Every year, we buy the Pearls Before Swine daily calendar. When we started into 2022’s daily calendar, I hesitated. Stephen Pastis had written all of the comics in 2020, and he was commenting on the then-current events. I told Dean that I did not want to relive 2020. Dean told me I didn’t have to read the comic strips, but he wanted to. So they’re […]
Business Musings: How We Use Kickstarter
In last week’s post, I talked about the sense of urgency in publishing. I suggest you read the post, because it’s important for all of us. We need to understand how, in the world of entertainment, the producers of content have lost control of the sense of urgency, and how that sense of urgency has moved to the consumers of content. Read the post, please, […]
A Quick Reminder
You have about two days to get your copy of the new Fey novel, The Kirilli Matter, early. For as little as $5, you can get an ebook of the novel, and several other stories, as well as some motivational videos for yourself or a writer friend. I’m writing this on Sunday because the week is going to be crazy, so I wanted to remember […]
Business Musings: Searching For A Sense of Urgency
As of the writing of this post, I have not yet seen Season 4 of Stranger Things. I decided in May to wait until the entire series dropped so I could binge it. Then I found myself busier than I expected. Dean doesn’t watch Stranger Things, so I need to find time away from reading and writing to watch the entire series. I skipped three […]
Business Musings: How Writers Fail (Part 8): Yeah, I Already Know That
I recently read a novel by a traditionally published writer who’s been a favorite of mine for forty years. The novel was good—her work is always good—but it lacked dramatic tension. At one point, Dean asked me what genre the book was, because the cover didn’t communicate a genre clearly. I was about 100 pages from the end. I paused, frowned, and said, “I have […]
Business Musings: The Business Mindset
Artists: I want you to pay attention here because this post is for you. The rest of you, those who love business, please read because you might find some inspiration here. But I’m talking to the folks who seem to believe that practicing art is something that is divorced from business and must remain so. Those who practice art in this way believe that once […]
Business Musings: How Writers Fail (Part 7): Competition
This is another one of those deceptive titles, like “Money.” Because when most writers read “Competition” as the sub header here, they think, Yep, there’s just too much competition out there. A handful of writers win, but the rest of us lose. Um…no. Readers are a fascinating bunch. They’re terribly unpredictable. Just because something is marked “bestselling” doesn’t mean that everyone wants to read it. […]
Business Musings: Economic Uncertainty
Note: I wrote this at the end of July. By the end of the first week in August, the doomsayers got confused by the stellar jobs report here in the U.S. A lot of the analysis is a confused “this doesn’t fit into our models,” rather than a discussion of how to find new models. I’m mostly leaving the post as it was when I […]
Business Musings: Let’s Talk Real Business, Shall We?
Two weeks ago, I posted about agenting changes, and linked to a Hollywood Reporter piece about the new writer/agent relationship. Many of you had sent me that piece, because it is shocking in its happy talk about what is, essentially, a predatory scheme. I promised you all three posts inspired by this piece. The agenting piece is the expected one, along with last week’s post […]
The Reflection on Mount Vitaki: A Story of the Fey
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Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Novel
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The Chase
The Chase, the latest Diving novel, answers a lot of your questions about the series. It also might cause you to ask a few more. Click here to find out more.
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