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Monday, December 29, 2014

Full circle

Did anyone see the article in NY Times about Amazon's Unlimited ebook service? Times are changing, again! Once upon a time, the only way a write could get published was through a traditional publisher. Then, self-publishing came along. I, myself, rode that wave and made a nice tidy sum marketing myself through Google and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Then, they started charging for ads. Today, it's too expensive for my small business to advertise on social media; and my posts don't show up without the ads. Therefore, that wave is over for me.

Today, writers have Amazon Kindle Unlimited giving their books away as fast as they can write them. The NY Times article says there are too many writers, and you know what that means? Basic supply and demand from Economics 101. Supply is up; price is down. That is just a fact of economic principles. So, what should we do about it?

For me, I'm using my experiences to teach in a classroom (at least until technology takes that away!). As far as writing, I'm doing it for my own pleasure. I enjoy writing; and, someday, if I work hard enough, perhaps someone will want to publish what I write. I guess I have gone full-circle: publishing, self-publishing, and now back to publishing.

What about you?

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Mystery Writing Basics

I found a nifty resource for mystery writers written by Gillian Roberts, author of You Can Write a Mystery. The information is a brief extract from her book and provides quite a bit of information that will get you started on your first mystery.

Lesson #1 —Where do you get your ideas?
Lesson #2 —Writing your character's stories.
Lesson #3 —Amateurs, Semi-Pros, and Pros: Who will be your sleuth?
Lesson #4 —What to think about when you think about your setting.
Lesson #5 —Descriptions the reader won't skip.
Lesson #6 — It's all in your point of view.
Lesson #7 —Making the reader care.
Lesson #8 — How to write what you know (about murder).
Lesson #9 — How to write what you don't know.
Lesson #10 — Talking about dialogue: Part I.
Lesson #11 — Dialogue, Part II: Ways to present dialogue.
Lesson #12 — Do actions speak louder than words?
Lesson #13 — Playing Fair and Keeping Secrets: Hiding clues.

Check it out on her website at GillianRoberts.com.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Garrett the Ferrett

I've been working on my Ferret in the White House story again. Polished it up one more time and sent it off to another editor. I can't seem to give up on this one. :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Detours

In my progress towards writing a mystery, I got sidetracked with an idea for a children's picture book.   So, now, I'm working on both of these at the same time. I've already got the picture book roughed out and I want to work on it through Christmas so that I can have it ready for critiques in January. Our writer's group has a one-day critique session in January in preparation for meeting the publishers and editors that come to the conference in March. So excited!