As my friend Kristen pointed out, I do actually have more than one screed on the stove. I have had a picture story for young children (The Telescopic Witch) refused by over a dozen publishers. It needs an artist. It also needs to be sent to the next dozen publishers.
There's Fables in the Forest, a play (mostly in rhyme) for children's theater, that's finished as far as I can tell. (I'd love to send you a PDF of it, Kristen, as I've always valued your thoughtful criticism.) Now, how does one market a play? I've got ideas, such as a public reading this spring, and am leaning on people-who-know-people to get it read in the right corners, but....
Underway, I have Pinto Pegasus (working title) "almost" completed. When I put it away some years ago, it wasn't long enough for a novel or short enough for either a picture book or a short story. I've only recently determined that it could be a "chapter book," a form of children's literature that wasn't popular when my kid was reading at that level. It is a candidate for the next piece out, after the play.
Then there's my picture book story about a man who has a bad day until someone turns his streak of ill humor around for him, and yet another about a pair of grandchildren on a quest for their grandmother.
Then there's my epic poem (still more kids' lit) The Rainbow Seeds -- Kristen may remember that one from our writers' group days. It's hit a snag about four-fifths of the way through, and ultimately will need an artist for publication.
And, finally, when I get tired of looking at the world for a child's eyes, I work on a series of adult science fiction stories that are part of a future universe that I call "The Crone Cache." Some of the shorter stories are finished; one is entered into a competition. Then there's a s-f romance (a new sub-genre) that I wanted to be a short story but that has turned into a novella and may yet turn into a full-length novel. (I'm thinking about taking a short story writing class as I have problems writing to that length.)
I wouldn't mind self-publishing, but since most of the stories I'm writing need illustrations and I can't afford to pay an artist right off (and am not sure I have the ability or self-discipline to illustrate them myself); selling them to a publisher is my best option.
Obviously, there's the issue of actually completing most of them, as well.
It's not that I don't know how the plot twists to resolution. I tend to go with verse for children, a brain strain that I run from after a while. The adult stuff is, by its nature, longer and more involved, and the work (so far) mostly outlasts my drive to see it done.
Then there's the matter of money.
My tastes in food and clothing are, well, let's just say that I know quality and prefer it. I have a kid in college who needs funding, and a horse and a dog, and computers to fix and upgrade, and software and internet expenses, and a serious reading habit from 'way back. (Paperbacks cost nearly $8 now! Reference books for computing matters generally run $35-$50.) There are classes I want to take. Submitting manuscripts isn't free, either. I hate depending on others to support my mess, and tend to not even ask, so not having my own money puts me in a horrid humor. (Whine, whimper, whine. Ugh.)
Even self-publishing generally requires cash on the barrel, with a few exceptions (such as lulu.com, which I am seriously considering for a few non-fiction writing projects).
So, the question remains: how can I both make money and have the time/energy to write and market my work? I can't believe that it's not possible to do both.
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3 comments:
So many wonderful irons in the fire! *grin* (I remember the Rainbow Seeds too! :-) )
I've heard some good things about lulu.com, and have worked with cafepress.com myself with self-publishing (not *my* writing - it was a perfect bound, came out nice!), and they do a pretty good job too, especially for no money down!
Since I have my art shop through cafepress, I'm very familiar with them. You should email me and we should 'talk'! (foxvox -at- foxvox dot org)
BTW - guess who found me online all the way in Berlin? Tom Campbell from MSA - LOL!
Tom! How wonderful! I've been thinking about him - actually, I've been remembering his wonderful frog 'quariums.
The money is simple. Knock over a few liquor stores as needed. Or find some comatose person in Florida, get a $1,000,000 settlement to take care of them for life, and then get a judge to yank the feeding tube so they can die with dignity.
On writing: Harlan Ellison had three rules for writers:
1) You must WRITE. You must write EVERY DAY. (Not sit around in cafes or bars acting like Brendan Behan or a Hunter Thompson clone and talking about writing, drunkenly or otherwise.)
2) You must SUBMIT what you write. Okay, that's hard to do nowadays when most new writers can never get past the agents, and many can't even get a bona fide agent who's not a con man to take them on. Contests are a good way to go. (One hint: make sure if anything you submit to a contest is published, you retain copyright.)
3) You must fight to the death to defend the integrity of your work. Back in the days when I was agented, I yield to an agent on this with one of my books, on promise of publication. The result was no publication and a crappy book to boot. Never again. That's one reason I self-publish. No political litmus test. (Jug-Ears and his crew don't seem to have discovered print-per-order yet, thank God.)
Self-publishing is not necessarily that expensive if you just get the books produced and available and do the marketing yourself. Yeah, those marketing add-ons can run up the cost. Embrace the adventure yourself, and remember: this is pretty much how all authors did it up until about 150 years ago. You're carrying on a Medieval and Renaissance tradition.
As to writing discipline: back in the manual typewriter days, I did a minimum of 5 pages per day. 150 pages a month, in two months you've got a draft. With computers and word counters, I do 2000 words per day. You just have to force yourself to sit down and do a basic minimum every day. It just becomes something you DO.
Good luck.
-Banquo's Ghost
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