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2023 Good Cheer StoryBundle!
All Short Stories This Year! And a lot of them. We figured we all might now have time to read holiday novels, but always time here and there for a holiday short story or two. Here is Kris explaining the project and the books of stories included. This is a really fun one, folks! —– The 2023 Good Cheer Bundle – Curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch The holiday season goes by so very fast. I always have a dozen books lined up to read, filled with holiday stories to make me smile—or, in some cases, grimace. I do holiday charity runs, look at some of the free holiday events here…
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Eleven New Kickstarter Writer Campaigns…
The Most Ever in a Week!! I think October brings out the fun of Kickstarters. Wonder if Kickstarter has data on that. All of these are by members of the Kickstarter Best Practices class on Teachable. It is free and I have sent this blog to all 1,500 plus members as well as posted them on the class itself. I talk about the good parts of each campaign and if I see a problem, I say that as well. The idea is to learn and keep going. So these campaigns are great to study if you are thinking of trying one yourself. And even more important, back the ones you…
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Interesting Math
A Focus I Didn’t Mention Yesterday… I hinted at it. That $20,000 plus I have made for the short story “In the Shade of the Slowboat Man” was for licenses (to magazines, anthologies, collections, audio play, and Hollywood options) before indie publishing. Those licenses were over the space of 30 years. So the average is about $55 per month. Considering that a full decade went by and the story made nothing, just sat in a file drawer, not bad at all. So Looking at Indie Sales… I calculated my licensing fee yesterday in that total. Now, because I own the company publishing the story, I can calculate the sales income.…
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I Feel Bad For New Writers… Part 8… Myths
Massive Numbers of Myths on Both Paths… I say this little introduction to each new parts… New fiction writers coming in now are really torn between all the myths and hype of traditional publishing and all the myths and hype of indie publishing. But as I said back in the first post of this series, the paperback era of big publishing is pretty much done, and the distribution of fiction is changing over to the electronic era of indie publishing, with indie writers in charge. These kinds of major shifts in fiction distribution to the readers has happened four major times through the history of this country, with each new…
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More Workshop Curriculum
More Workshops and Classes Sorted into Areas of Interest The many, many workshops and classes we have are amazing, and to be honest, I sometimes lose track of them, since I am the only one at WMG who keeps track of these. I often just get so excited about doing a new class I don’t do upkeep on older ones. Just my desire to keep learning. So broke this down into areas that might make sense to help each writer find what they need to help them move forward. Remember, this week there is a half-price sale going on for all of this. The code is: JulyRegularSale Just hit purchase…
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The Wet Blanket Reality… Chapter One
Chapter One… Manuscript Must Be Perfect Writers who believe in the myth of traditional publishing also believe deeply in the myth that rewriting is good and that a manuscript must be perfect before you dare send it off to an agent. Perfect, I say!! Perfect! (I have never in my 40 plus years in publishing ever seen a perfect manuscript.) So what happens is that years and years pass while the writer “Works on their book.” Okay, come on, we all know a number of these writers spending years “working on their book.” And sadly, these writers are proud they are doing that and they will be glad to tell…
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Following Up on Yesterday’s Post…
With a Personal Story… I wrote a novel for fun back in January of 2014 called KILL GAME: A Cold Poker Gang Novel. It came out in Smith’s Monthly in March and then as a stand-alone novel in May of 2014. It sold very few copies, maybe three or four a month, maybe. (That’s what I have been told.) Then in November my creative voice said “Write another.” I did, a book called COLD CALL: A Cold Poker Gang Novel. Again it was in Smith’s Monthly and out stand-alone a month or so later. Sold very few copies, maybe three or four a month. I did not care and paid…
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A Quick Covers Post
Different Aspects of Cover Art… I tell writers to do their own covers. The levels of critical voice excuses I get back are amazing. And all the excuses are geared to make sure the writer fails. After all, that is what critical voice does, it stops you. In this modern world, unless you have a ton of money you want to just toss into a garbage can, no writer can afford to hire covers done. Wait, let me change that. No moderately prolific writer can afford the time, the money, the problems that come with having someone else do your covers. Moderately prolific? Four novels and a number of short…
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Changes In Publishing
A Glimpse of a Future As many of you know, I have been around and working in publishing and fiction writing professionally since 1987. Sold my first two short stories in 1974. Over the years, I have watched publishing change numbers of times. I knew the distribution collapse of the 1990s, caused by Safeway and invoicing, would alter publishing forever. And it did. And I watched as the Kindle changed everything in publishing and created the indie movement which is now the major part of publishing (even though traditional writers and publishers don’t want to think so.) And I have watched and wondered how this pandemic was going to change…
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Headed Home Tomorrow
Tuesday…. I need to spend a few hours to pack the car tomorrow morning, then head out. It will take me two days to get back to Vegas. And then on Thursday I will be back in my office and answering letters and assignments. But give me some time to get caught up, please. Thanks! And wow, we went right past the third stretch goal with the Cold Poker Gang Kickstarter (information in posts below) and are solidly on the way toward the 4th. Wonderful!! Again, thanks!! The big warehouse has gone from massive amounts of things to massive numbers of piles of boxes. But most things now have a…