Month: January 2015

Goals For 2015 Pt. 7: Publication and Short Fiction

One of my goals for 2015 is to submit up to six short stories to SF&F magazine markets. I currently have one story under consideration with one market and I’ve almost completed a second story. But why would I bother with short fiction when I’ve got numerous books to write and one I’m definitely preparing for publication later this year. Here are several reasons:

1. I hope to show readers I have a wider ability and scope with my fiction writing. I think it’s important that readers have an idea of what they’re getting from my fiction and submitting short fiction is an outstanding way to attempt this goal. If a reader likes my short stories they are more likely to like my books too.

2. Being published through a magazine market provides greater credibility for me as an author. If a reader trusts my fiction content they will certainly look further in to my books and perhaps become a fan. Gaining fans is the best way to increase the number of readers for my fiction because they spread the word.

3. Short fiction is a great way to continue improving my craft. While my goal is to write books they take a long time to complete. A short story gives me the chance to hone my writing skills while taking less time. Gaining acceptance of any short story at a paying market also validates that I’m improving at the craft.

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4. If a short story is accepted it becomes a great source of secondary income. The goal of my writing is to entertain well enough to make some money at it. A short story can be sold several times through podcasts, re-prints and anthologies so they offer several pieces of pie to an enterprising author.

5. I enjoy writing and short stories are a lot of fun to write. I wouldn’t be writing if I didn’t like it and short fiction by its very nature provides loads of enjoyment for me. I get to develop ideas in all kinds of settings with all kinds of characters all in a small package. There’s far less commitment of time for development and writing which makes this a pleasant break from the grind of a novel.

6. Short fiction is inherently challenging. A short story requires an author to weave a tale in limited space. The goal is to tell a lot with far less words so you have to be conscious of the length at all times. Brevity is a great creative exercise.

So those are my reasons for spending time on short stories. Do you like to read or write short fiction? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today! Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.

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Cover art provided on commission from Chris Rawlins

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Goals for 2015 Pt. 6: Site Management Follow-Up

Last month, I wrote about my goals for 2015. However, those were just stated, good intentions. At this point, I want to begin sharing how I’m progressing with these goals. The effort is not to toot my own horn but, rather, to share my journey as an author for both readers and authors – especially newer authors regarding the latter.

One of my stated goals for the year was improvements to my website. As an author, a writing platform is essential in this digital age. Social media serves to bring readers your website and direct them to your content. As a consequence, my website is an effective tool to present myself to readers so they can get to know me. My blog exists to inform but also to present content that prospective readers come to trust.

I’ve come to understand that a website, much like the platform, is a growth project. It may experience construction followed by a lull and then more work. But always it needs to be in use.

One of the ways I want to grow this year is by improving this website visually. I want to use custom themes as well as possibly shift to self-hosting though my current needs are well-fulfilled. The custom themes will server to further brand my site and content that identifies my work with the fantasy genre. Getting there is an important milestone.

However, I currently lack funds to enact these major site changes and branding. In the meantime, I’m working instead to brand the site in a different way – with content. I’ve begun a new feature named “Fantasy Authors Unplugged” which presents interviews of other fantasy authors. With this and more genre-related content I’m identifying this site and my content with SF & F fiction.

I’m also sharing more of my journey to publication and growth as an author to inform readers of the process and encourage other authors. I’m also beginning to write more about other facets of development and hoping to submit guest posts on other sites and beginning to do some author interviews myself.

So, while I’m not yet able to directly address my final goal for this website I am working to further brand it for fantasy genre readers and authors. My content is slowly changing to favor that of more general writing topics and those of fantasy.

Have you made goals for the year? Have you taken steps to enact your goals? How? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today! Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.

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Fiction Update: The Bow of Destiny

Today, I’m sharing news about my writing and I do so as a way of sharing my writing journey with readers and other authors – the latter especially for newer authors. My work continues to progress regularly and I’m gaining some momentum for what’s to come for the year. I’ll share at a later date why I’m at this point but I want to focus on where I am and where I’m going over the next few months.

The Bow of Destiny is off to my editor today. While it has received substantial editing previously it’s now time to progress with another edit. The work done before this time occurred back in late 2010-11. At the time, I was in the middle of some life changes that proved difficult for writing. We experienced months of repairs to our house due to damage from the tornadoes of 4/27/11. Very jarring and distracting to progress on the book. Additionally, my father became ill and went downhill for about a year until he passed in mid-2012. It was a longer event which sapped my creativity for months.

But other the last year and a half I’ve made significant progress with the book. First, I took the original edits from my editor and made changes that I understood clearly. After that, I began considering deeper changes for the book and decided on fundamental structural change for the first third of the manuscript. This re-organization was easy to visualize with the help of Scrivener’s binder but a daunting task otherwise.

Along the way, I received some critique advice to make my character point of view much deeper. It was good advice but I was unsure what to do with it. By June of last year I received clearer direction which I’ll share about in another post this week. Again, in July I got further instruction that led to my series about using deep POV. However, the required revision was daunting to say the least. As a writer, I was not pleased to overhaul my manuscript once again but I slogged through it and finally finished last November. Now I’m glad I did it because I gained so much experience from the labor.

At this point, the work with the editor will occur in two parts. First will be a structural edit to work out any remaining kinks in the plot. Then, depending on the editor’s schedule, there will be a second, detailed edit either in mid-March or May. Again, there will be heavy lifting but I’m much better equipped for this than I was several years ago. The schedule delays me some but that just gives me the chance to work on the drafts for the second and third books in the series as well as the beginning of the parallel series. I’m also working on my short fiction while I’m waiting on the editor’s schedule and work to be completed.

So there’s a window into being an author and dealing with editing. The learning curve and distractions of life can really hold you up. However, these can serve to hone you as a writer. I certainly don’t think that I’ve “arrived” as an author let alone mastered the craft but I can say I’ve come a long way. I’m much more confident about approaching upcoming projects as well as actually publishing The Bow of Destiny. The best part about the delays is that I’ll be so close to releasing the rest of the series in a shorter time . In this case, the waiting is a good thing because I will have content out in bulk and, hopefully, with high, page-turning quality.

I hope this gives readers and insight into the writing process. If you’re and author, what trials and growth have you experienced along the way to publication? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today! Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.