• On Writing,  publishing

    A Post Very Much Worth Reading

    From Steven Barnes… Steve put up this great post on Facebook talking about how a writer can kill his own joy and purpose in writing. Sadly, I know exactly who he is talking about. I met the person he talks about a number of times and it was exactly as Steve said. I even got that same card and was just as disturbed by it. I constantly tell people to not write to market, to write what they love, that doing anything else is a quick path to the end of your writing. So if you don’t listen to me on this, listen to Steve. He says it so much…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    New Pop-Up Available

    The New Year is Coming… How to set goals and challenges and streaks and habits and so much more for the new year is in the 5th Pop-Up now available on Teachable. It is called “Remaining Focused” and has all sorts of things that can help you hit your writing goals in 2019. Plus it will be there for you for the entire year on your dashboard to review if you remember. — Also, a spot still open in the Mentor Program I am doing for a few writers for the entire year of 2019. Information a few posts back if you are interested. — Another thing on this late…

  • Challenge,  running

    Fun Day Started Early

    Another Run… This 5k fun run was along a paved trail along a canyon in Henderson, NV (a part of larger Las Vegas valley.) Started at 9 am and I actually managed to run fairly comfortably over half it. I decided to not push yet, since I am still recovering from the fall in some ways, but it was a comfortable run walk. And fun. (A couple pictures below and Kris put a bunch more on Facebook.) A really fun breakfast at a nifty restaurant out in Henderson after the run, then home to just spend a nice day working here with pizza for dinner. (Yes, Las Vegas has fantastic…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Various Stuff

    Got A 5K Run In The Morning… So some quick stuff tonight. First off, still a spot, maybe two, in the mentor program. I might be convinced to go to four, but no more and right now there are two who are in. So still open. Write me if you want information. Information two posts back and it will be a lot of fun and learning, I can promise. Second, the January Regular Online Workshops are now on Teachable. Here is the list. Note they start on the 1st and 2nd. Class #1… Jan 1st … Depth #3: Research Class #2… Jan 1st … Author Voice Class #3… Jan 1st … Dialog…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    How to Think About a Challenge

    New Year Is Coming… And many writers, me included, are starting to set up challenges to help us reach goals with our writing. But the question is how to make the goals large enough to be challenging and yet not set up for failure. So let me tell you how I do it, since I have started and backed off a challenge twice now that I will be starting for the third time on January 1st. I do not consider the two first false starts as failure. Not in the slightest, actually. They were learning. So that is point one… Never think about failure. Just think positive about the challenge…

  • On Writing,  publishing

    Mentor Program

    Yup, Going To Do It… Over the years, lots of my friends who are long-term writers have unofficially taken on younger writers to mentor. This has been a standard way in publishing for centuries now. And for a young writer to get into one of those positions is pure luck. Kris and went another way. We started off doing talks at conventions, basically trying to be entertaining and tell younger writers what we wish someone would have told us twenty years earlier. Then we went into the workshops a few times a year on the Oregon Coast, and then into online workshops, which has grown far, far larger than we…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    Futures Workshop Series

    First One Done… And still available. Second one starts in January. Third in March and last one in May. Four different six-week workshops on the topic of thinking about the future in your writing career. You can sign up for all four in a bundle of four and save some money and as I said, even though the first one is done, you can still go through it (at your own pace). https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com Or you can get a Lifetime Workshop Subscription with all the workshops in it (about $15,000 in workshops for $3,000) and for a short time get free tuition ($750 value) into the Business Master Class here in…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    A Bunch of Workshops Moving to Classic

    It Will Take Me A Week… But I will get them moved and announce which ones. I wanted to get a bunch moved before folks buying the writer Christmas Box had a chance to decide what to take in ten days. There will be more selection. Right now, this is the last day or so to sign up for the December Regular Workshops. They have all started last week but no too late except for a few of them, which I have pulled off the schedule. Jump in on Teachable. So the following ten are still available for another day or so. Then January workshops will be up and available and…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Attention Those in the Anthology Workshop

    Read the Week’s Assignment Early!!! Just a warning. This year’s anthology workshop is going to be a blast here in Las Vegas with all the restaurants and the nifty suite for evening chats. And the stories are going to be great fun as well. And nope, far, far too late to sign up, even though the workshop isn’t until March. Sorry. But you can sign up for 2020. (The writing starts in November 2019 and it will fill again fairly soon this winter. So don’t miss it next year.) And those with can still sign up for free Business Master Class here in Vegas. And yes, you can sign up…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Straight to Discount

    A Question About a Comment I Made… Most of you know that I flat out think that KU with its exclusive clause is the stupidest thing a writer can do in a career. (Outside of going to a traditional book publisher.) Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, for a short time you can make some money. Good for you, but it is still stupid for an overall indie career. You are not gaining readers. So I made this comment about how I wrote a couple of books for a straight-to-discount publisher and got a few questions about wanting me to explain that more. To put it simply, same as going to…