• 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

    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…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    December Workshops Starting

    And Some Bundle Deals… I forgot all about announcing the December Regular Workshops were starting up. Available for less than one week. They have all just started. Jump in on Teachable. Class #61… Dec 4th … How to Study Writing Class #62… Dec 4th … Endings Class #63… Dec 4th … Point of View Class #64… Dec 4th … Writing Mysteries Class #65… Dec 4th … Speed Class #66… Dec 4th … Teams in Fiction Class #67… Dec 5th … Depth in Writing Class #68… Dec 5th … How to Use Tags Class #69… Dec 5th … Character Development Class #70… Dec 5th … Writing Secondary Plot Lines Class #71… Dec 5th… Information Flow Class #72… Dec 5th…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Some Numbers on Income

    I Got This Question About Numbers of Sales It Takes… Now, I have done this post a bunch, mostly on making a living with your short fiction, so thought I would twist it a little just for fun. And to show some extremes. But everyone should be doing these numbers for themselves at times. And, of course, there is no right answer to this. Not a one. Since the 20Booksto50K conference was here and I did that talk which you can see a few posts back, let’s just use $50,000 for goal number. Novel Price is $5.99 electronic so you get $4 per sale. (You make extra paper and audio…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Stay Away From Traditional Book Publishing

    Yes, I Know That is a Dream for Many… But it is a horrid (and I mean horrid beyond words) path for writers now in 2018. But Dean, how can you say that? You first published with traditional publishing, right? Yes, I sold my first novel in 1987 and did my last work for them in 2008. I did 106 books (that I can remember) through traditional big-five book publishing. I am pretty convinced that even by my  math, most of that was last century. Let me repeat that. Last century. You know, dial phones hooked to a wall with cords, no internet, no email. That century. Yet traditional book…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    We Got Crazy

    Well, Kris Did… Our new Pop-Up Series was intended  to do a few a month tops. When a fun idea for one struck us. But Kris handed me three nifty ideas in the Pop-Up Series and I liked them as much as she did, so all three are coming in December. The third one in the first batch we did about writing short romance is now up, and the second one has a week left before it vanishes. (The first one is gone, but you can still get it in the bundles.) These are from 10 to 20 videos per Pop-Up on a certain topic we find fun and interesting,…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    Spent My Night Trying to Get Writers to Follow Instructions

    A Stupid Task I Must Admit… But critical for the anthology workshop to even begin to work. I am not sure what makes writers so incapable of following basic guidelines. Ah, well, this first week is over, so from here on out I can just bounce or ignore a story if the writer doesn’t get the instructions right. Much easier on me. I just wish I had the hours I lost tonight back. And on other news, the Pop-Up on Short Romance is now live. It has a short story assignment with it, as do the other Pop-Ups. However, the first Pop-Up is now gone and can only be accessed…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    I’m Back Home In Vegas

    Spent the Last Three Days on the Oregon Coast… Business meetings, finishing up a bit of the last of the move, and having great dinners with old friends. A good, but quick trip. I started a short story on the plane on the way down, didn’t have time to write anything while there, then finished the short story in the lounge at the airport and on the plane back. So that was fun. About 5,000 words. The idea (that I posted last night) of offering free Master Class tuition if you have or buy a lifetime online workshop came about in a meeting in Allyson’s office at WMG, with Kris…

  • Challenge

    Got Really Late

    Of course, in the old days in Lincoln City, this would be early… But now it is late and the blog I wanted to write doesn’t have enough time or brain power to happen. So another night. Right now I guess I just need to post this because I have to keep up my challenge of doing a blog per day. But I did get a couple thousand words done on a short story today, so the writing is coming back and considering the day, that is a total win. And don’t forget the Pop-Up about doing your own bookstore is now live and will be for less than two…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Too Much and Too Little

    There is a Line To Walk Between the Two… I got a great question the other day about what I have been trying to do with my exercise and losing weight. And I realized the question also applied to my getting back solidly to writing. The question was: “Why are you pushing so hard to get back to exercise and running?” As those who follow here regularly know, since I got to Vegas in August, I have been working to add distance to my walking and running while at the same time losing weight. Two weeks ago, in a 5K run, I was down 20 pounds and had gained lung…