alchemical fantasy
The Publishing and Promotion Edition
Paperback Writer’s ten widgets to help you find a title (yes, I consider coming up with a title part of the getting-published process. I wouldn’t bother otherwise. *grin*).
So you wrote a book. Now what?
Via Holly Lisle: Can an artist make a living with a base of 1,000 True Fans?
More on promotion: Building a platform.
And, why are debut novelists so long in the tooth?, or Publishing is for Old Fogeys ;). (Gives me hope. I’m only 29!). Hat tip: Jo
The Random I-Have-Too-Many-Tabs-Open Edition:
Blast from the Past: Apparently, they’re remaking “V”. I have fond memories of the time my sister and I convinced our mom to let us have the TV in our room so we could watch “V” episodes at 1 am. It must’ve been during summer vacation, because I can’t imagine Mom agreeing to it otherwise! It looks a little cheesy (giant face in the sky, oy!), but I’ll watch it anyway, for nostalgia’s sake.
Is Kindle the New Publishing Frontier? JA Konrath experiments. And elaborates. Interesting discussions in the comments. I’m with the commenter who fears that the Kindle store might get flooded with self-pubbed books of ahhh…. dubious quality, thereby burning out the readership and lowering the effectiveness of this strategy. Yeah, I’m a skeptic, but then I don’t own a Kindle. I’ve never seen one in person… er, gadget, even.
In a Creative Rut? Come join me, and wallow. Or else, try these tips for breaking out of it.
Look at these sweet watercolor sheep. They’ll look really nice next to the black-and-white spotted cows the kids made last week.
The Art Projects Edition:
daisy yellow has a three-part series on organizing summer art projects for you and your kids. I believe my kids have every intention of running wild in our yard and at the park this summer, but I prefer more sedate activities. My planned projects are: making jam, sewing a skirt or two for Miss M., sketching outside (I’ve been eyeing my purple phlox as a potential model), playing the piano. And writing. There is always writing.
As if I really needed more arts & crafts ideas to do with the kids: Deep Space Sparkle and The Crafty Crow.
I’m drooling over these Prismacolor double-ended markers. I just want to spread them out rainbow-like on the table and gloat over them.
The writer mom edition:
Christina Katz on how her writing schedule changed as her child grew up. I’m going to check out her book: Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. It’s geared more towards non-fiction, but I love the subtitle and I’m ready to see if article-writing is at all my cup of tea.
Literary Mama: An e-zine for maternal units.
Maternal Spark accepts flash fiction submissions. Also see this handy-dandy how-to for writing flash.
As for this writing mom, I’m bouncing between finishing the first draft of a fantasy short and writing up a kindergarten-level minimum course of study to send to the state for my oldest this weekend. Both are fun, and tortuous, in their own ways.
Happy writing.