Writing
They Don’t Sell
Remember, kids, nobody will publish your short story collection unless you’re already an established author, because they don’t sell.
Retrospective Re-evaluation of Success to Give the Illusion of Struggle
“His novel sold well. “It was an okay living from the first day,” he said. But, he adds, “I was not an immediate success. I was an immediate cult hit. It was really 10 years before I was what you would call a real success. People mis-remember it. They think it happened overnight. It didn’t. … Continue reading
He Struggled for Years Without Success Before Deciding to Quit. Then This Happened!
FARMINGTON NM–Robert Pritchard’s dream from childhood was to become a writer. He wrote something like ten novels over twenty years, plus dozens of short stories. He submitted them to many publishers and agents, without luck. “A few short stories were published in obscure venues, for like ten or twenty dollars” he said. “They were all … Continue reading
Million Word Theory
In the 2000 movie Boiler Room, a recruiter, Ben Affleck, gives a roomful of prospective employees this pitch: “If you become an employee of this firm you will make your first million within three years. Okay? I’m gonna repeat that: you will make a million dollars within three years of your first day of employment at … Continue reading
Annals of Superhuman Persistence, Vol. VII
All successful writers went through immense suffering and agonizingly long periods of rejection before becoming successful. We know this because they constantly tell us. But what did this suffering consist of, and how does it compare with the suffering of unsuccessful writers? In 2015 George Saunders wrote some recollections of his early years in an … Continue reading
Notions, Concepts, and Ideas
In “Annie Hall,” when they go to LA, at a party at Paul Simon’s house, one “Hollywood player” is heard saying to another, “Right now it’s just a notion, but I think I can get the money to make it a concept, and later turn it into an idea.” We know that the recent Star … Continue reading
Plan B
Successful people are unanimous: if you want to succeed, especially as an entrepreneur or culture-industry something-or-other, don’t have a back-up plan. “Because you will NEVER succeed when you have a back up plan. Plan B’s are for losers. Winners have only a Plan A and work their butts off to make their Plan A work. Do … Continue reading
Wisdom of Mike Resnick
If wisdom means that from which we can learn, there is much wisdom in the nonfiction writings of Mike Resnick. “Gardner Dozois, who was editing Asimov’s at the time, told me that he got about a thousand slush stories a month. How many did he buy? Three a year” (2010). But Asimov’s publishes, what, five … Continue reading
Annals of Superhuman Persistence, Vol. VI
“When I finished the first draft, in November ’97, Wired suddenly folded their book division. I got to keep most of the advance. But now it was hard to find a publisher for this odd orphan book. Finally David Hartwell of Tor picked it up early in 1998 and I even got another (smaller) advance.” … Continue reading
Another Thing I Don’t Understand
From a literary agent’s webpage: Manuscript Wish List: Adult and YA fantasy and science fiction except dystopian. In SFF, prefer upmarket writing and settings/characters that think outside SFF tropes with earthy female-based characters. If submitting urban fantasy, please no demons, vampires, angels, or werewolves. Literary fiction, especially magical realism that highlights particular culture or surreal … Continue reading