Wonder What I Did Last Week… Here are a few pictures taken by the Writers of the Future people at the 39th year awards. Keep in mind that I was the first person across the stage 39 years ago… And with Jody Lynn Nye I was the co-editor of this volume in the transition after Dave Farland’s tragic death. (First, before the pictures, remember the May workshops are starting up. See yesterday’s post for details.) Here is that first picture 39 years ago of me being the first across the Writers of the Future stage. Oh, so young. Algis Budrys in tux, I am shaking Greg Benford’s hand. Behind me…
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May Workshops Starting Up!!
Not a Clue What Happened to April But the May workshops are starting today (Tuesday) and Wednesday. There are some really great classes starting. Actually two Advanced Craft classes, four Collection classes, and seven Regular workshops. You can find them all on WMG Teachable. So here they are listed. ADVANCED CRAFT CLASSES… (Nine weeks long… Depth Workshop required for both. Dean gives feedback on eight assignments.) Floating Viewpoints… (Oh, my, maybe one of the toughest classes we have ever done.) Advanced Pacing… (My suggestion is to go over the Classic Pacing class first.) COLLECTION CLASSES… (Nine Weeks Long… You write five stories and publish a collection at the end. Any…
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Some Publishing History
I Tried And Mostly Failed… To get the importance of publishing history across to the young fiction writers at Writers of the Future. Here is a tiny part of what I said in a rushed fashion, I am sure I was skipping parts. Note: I am only talking about commercial FICTION!! Note: I am only talking about distribution and business structure of commercial FICTION!! In general, fiction publishing distribution patterns and delivery systems tend to run in 50 year cycles. Post Civil War (in this country) was the Penny Dreadfuls, Dime Novels, and Journals. They were slowly being replaced with pulp magazines around 1900 and were mostly gone (with few…
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Home Safe…
Took About Six Hours… Lots of traffic slowdowns and stops, I went about 15 miles out of my way at one point, and I had three long rest stops for food and drinks and snacks. So not a bad time at all from downtown Hollywood, over the hill and through Burbank, then on the freeway. Have I said before how much I hate driving in California, especially the LA area? Ugh… But the conference was fun. I will do a long blog post about the topic I talked to the winners about. And I had a blast sitting between Tim Powers and Nancy Kress at the ceremony Friday night. Great…
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Headed Home
Writers of the Future Awards Went Smoothly Been a fun few days. Lots of talk with great friends and new writers. But I am going to be glad to be home and back into a routine writing again. So headed out of Hollywood in the morning. I will be off this tiny print and back to answering emails tomorrow evening. Thanks for the great support on the Kickstarter. So off to get some sleep.