Category: Writing

And Rejection makes you feel bad.

Just for balance. My story ‘Pee Pees’ was rejected by Phantaxis magazine, an excellent production of Canadian SF that I have reviewed on SFcrowsnest. Naturally, the best way for a magazine to succeed is by printing the best stories and rejecting all the others, especially mine. I don’t hold it against them. It really is a very good magazine. See my reviews here.

Phantaxis August 2017

Phantaxis May 2017

Fortunately, the acceptance from Alban Lake of my novella came in the next day so my dull drums didn’t last long. It is not always thus with rejection but you gotta be tough to be a writer. Bad reviews hurt too. ‘Oh, the pain. The pain’ to quote Dr. Zachary Smith.

Acceptance makes you feel good

Especially an acceptance from a publisher. Yesterday, I had an email from Tyree Campbell at Alban Lake Publishing to say he is accepting Brigstowe Dragons II: Return of the Black Magician and it will be out next April. Hoorah! Although I have self-published some modest books of short stories (mostly previously published in magazines so not too awful I hope) there is definite satisfaction in a publisher approving your work.

The first book Brigstowe Dragons: Dragon Eggs is available on paper from the publishers here or as an ebook on Smashwords here or from other good retailers here.

The Two Truths About Self-Publishing

My girlfriend always says there is more than one truth – and I disagree – but with self-publishing, she seems to be correct. Surf the net and you will find the following ‘facts’ all over the place.

  1. Self-publishing is hard work but do it right and you can make BIG money. (To be fair, none of the hucksters say it’s easy money.)
  2. Self –publishing is a waste of time and you won’t make a penny.
  3. Marketing is indispensable and with the right marketing plan, you can make BIG money from your books.
  4. Marketing is a waste of time because no one’s ever heard of you and no one wants to know. You are shouting into the wind.
  5. Giving away free books is a brilliant plan to gain new readers who will snap up the next book and pay anything.
  6. Giving away free books is a complete waste of time. The readers will download the free books, never read them and not buy your next one.
  7. You must invest in a professional editor (around £400) a professional book cover (around £50 for an off the shelf or £200 for a custom made one).
  8. It’s not worth spending any money because your book won’t sell and you won’t recoup any of the cost. Edit it yourself about six weeks after you write it and do a homemade cover with Paintbox.
  9. You must be all over social media, build a mailing list, tweet, Facebook, Instagram, Blog and so on so that readers pining for your book will know you are there.
  10. All that is a waste of time. There are a million books on the market and 30,000 added every week. All the authors are peddling their crap on Twitter, Facebook and the rest but there are only a few thousand people left in the western world who actually read, most of whom are reviewers.
  11. Buy THIS book and it will tell you how to be a successful writer like the author.
  12. Don’t buy it. The author’s main success is telling people like you they can be a successful writer and selling books to you. How to Succeed in Self-Publishing books are the new diet and weight loss industry for the 21st

I should point out that the odd-numbered positive ‘facts’ are a lot easier to find than the even numbered negative facts but that’s because all the marketers selling How to Succeed in Self-Publishing books have clogged up the first few pages of any search.

‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.

P.S. The real reason for writing is that I love it. As Orson Welles said, it’s the best model train set any boy ever had.