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Some Fun Thoughts…
And A Warning… As many of you know, or might have guessed, I spend a great deal of time reading news and information about the industry, both the traditional side and what can be found among all the promotion myths on the indie side. Some of it I pass along, some of it Kris and I talk about, some of it I just file away as information to see trends and so on. I consider this part of my job. Not for you folks, but because this is how I make my living and if I am not aware of my industry, I will make mistakes. Now some of you…
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Making a Fortune
An Old Belief or Myth… I had two people repeat a bad myth to me today. The myth is that writing is NOT the fastest way to make a buck. I suppose over the very short term, that is true… sort of. Say you want to be a lawyer. Your first buck will come in around year eight. Doctor around year nine. Plumber, after some training, as an apprentice, maybe the first year. Architect, year six. Being a waiter or tending bar, or a janitor, or any other hourly job, you get paid in two weeks after you start, so I suppose those are the quickest way to making a…
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IP Earnings
Cash Streams Most Don’t Know About… Kris and I try to help writers understand IP, in one way or another, through blogs, through workshops, and many other ways over the years. But two things happened today that just made me shake my head. First off, I read an article on Facebook that I now can’t find (but I am sure Google will help you) on how much actors make from residuals of old shows like Mash, Cheers, Friends, and so on. The amount for those who signed good contracts is staggering. Sometimes up to 20 million a year. That’s right, for work they did years ago. (see where this is…
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Well, Next Week…
Kickstarter Seems to Have Forgotten Us… Said our campaign would be approved by the 15th. Nope. It is now the 16th. I don’t think there is a problem, just they seemed to have gotten busy or something. First time in 15 times that has happened. So now the 2020 Holiday Spectacular will launch next Tuesday, if they approve it. Not sure why they wouldn’t, but you never know these days. It is 2020 after all. (grin) So I’m going back to finishing up some writing and editing this weekend plus exercising. Turned in a book yesterday to WMG, like to finish up a couple more. Did seven miles today, even…
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November Workshops Now Up
All On Teachable… December workshops will be also up and able to sign up in a few days. And last call to jump into the October workshops this weekend. They will vanish on Monday or so. I initially was going to push back the start date of the November workshops until the 10th, but then decided that the 3rd is fine because most people don’t start workshops for a few days anyway. And the first weeks are normally the easiest. For those who have been living in isolation, the 3rd is the US election. So here is the list of the November and December workshops. I am pretty sure that…
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Very Impressed…
The Covers From the Covers 101 Workshop… The writers who managed to get through to the last assignment of the covers workshop produced some stunning book covers. The Covers 101 Workshop is a step-by-step process workshop in design and layout of covers. I just got done earlier tonight going through Assignment #5 in the Covers 101 workshop (first time it was offered) and basically all were professional covers that would sell books. I showed Kris a few and she just said, “Wow!” A couple writers, as expected, thought they could write sales copy for the back cover without training and failed, horribly, but this wasn’t a sales copy workshop, it…
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Money and Kickstarter Workshops Starting
How To Make Money With Your Fiction Writing… Yup, that workshop starts on Wednesday this coming week. Should be a very interesting one, but don’t take it if you want to learn about advertising on places like Facebook and so on. That is not how to make money past a moment in time, maybe, if you are lucky. We’re not even hardly mentioning that. This workshop is how to make money over the long haul and build the income. If you first thought is that you know how to do that, you really need this workshop. If you first thought is you can’t imagine what we will talk about besides…
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Doc Smith and My Family
Some Strange Similarities… I got to know Verna Smith Trestrail, E.E. “Doc” Smith’s only daughter way back in 1974. Her father had been dead for about a decade at that point and I had never had the pleasure to meet him, but Verna was wonderful. Since Doc graduated from the University of Idaho and the writing group I was in there, and the science fiction club, was thinking of putting on a convention, I suggested that they invite Verna and have Doc be the honorary guest of honor. They went for it and MosCon was born, a great little convention that lasted for years and is trying to make a…
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Dare To Be Bad
A Great Catch Phrase… Following is a post I wrote almost exactly ten years ago. Very little has remained the same in publishing in ten years, and especially through this pandemic, but I figured it would be a good time to bring this forward, touch it up a little bit. Many of you have heard me talk about this concept, and it is an amazingly freeing thing when applied. And my gut sense is that this would be a good Pop-Up topic to really dig into it for those who might need this. Anyway, here is the original post from ten years ago. Dare To Be Bad Kevin J. Anderson…
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Another Go At A Myth…
The Myth: Indie Publishing Costs a Lot to Do… Silly myth, but it is pushed hard by traditional publishing and by those who want to sell all their rights and let traditional publishing keep all their money. And it is pushed by just not knowing or getting information from the wrong sources. Remember, there are always people trying to stop you. So let me detail out the costs here as clear as I can. Let me make a couple of assumptions clear first. Assumption #1… For novels you must have copyeditor, someone who finds typos in your work. This can be a good friend, someone you hired at your library…