100 consecutive months

I normally only post this information when I reach an annual milestone, but with publication of two stories in the November issue of True Story ("Thanksgiving Bombshell" and "Learning From Past Mistakes"), I have now had one or more short stories published each month for 100 consecutive months.

Published 2x

My stories "Thanksgiving Bombshell" and "Learning From Past Mistakes" appear in the November True Story.

Reviewed

My story "Garden Variety" was reviewed by Tina as part of her review of the anthology All the Boys. I find the review particularly interesting because the reviewer gets two pieces of information wrong but still grasps the overall emotional impact of the story.

For example, she wrote, "Kyle is the grandson of a wealthy customer Doug gardens for." Actually, Kyle's the young lover of the wealthy customer.

And the reviewer is disappointed by the short length in part because the story isn't a romance: "instead of making it a romance to making it just a scene from a romance story." The story was never intended to be a romance.

Though all the characters in the story are gay, the story has a classic noir set-up: The protagonist falls for and has a relationship with the beautiful lover of a powerful rich man. If you read enough noir, you know the story won't end well.

The review does note that "'Garden Variety' is a very bittersweet story." And that's exactly the emotional impact I intended.

Just to be clear, I'm not complaining about, nor am I arguing with the reviewer's assessment of the story. It is what it is.

What interests me is that either I failed to make certain details clear or the reviewer didn't pay close enough attention, yet the emotional weight of the story is strong enough that the details don't matter.

Anyhow, read the entire review of All the Boys here.

56

I received my 56th acceptance of the year this morning, for a 2,900-word erotic story about a young man who, in the early 1970s, has a crush on the host of the local UHF station's Saturday-night monster movie triple feature. The editor in his acceptance email referred to it as "the most inventive tale" submitted.

55

I received my 55th acceptance of the year in yesterday's mail, this time for a 3,300-word Christmas-themed confession.

Published

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

54

I received my 54th acceptance of the year in today's mail, this time for a 2,700-word Thanksgiving-themed confession.

Published

"Anybody Seen My Shorts?" a revised and updated version of a previously published essay about writing short fiction, appears in the September issue of SPAWNews.

Published 2x

My stories "In Sickness and in Health" and "Behind the Mask" appear in the October True Story.

The Big Book of Bizarro book trailer

Watch The Big Book of Bizarro book trailer here.

53

I received my 53rd acceptance of the year today. I think. In lieu of an actual acceptance, I received a request from the publication's editor for a photo to include in the contributors section.

This acceptance is for a 1,000-word horror story based on an old Appalachian folk song that I originally wrote for an anthology. Unfortunately, the anthology was cancelled because the editor did not receive enough quality submissions. So now the story will appear in a regional literary magazine.

Money flows...where?

I posted this is response to a blog post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "The Business Rusch: Common Sense and the Writer," and thought I should post it here, as well:

The “money flows to the writer” mantra doesn’t apply with self-publishing. Once a writer self-publishes, he stops being a writer and becomes a publisher. And if you’re a publisher, money flows to everybody: writers, editors, designers, illustrators, photographers, typesetters, printers, distributors, and on and on and on.

52

I received my 52nd acceptance of the year this evening. I revised and updated an essay on writing that I'd written for Sleuths' Ink a few years ago. "Anybody Seen My Shorts?" will appear in next month's SPAWNews.

Forty-five

I finished and submitted my forty-fifth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,600-word erotic romance written in response to an anthology's open call for submissions. I started writing this on August 4 and finished it a few minutes ago.

50, 51

I received my 50th and 51st acceptances of the year in today's mail, both for confessions. One's tied to Thanksgiving, the other to National Diabetes Month.

Forty-four

I completed and submitted my forty-fourth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,600-word erotic crime story about an experienced pickpocket who catches an amateur pickpocket trying to lift his wallet.

I started writing this story on August 9 in response to an open anthology submissions call. I've placed several stories with this editor during the past few years, so I hope that I'll do it again.

49

I received my 49th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this time for a bit of erotica to be published in an anthology.

"Dark Promptings"

As part of Michael Arnzen's on-going series of story prompts for horror writers called "Dark Promptings," I contributed six story-starters under the heading "If you can't write about your family, who can you write about?"

See my prompts here.

Forty-three

I completed and submitted my forty-third short story of the year today. This one's a 5,300-word confession with a New Year's Eve theme.

I started writing the story August 2, 2010, and had reached 4,000+ words. I had forgotten about the story until yesterday when I was looking for New Year's Eve stories (it's that time of year on editorial calendars!). I read what I had written, read the notes I had made about how the story should conclude, and then wrote the final 1,300 words. I let the story sit overnight, proofread it this morning, and then submitted it.

Write faster

Here's how: "Slowpoke."

48

I received my 48th acceptance of the year earlier today, this time for an erotic crime fiction story about two kidnappers who are outwitted by just about everyone.

Forty-two

I finished and submitted my forty-second short story of the year this evening, a 4,200-word Christmas-themed confession.

I started this story on November 23, 2009, but only wrote a one-paragraph rough outline. Although I noodled with the story a little bit earlier this summer, I wrote the bulk of it this week, interrupting work on this one long enough to write my forty-first story.

With this story I have now written as many as I wrote all of last year, which was, admittedly, a slow year. The year before that I wrote 75 short stories. At this pace, I might come close to producing as much as I produced in 2009.

Published

My story "Jumpers" appears in The Big Book of Bizarro, now available from Burning Bulb Publishing.

I dream in sentences

I don't understand this, and I don't know for certain when it changed. I used to dream in moving pictures, just like everyone else seems to, but now I dream in sentences. Rather than seeing events unfold while I dream, I see words on a page describing the events unfolding. And I don't hear dialog; I see it written on a page with quotation marks and dialog tags. I suppose this is a good thing as a writer--sometimes when I rise I'm able to transcribe parts of my dreams directly from memory because the writing's already been done--but I don't understand why I now dream like this.

Forty-one

I finished and submitted my forty-first short story of the year a few minutes ago, a 3,000-erotic story with paranormal elements.

In May I received a call for submissions from an anthology editor for whom I've previously written. I had a pair of stillborn ideas right away but didn't have a workable idea until July 29. I wrote the opening couple of paragraphs that day and wrote enough additional material that I knew the protagonist/narrator and the setting, and vaguely knew the two other key characters and the plot.

I returned to the story yesterday, realized in looking at what I'd written that my original idea for the ending didn't work, and headed in a different--and much better!--direction.

It's in the editor's hands now.

Reviewed

"WildAboutBones" reviewed Dark Desires, an anthology of paranormal erotica in which I have a story, at the Bitten By Romance Blog, and writes, "Overall I enjoyed this book. There are some very creative paranormal stories here. I think paranormal fans will enjoy most of the book."

Each story was reviewed separately, leading up to that conclusion, and my story "The House of Seven Inches," was rated 4/Hot. I'd quote the review itself, but it provides a major plot spoiler.

Order the paperback of Dark Desires here and the Kindle edition here.

Forty

I finished and submitted my fortieth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,400-word erotic fantasy for an anthology with an open submissions call.

The deadline in the original call for submissions had expired before I had an appropriate idea. Then a revised call with a new deadline appeared in my in-box. An appropriate idea and some free time soon followed.

I started this story on Monday and finished it today.

Questions come and questions go

This morning Patti Abbott posted 13 questions for short story writers on her blog, pattinase. After I answered them in the comments section, she changed the original post and eliminated 12 of the questions!

So here are her original questions and my responses:

1. How often do you finish the rough draft of a story in one sitting?

I don't write rough drafts, but I do occasionally write a complete story in one sitting.

2. What is the average length of time it takes you to finish a polished story?

Actual writing time? From a few hours up to about 10 hours, Rarely more. Rarely less. However, years may pass between the time I make notes for a story I'd like to write and when I actually write it.

3. Do you outline your stories?

Rarely, and never in detail.

4. Do most of your story ideas come from your own life, stories you read about, a flash of an idea? What?

They come from everywhere. Lately I've been writing for a lot of anthologies so calls for submission are sparking many of my new story ideas.

4. How do you know when a story is truly done?

When it gets published.

5. Do you have someone read it before sending it out?

Never.

6. Do you take suggestions seriously or are you your own best critic?

I am my own best critic. But if an editor with the power to accept a story suggests a change I'll certainly try to accommodate the suggestion.

7. Do you let it sit or send it out immediately?

Immediately, if there's a market. Occasionally I write a story and have to wait for the market to find me.

8. Do you read your story aloud?

Often.

9. Do you simultaneously submit if there are no restrictions?

No.

10. How do you decide where to send it? What is the most unusual place you have placed a story?

These days I usually write-to-market so I know where I'm sending the story before I ever write it.

11. Do you often rewrite a story months later, suddenly seeing what was wrong with it?

Rarely these days, but I did when I was a beginning writer.

12. Do you like reading your stories once they appear in print or do you get the queasy feeling you could have done better?

A published story is the best I could write at the time I wrote it. Even if I could do better now, I can't change the story. So, I find it better to look forward and strive to improve rather than look backward and fret about what could have been.

47

I received my 47th acceptance of the year today, this time for a heart-warming Christmas story scheduled for a Christmas anthology.

Thirty-nine

I completed and submitted my thirty-ninth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This is an erotic story written in response to a call for submissions I received on July 22. Although the anthology has an open call, the editor sent an advance call to writers he's previously worked with, "all of whom I admire as writers," and how can I not try to write something when I've been buttered up?

Anyhow, 2,900 words written over eight days.

Published 2x

My stories "Coach" and "Two Weeks In Paradise" appear in the September True Confessions.

Bios reveal more than you think

Because my fiction reading goal for this year is to avoid novels and to read short stories only, I've been reading more short fiction than usual. Because of this concentration, I've noticed an interesting correlation between author bios and the stories they accompany.

For example, if I read the bios in an anthology and I notice that some are written in first-person and some are written in third-person, I'm reasonably confident that no professional copy editor has touched the book. (One thing a copy editor does is ensure consistency.)

In the cases where it appears no copy editor has touched an anthology, I have noticed an additional correlation: a well-written bio often accompanies a well-written story and a poorly written bio often accompanies a poorly written story.

This correlation--and it's only anecdotal evidence at this point--might make my purchasing decisions easier. After picking up an interesting anthology I might be best served by glancing at the author bios than by reading any of the fiction before making a decision to purchase or not to purchase.

After all, if the writers can't present the details of their own lives without spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, what's the likelihood that their fiction will be any better?

Man or machine?

From Kevin R. Tipple's blog, Kevin's Corner, this:

"I have long thought that the prolific Michael Bracken is some sort of writing robot sent from the future. The man is a machine generating stuff constantly and selling left and right."

Make of that what you will.

Reviewed

Earlier today Jim Winter reviewed Sex, Violence & Half A Million Dollars on his blog Edged in Blue. He has many good things to say and selects three stories for in-depth discussion, including the first story, "Adam's Rib" ("The ending, however, comes straight out of a Stephen King short story when the husband finds a lurid solution to his situation. Talk about starting with a bang.") and his favorite, "How to Pick Up Beautiful Women":

"Of all the stories in this collection, though, I liked 'How to Pick Up Beautiful Women,' wherein a man in the bar hustles fellow bar rats by bragging about how he can pick up a woman on any given night with his 'system.' His partner in crime will either leave you laughing or thinking, 'Ew!'"

Read the entire review here, purchase the collection here or purchase Jim's "A Walk in the Rain" here.

46

I received my 46th acceptance this morning, and this is one I feel particularly good about.

Earlier this year I was invited to contribute to a themed crime fiction anthology by a well-known, respected writer/editor, and the list of other invitees includes several writers I have admired for years.

I delivered my 3,200-word story in late May, learned that mine was the first in, but I wasn't certain the story was accepted until this morning when I received a request for an accompanying bio.

I am the center of the universe

After I purchased my home in 1994 I learned that my house is one that the U.S. Census Bureau visits every two years. So, since 1994, all that interesting statistical data the Census Bureau compiles during the years between the complete censuses likely includes information gleaned from me.

And now I've become a source of data for another large survey. The University of Michigan produces a Health and Retirement Study of people age 50 and older that they update every two to three years. Last year I was invited to participate, apparently met the qualifications, and this evening sat through my first survey interview. Unlike the Census Bureau, which targets a specific residence, the U. of M. study follows the individual. So, for the rest of my life, they will be tracking me down wherever I go.

Unlike the U.S. Census Bureau, which I'm expected to participate in as a good citizen, the U. of M. pays for my time. And they pay pretty good, all things considered.

Thirty-eight

I finished writing my thirty-eighth short story of the year this afternoon, a 2,000-word bit of erotica I started July 17, and it's already been submitted to an anthology with an open call for submissions.

Published 2x

My stories "Back to School Blues" and "The Passionate Professor" appear in the September True Story.

Thirty-seven

I finished writing my thirty-seventh short story of the year a little while ago. This one's a 3,300-word Christmas-themed confession I started writing May 3, 2010. It'll go in the mail the next time I leave the house.

Interviewed

I was interviewed by The Non-Horror Reader Survey blog, and the interview can be found here.

On June 6 I uploaded Unbridled Love: A Romance with Horse Sense to Smashwords. Since then it has slowly filtered out to other booksellers and is now available for Nook through Barnesandnoble.com and for iPad through iTunes.apple.com.

I don't know how many copies it's selling in these other formats because Smashwords reports and pays royalties on a quarterly basis, but it's already my bestselling title in any format at B&N. At the same time, it continues to be my bestselling title in any format at Amazon.

Watching the steady sales of Unbridled Love and comparing them to the hit-or-miss sales of the other titles I've self-published makes me think I should consider writing another sweet romance involving horses.

Thirty-six

I completed and submitted my thirty-sixth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,000-word bit of erotica I started writing Friday evening.

Thirty-five

I completed my thirty-fifth short story of the year today, a 4,000-word confession set at Thanksgiving that I started writing July 18, 2007. It'll go in the mail the next time I leave the house.

44, 45

I received my 44th and 45th acceptances of the year today, both for confessions.

Published

My erotic ghost story "House of Seven Inches" appears in Dark Desires, now available from Xcite Books.

Thirty-four

I completed by thirty-fourth short story of the year today, a 2,700-word confession for Thanksgiving. This is a one-day project, conceived this morning, written this afternoon, and in the mail in a few minutes.

Published 2x

My stories "Getting Into Trouble" and "My Daughter's Wedding" appear in the August True Confessions, on newsstands now.

I'm a guest blogger today

I'm today's guest blogger at CriminalBrief.com. Y'all might enjoy "In Praise of Technicians."

43

I just received my 43rd acceptance of the year, this time for an erotic romance that will appear in an anthology published in the U.K.

42

I received my 42nd acceptance of the year this morning, this time for "In Praise of Technicians," an essay on writing that will appear Wednesday at CriminalBrief.com.

If you're not already a regular reader of this wonderful group blog, why not become one starting Wednesday?

Thirty-three

I finished writing my thirty-third short story of the year this afternoon, a 4,300-word confession that I began writing November 23, 2010. It'll go in the mail tomorrow.

Thirty-two

I finished and submitted my thirty-second short story of the year this evening, a 3,800-word Halloween-themed confession I started writing May 24, 2010.

41 and published 3x

I discovered my 41st acceptance of the year by accident when I picked up a copy of the August issue of True Story, which contains my confession "Stumbling into Love." This made it to print without my receiving a contract, something that has happened a few times in the past and is quickly corrected once I notify the editor of the oversight.

Also published: two pieces of erotica in the anthology Brief Encounters.

Thirty-one

I finished writing my thirty-first short story today, a 4,300-word confession that I started writing in April 2008. This one deals with breast cancer.

40

I received my 40th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for...um...er...I don't know what it is but the anthology I sold it to has the working title The Big Book of Bizarro if that helps classify the story.

This is one of the rare stories I've written the past several years where I had no clue what my potential market would be but I wrote anyhow because I thought the idea was too cool to let sit in my ideas folder. The payoff came when I saw this anthology's call for submissions and had this story already finished and ready to submit.

Stud now available for Kindle

Stud by Rolinda Hay is now available for Kindle.

Christiana Kern is already overworked as the top customer service representative at Wett, Inc., the country’s largest printer of special interest magazines, when her boss assigns her a new title. She isn’t eager to accept the additional responsibility...until she meets Bobby Ray Cartwright, the sexy rancher publishing the start-up magazine. It isn’t long before business and pleasure mix and Christiana learns that STUD isn’t just the title of Bobby Ray’s new publication. Soon Christiana is having the best sex ever and is facing life-altering decisions in and out of the bedroom.

Order your copy here.

37, 38, 39

I received three acceptances in today's mail, my 37th, 38th, and 39th acceptances of the year. All were for confessions.

Published

My hardboiled erotic crime story "Payback" appears in the August Hustler Fantasies. I like the tag line the editor gave it: "This story has everything: Sex, guns, money, the mob, more sex..."

36

I received my 36th acceptance of the year earlier today, this time for a confession submitted earlier this month.

ApolloCon

I'll be on five panels at ApolloCon in Houston this weekend. If any of y'all write science fiction/fantasy/horror and happen to be there, say howdy.

Thirty

I wrote and submitted my thirtieth short story of the year this evening. This time it's a 2,000-word bit of erotic crime fiction.

I had three anthology calls for submissions with deadlines of June 30 or July 1 and, after completing my previous story, I reread the guidelines for these three anthologies.

This afternoon I had an idea for an opening paragraph that could have led to a story for either of two of the anthologies. As I added a few more sentences, I realized it fit one anthology better than the other and then went full bore into writing the story.

According to the time stamp on my Word file, I started writing this at 5:54 p.m. and finished at 11:04 p.m., or about five hours from first word to last. That's a pathetic 400 words-per-hour, but if they're the right words and the editor buys the story I won't complain too much.

And, besides, I did other things, too, such as walking the dogs several times.

Twenty-nine

I just finished and submitted my twenty-ninth short story of the year. This one's a 1,400-word story involving magic.

I've had an anthology's open call for submissions in my binder for several months but had not had any appropriate story ideas for it. (I put anthology guidelines in my binder by deadline date, writing and submitting stories in deadline order or discarding guidelines if I don't make the deadlines.)

This anthology's guidelines reached the front of the binder earlier this week and I read them repeatedly, trying to force myself to have an idea. Nothing happened. Until yesterday.

Last evening, on my way home from spending Father's Day with Plot Monkey, the story title, story structure, and primary characters came to me. I couldn't get home fast enough, and I immediately keyed everything into a Word file.

But making notes isn't writing and the words didn't come right then.

I woke up this morning and the first two pages flowed out. Around mid-morning, after an interruption to work on other tasks, the next two pages flowed out. This evening, though the words didn't flow as easily as earlier in the day, I wrote the rest of the story, proofread it, and sent it off.

Published

My erotic caper "Seven-Inch Stretch" appears in In Plain View (Bold Strokes Books), an anthology scheduled for release in August.

Dash

There's a discussion thread on the Kindleboards about the use of hyphens, en-dashes, and em-dashes, and several of the people who posted clearly do not understand punctuation and typography. Here's what I posted (or attempted to post; it hasn't shown up yet):

The comments in this thread are indicative of why self-publishing gets a bad rap.

Failing to properly use the tools of the trade (in this case hyphens, en-dashes, and em-dashes) announces to a knowledgeable reader that the author/publisher lacks the ability to do a professional job.

It's like calling a plumber to unstop your toilet. Instead of bringing a plunger and a pipe wrench, he shows up with a table saw and a tire swing. He might still get the job done, but you'll know he's not a professional.

Although there are several style books available, the two most commonly used are The Chicago Manual of Style (primarily used by book publishers) and The Associated Press Stylebook (primarily used by newspaper and magazine publishers). Buy them. Read them. Keep them next to your computer and reference them often.

The 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, which I believe is the most current edition, spends five pages explaining the difference between the hyphen, the en-dash, and the em-dash. The Associated Press Stylebook offers a much shorter explanation of the use of the dash, but the two agree about what constitutes proper usage.

Their key point of disagreement? The Associate Press Stylebook advocates the use of a space on each side of the em-dash when used within text and The Chicago Manual of Style advocates against the use of a space on each side of the em-dash when used within text. And if you know anything about typography, you'll understand why they differ on this point.

Published

My story "In the Swim of Things" appears in the July True Story.

Twenty-eight

I finished and submitted my twenty-eighth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 1,600-word bit of erotica that I started June 9, 2010.

I only had the title and the opening paragraph when I received an email last week from an anthology editor seeking additional submissions for a project already weeks past the submission deadline. I nosed around my files, found this, realized the basic concept fit within the anthology's guidelines, and wrote the story a little at a time while wrapping up some other projects.

It's up to the editor now.

35

I received my 35th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a 2,100-word bit of crime fiction I wrote last year.

Twenty-seven

I finished writing my twenty-seventh short story of the year, a 6,100-word confession that I started writing April 29, 2010. I'm printing the final draft now and it'll go in tomorrow's mail.

Published

My erotic ghost story "House of Seven Inches" appears in the just-published anthology The Call of the Night, edited by Miranda Forbes and published Xcite.

Twenty-six

I finished writing my 26th short story of the year this evening. It's a 3,000-word confession with a back-to-school theme that I started April 29, 2010, and it'll go in the mail tomorrow.

Spicy Confessions 3 now available for Kindle

Confessions are a unique form of women's fiction. They aren't romances, though they are often romantic. They aren't erotica, though some are quite sensual. And they aren't chick lit, though they are clearly written for and about contemporary women. What they are, are compelling stories about real women facing real problems.

The five short stories in Spicy Confessions 3--"And Miles to Do Before I Sleep," "Caribbean Surprise," "My Husband is a Big Boob," "I Slept With My Sister's Husband" and "Christmas Guest"--showcase Rolinda Hay at her spicy best, featuring five women dealing with what men see first, a sexy vacation getaway, body image, a cheating sister, and an unexpected Christmas surprise.

Order your copy here.

Kindle corrections / Smashwords

Last week I discovered a formatting error common to all of the titles I released in Kindle format. Over the weekend I corrected every title but one--Microchick, which Amazon won't let me update--and the corrected versions should now be or should soon be available.

If you purchased one of my self-published Kindle titles, please update your file so that you can read the corrected version.

Also, yesterday I uploaded Unbridled Love: A Romance with Horse Sense, which continues to be my best-selling self-published title, to Smashwords. It is now available in multiple formats through Smashwords and should soon be available for purchase from all the sites that Smashwords serves.

34

I received my 34th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this for a confession submitted in January.

Published every month for eight years

With publication of "Sparks Fly on Independence Day" in the July 2011 True Confessions, I have now had one (or more!) short stories published each month for 96 consecutive months.

Spicy Confessions 2 now available for Kindle

Confessions are a unique form of women's fiction. They aren't romances, though they are often romantic. They aren't erotica, though some are quite sensual. And they aren't chick lit, though they are clearly written for and about contemporary women. What they are, are compelling stories about real women facing real problems.

The four short stories in Spicy Confessions 2--"An Engaging New Year," "My Lover's Secret," "I Was a Topless Waitress" and "The Secret Lives of Teachers"--showcase Rolinda Hay at her spicy best, featuring four women dealing with a stranger's kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve, a new lover's sexual secret, job loss during a recession, and the sexual escapades of small-town teachers during Spring Break.

Order your copy here.

And be on the lookout for two more Rolinda Hay titles coming soon.

My path to publication

As part of the promotional efforts for Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, the editors are posting a series of brief essays titled "Paths to Publication," written by the book's contributors.

Here's mine.

More Kindle reality

A few days ago I posted my Kindle sales numbers, sharing my experience near the bottom of the market because I hadn't seen anyone else do that.

Today I discovered a topic thread on the Kindleboards where other electronic self-publishers share their sales figures, and the figures--the good, the bad, and the ugly--are enlightening.

Read the thread here.

33

Apparently, the band's still playing on the Titanic. Earlier today I received an acceptance from one of the two remaining confession magazines, this time for a rare male-narrated confession I submitted in February.

This is my 33rd acceptance of the year.

Last writer on the Titanic

I have been writing confessions almost as long as I've been writing. My first sale to a confession magazine was a poem published in February 1981, the same year I sold my first confession. I have written so many confessions that other confession writers dubbed me the "King of Confessions."

That's why I was dishearted to learn earlier today that two more confession magazines--True Love and True Romance--have ceased publication.

Only two confession magazines remain: True Confessions and True Story.

While I may continue to write for and submit to the two remaining publications, it's time to take a hard look at my fiction production. I need to spend more of my writing energy producing work in other genres.

But first I need to determine which genres offer the greatest opportunities.

By coincidence, I've been working on a series of Rolinda Hay projects, including Spicy Confessions 2 (scheduled for release within 48 hours) and Spicy Confessions 3 (which I hope to release shortly after that). Because I may have a dozen or so publishable but unsold confessions landing back in my lap now that the genre has hit an iceberg, I may be stretching the series into volumes 4, 5, 6, and beyond.

Jim Winter on his Kindle experience

Earlier today Jim Winter blogged about his experience posting a single story on Kindle, and he makes some interesting observations. Check it out here.

Memories Dying now available for Kindle

Memories Dying, a horror novella I wrote several years ago is now available for Kindle.

Young police officer Mike Morelli expected a routine night shift in the northern California coastal town where he had lived his entire life. Then Patrick Bates, chairman of the Baker High School class of 1974 reunion committee, returned to town. Would his classmates, most of whom died graduation night, soon follow?

Memories Dying was previously published in the U.K. as In the Town of Dreams Unborn and Memories Dying and received some great reviews, including the following:

"A truly terrifying tale in the Stephen King tradition. Michael Bracken is a horror writer to watch out for."-Writers Block

"Nicely understated and atmospheric...."-Science Fiction Chronicle

Order it here.

Reviewed

My erotic noir story "Garden Variety" appears in two anthologies, When a Man Loves A Man and All the Boys. Coffee Time Romance and More reviewed All the Boys and had this to say about my story:

Mr. Bracken knows how to write a tantalizing tale of a forbidden affair between two men. [...] The way the traditional “pool boy” story is twisted to fit the GLBT genre was also brilliantly done. What a red-hot read this turned out to be.

Read the full review and learn what the reviewer thought of the other stories here.

Kindle reality

The Kindle millionaires are quite willing to tout their sales numbers and earnings, but no one else seems willing to share their data. So, how about a little dose of reality from the bottom end?

But first, some background:

I'm an established writer with nearly 900 short story sales.

My stories have been spread across so many genres that I'm not particularly well known in any specific genre.

I have many titles available from many sources in many formats (Kindle, Nook, etc.) but I'm only sharing numbers from my self-published work, and my self-published work is currently available only from Amazon for Kindle.

I uploaded my first title in April 2010, an original sweet romance titled Unbridled Love: A Romance With Horse Sense. As of the end of April 2011, I had sold 38 copies. Mid-April I changed the cover and this month to date I've sold 17 copies.

In August and September 2010 I uploaded three hardboiled crime short stories ("Glass Houses," "Lesser of Two Evils," and "Pick,") and one mystery novella "Dreams Unborn," all previously published. They are offered individually. As of the end of April 2011, I've sold--all four titles combined--23 copies. This month to date: 0.

In April 2010 I uploaded Microchick, a collection of 24 previously published erotic SF, horror, and fantasy short stories. During April I sold 1 copy. This month to date: 3.

In April 2010 I uploaded Sex, Violence, & Half a Million Dollars, a collection of 23 previously published erotic hardboiled and noir crime fiction stories. In April I sold 8 copies. This month to date: 1.

Earlier this month I uploaded Spicy Confessions, a collection of four confession stories as by Rolinda Hay. Sales this month to date: 1.

I've done little promotion--links on my website, links on my blog, occasional mentions on Facebook, and this post, which might serve some promotional purpose.

Most of what I've made available for the Kindle is previously published work, so any income the stories generate is gravy, but the amount of money I'm earning in any particular month is negligible. (I'll clear $40 for May sales, my best month to date.)

I hope having real sales numbers, with real titles you can study (look at the covers, look at the product descriptions, look at the tags, look at the reviews [or lack of reviews]) will help you decide if self-publishing is worth your effort.

For me? Yes, but...

Popular in Japan?

I've recently noticed a series of tweets referencing my books and providing links to them on Amazon.co.jp. I can't read Japanese, so I have no idea what the tweets say. Even so, how cool is it that someone on the other side of the world has taken the time to tweet about my work?

My afternoon as a butt model

Magazine editors do much more than wrestle nouns and verbs. Sometimes we're called upon to utilize our physical assets rather than our mental assets.

Yesterday, after editing a humorous article about Dumpster diving for gardeners that arrived without illustrations or photography, I was selected to Dumpster dive while the magazine's publisher took photographs to accompany the article.

So, there I was around mid-day, head down in a Dumpster, my backside pointed skyward and my legs a kickin', hoping I wouldn't fall in before the editor could get a usable shot.

He took the shot, I didn't fall in, and the selected photo will appear in the July/August issue of Texas Gardener.

And, let me tell you, being a model isn't all its cracked up to be.

Twenty-five

I finished writing my twenty-fifth short story of the year this morning, a 5,400-word confession that I started writing on March 1. This one's a bit of a romance without a specific holiday or seasonal theme, and it will go in the mail within the hour.

32

Never throw any writing away, especially not homework. As friends and long-time readers know, I returned to college as an adult and finally graduated with a B.A. in Professional writing in 2005. I was 48.

Because I'm a writer, I kept every essay and term paper. A couple of the things I wrote for my various classes have since been published, and it's about to happen again.

An argumentative essay I wrote in the form of a letter back in March 2004 just found a home in an anthology of unsent letters, making it my 32nd acceptance of the year.

Twenty-four

I finished and submitted my twenty-fourth story of the year this morning, a 3,200-word crime story written for an anthology to which I was invited to submit. I hope it meets the editor's needs, but if not, there's still time before the deadline to write a different story, and I don't think I'll have any problem finding a different home for this one.

Show me the money

Several short story writers I know have made their short stories available for Kindle and other electronic devices as individual stories, small collections of only a few stories, and larger collections with a dozen or more stories. So, how are we doing?

The writers who seem to doing well with electronic self-publishing all seem to be novelists, or are primarily novelists. Is there any writer earning a significant amount of money electronically self-publishing short stories in any genre?

I've been making work available for Kindle for about 13 months now, dribbling
things out a little at a time. Although a couple of my novels are available for
Kindle and etc., my publishers released them; my electronically self-published
releases have ranged from short stories to novelettes to novellas.

By the end of last year I was earning $10-$20/month--nice pocket change for minimal effort--but not significant. Last month's earnings--after changing one cover and adding a couple of titles--doubled, and I'm on-track this month to again earn $30-$40. Better. Still not significant.

So, are any short story writers who are not primarily known as novelists doing well with electronically self-publishing short stories?

And, if so, in what genre(s) are they writing?

(For comparison: My best-selling title, representing more than half my total sales, is a sweet romance titled Unbridled Love: A Romance with Horse Sense.)

Published

My erotic short story "Secrets" appears in the anthology Best of Both (Xcite, edited by Miranda Forbes). Although the anthology was released several weeks ago, my contributor copy just arrived from London.

Blog update

I've rearranged a few elements on my blog layout and added links to all of the projects I've made available for Kindle. When I next have time to fuss with my blog, I hope to add links to the hardbacks, paperbacks, and Kindle editions of projects released by my various publishers.

Quoted

Gothic.net asked several dozen horror writers "What was the first movie or book or television show that scared you?" My response is near the tail-end of the page.

Time and place

I've been invited to contribute to an anthology that requires all stories take place within a tightly constrained geographical location, though the stories can be set in the past or the present.

Though I visited this location a few times in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the story I'm writing takes place even earlier. And my protagonist has an occupation with which I have minimal knowledge.

So, I'm having to research both time and place. What did this location look like at that point in time? What was happening in the world that impacted that location? How did my protagonist's occupation fit the time and place? And so on.

I don't write much fiction that requires extensive research because it often isn't cost-effective, and I always find myself traveling down research dead-ends or spending time reading about cool stuff that has nothing to do with the story-in-progress. (Though, I must admit, my ghost story "Pushing Coal" in Specters in Coal Dust, for which I had to research coal mining in the 1950s, turned out pretty good.) This time is no different.

But I'm glad I'm doing it because this is a story I never would have written without the invitation, and I have high hopes for the final draft.

Branded

Once upon a time I could write for several different publications without changing my byline. I could have a child-friendly story in a children's magazine and a violent or sexually explicit story in an adult publication the same month and not worry that the readership would overlap.

My how things have changed. Thanks to the Internet and all the search engines and social networking sites, readers can now discover the range of my work.

Unfortunately, a reader who enjoys my YA romance Just in Time for Love or my sweet romance Unbridled Love: A Romance With Horse Sense isn't likely to enjoy my hardboiled private eye novel All White Girls and is even less likely to enjoy the sexually explicit crime fiction in Sex, Violence & Half a Million Dollars.

In a world where branding is important, I've become over-branded, much like the tattooed lady at the carnival who becomes so covered with ink that no particular image stands out.

And, sadly, having "writer" as a brand just isn't specific enough.

Lady Leo defunct

Lady Leo Publishing, publisher of black romances and black confessions after Black Confessions, Jive, etc. ceased publication, has closed shop. The website is gone, most of Lady Leo's titles have disappeared from Amazon and B&N (except those titles written by the publisher), and the Facebook group is filled with authors asking each other if they've heard anything from the publisher. A couple of Lady Leo's other writers have shared word that the publisher reverted all rights to contributors.

This was a nice small press, but it reminds us of the danger of writing for small presses. One-person operations can disappear quickly, for any number of reasons, and when the publisher closes email accounts, shuts down websites, and generally stops communicating, our work may be trapped in limbo.

This problem isn't limited to small publishers, though. Even large publishers can sink, taking our work with them. The difference is that large publishers usually sink more slowly and leave a trail of information behind.

Published in Writing Book

I am one of several contributors to Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, edited by Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller and just released by Headline Books.

Order your copy here.

Published

My erotic romance story "Creosote Flats and the Big Spread" appears in The Handsome Prince, edited by Neil Plakcy and recently released by Cleis Press.

31

I returned home from the annual Oklahoma Writers' Federation Inc. conference to find my 31st acceptance waiting in the mail box, this time for a 2,900-word bit of erotic crime fiction.

Published 2x

My stories "Daddy Dearest" and "Someday He'll Notice Me" appear in the June True Story.

30

I received my 30th acceptance of the year in today's mail, this time for a 4,600-word confession I submitted in February.