2016, Ready or Not

Last Thursday afternoon, I cleaned my writing desk off. I thought it would be great to start the new year with all those little things completed I'd let pile up like I always do when I'm in the middle of writing a new book. As I look at it this morning, more little piles have grown. Examples are my tax folders, 2015 deductions and incomes to be added, and the new 2016 to be created. Some secretarial work for one of my writers' groups and a short list of other things. So despite the 'clean' start to 2016, I'm kind of just where I left off on 2015. And that's okay.

I didn't finish the novel I'm working on by the end of the year like I wanted to, but I'm close. And I feel good how it's going and know it won't be long. And I'm going to clean the mess off my desk again, starting as soon as I finish writing this post.

"The secret of getting ahead is to get started." Mark Twain.

I'm sure most writers are thinking about setting goals for the year and that will be the subject of their first posts of the year. I mentioned many times that I'm more about making plans than setting any goals. And I do have plans and I'll share them on Wednesday. Why Wednesday? The first Wednesday of 2016 means IWSG! And it's a special day because the winners of the short story anthology will be announced. That's pretty exciting.

My plans including writing a lot and writing nearly every day. Other things will take up my writing time like blogging, promotion and other social media things writers have to do. But putting words together to tell a tale is my plan for 2016.

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life." Lawrence Kasdan

Many of you know that two of the small presses who had contracted my books closed last year. They are the first and many other publishers are struggling. Here's a link announcing the closing of another small press, Amber Quill, who have been around for a long time. They've been known for the professionalism and successes. I'm afraid of what the new year will bring down on the small presses working so hard to survive.

Cold  and flu season is upon us so remember to wash your hands and drink plenty of fluids. Stay home from work of you're sick and if you can, avoid the people who are ill. You know I'm a fan of The Old Farmer's Almanac so here's some advice for them on how to cure a cold.
Swallow a spider.  (I'd rather have a cold)
Stand on your head underwater. 

Question of the month from Michael G. D'Agostino at A Life Examined:
What New Year's resolutions have you set in the past?
I don't set resolutions but as I've said many times, I make plans. So many people don't keep their resolutions though I believe sticking with a good habit for a few weeks is better than not even trying so I admire people who try.

Are you ready for 2016? What is the craziest or most effective advice you're heard for curing a cold or the flu? Does the future of publishing in general and small presses in particular worry you?

Many Paths

When I first started writing I dreamed of getting 'the call' and being offered a significant advance by one of the big traditional publishers. I did get a call from a medium-sized publisher once. It was very exciting as was receiving that first advance check. But the publisher world is constantly changing and evolving. Now there are many more paths to being a successful writer than one like my original dream.

That traditional route is still there and some find it and the advance. Many more writers are finding success with small presses. From previous posts you know I'm a big fan of those and work with three different small presses.

More and more writers are finding their niche by self-publishing. It takes a willingness to work and learn a few new things but there's a lot of advice and how-to information available if you want to take that route.

But the evolving publishing world has opened opportunities that just weren't there in the old traditional model. Novellas were virtually unheard of before the eBook. Some were included in anthologies but those weren't near as popular as they are now in the digital age. Now publishers and self-publishers can offer those 15-20K stories digitally at a price readers think is fair.

Collaborative writing is so much easier in this day and age. I've seem lots more of it than ever before. Serial writing is another form of story-telling that benefits from the digital age. Writers can offer their book in segments.

Another thing that has changed with the emergence of successful small publishers and self-publishing is that reissuing of older titles. In my case, that medium publisher who gave me my first advance changed the focus of their company and threw me and most of their authors of genre fiction under the bus. But I recently found a small publisher willing to take on that fantasy series and reissue it. In another example a romance novel I had with a small publisher had a really poor sales record. I took back my rights and convinced my other romance publisher to reissue it. In the old days that would never have happened.

Finding a publisher for poetry has always been a challenge but again the digital age has created a massive array of opportunities for poets to get their work to readers. So though we often complain a bit about how quickly the industry is changing, most of it is for the good of writers.

What did I miss in my roundup of pathways to success? Would you ever do collaborative writing or a publish your novel as a serial? Have you ever had a book reissued?

Summer Fare

I don't watch tons of TV but there are some shows I enjoy. I often as not watch them on demand as live, but I still try to keep up. More and more the TV shows  I watch are not on the major networks. I watching last season Hell on Wheels as I write this. I've been enjoying Graceland on USA, Copper on BBC America, and Defiance on Syfy.

I'm so glad those cable stations pick up the entertainment slack in the summer. I like those little stations competing against the big guys even if some of the have affiliation with the big networks. I love how they're making inroads into the rankings of top shows and how some of them attract some big stars to appear on them and how they give a break to some actors just starting out.

These shows on networks like AMC, USA, SyFy, and others like them remind me of the independent publishers competing against the powerhouses based in New York. More and more fans are finding the quality work put out by some of these wonderful presses. More readers are finding new authors and falling in love with them. Those tough little presses don't get the exposure, the big advertising dollars or special spots in the front of the book store. But new technologies like ereaders (like on demand programing) levels the playing field quite a bit.

So this summer when you're packing for that trip to the beach or even a stacation on the deck, pick up that light weight ereader, buy some books from small presses and enjoy the wonderful offerings of the 'little guys' who are making a big splash.

Don't forget this Wednesday is Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

How do you spend your TV hours? What summer fare are you enjoying? Are you giving a little love to any small presses lately?