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Lifetime Subscriptions to Workshops and Lectures
Finally Available… The numbers of workshops we now have available has gotten amazing. From the new Pop-Up workshops which worked great from my side, to the Classic workshops, to the Strengths, to the Regular Monthly workshops. Thousands of videos about writing. If you would have told me it would build to this five years ago, I would have screamed and run into the street. But honestly, looking at it now, because of the workshops and putting them together, I am a much, much better writer. And I have had a blast. And I am still having fun and just as passionate about learning as I was five years ago. You…
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Fun Reading Time
Great Stories and Stuff… I am at a fun time I go through every year. I have a massive number of really good short stories to read for the anthology workshop. I actually look forward to this every year, to be honest. I am also finishing up the last notes on the novel challenge and will get those back in the next day or so to everyone in the last novel challenge. So really fun writing there as well. So having fun reading. Not as much fun as writing, but still great fun. And also writing the interstitials for Fiction River: Hard Choices. That’s great fun looking back over those…
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Two New Weekender Workshops Just Started
It’s Midnight on the West Coast of the US… …and two weekender workshops just started up and will go for four days. Still time to jump in today only (Thursday) and I will read your first assignment even if late, no issue. Go to https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com and hit “see all courses” and look for the February Weekender workshops if interested. But they close tonight (Thursday). I just got done recording both of them over the last two weeks and honestly I think both of them are good ones. POP-UP WEEKENDER WORKSHOPS Descriptions Controlling Fear of Failure Fear cripples every writer, without exception, at one point or another. And the root of…
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Still Having Sleep Issues
Normally I Recover Faster… But not this last trip. I got my schedule twisted around exactly 12 hours. Wow, that has been hard to recover from. I am just now, almost a week later, back on my normal schedule with a few exceptions. I have lost the last two hours of my night for the moment. And that has just about killed any writing for the moment. After the anthology workshop I should be able to get back to some writing, but that is two plus weeks away. Yikes. So this shows the value of steady and regular sleep to writing habits. Without them, writing sort of just drifts off…
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Something Extra For Writers
Later Today I Will Be Adding Something to the Kickstarter As some of you know, we are doing a Kickstarter for North by Northwest Books. And one of the main reasons for the Kickstarter is to help indie writers. Now, I know there are web sites out there that believe that bookstores are a thing of the past, but the facts show otherwise in the last few years. In fact, bookstores (except the chains) have learned how to adapt and are doing great. The ones that don’t learn are the ones you hear about going down. One thing bookstores need is an easy system to accept indie author and indie…
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Now That’s a Stunner
We Made Our Kickstarter Goal… In less than two days. I was hoping, of course, that we would make it and maybe a little ways farther to really get the remodeling started and done and get the system to get indie writer’s books into the store. Now we are working on the “ways farther” stuff. So far backers have supported library and school systems around the country, bought boxes and bags of books, and signed up to get credits for lectures and online workshops. And there is no limit on any of the rewards. At WMG Publishing and North By Northwest Books, even if we have to contact and send…
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Flying In the Face of Common Knowledge
Normal for Me and Kris… Over the years, Kris and I have seemed to constantly talk about things that are not believed in the common knowledge of publishing. And after forty years in the business, still selling and making more than a living by a long ways, Kris and I still continue to do that. Why? Because we believe in common sense and information, not common knowledge. Interesting that a number of examples came up over this last week. At Superstars, on the Craft Day, I taught three hours of Writing into the Dark. Now understand, I taught that you don’t need an outline, you don’t even need an idea.…
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We Have Liftoff… North by Northwest Kickstarter
Now Live… This has been in the works for a time now. Wonderful to have it going. And lots of cool stuff as rewards, including discounts again on workshops and lectures. Just in time since some of you were running out of credits from the Pulphouse Kickstarter. (grin) The reason we are doing this is to expand the store into four unused rooms. But wow do those rooms need work. We are planning to do it no matter what, but the Kickstarter will speed up the process a whole bunch. And in the expanding, we will be starting up a system where indie writers and publishers can get their books…
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Two Brand New Workshops and Special Offer
ADDED NOTE: THIS HAS ALL BEEN CANCELLED SINCE NOT A PERSON EXPRESSED ANY INTEREST… Ahh, well, a good idea at the time… —————– That’s Right, Two… Bet you thought we weren’t going to do any regular workshops this spring. But nope, Superstars triggered two new ones that Kris and I really like. Plus with one workshop I am adding a special offer for only five writers. (See below.) Both of these new workshops are going to be starting in March. Both are craft workshops. And both are going to be crazy fun for me and Kris. And we hope for all of you who decide to jump in. First let…
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Jet Lag Took Its Ugly Toll…
Fell Asleep and Burned Dinner… Not kidding. I put on the potatoes and mushrooms and onions to boil. The idea was to have a simple dinner with pork loin, gravy and potatoes. Nope. It was not to be. Even simple seemed to be beyond me tonight. I set my alarm on my phone for ten minutes of a nap while the potatoes cooked and next thing I knew the poor helpless things were dry and burning. I hadn’t cooked dinner, I had tortured it. And the smell coming from the kitchen was not something to make anyone hungry. Kris sent me back to nap some more and fixed something from…