• Challenge

    Took Friday Night Off….

    Going to Be a Busy Week… So just took the night off, took a nap, watched television. Since I normally am in my office doing stuff seven nights a week, this is rare. Kind of boring, actually, which might be why it is rare. But this post is to keep the stupid daily blog streak active. Nothing more. Otherwise I would have gone straight to bed, but alas, the pressure of not missing for over eleven or twelve years is pretty intense. This is enough… Night…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Your Writing Method Often Holds You Back…

    Sometimes Writer’s Block Is Basic Like Structure… Spring of 1975. I had just sold in the fall of 1974 my first two short stories (and I had also been selling a lot of poetry.) I felt that even though I had just sold two short stories back-to-back, I felt I needed to learn  how to write (a good instinct.) So I turned to writers who did not know how to write to teach me, but they seemed like they did. They talked a great game and their answers fit right into the common knowledge. Oops… (Good instinct to keep learning, wrong execution.) My method for writing the first two short…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    One Day Left On Discounts

    Early Bird Discounts End Thursday Night at Midnight… Get a pretty major discount for both parts of the WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM classes. Remember, the first session starts on October 1st. That is just next week. Wow. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 1… October/November (starts October 1st) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 7 webinars. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 2… January/Feb (starts January 7th ) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 9 webinars. December off and you must take part one to take part two. (Webinars will be recorded and are not mandatory to attend, so no worries.) Each week will have five or six videos plus an assignment. The assignments are not…

  • Brand,  Challenge

    Oh, Yes We Did…

    Kris and I Killed Many a Good Brand… I got two different emails suggesting that it was hard to believe that business-focused writers like us could kill brands. “Must have been pretty minor brands.” Well, we can and we did. And like many writers, we only saw the real value in hindsight. For example, in 1987 I was offered a small press by the name of Axolotl. It was in financial problems and had promised a book and taken money on the book from readers, so we bought the press and got out the book and then we promptly changed the focus of the press to original science fiction novellas,…

  • Brand,  Challenge

    Kill a Brand…

    Indie Publishers Kill Brands All the Time… Indie publishers will spend all the time and money to build up a brand, then let it just coast until dead. Why? Numbers and numbers of reasons… Here are just a few. — Indie publishers have zero idea what they are creating when they publish books and stories. — Indie publishers seldom even understand copyright, let alone brands and trademarks.  — Indie publishers just don’t care unless it helps them make a few extra sales on some Amazon measure.  — Indie publishers seldom understand licensing or what a brand might get the publisher in yearly financial return. Thus indie publishers don’t often know…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    Early Bird Discount Ends Thursday

    These Writer’s Block Freedom Classes Are Special… The more Kris and I work on putting these together, the more excited I am getting about it, especially with the two parts over four months and the weekly webinar that will be recorded. It will still be available after Thursday, just more expensive. And remember, this starts on October 1st. Not very far away. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 1… October/November (starts October 1st) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 7 webinars. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 2… January/Feb (starts January 7th ) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 9 webinars. December off and you must take part one to take part two. (Webinars will…

  • Branding,  Challenge,  publishing

    Accidental Branding…

    Happens to Most Writers… Pretty simple how it happens. You end up with a logo or a certain look or on a series of books. You are doing it because it looks cool and to tie your books together, which is a basic form of branding for sales. All fun and if you let it slip or change it down the road, the brand is gone. But what most writers don’t know or seldom think about is the increased value of their copyright, their trademark, their brand caused by doing something that simple. Granted, most writers worry  bout how many sales they are making month-to-month and nothing about creating value…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    Telling Lies…

    Professional Writers Don’t Have Writer’s Block… Can’t begin to tell you how many times I have heard that, and how many times over the decades I said it about myself. And I believed that lie I kept telling myself and others. I totally believed it, even though I had years and years at different times I fought forms of writer’s block. I just never called it “writer’s block” because my belief system was that “writer’s block” was an excuse. Uh, no. Granted, what I do is sit alone in a room and make stuff up. Not a hard thing to do, but wow when it came to writer’s block, I…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    Early Bird Discount Extended…

    WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM Early Bird Discount… Discount now extended to Thursday, September 26th at midnight West Coast time. Why, because the discount is the difference between getting into the class and not for some. And we had a number of people ask if they could have a few extra days and when we said yes to one we wanted to make the extension for everyone. And remember, this starts on October 1st. Not very far away. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 1… October/November (starts October 1st) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 7 webinars. WRITER’S BLOCK FREEDOM PART 2… January/Feb (starts January 7th ) 9 weeks of classes, 8 assignments, 9…

  • Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign

    Last Day of Fey Kickstarter…

    Ends at 7PM Thursday West Coast Time!! That’s Today!!! I love these new Fey novels with the steampunk and fantasy and magic that Kris is writing. Trust me, the Fey. Serebro Academy: A New Fey Novel about an invasion of the Fey at Serebro Academy will keep you turning pages into the night . Check it out. A fantasy thriller. With Steampunk. As only Kristine Kathryn Rusch can write it. THE INCIDENT AT SEREBRO ACADEMY. And Kickstarter liked us enough to give us Project We Love weeks before we launched. So cool. And this one was only 9 days long. It also has two really fun special workshops in this…