I’ve been taking some of these side jobs by word-of-mouth. I enjoy the work, and people seem to like working with me, so that’s all good. Plus, let’s face it: Writing doesn’t pay very well, and I can use the money. So, what the heck; I’ll open this up further. If you’re interested, we can talk.
(more…)Guides
On Writing: The Hook
Once you’ve finished your story’s first draft, your job is to go back and throw away most of what you’ve written. If you’re lucky (or very good), you won’t need to discard quite so much. Some very few extremely gifted authors could begin at the beginning, write until the end, and then do only a very little polishing.
I am not one of these people, and neither are you.
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How To Succeed As A Writer: A Guide
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Dorothy Parker
To Begin With
I’ve been writing for over a decade, and I’ve been doing it full-time for nearly eight months. In all that time, I’ve earned a few thousand bucks — enough to complicate my income taxes, not enough to pay for my daily ramen and now weekly cup of coffee. If you hope to write for a living, either start off wealthy or be Stephen King.
But that’s not success.
(more…)How To Get Published: Use A System
In an earlier article, I supplied a list of publications to which a prospective writer of short genre fiction might submit their work. While that’s an invaluable resource, by itself it won’t get you far. In fact…
…but before I get started, let me give you some excellent second-hand advice:
(more…)“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Dorothy Parker
Where To Submit
As a writer of genre fiction, I’m often asked advice on where best to submit work. The following list has been cobbled together using information posted on the websites for the several magazines. Special thanks are due to Austin Hackney of writingcooperative.com for providing the initial inspiration, as well as a few tips I would have missed otherwise.
The following list begins with sci-fi and fantasy, has a block of flash-only, horror and New Weird, two mystery mags, and closes with kids and literary publications. NO NEWS OR OP-ED PUBLICATIONS ARE INCLUDED. Only those publications that pay in cash rather than prestige made the list, since prestige contains zero nutritional value.
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The Not Fake News 