The optional question for hop participants this month: Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?
Not as many as I used to. LOL. Time being a factor. I love cross-stitch and have done some pretty nice projects with it, if I do say so myself. I also love to crochet and I love to bake and try new recipes. I don't do much of the latter anymore. With my kids all grown up, baking is a very bad idea for my husband and me. It's only us to eat those goodies. I have no one to crochet a blanket for either though my granddaughter is getting one as soon as she's old enough to pick her colors.
Hope you all didn't suffer too much in the recent deep freeze. It was really miserable. I'm dreading the electric bill which will probably be posted today or tomorrow. Could be a record for us. It's warmer than average now, but who knows what is on the horizon.
"A fair day in winter is the mother of a storm." English proverb
I've been reading a lot of statistics about publishing and how writers are faring in this ever more competitive field. Lots of numbers show that authors are making a lot less in the past year than they made a few years ago. Over-saturation of the market is one of factors most often cited. At a recent one-day workshop I attended, the presenter shared that 730 new romance novels are published every day. Wow! Romance readers are voracious, but those numbers are still unnerving. How does one get found by new readers?
Working on a new book and trying to keep my 1,000 words per day going like I have for the last four books I wrote. It took me a lot of years to figure out a process that works for me.
I'm enjoying the new FOX show, The Passage. It's a lot like the books, and the differences are working. It's getting the creep factor right. Another show I'm looking forward to in 2019 is the return to The 100, a CW show that gets better every year. Also, I heard this season of SYFY's Killjoys will be its last. This is a fun show if you haven't tried it before. In case you believe I only watch science fiction and fantasy show, I am really enjoying the new CBS show, FBI.
Saw on the news today that Pennsylvania's new budget is once again not increasing the funding to public libraries. What are they thinking. It's one of those things I'm glad to pay taxes to support. Hope your home states or countries do better than mine. On the other hand, my local county has found more monies for libraries. I can't express how important libraries are and how much I love my local one.
Stay warm, friends, and keep on reading and writing. Do you have many creative outlets? Do you love your local library? Did the polar vortex get you? Any TV keeping your warm this winter?
39 comments:
A good read Susan. Our snow has gone but it is still cold although the sun do show it's face from time to time.
Have a great month.
Yvonne.
I watched the first two episodes of The Passage and enjoyed them. I'm behind a few episodes but will catch up soon! I definitely agree abut the creep factor.
I think Kindle Unlimited affected author income, too.
We were chilly last week, but it's to be high 70's today. Weird weather.
The Passage sounds good! We enjoyed the Polar Vortex, a chilling -40 below. Did I mention I hate winter??
Hi Susan - I'm not good with crocheting or doing cross-stitch so admire those who do. I am glad that Polar Vortex didn't get over here ... but good luck with things and I sure hope that bill isn't too awful - cheers Hilary
Baking is indeed a dangerous hobby. Good luck with the electric bill. We have solar, though our panels don't generate when they're snow-covered. Let it be cold, but may the sun shine!
It got down to 17 below last week here and I lost my Internet connection for about 5 days because the cables were frozen. I'd like to bake more too but I live alone. It'd be even more dangerous than for you.
That's a lot of romance books a day.
We'll be hot the next two days then back near freezing. Go figure.
Wow, that is a lot of romance books per day! I'm not a reader of romance so they aren't getting my "money" though most of my books I'm getting from the e-library here. Though I don't frequent the library a lot here, it warms my heart to drive by it and see a lot of cars in the parking lot and on Sundays when it is open in the afternoon to see a lot of families with young children going into it (or maybe it is to escape the summer heat, but at least they are surrounded by books). I think my only creative outlet these days is blogging when I do it. Life seems to be so busy its hard to get everything done plus be creative. We weren't affected by the polar vortex, but I always shudder when I open the electric bill, more so when I know the weather has been extreme one way or another. And then I try to be grateful that I have the money to pay for keeping "comfortable" when in reality we keep the temps a little low on heat compared to others and a little higher on air conditioning compared to others to try to reduce cost. I wonder how families who are barely making it can afford to keep warm.
betty
We managed to stay warm during the deep freeze. And then got a few beautiful late spring like days as a reward! I love our public library. I hung out there with my son for three hours last Saturday!
The competition is fierce and daunting, isn't it? Most readers don't understand that at all, and they're usually shocked when I tell them some of the numbers.
My mom does cross-stitch and crochet. I wish I had the talent and patience for it. Alas, I don't.
730 new romance novels a day? Whoa! Self-publishing was great for writers who couldn't or didn't want to get an agent/publisher, but now we're seeing what it can do in this day and age, where so many are self-publishing. Plus there's many more small presses, too. Those numbers are daunting.
That is a huge number of romance novels published each day. Wow.
I love my local library system. It's run by a fantastic group of people.
I avoided The Passage because of the potential creep factor. But I've been enjoying The Rookie and A Million Little Things. Can't wait for Game of Thrones's return, though...
I had the same problem with baking and the kids moving out. Who's going to eat it? I miss that part of parenting.
I love baking, too, but hubby doesn't like sweets much so it'd only be me eating them, so I can't do it as much as I'd like either.
Someone with common sense needs to get hold of the state and federal budgets and fix them. As rich as our country is, it's ridiculous that basic things like schools and libraries don't have adequate funding. *climbs down off soapbox* Maybe I should go bake something. LOL
If we think too much about market saturation, it can get overwhelming. It's best to concentrate on what we can control, like getting more words and books out.
Susan - I'm glad my first modest excursion into traditional publishing --- agents, rejections, etc --- convinced me that self-publishing to please myself, and two or three blog posts a month would be enough to clam my creative urges.
Yes, the deep freeze from the States is making up to Canada. I'm not thrilled, but I'm warm so far. :-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
I struggle with finding the time to pursue my hobbies too. My sister is into cross-stitch. I bought her a Star Trek cross-stitch book and also one that had a lot of rude, hilariously offensive slogans. I don't have the patience for it but I like to see the end result.
1,000 words per day is great! I wish I had that kind of consistent output.
We haven't had any really bad weather here yet (East coast of England). I'm looking forward to a bit of snow.
Mercy, but that is a lot of new books every day! No wonder the margins are getting slimmer.
Years ago, i had time to cross stitch and crochet and knit. It's been a long time.
We've been hit with snow the past couple of days and it was in the 50's a week or two back. Love it when the weather's all whack (sarcasm intended).
The numbers are just wacko at how many get released a day, and many are book farmers too, hiring 50 ghostwriters and then publishing a crap ton at once.
No one likes the electric bill haha
Just Supernatural watching at our sea.
Susan, I've enjoyed cross-stitch too, in my early years:) You're a fellow Pennsylvanian - I was born & raised in PA but now live in NC. I remember those days and nights of frigid cold temps! Jeopardy and The Blacklist keeps me glued to the TV.
Stay warm and safe.
I used to cross-stitch too. My goal has been to write 1k a day also. I've been doing good. But, some days, like today, I haven't written one word on my WIP. And it bothers me. But I have to remember, some days I have to push my writing aside for life to take over.
I'll have to check out the Passage.
I get the Publishers Weekly e-newsletter every day, and it worries me to see the same trends you're talking about as far as author earnings.
The Polar Vortex visited us for a while, quite bad yesterday, everything was closed because of freezing rain. Quite dangerous driving. I heard about a best seller this morning, The Woman in the Window, and I was wondering, just how does someone get a best seller in this publishing climate? These days I blog and I cook,
We were outside the Polar Vortex freezer, but we're now getting a little more cold on top of a nice snow. The precipitation was welcome because of our drought situation, so I won't complain. Just shiver....
I didn't think of cooking as a creative outlet! I love to cook but like you have to limit the frequency: my waistline is still in post-Christmas mode.
That's an awful lot of romance novels in a day!
I feel like such a wimp in the winter. It just went to freezing temperatures this week where I live and it's really not that cold, just enough for some snow and ice to last a week.
I love my library! It's a county library and it's the busiest and largest of our county's libraries. I don't know about the state budget, but we do vote for our county library to have funding and it gets it. I see tiny, lonely libraries in other places and I wonder how anyone would survive with so few books, and then i remember reading all of the children's books in my small town library as a child and then rereading many of them. And then making up my own stories ...
We survived the Polar Vortex and being snowed in for 4 days then beat it south to the gulf coast for a week. I fear what we might encounter on the way home, but it was worth it. I can't believe PA turned down money for libraries. Carnegie must be rolling over in his grave. I use our e-library for my book group's monthly selections. Good luck with the writing. Like you, it's taken away time to do needle crafts.
I live in Texas, so we get cold, but not like what you guys are going through! Stay warm and good luck.
I like libraries but it has been awhile since I have gone. Stay Warm, Happy IWSG.
Thanks fors stopping by my blog.
I've always wanted to learn to crochet or knit.
I love my local library but don't go there as much as I'd like. I used to go every other week.
The weather here in LA is weird. There are some days where it's cold, whereas other days are hot. Thank you for sharing!
www.ficklemillennial.blogspot.com
Love cross-stitching! Very cool to learn that's a hobby of yours, too.
And 730 new romance novels are published per day?!. Whoa. That's mind-boggling.
And how exciting about your latest book! Best of luck with it!
The polar vortex kept my kids home for two days and we were all thankful to catch up on our sleep. Thankfully, we didn't lose power, so it wasn't so bad here. The Passage is one of my favorite books, but I haven't seen the TV series. I think I missed the first two before I even knew it existed. Oh well. I've also watched The 100 and would like to read those books some day. That is one of the most tense shows I've ever seen. Really like the earlier season with the people in the underground cave.
Hi Susan,
Sounds like you have some wonderful outlets. I love to bake... Cutting down the sugar will make those goodies you bake that much more yummy and healthy. I always cut the sugar in half of what the recipe calls. Adding extracts will increase the flavor without increasing the calories.
I make baby blankets, too. Working on a baby quilt now. Yikes. I haven't done one of them in years, and it is much harder now that arthritis set into my hands. It will take longer, but at least I will finish it soon...
The statistics are a little unnerving, aren't they? But we shall persevere!
Ronel visiting for Feb's IWSG Day Being an Insecure Writer -- And Happy About It
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