CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Yesterday saw the end of the first month of a brand new year, and I have been working hard on the writer side of things. Yes, some gaming happened, too, but mostly the focus was on writing, as I have some books I'd like to see released this year. So, what did I get up to, you ask? Well, it certainly wasn't mischief...or not much of that, anyway. Writing Ghost writing took up a lot of my time, and I completed 129,690 words across multiple projects. It was a LOT, but buying a house and moving interstate late last year coupled with two week-long reactions to my covid vaccinations slowed me up some, so this took priority. Work on The Undiscovered , the third novel in the Strays of Lunar One series , recommenced very late in the month and received a full revision. Writing commences this month. Work on A Year of Practicing Poetry, the first book in my Playing with Words series commenced with a revision of what I already had and 1,427 words. Editing continued on Another 365 Days of ...

Last week, we took a brief look at how the accepted place of short stories in a writer's career path has changed, and highlighted a few of the ways writing short stories could be viewed, now that independent publishing has come of age. This week, we take a very brief look at writing a short story from a time investment versus returns perspective. The Cold-Blooded Business Perspective: From a business point of view, short stories don't seem like much of an investment. For one thing, you're almost certainly not likely to make your money back. If an 8,000-word short story takes a minimum of 8 hours to write (and that's if you do not outline), editing takes around another 2 (and that's only if you write cleanly), and formatting and uploading takes at least another 1 (if you have multiple platforms to publish to), you're looking at a basic minimum of 11 hours of work. At $50 an hour, that's $550 the story has to make back for you - plus the cost of ...

Changed my routine, this week. This cost me in walking, but profited in writing. It’s not a good trade-off as a week of very much reduced walking is showing adverse effects. Note to self: find a middle ground. On the up-side, I laid down a lot of words, and hit some admin that needed doing. Now, I have a better idea of how this game works. When I’m a bit more sure of my facts, I’ll blog how this crazy business works for me. Maybe there’ll be something in there that will work for others. Overview New words produced: 32,504 Old words revised: 0 Outlines and Notes: 0 Works completed: 20 (17 short for inclusion in longer collections, 3 short to be published stand-alone, as well); Works revised: 0 Covers created: 0 Works published: 0 Works submitted: 0 Competitions Entered: 2 (4 and 3 entries respectively) Bloggery: 0 University Prep and Assignments: 0 Story-A-Week Catch-Up Challenge Update The following short stories were completed for the challenge:...

It's no secret that I publish my own work. Some say it's the height of arrogance. Some say it's because it's not good enough to be published by a 'real' publisher. To be honest, I had six titles published by 'real' publishers, before I decided I'd rather go indie, than chase the traditional dream. I also spent eight months researching blogs from independent authors, traditional authors who'd gone independent, or who didn't intend to, publishers, writing industry magazines, agency blogs and pretty much anyone who knew more than I did - and then I decided that independent publishing would suit me better than going forward traditionally. I've spent the last two years feeling my way and I think I'll continue. Here are ten reasons why: I can write what I love—not what I think the publisher will take; If it’s good enough, I can guarantee it will be published—because I can choose what of my work I publish, whereas a publisher is go...

Here are the blogs that made me stop and read all the way through to the end, this month (and in the last three days of September): Artwork http://taziobettin.deviantart.com/art/Artwork-Pack-1-403141207?ga_submit_new=10%253A1380232822&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1 : Artwork by Tazio Bettin - go check it out Stories http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/10/25/flash-fiction-challenge-the-subgenre-smash-and-grab/ : responses should lead to stories you can read http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/10/18/flash-fiction-challenge-random-song-title/ : and this one http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/10/11/flash-fiction-challenge-horror-in-three-sentences/ : this one, too. For Writers http://kriswrites.com/2013/09/25/the-business-rusch-addendums-rights-grabs-agents-yet-again/ : More business sense from Kristine Kathryn Rusch http://www.brokenfrontier.com/so-you-want-to-publish-a-graphic-novel/ : Yes, I know it's about the comic market and the challenges of ...