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A General Update… Short
Got To Be Short Tonight… Got to rest my eye from too much screen time. Pushing the edge right now. I did a bunch of work on Kickstarter and have that Best Practices updated, but no new videos there. I wrote the introduction and author introductions to the second cat anthology and got that turned in today. A few days ago I also put together a new Poker Boy collection and did an introduction and got that turned in as well to WMG. Two books in two days. I am working on Pulphouse #10 (I think #9 will ship shortly as we get back on track) and I also did…
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A Scary Topic
A Realization Tonight… Bookstores might not survive this virus in any form I know. Online bookstores will, sure, but physical bookstores, not so much. Here is what made me jump to that idea. First, some history and a lesson on how major publishing used to work and works now. Back 15 years ago… Traditional publishing was in total control of the industry and had been for forty years. A book would go into one of the offices through an agent, get bought, get rewritten for cash flow reasons, then copyedited and sales meetings and so on and be ready to go in one slot or another in the monthly imprint…
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Card Sharp Silver… Day 19
No Day Is The Same… It would certainly help if I could settle into some sort of routine, where I knew I could get a set amount of exercise and a set amount of writing done. Oh, that would be heaven. And I am working toward that. But at the moment, still a lot happening, so no routine just yet. Soon. So here is how the day went. Managed to get to this computer to do some email around noon, then a little before one I left to go meet a leasing agent and get the keys to WMG Publishing’s new Vegas office. Inspections and other stuff took some time,…
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Last Day on Summer Learning Sale
Ends Sunday at 5 PM West Coast Time… It has been an interesting three months or so, to say the least in a massive understated way. When this crazy shut down hit in March, Allyson and Kris pushed that we find a way to get workshops to writers to help them stay shut in for a time. That was also when we decided to add in such great stretch goals and do the Writing Bundles of books for such a low price through Kickstarter. When done correctly, writing and publishing can be an escape from the fears and craziness of real life. I know that well because I used reading…
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Letters Out For Historical Workshop and News
Sent Letters to Everyone… So if you signed up for the Writing Historical Fiction special workshop in the Cave Creek Kickstarter and didn’t get a letter from me, after checking your spam filter, write me. In the letter you have the choice to sign up for either the May session or the June session. Totally up to each of you. But those will be the only two sessions. And all the surveys have gone out for the Writing Bundles Kickstarter which just closed, so get those surveys back quickly if you can. That way we can get out all the awards and books. Still Under Stay-At-Home Orders… Looks like most…
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Catching Up and New Workshop
A BUNCH OF DETAILS… First off, finally finishing the reading on the Messed Up stories for Pulphouse. Got just a few more. I’ve had to limit my screen time for my one eye, but getting back up to speed slowly. So those should be done in the next day or so and out to everyone. Secondly, setting up the June workshops. A couple of those are posted already. The rest to follow. Third, those of you who signed up for Writing Historical Fiction should get a letter from me this weekend with links to the May and June workshops. You can pick the one you would like to take. That…
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Last 18 Hours…
5 Writing Bundles Containing 17 Books… Plus you get Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s fantastic Freelancer’s Survival Guide. And two Tip-Of-The-Week lectures with 13 tips in each one. Plus a Futures Workshop and a bundle of six genre classic workshops. That is exactly $1,000 in value in lectures and workshops. Crazy, huh? Over 300 teaching videos combined. And today a number of people asked me, “Why?” Simple, actually. When we all got locked down in March, Kris and I and Allyson were trying to figure out ways we could help writers stay focused, keep learning, and keep writing. But we knew money would be tight for everyone, so we did what we…
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The Decade Ahead: Second Quarter
Finally Some Posts In April… It took clear to the end of April before I could figure out how to approach this quarter. I want this Decade Ahead class to help writers for years to come on their Teachable dashboards. Help them get through regular times, regular years for the next decade. But at the same time, it is impossible to talk about how to get through April and May and June in this second quarter of 2020 without dealing with this pandemic. So I decided to do both. I am doing a series of videos that will be valuable in general and next April/May/June. Dealing with the Time of…
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Refusing to Go to Bed Before Midnight…
On a Friday Night… But it will be close. I’m tired from a day that I don’t much remember, and I’m getting up early tomorrow to go out into the wilds of Las Vegas grocery stores. I get in with all the old folks because the fact is that I am an old folk. Less crowded and old folks, for the most part, tend to be more careful. And they move slower so I can dodge them easier. And the store shelves are stocked. Just amazing seeing Las Vegas on a Friday night now. We used to be able to stand on our balcony and see downtown Vegas and hear…
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Vegas Workshops Postponed
I Had Planned to Write Today… Until all the work Allyson had been doing with the Golden Nugget for the Business Master Class finally got settled and signed. So as of right now, the last Business Master Class is scheduled for… October 11-14, 2021. That’s right, it is pushed back one year from this October and is now held from Monday through Thursday with cheaper room rates. So instead of writing, I spent the afternoon and part of the evening writing letters to everyone signed up, over sixty people. Basically, the workshop is just postponed. If you think you were signed up and didn’t get a letter from me, write…