When Less is More

Interesting blog post today on John Green’s Sparks Fly Up website. John talks about book advances, and while most writers dream of that 7-figure advance, he states that maybe a lower advance will be more beneficial to the writer AND the publisher. In his post he makes an analogy based on our current mortgage situation: “It seems to me that the publishing business has a lot in common with the mortgage industry: A publisher loans you some money, which they expect you to pay back. And … [Read more...]

Summer Challenge Milestone #4

I completed Week #4 of the Challenge. Nine more weeks to go. This is going to be a LONG summer. So I did a little better than I did last week. What helped me was turning off the TV and getting most of my writing done outside of the house. One of my goals this year was to try and write in my house---still working on that. Maybe I should turn off my cable? Yeah, right. This week I noticed I did a lot of revising which I shouldn’t do right now. Hence the low numbers on Tuesday and … [Read more...]

Writing and the Day Job

Ah, the day job. Yes, it helps pays the bills but hinders the writing. It's a catch-22. I found this interesting post from M.J. Rose on her Buzz, Balls & Hype blog that talks about this very subject. Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D. aka "Dr. Sue" is guest blogging and giving advice to a writer who hates the day job but is at a loss of what to do. "There does not appear to be one particular type of work that suits writers as a group. However, most of the jobs that fall into the 'loathed' … [Read more...]

Networking with the Publishers

I really do think that social networking is here to stay. I know that some writers may get overwhelmed with social networking because it can really be a time suck, but I think if you just pick one of the technologies to get out there (Facebook, Twitter or even blogging---which is the only thing I do right now) and keep that one thing updated and current, it’s better than nothing. Now it seems like the publishers are getting in on the current trend. Two publishers, Penguin and Simon & … [Read more...]