Category: On Writing

2018: A Retrospective

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Of the emails I send, I get the most responses from readers on “the author biz.” I initially figured few people would like to hear about the inner clockwork mechanism of indie publishing, but in hindsight it’s not crazy so many readers want to hear about it. I mean, you’re readers, and have a special relationship with writers. 2018 hasn’t been kind to indie authors. I know quite a few friends and colleagues who’ve noped out of the profession, and also a number who’ve made it rain C-notes from the sky. With this kind of duality going on, shit’s confusing. The reasons are, in business parlance, “nuanced.” Let’s dig in, shall we? Hugging it Out Some author friends (…who are actually just friends who also write) and I Skype’d in December. We talked about a lot of things, but the Read More …

Tyche Forever First Draft is Code Complete

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I the-ended Tyche Forever this afternoon: I thought I might do this when we did last week’s recap video. Turns out it happened that way after all, although it’s a little longer than I figured it might be (7.5k words today! And I’m still at the keyboard). October Kohl gives a speech at the end of this. It’s a growth moment for him. What’s in the rest of this week? Editing this sucker. Also editing The Empire’s Rogues, which received some positive feedback post beta reading and subsequent editing. You’ve not heard of the Empire’s Rogues? More soon, I promise. Responding to my withering storm of email, because I’ve been hiding under a rock while finishing Tyche Forever. Wish me luck.

15-Day Story Challenge: Week One 🐉

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This is one of my world-famous emails, originally sent Sunday, December 9 2018. You can get on the list here. Week One: in the Bag You may remember our threats to begin a 15-day story challenge. It has begun. This week: A recap for you, in delightful video form, The good news I alluded two a couple weeks back, and An excerpt from the story challenge. Let’s rock. The 15-Day Story Challenge Kick-Off Nervous laughter. Anxious smiles. It’s all here in our kick-off video: So, how did the week treat me? Pretty well. I completed 22,000 words this week, averaging 4,400/day (Monday was a bit of a dick, dragging the whole side down). The story’s about where I thought it would be: general chaos, madness, and disorder. Speaking of which, I learned some things, like don’t ask for advice. People Read More …

15-Day Story Challenge: WEEK ONE

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We’re at the end of Week One of our 15-day story challenge. How’s it going? In this video: Progress Surprises Challenges, and Plans for next week. Discord: https://discord.gg/mqQstMW Who we are: John Hindmarsh: http://www.johnhindmarsh.com, https://www.facebook.com/JohnHindmarshAuthor/ Kim Faulks: http://www.hauntingfiction.com, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimFaulks/ Nova Blake (aka Cassie Hart): https://www.novablake.com, https://www.facebook.com/novablakewrites/ Richard Parry: https://parrydox.com, https://www.facebook.com/therealrichardparry/

10th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards

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The winners are here: [Goodreads Choice Awards 2018] Having seen none of the books I voted for get in, I’m faced with two possibilities. It’s rigged; or Everyone’s wrong. Hmm. FWIW, I voted for: Fantasy: Grey Sister Sci-Fi: Persepolis Rising Get in there. New, excellent books are on my must-read pile.

15-Day Story Challenge Kick-off!

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We originally shared this as a Facebook Live but the audio was, in the parlance of my people, “Fucked.” Behold! One with all channels audible. In the video, we talk about: Introductions What we’re planning to write How we feel about the project How we’re planning to write What to expect from us coming up (emails, blogs, FB…) Where they can find us online How to get involved Our self-care plans so we don’t combust Discord: https://discord.gg/mqQstMW Who we are: John Hindmarsh: http://www.johnhindmarsh.com, https://www.facebook.com/JohnHindmarshAuthor/ Kim Faulks: http://www.hauntingfiction.com, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimFaulks/ Nova Blake (aka Cassie Hart): https://www.novablake.com, https://www.facebook.com/novablakewrites/ Richard Parry: https://parrydox.com, https://www.facebook.com/therealrichardparry/

We begin the 15-day story challenge on Monday 📅

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This is one of my world-famous emails, originally sent Friday, November 30. You can get on the list here. Happy [insert day of the week] to you. You might remember me talking about the 15-day story challenge. Turns out, that’s next week. WHAT HAVE I DONE?! I feel sick, but excited! This week: A few details on the story I’m minting; The plans and schedules; Me vs. Aeon 14; and Free beer. Rattle and roll. The Story Tyche’s Progeny, in particular Tyche’s Ghosts and Tyche’s Angels, features Algernon as a part of the cast. He’s a sentient machine, a survivor of the human-AI wars that resulted in the Mercury Accords. People really liked Algernon. I got a lot of email about him because he’s funny, but also because he spends about 70% of his on-screen moments mocking October Kohl. A Read More …

Scalzi’s Thanksgiving Gift

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I suggest listening to the audio of this rather than reading it. Also, try not to get too angry at your past automated phone system support calls. https://whatever.scalzi.com/2018/11/19/a-thanksgiving-week-gift-for-you-automated-customer-service/

The Interesting Science of Free Books Driving Piracy

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I like data. It helps make better decisions, and avoid posturing and hand-wavium. A bunch of people in the author community espouse the value of permafree* book one in a longer series. The basic argument is: There’s no friction to reader attachment, thus you’ll get a higher readership. This is testable. While less people as a percentage of book one readers will read next-in-series (as speculative “purchasers” can come from outside your genre lane), the volume of readers will drive greater success overall. We can test this for science. We can also talk about the shit-show of also-boughts and how that makes advertising painful. You gain exposure on other storefronts, other than the mighty Zon. We can test this too! TL;DR: none of the promised gains worked for me, but I did see a massive spike in book 2 & Read More …