See that piece of art at the top of this post? I licensed that cartoon through Canstock Photo, which I generally use for these posts. There are other stock art licensing sites, and WMG Publishing uses a bunch of them. I’m sure many of you do too. The license I agreed to for this particular piece of art is pretty standard. I paid a few […]
Business Musings: Rethinking The Writing Business (Part One)
When the disruption hit the publishing industry ten years ago, I watched with a wary eye. After I finished The Freelancer’s Survival Guide in the summer of 2010, I repurposed this weekly blog to help me understand the changes the publishing industry was undergoing. It seemed, in those heady days, that everything changed daily. And there was a large contingent of brand-new writers who knew […]
Business Musings: Positive, Pleasing, and Optimistic
Those of you who follow my business blog know that this past year has been hard on me. Illness, moving, lots of change. But I was determined, once I arrived in Las Vegas, to make the best out of the situation. Yes, we moved quickly. Yes, I’d been ill. Yes, Dean was caught between the old home and the new, as the brunt of the […]
Business Musings: Burnout and the Indie Writer
Burnout. I’ve been hearing that word a lot in the writer community. It took a while for the word to penetrate. I’ve had my own things to deal with this year, and I really haven’t been looking outward as much as I usually do. But a friend who traveled to a number of conventions this year mentioned that avoiding burnout was a topic at every […]
Business Musings: My Day in Negotiation
In dealing with movie and TV producers, and foreign rights publishers, and pretty much anyone who wants subsidiary rights to my book, I hold all of the power in the negotiation.
I know, I know. A bunch of you just did double-takes. How can I have more power than a Hollywood studio?
Business Musings: Mushroom Publishers And The Tsunami of Crap
So much of the writing advice we get comes from a set of assumptions that are no longer true. I’m not sure if they were ever true. But that’s for another blog post. (Or maybe I’ve written that post already.) Anyway, the assumption is that our culture is monolithic, that we all read the same books, and we’re all influenced by the same writers. Maybe […]
Business Musings: Writer Finances Versus The Paycheck World
If the indie writers who made a lot of money in 2012-2014 had followed this advice, they’d still be writing and publishing. Sure, their incomes would still be down, along with their sales, but their careers would continue.
What happened to these writers?
Well, they will say that their sales went down to unsustainable levels. Those writers will say there’s no point in continuing now that they can’t make the same kind of money they made in 2013. Those writers will say that writing, as a profession, is impossible.
And it is, if you don’t understand money management.
Business Musings: Patreon
I had to start analyzing why I couldn’t pull the trigger on a Patreon account.
It came back to what I could comfortably ask for–and what I wanted the account for. Searching other people’s Patreons only confused me. Everyone had great ideas and did great things, but I couldn’t see myself doing things like that for long. Or if I did, I could see those things consuming me and my time…
Business Musings: Running A (Writing) Business In Uncertain Times
To do modeling for the next year of your business, you need to be as clear-eyed as possible. You should research trends for your business for similar economic times, if you can.
Then you figure out as best you can what your future will be.
Here’s how you do it.
Business Musings: Fair, Compromise, Clout, and Balls (Contracts/Dealbreakers)
Control. It is at the heart of any negotiation. All business owners want to control as much about their businesses as possible. We all know that you can’t control everything in life. That rule also applies to contracts….
The Renegat, A Diving Novel, Hits The Stands!
35 Stories in 35 Days!
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Mission Critical
Exciting science fiction adventure stories, including my latest, “Ice Breakers.” Get yours here.
Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF
I’m happy to report my story, “Once On The Blue Moon,” appears in The Best Military & Adventure SF, Volume 5. Find out more here.
The Charming Trilogy Vol 2
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Daughters of Zeus Trilogy
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The Charming Trilogy Vol 1
The author-preferred editions of Utterly Charming, Thoroughly Kissed and Completely SmittenFind out more here in one volume with over 40,000 words of bonus essays and fiction. .
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Writing With Chronic Illness
The Author-Preferred Edition of FantasyLife
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