I’m starting a tiny new series because of everything that’s been in the news of late. But first, let me give you a caveat. For decades, Dean and I have said “Hollywood” when we really mean the film and/or TV industry. That word wasn’t accurate 30 years ago; it’s less accurate now. The industry has mushroomed. It’s not even one industry anymore. You can do […]
Half-Off All Online Writing Workshops!
Wow, we did not expect to be stuck in place kinda sorta a year into this pandemic. Well, I hoped we’d be out of it by now, but my knowledge of history told me that an uncontrolled pandemic takes about three years to work its way through the population. We’re not on that trajectory thanks to Science!!! Yay, science!!!! So we’re all waiting for our […]
Business Musings: K-Shaped
On Saturday, November 14, I went on my usual morning run. I chose the route that took me past the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, one of the country’s top-rated high schools. When I ran past this school pre-COVID, I would often hear voices raised in song, or a particularly amazing band practice. Sometimes I saw very intense high school students have discussions about […]
Business Musings: The Kickstarted Game Changer (Part Two)
For decades publishing has been a stagnated industry, relying on fifty- and sixty-year-old methods to sell books. Most of the practices within the industry are also at least fifty or sixty years old. Sure, the industry has made some modifications to accommodate innovation, like the ebook, but those are minor tweaks. Those tweaks do not take into account the actual changes in the world. What […]
Business Musings: Holes in the Economy
I just saw an article this morning—which of course, I can’t find now—comparing the amount of news pouring at us right now to a DDoS (denial of service) attack. There’s so much news, every hour of every day, that we can’t keep track of it. I’m keeping up, as best I can, on the virus and vaccine news. I’m scanning the political news, because I […]
Business Musings: Time and Money (Again)
And so it begins. I received three different emails this week from writers, wondering what to do about delayed or non-payment. These writers are smart enough to ask. I have no idea how many others aren’t asking at all, but believing all will be Just Fine Eventually. At the end of April, I wrote a blog post titled “The Trainwreck.” It’s mostly about traditional publishing, […]
Business Musings: Shock, Survival, and Forgiveness
In the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school, I was in a serious car accident. A tow truck, racing another tow truck, went the wrong way on a one way street, blew a stop sign, and slammed into my boyfriend’s tin-can of a car. I can still tell you many, many details about that night. I had just turned sixteen. My […]
Business Musings: Creativity (Yet Another Damn Process Blog)
Shortly after the lockdown started here in the U.S., I asked my readers and Patreon supporters to send me examples of creativity going on while artists were stuck at home. In the first week or so, it was pretty easy: Patrick Stewart reading sonnets, musicians playing with their fellow musicians on Zoom, artists giving master classes, theater companies offering recordings of free plays, and so […]
Business Musings: The Sads
I had a serious case of the sads yesterday, and for once, I couldn’t pinpoint the source. I mean, I could in general. I know we’re all feeling an undercurrent of sadness at the deaths and the changes and the suddenness. It is grief, as I wrote earlier, but grief comes in waves, and sometimes I can find the trigger, for me, anyway. I tend […]
Business Musings: The Trainwreck
I’m sure you’ve all gotten the question lately: How are you going to survive as a writer with the crisis in the publishing industry? Every news outlet —well, at least every news outlet that reports news other than the latest virus statistics—has done at least one story on the decimation of the publishing industry. And let me be honest here: The traditional publishing industry is […]
Thieves
The latest Diving novel is here, and it’s the one readers have been waiting for! Yes, it features Boss! She’s diving again, and getting into trouble. I also think this will answer a few questions for you…Click here to find out more.
Rethinking The Writing Business
All the licensing blogs in one volume. Learn how to think about your writing business in a way that will enable you to work smarter, not harder. Get yours here.
Get Early Copies of the Thursday Business Blog and More!
Writing With Chronic Illness
The Author-Preferred Edition of FantasyLife
Get yours now!A New Edition of A Dangerous Road
For book clubs and reading groups, complete with questions! Go here to order.
