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Making a Living With Short Fiction 2021
Back By Popular Demand… Actually, I am bringing this forward from 2014 and then May 2016 and then again July 2018. It is mostly unchanged. I will put in BOLD ALL-CAP ITALICS when I have changed something. A note: I used to say it was possible to make a living writing novels in traditional publishing. I made a great living in traditional with novels for 15 years. That is no longer the case for novels for all but a tiny few in traditional publishing in 2021, but novels indie published you can make good money. ———— Can You Make a Living Writing Only Short Fiction? Every year or so I…
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A Covid Day…
Kris and I Had An Anniversary Today… We were married 28 years ago on December 20th on the top of a hill in the middle of a tree farm we owned surrounded by small trees and great friends. We had already been a couple for almost seven years at that point. I remember it as a fun day since we went back to our house in the mountains outside of Eugene with all the friends and had a great dinner. At that point in time Pulphouse Publishing Inc. had become a shadow of itself, I was still editing the first Pulphouse Magazine and Kris was the editor of The Magazine…
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Friday Night Short…
Only Going to Get a Few Hours Sleep… Today I turned in the April issue of Pulphouse Magazine, introductions and all done. And I just finished a new short story as well, going to wait until tomorrow to print it off because in the morning (actually, only a few hours after I go to bed) I need to be up for a 5K charity run. Even with Covid restrictions, they are making these safe, very safe actually. But starting at 7 am, halfway across Vegas, means I have to get up at 5:30 am. Last night I went to bed close to 4 am. Tonight I’m trying for 3 am…
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Putting Up New Workshops…
January and February Workshops…. They will be up on Teachable over this next week. But hold off until the 26th to sign up for any of them because on the 26th we will be announcing a workshop sale. Everything half price again in an attempt to keep all of you home, safe, and busy learning. Also, yes, we will be starting the new Collections Classes and those will be available for the sale as well. So stay tuned. I am working on getting them active, but tonight I worked on Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. So great to have that coming back strong in 2021. In fact, we are moving from quarterly…
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An Idea For Balance for the New Year…
Combining Challenges… This is sort of a simple idea, but it has some catches to it. A lot of writers I know are setting writing goals for the new year. And publishing goals as well. I have my publishing goal half set, my writing not so much. And I have been focusing on exercise and on losing a few more pounds. (How cliche is that for a New Year’s goal?) So need goals there as well. So here is how I have been looking at each segment. Time. Exercise… I want to get back to 10,000 steps a day streak. For me that’s five miles. One to two miles are…
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Year of Changes…
Now Looking at A Year of Doing… This last year has been hard, to say the least, on most people. And we are not done yet. Not by a ways, even with the good news today of a vaccine being approved in Great Britain, Canada, and today in the States. We have a long three or four months ahead of us before this even begins to turn around, especially with the non-mask wearers and their stupidity here in the States. For most of this last year it was impossible to try to plan anything. The Licensing Class we have going we just added a year. And supposedly now the Licensing…
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Five Story Collections
A Brand New Series of Classes… Okay, this is not official yet, but here is what Kris and I are thinking for the Collection Class Series. This is the really fun idea that has popped up a bunch of times since the summer. This would not be part of the regular workshop classes or subscription, but something very different and you will see why. But the upshot is that by the end of the class, you will have published a five-story collection you didn’t have going into the class. Here is. the structure of each class in general. A nine week class. (Yes, I said nine weeks.) And each week…
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Time to Look Ahead…
And We Can!!! Finally, the end of this year is in site, a vaccine is in sight, and here in the States a new government is in site. So it is the 7th of December and time to slowly start making plans for the new year. Writing plans, business plans, exercise plans that were almost impossible to make four months (or even two months) ago. On exercise, since I finished the marathon, I overate and gave my feet time to heal, so gained five pounds. Winter/holiday weight I am sure, but going to drop it back off plus more after the holiday. So I am in the process of setting…
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A Problem I Am Just Starting to See…
Submissions to Major Magazines… I flat believe that everyone writing short stories and who wants a writing career long term should get into the habit of sending short stories to major magazine markets. I have gone over the reasons may times. All upside when your stories start to hit. And I have just assumed it was some fear thing that stopped writers from submissions of stories to major magazines. Fear caused by baseless critical voice issues that I just assume that if a writer can’t get past the fears, they will never be a long-term writer. And I think all of the above is true still. No opinion change on…
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Interesting Lesson…
That Took Me Time To Learn With Exercise… But might help some of you with writing. I have two great friends who are on streaks of so many steps every day, both over 4,000 steps a day on bad days, usually a bunch over that. But they each have a minimum number. So does Kris and she never misses. The guys have been going out every day, regularly, getting steps. We are reporting to each other and being supportive. They were very supportive of my marathon extreme day. I did 55,000 plus steps last Saturday completing a marathon. One of them did more steps in six days and the other…