Finding balance

When I started freelancing full-time, one of my goals was to write more short stories and to earn a significant portion of my freelance income from writing fiction. Initially, that's what happened.

That hasn't been the case for much of this year, though. I've written less fiction, yet seen my income slowly creep upward. I expect to earn more this year than last, but it appears that fiction will generate both a smaller percentage of my total revenue as well as fewer total dollars than last year.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. What I've realized is that sitting at a computer has come to dominate my waking hours. Because 99%, or more, of my gross income is derived from things I do while sitting at a computer, and 50% or more of my "social" interaction comes from participation in Yahoo groups and e-mail, I find myself seeking opportunities to get away from the keyboard. So, what suffers? The time I would spend writing short stories.

The vast majority of the fiction I've produced has been written on speculation, while nearly everything else is produced on assignment or to-order. Fiction generates income many months--sometimes years--after creation. The other work generates income a few days to a few weeks after completion.

Right now I'm trying to find balance in my life. I'm trying to find balance between generating income to support myself and producing the kind of material that made me want to be a writer in the first place. I'm also trying to find balance between "alone time" and "social time."

I don't think I have the balance perfect, yet. But I'm getting closer.

Most importantly, I'm pleased with my life. I like what I do, I like my clients, and I like the future as far ahead as I can see it.

So tweaking the balance a little bit is nothing to worry about.

I've met all of this week's deadlines, so maybe tomorrow I'll spend a little more time writing fiction. Today, though, I think I'll turn the computer off and go outside.

Today's mail

Today's mail included payments for three short stories.

35

My 35th acceptance arrived in today's mail, a contract for a Christmas love story.

34

Yesterday I received a contract for a short story, my 34th sale of the year.

And again...

My story "Nothing But The Painful Truth" appears in the October issue of True Confessions.

Published, again

My story "A Girl, a Guy, and a Sandwich Shop" appears in the October True Story.

Completed revision

Earlier this year I received a 24,000-word ms. back from an editor with numerous suggestions on how to revise and improve the story, along with a note that the editor would look at the story again if I revised it. I did all the heavy lifting right away, making substantial changes and reworking bits and pieces. Then other projects with real deadlines crowded my to-do list and this ms. was pushed aside.

Yesterday I carved a five-hour block out of my afternoon and did a final revision of the ms., cleaning up little bits here and there. Early yesterday evening I sent it to the editor.

Write by the numbers

I'm reading 4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, a novel I received free in a stack of books and probably would not have opened if I hadn't already read every novel published by Hard Case Crime that I had in the house.

4th of July reads like the written equivalent of a paint-by-numbers painting. It has 146 chapters, each about two pages long. If I was guessing, I'd say Patterson wrote 146 sentences and Paetro expanded each sentence into a 500-word chapter.

Because plotting is my biggest weakness, I wondered if I could apply this process to short fiction. I sat with a note pad and a pencil and tried to plot a short story in five to seven sentences, thinking I could then return to the keyboard, expand each sentence into a 500-word scene, and have a complete story.

I began with the following premise: one man, one woman, one crime.

After a considerable amount of time I had four sentences describing only the first two scenes and an itch to start writing.

So I wrote the first two scenes.

And stopped.

What I wrote is great.

What it isn't is a complete story.

I'm facing the same thing I face with nearly every story I write: an idea for a strong opening scene and no idea where to go next. So this one goes into the pile of unfinished stories, waiting until some spark of inspiration or some dogged determination pushes me through the next few scenes and on to the end of the story.

So, as an attempt to change how I write, this experiment proved to be a failure. I fell back into my old habit: get the first scene on paper; worry about the rest later.

Perhaps I just can't write by the numbers...

Today's other good news

I learned that two short stories are being held for probable publication in the near future, one by a monthly magazine, one by a quarterly. (I won't count either as a sale until I have a contract in hand.)

33

I received my 33rd acceptance of the year earlier today, this time for an article I wrote on assignment for a gardening magazine.

Although the finished piece turned out pretty good, it was a struggle to get to a final draft. An abundance of other work caused me to get a late start, the woman I was to interview backed out, and I lost a couple of days reaching her suggested replacement. Then I used a new recorder and learned too late that the tape is almost unusable. I struggled out a rough draft using my handwritten notes, the few things I could hear on the tape, and other information I had gathered beore the interview. When I contacted the interviewee with follow-up questions, she was out of town for a week. Sigh.

I finally finished the article and e-mailed it to the editor last night, 20 days after my original deadline.

I think this is the first deadline I've missed in a bazillion years. I'm lucky it was a soft deadline, not a hard deadline, and that I've worked with the editor enough to know I had flexibility.

What have I learned? Take better notes in case the recorder fails. Test new recorders before using them for important interviews. And always keep your editor informed of delays.

Always.

Rejection

And today's mail also brought a rejection, this from an editor who has been publishing my work since 1991: "I just didn't think it was as good as your other recent submissions (which have been pretty darn good)."

So, even though I am dismayed by the rejection, I feel "pretty darn good" about the editor's comments.

32

I received my 32nd acceptance of the year in the mail today, a contract for a Thanksgiving-themed confession that I wrote and submitted last weekend.

Stand-up

Mystery writer James Winter recently posted a video of himself performing stand-up comedy.

Stand-up is a tough gig. I know. I tried stand-up many years ago, performing at open mike nights in a variety of clubs around the St. Louis area. I won second place in a competition, later saw some of the guys I'd performed with on TV shows like Evening at the Improv, and was even present when Louie Anderson won the Midwest Comedy Competition in 1981. It's a good thing I had a fall-back career--writing--because stand-up didn't work out for me.

One important lesson I learned: Performing stand-up in front of drunk hecklers makes anything that happens at a book signing seem like a cake walk.

Writing under the influence...

...of too much cold medicine.

I woke up sick Saturday morning and had to cancel plans for the weekend. Tied to the house because I did not dare stray too far from the, um, library, I spent a great deal of time at the keyboard.

Amazingly, I finished two Christmas stories that I had previously started. They look pretty good through medicine-fogged eyes, so they're both going in the mail tomorrow.

Zoominfo

I was doing some reasearch earlier this evening and stumbled across Zoominfo.com. Of course, once I found the site, one of the first searches I did was for my own name. Very interesting. Y'all should try it.

31 and published

My short humorous essay "Water Foul" appears in today's issue of Seeds and, because I hadn't counted it yet, marks my 31st acceptance of the year.

The 50% Solution

I just spent the evening reading the first half of a really good hardboiled private eye novel. Unfortunately, there's no second half because I haven't written it yet. It's one of the novels I keep telling myself is "in progress," but I haven't added a word to it in more than a year.

Perhaps I should.

Published

Today's mail brought contributor copies of another magazine with one of my short stories in it.

Productive weekend

This is the first weekend in several months that I've devoted exclusively to writing--no family obligations, no social obligations, no housecleaning, no yardwork, and no editing projects. Just writing.

The result:

I finished a new short story and will mail it to an editor tomorrow.

I found the key plot device for another short story and did some preliminary research.

I found markets for two unsold manuscripts.

And I made significant progress on an article that is on the verge of being overdue. I put together a solid draft with a few gaps and a few rough spots. It looks like I'll have to return to my source with a couple of follow-up questions, but the piece--which I've been wrestling with for a while now because my tape recorder didn't pick up the interview as well as I had expected--looks like it's going to turn out OK.

Quoted on Visual Thesaurus

My opinon about writer's block--that there's no such thing--has been quoted on Visual Thesaurus (right hand column, about halfway down the page) with a link back to my January 2, 2007 post on the subject.

Another two-fer

My stories "Office Dare" and "One Hunk of a Tutor!" were published in the September True Romance, which just hit the local newsstands.

Found money

Having a long career and an extensive file of published work helps generate "found money"--additional money for no additional work. It can even turn non-profitable projects into profitable ones.

Way back in the mid-'80s I had a short story published in a popular mystery magazine of the day. The acceptance indicated that I would be paid, but I never received a cent and the magazine went out of business. In the early '00s, the story was reprinted in a small press mystery magazine, but no payment was offered or expected.

The story was recently accepted by another publisher and the contract indicates that I'll be receiving payment in due course. It'll be a nice chunk of change--enough for dinner and a movie for two if I don't go overboard--and that's not bad.

Twenty-plus years to turn a non-profitable project into a profitable one seems like a long time, but any income beats no income and "found money" is always welcome money.

30

My 30th acceptance of the year arrived yesterday via e-mail. One of my previously published mystery short stories will be released on audio.

Another contract

Yesterday I received a contract for one of the two stories accepted last week.

Postal workers are my friends

Today's mail include a contributor copy of a magazine containing two of my short stories and a check for two short stories published in May.

Contract

Received, signed, and returned a contract this morning for one of the stories accepted earlier this week.

Happy holidays!

It's the dead of summer and time to contemplate the upcoming holiday season. Periodicals work many months in advance, so the deadlines for November and December issues are rapidly approaching. If I hope to place any holiday-themed short stories this year, I need to get to work.

Earlier this week I wrote the opening lines or opening scenes for seven Thanksgiving stories and seven Christmas stories. (Why seven each? Coincidence.) I have a rapidly shrinking window of opportunity for submitting any Thanksgiving stories I write, a window only open until early to mid August, and a slightly larger window for submitting Christmas stories.

I placed four Christmas stories last year, but no Thanksgiving stories. Perhaps I'll do better this year now that I have a stockpile of ideas. So, to get myself in the mood, perhaps I should prepare a Turkey, don my foam antlers, and put on some Christmas music...

Bumped, or bumped off?

I was going through my files a few minutes ago and found three short stories that had been accepted (contracts signed and returned) and tentatively scheduled for publication in 2005. Stories get bumped to subsequent issues for all kinds of reasons, but I can't recall ever having any stories bumped more than a few months. So, were they bumped, or bumped off?

I just e-mailed the editor to find out...

29

I received my 29th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this for a short confession. The acceptance came via e-mail and a contract will follow soon.

A P.O. Box in New Jersey

"Where do you get your ideas?"

Every writer hears this question, and it's easy to respond with something cute, such as, "I order a dozen at a time from a P. O. Box in New Jersey."

Many times a snappy answer is sufficent. Sometimes, though, if the person asking the question is sincere, a simple explanation may be appropriate: "I ask myself 'what if?' What if my neighbor isn't digging a new flower bed, but is digging a place to bury his wife? What if a woman suddenly started hearing other people's thoughts? What if a man caught his wife cheating with another woman? What if a ghost suddenly appeared in a woman's bedroom? The story is how I answer that question."

But what if the person asking the question, the person who wants to know where you get your ideas, isn't interested in cocktail chatter, but is a potential companion--friend, lover, spouse, etc.--and is sincerely interested in how your mind works? How much do you reveal? (How much do you even understand about yourself?)

I have no answers, only questions.

28

I received my 28th acceptance of the year earlier this evening. The acceptance came via e-mail. A contract will follow soon.

Finally!

I finished a new short story earlier this evening, a love story set at Halloween. It'll go in the mail tomorrow morning and my fingers will be crossed that I haven't missed the deadline for the October issue of the magazine I'm sending it to.

Published 2X

My stories "Woman on Top" and "Bad Boy to the Rescue" appear in the August True Confessions, which just hit the newsstands in central Texas.

Film treatment

I read my first film treatment today, a dark work that sent a chill up my spine when I finished reading it that was co-written by the editor who turned me into a crime fiction writer. It read much like a novel outline so, if I ever figure out how to outline a novel, I can easily adapt that skill to writing a film treatment.

Published

I just learned that my story "Sketches" was published in the March issue of Futures. Alas, I've not yet seen it.

Maybe later

I've been floating anthology proposals around to various publishers and today received word about one of them. The publisher likes the concept, can't take it on right now, but want me to touch base at the end of the year.

Reviews: "Professionals"

I have not yet seen Out of the Gutter #2, but I have seen reviews of the issue, which include comments about my story "Professionals."

Rob Lott at Bookgasm writes, "[...] followed by the even-better 'Professionals,' in which Michael Bracken spins a story of a male prostitute who gets into big trouble with one of his johns."

And Bill Crider writes on his blog, "Michael Bracken's 'Professionals,' [...] reveals that Bracken is himself a real pro when it comes to crime shorts."

27

Today's mail included a contract for a short story. This is my 27th acceptance of the year.

Writing rant of the day

"Over" and "more than" are not interchangeable terms. Sadly, too few writers seem to know this.

"Over" refers to a physical relationship (that is, "my hand is OVER the desk") while "more than" refers to a numerical relationship (that is, "I have 18 cookies MORE THAN you have").

Have a back-up plan

Among the presentations at Seton Hill University's "In Your Write Mind" conference this past weekend was Carmine Coco De Young's "Stage Time! Techniques for a Successful Author Visit." While her presentation concentrated on school visits, much of the information was applicable to any live author presentation (techniques for radio and television appearances were not included).

Two important take-away tid-bits: 1) Know your audience. 2) Have a back-up plan. Or two.

I learned both lessons the hard way a few years ago. I had been doing readings at science fiction conventions of short stories written and intended for mature audiences and the convention organizers had been promoting the readings as late-night, adults-only events.

Then I went to a convention that didn't bother to put the appropriate disclaimer in the promotional material or in the convention's schedule of events.

I found myself facing an audience ill-prepared for what I was about to read. And I had no other material with me. I tried to edit on-the-fly, cutting scenes and changing words as I read. Part of my audience let me know their displeasure by walking out. I learned what flopsweat feels like. It doesn't feel good.

Since then I've stopped doing readings that require disclaimers and I've always taken back-up material in case the horror audience I was expecting turns out to be a science fiction audience, or the romance audience I was expecting turns out to be a mystery audience.

I had the lesson repeated, though not so obviously, at the Texas Library Association convention earlier this year. I was one of a dozen or so mystery writers participating in a "speed dating" event where we spent 15 minutes at a table talking about our books before we moved to the next table.

I found myself surrounded by children's librarians at most of the tables. My mystery novels and short story collections are generally not appropriate for children. I shifted gears on the fly and talked about my young adult romance novel, Just in Time for Love.

And I had the lesson reinforced at Seton Hill University this weekend. I had prepared my talk expecting a typical writers conference mix in the audience. What I faced was an audience dominated by graduates of Seton Hill's master's program. In talking to other writers the day before and the morning of my presentation, I realized what I planned to say wasn't quite appropriate. I kept my introduction (which I posted here yesterday) and then winged it for the rest of the hour-and-a-half presentation. Lucky for me I've been around a long time so I had lots of stories to tell, examples to give, and names to drop.

So, props to Ms. De Young. Her presentation was timely and quite appropriate.

At least, it was for this member of her audience.

(To learn more about Ms. De Young, check out her Web site at http://www.ccocodeyoung.com.)

Seton Hill presentation introduction

Here's how I opened my talk at Seton Hill University's "In Your Write Mind" conference this past weekend:

Publishing is in a state of flux. Rapid changes in technology have resulted in an explosion of vanity publishers, self-publishers, and small press publishers. Nearly anyone with access to a computer can produce an electronic periodical. The once clear line between professional and amateur has blurred to the point where the difference between “us” and “them” is only obvious at the extreme ends of the spectrum.

Differences in attitude between art forms confuse us: A musician self-records a CD to sell at his gigs and he’s hailed for taking his career into his own hands; a novelist releases a book through iUniverse and other writers think he’s -- at best -- ill-informed or -- at worst -- a complete moron. Professional writers’ organizations struggle with the definition of “professional” and succeed only in defining qualifications for membership in their particular organizations.

Rip-off artists scam unsuspecting new writers. The “agents” that charge up-front fees, the “publishers” that charge writers to be published, the “editors” that charge for negligible editing services, the “contests” that exist solely to make money for the contest sponsors, all make their money because new writers spend more time dreaming than they spend working.

So how can any new writer successfully traverse a minefield filled with rapidly advancing technology, scam artists seeking to pick their pockets, and a plethora of writers’ organizations that can’t agree on the definition of “professional”?

The secret to success for most writers is the same today as it was when I started more than 30 years ago: It’s inspiration, determination, and perspiration.

26

I returned home from speaking at Seton Hill University's "In Your Write Mind " conference to find my 26th acceptance of the year, a contract for a confession.

49 consecutive months

I have now had one or more pieces of short fiction published each month for 49 consecutive months. I have contracts in hand that should stretch that another few months. But if I don't start writing and submitting more fiction I might break the streak.

Two published

My stories "The Naughty Professor" and "Flirting With Danger" appear in the Summer issue of True Experience, which just hit the local newsstands today.

Published

My article "Feeding the World One Garden at a Time" appears in the July/August Texas Gardener, which should be hitting newsstands any day now.

Money flows TO the writer

After reading an editorial written by Hope Clark, I popped off a response. She printed the letter in the June 3 issue of FFW Small Markets. Here's what I said:

Your article "You Get What You Pay For - Investing in Your Writing Career" reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the intent behind "Money flows TO the writer, not FROM the writer."

A writer should invest in her career. A good education, the proper writing tools, business stationery, and related expenses should all pay off in the long run.

What doesn't pay off is sending money to rip-off artists who scam would-be authors who don't know any better--the "agents" who charge fees up-front, the "publishers" who charge writers to be published, the "editors" who charge for negligible editing services, the "contests" that exist solely to make money for the contest sponsors, and on and on and on.

One of the most important questions a writer can ask when faced with a business decision is, "Which way does the money flow?" If money is moving from the author's pocket to someone else's pocket, there's a good probability it's a scam or a shady business arrangement. If the money flows to the author's pocket, there's a good probability that it isn't a scam.

But determining which way the money flows is only the beginning. Writers must make many decisions throughout a career and the best thing a writer can do is understand copyright law, contract law, and standard business practices within publishing.

Then, and only then, can a writer make informed decisions about her career. If a writer chooses to pay a contest entry fee, it's because she has done her due diligence and has good reason to believe the contest is sponsored by a legitimate organization. If a writer chooses to self-publish, it's because she understands the benefits and limitations of self-publishing (and knows the difference between self-publishing and vanity publishing). If a writer chooses to take money from her pocket and put it into someone else's, it's because she has made an informed decision and understands how that decision impacts her career. A writer should never let ignorance guide her career decisions.

With more than 30 years of publishing experience--including 11 books, more than 1,000 shorter pieces, and time spent on the editor's side of the desk, I will happily and loudly proclaim that "Money flows TO the writer, not FROM the writer."

P.I. story published

A new story featuring my Waco Texas-based P.I. Morris Ronald Boyette was just published by Thrilling Detective. Read it at: http://www.thrillingdetective.com/fiction/07_06_03.html.

Published

My "Love Letter" appears on page 50 of the July True Romance.

Interesting tidbit: This was originally written for a college course in argumentative writing. The assignment was to convince the reader to change his/her mind about something. Most students wrote traditional essays and Op-Ed pieces about "big" topics--abortion, war, public education, etc., etc. I was the only student to write a letter intended for a single, specific reader.

Weekend in Louisville

I flew to Louisville this weekend to attend the American Advertising Federation's annual ADDY Awards gala, where I received a Silver ADDY Award for a series of newspaper ads I created last year for the Waco Symphony Orchestra.

It was a wild weekend. I had a brief nap Friday evening and left the house at 1:30 a.m. Saturday. From then until I finally crashed at about 2 a.m. Sunday, I survived on a trio of brief naps--one on the airplane traveling from Dallas to Memphis, another on the plane traveling from Memphis to Louisville, and a brief one at the hotel in Louisville.

The evening began with a cocktail reception for the award winners, where Joe Piscopo presented us with our awards and we had our pictures taken with him. Then we moved to the general cocktail reception, where the Gold Award winning entries were displayed. From there we went to the banquet hall for the awards dinner. Award winners sat at reserved seating in front.

The food was great, the presentation was excellent--moving seamlessly back and forth from Joe Piscopo performing live to video presentation of winning entires--and at the end Joe annouced the names of each of the award winners present and we each stood when our name was called so that we could be recognized by the bazillion attendees.

I have to admit, it was a bit of a rush. To think that one guy working alone can create advertising competitive with that produced by national and international advertising agencies like BBD&O, Saatchi & Saatchi, and many others is mindblowing. To be that guy is...well...a rush.

I think it'll be months before my swollen head deflates to normal size...

Published

Today's mail included a contributor copy of a magazine containing one of my short stories.

25

Today I received a contract for a short story. This is my 25th acceptance of the year.

Anthology delays

An an editor, I understand that anthologies get delayed; I have three accepted for publiction but have be given no publication date for any of them. And the contributors keep wanting status updates for each of the anthologies.

As a writer, I've had work held by anthology editors facing similar situations. Today the editors of an anthology updated me on the status of a project dating back to late 2004. It's still inching forward.

Payments

I like it when I find money in my mailbox. Saturday I received payment for a short story. Today I received payment for another short story.

24

My 24th acceptance of the year coincided with its publication. My article "Weatherization provided at no cost to low-income homeowners" appears in the June issue of Senior News.

Understanding rejection

Earlier this year I wrote a hardboiled crime story that I particularly like. It's been out to a couple of markets and the gist of the rejections is a) not enough sex and b) too much sex. So, is it a problem with the story, or have I sent it to the wrong markets?

This is the kind of dilemma writers face all the time. And, no, it's not about having too much sex or not enough sex. It's about using the editors' comments to help prevent future rejection.

I can use what I learned from these rejections to help sell future work to these markets. For one market, I may increase the sexual aspects of the next story I submit; for the other market, I'll decrease the sexual aspects.

But the editors could have pointed out anything. Perhaps one felt the characters were well drawn but the setting was skimpy. In that case I might spend more time setting the stage. Another editor might think the setting was fine but never "saw" the characters. In that case I might spend a little more time describing the characters.

At least neither editor said the story sucked. Then what would I do?

22, 23

Two more acceptances--a bit of crime fiction accepted by a web zine and some writing tips accepted by a friend putting together a book about writing. I also received a check for a short story published back in April and a contributor's copy of a magazine containing one of my short stories.

Published

One of my pseudonyms had a story published today. It's a "be careful what you wish for because you just might get it" story.

Busy weekend

At the request of a publisher, I put together an anthology proposal for her to look at.

I provided some writing tips and advice to a friend who's writing a book about the habits of successful writers. If he quotes me in the book, I'll get two copies.

I sent a story to a new on-line publication and I submitted a reprint to another new publication.

And I edited articles for a monthly publication.

I just about have my desk cleared of miscellaneous little projects. Maybe now I can write something...

21

I received a contract for a short story today, my 21st acceptance of the year.

Insurance and freelancing

Being a full-time freelancer means having expenses that the average Joe doesn't think about, or doesn't think about in the same way. Medical insurance is one of them. I had insurance through my former spouse's employer. The cost to the family was neglible and, because the premiums were deducted directly from her paycheck, not a financial issue that had my attention.

That's changed. I elected to retain insurance through COBRA and now medical/dental insurance is my single largest monthly expense other than my house payment.

I'll have to sell another short story or two every month to cover the premiums, or find some way to lower other expenses.

I will also have to revist this issue on a regular basis. I've received quotes for other, less expensive polices, but less expensive also means higher deductibles and less coverage. Plus, COBRA's only good for three years.

And two months have already passed.

New series with old stars

Abe Vigoda and Erik Estrada will be revisiting the roles that made them famous in the new British police drama "Fish & Chips."

Another award

I learned today that I've won another advertising award, this time a Silver ADDY Award that will be presented next month at the AAF's national conference. The award is for a series of newspaper ads I created for the Waco Symphony. This series of ads previously received a Gold ADDY Award in local competition, a Silver ADDY Award in district competition, and now a Silver ADDY Award in national competition.

Not bloody bad for a one-person operation.

Productivity

I finished writing a 7,000-word short story today. The final draft is printing now and it'll off to an editor in the morning.

This is a story I've been working on for several months, but the last half of it finally fell into place yesterday and today.

In the strangest places

Earlier today I discovered that a research paper I wrote about writer's block is listed as a source in "KIRJOITTAMISEN
PELKO," written by Kalle Lintunen and published in EKHO (http://org.utu.fi/tyyala/prometheus/ekho/syksy_06/ekho2_06.pdf). As the entire article is witten in a langauge I can't read, I have no idea what it says.

For grins, I googled other references of my article and found this: "While we’re talking about academic writing, let me share my favorite scholarly aricle on writer’s block 'Writer’s Block: A Definition by Example' by Michael Bracken." (http://www.todayiwrite.com/writers-block-in-all-its-variety.html)

To read the paper I wrote, go to: http://www.sfwa.org/writing/block.htm

At three words, it may be the shortest research paper ever written.

Published

One of my pseudonyms had a ghost story published today.

Productivity and Postage

I finished a new short story today, but preparing to mail it was a challenge.

A few days ago I saw the editorial calendar for a magazine I frequently contribute to. Yesterday morning I had a story idea that I thought would fit an upcoming issue. I wrote most of the opening scene and some notes for the second scene right away. Last night and today I wrote the balance of the story. After proofreading and minor edits, the final draft clocked in at 4,300 words.

As I was preparing the envelope and SASE I realized there's no way I'll get the story in today's mail and postage rates change on Monday. I haven't been to the Post Office to purchase stamps of the new denominations.

Luckily, my bucket o' stamps came to the rescue. I have a small butter tub filled with stamps of various denominations that I've collected over the years. Every time rates change I find myself with stamps that don't equate to anything useful. Today the bucket o' stamps proved useful. I was able to cobble together postage of the correct amount for both the outgoing ms. and--heaven forbid--the returning SASE.

The Value of Research

Ken Bruen and Jason Starr don't know women. Neither does their copyeditor. On page 53 of Bust they make an error on par with the old westerns where the hero fires 10 or 12 shots from his six-shooter before stopping to reload. They describe a woman's breasts as "46 triple-Ds" and then say she has a "bone-thin dancer's body."

Sorry, guys, but you blew it. A woman with a 46-inch chest does not have a "bone-thin dancer's body." Instead, she's more likely to be a small truck. I'm a 225-pound 6-footer myself, and I don't have a 46-inch chest.

So, here's my writing tip of the day for Ken and Jason and every other male writer who wants to write about women's physical attributes: Do your research. Talk to your wife/girlfriend/sister/mother and find out how bras are sized and how the size of of a woman's bra relates to the size of the woman.

Productivity, Rejection, Frustration

I completed and submitted my first short story since mid-February. That's a bloody long gap between short stories for me, but life has interferred with writing so I won't beat myself up about it.

I received a rejection today, so I promptly repackaged the story and it's off to another editor.

And, a bit of frustration: I received a healthy check for a short story in today's mail. Unfortunately, the check wasn't signed and I have to return it to the publisher.

19, 20

One of the articles I wrote last weekend was accepted today and I also received a contract for a short story I wrote last December.

Non-fiction productivity

This has been a good weekend for writing non-fiction. I finished and submitted an article yesterday and finished and submitted another article earlier this evening. Since both articles were written on assignment, I have every reason to believe they'll be accepted.

So, back to writing fiction...

18

I sort-of received my 18th acceptance of the year earlier today. I discovered a story that had been tentatively accepted is listed on a publication's Web site as scheduled for its next issue. In my eyes, that moves the story from a tentative acceptance to a full acceptance and now I can count it in my yearly total.

Look for "Professionals" in the second issue of Out of the Gutter.

Published and rejected

My short article "Organizing for Anthology Success" was published in today's Gila Queen's Guide to Markets.

On the downside, I received a rejection from a literary magazine.

Back in the saddle?

Although I didn't stop writing, my writing recently had been more personal and less commercial. The past week, though, I've been hard at it again writing fiction intended for publication. While I haven't finished any stories recently, I've made good progress on at least half a dozen of them.

Published, again

I had another short story published, this one written under one of my pseudonyms.

I appear in the strangest places

In her March 4 column in Parade (http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_03-04-2007/Ask_Marilyn), Marilyn vos Savant was asked: "If a farmer has a total of 30 cows and chickens, and the animals have 74 legs in all, how many chickens are in the coop?"

She gave a complicated mathematical answer. I sent her a much simpler answer to the question and it's now posted at http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/articles/web_exclusives/2007/04-15-2007/Marilyn_Readers_Respond.

I don't know if my response actually appeared in Parade, but if it did, it would have been in the April 15 edition. Parade is distributed with the Sunday paper and April 15 is the one time I didn't buy a Sunday paper!

Did anybody see it?

17

Today I received a contract for an essay, my 17th acceptance of the year. My acceptance rate has dropped to one acceptance every 6.5 days, which puts me right in line with my annual goal--one acceptance per week--but below the blistering pace with which I started 2007.

An interesting/ironic twist to this sale: I was enrolled in an argumentative essay writing course a few years ago and I wrote the essay to complete a homework assignment (note to new blog readers: I was 48 when I graduated in 2005). The assignment was to write a letter to convince someone to do something they probably wouldn't want to do. I wrote a letter to my second wife (she had died from cancer less than two years after we married) about my third wife.

So, my college homework continues to generate income (this is not the first piece of homework I've sold), and my personal life has changed so much since I wrote the essay that I had a really weird feeling when I reread it a few minutes ago.

Mail / Bills

Today's mail brought payment for a short story and a check from an editing client. I promptly paid bills. For the first time in a few months, I still had a modest balance after all the bills were paid.

Of course, my luck being what it is lately, I also learned of another bill about to drop in my lap. Sigh.

Just another incentive to get productive.

Published

Today I received author copies of an anthology containing one of my short stories.

Dying to Meet You

Last Thursday evening I participating in "Dying to Meet You" at the Texas Library Association's annual conference in San Antonio. Sixteen mystery authors participated in the event, which was based on the speed-dating concept. Nine (there may have been more, I never actually counted) librarians sat at each table eating while the authors visited with them. Approximately every fifteen minutes, the authors would change tables and talk with a new group of librarians.

I spent one to two minutes introducing myself, talking about three of my books (the most recent, the best-reviewed, and one--not a mystery--that was suitable for young readers). Then the librarians peppered me with questions--from the common ("Where do you get your ideas?") to the personal ("How many times have you been married?") to the off-the-wall.

There was time to visit with five or six tables (it's all a blur, now) and I had a rip-roaring good time!

Before the event, the authors had the opportunity to eat dinner together and I had the chance to talk with a number of writers I knew from previous events we'd attended together--Lillian Stewart Carl, Cindy Daniel, Julie Wray Herman, Susan McBride, and Chris Rogers--met John Foxjohn, who I'd only crossed paths with on-line, and nodded at a few other authors that I didn't have a chance to talk to.

I also met James Reasoner when we both arrived about half an hour early. We sat in the hallway of the Menger and had a great conversation about writing. I tried to get him to tell me the secret of being a prolific novelist, but he never did show me the secret handshake. Maybe next time.

Rejection

From Murdaland. I think I'm zero for three with them. Sigh.

Another Award

Earlier this year I mentioned receiving ADDY awards for a series of ads I created for the Symphony. Those were local awards. The winners are sent to District. I learned today that my ads won a Silver ADDY Award at the district level.

Twisted Intent

I've been doing quite a bit of writing lately, some of it quite good, but none of it intended for pay or for publication. While the writing I'm doing benefits me in a non-financial way, it is a bit frustrating to realize that it's taking time away from my for-pay production.

Or is it? Would I really be working on for-pay/for-publication work if I stopped the other writing I'm doing? Or might I just be staring at the wall or the television screen?

One of the odd things about writing--especially difficult for the non-writers around us to understand--is that it is difficult to know when we're working and when we aren't. Either way, we may be sitting in front of a keyboard, or staring blankly into space, or on a long walk around the neighborhood as we think.

16 and publication

I received a contract today for what is my 16th acceptance of the year, a humorous short story accepted by a men's magazine.

I also received the May issue of True Romance, which contains my story "Hot Mom."

Acceptance, publication, and payment

My humorous essay "Dandelion Whine" was accepted and appears in today's Seeds.

The mail brought payment for two short stories.

And one of my regular clients dropped two assignments in my lap today.

All-in-all, a good day.

Rejected

Today's mail brought a rejection. I've already targeted another publication and have the story ready to go out in the mail tomorrow.

Published, again

My story "Vigilante Teen!" appears in the May issue of True Story.

Freelancing, family, and failure

As I sat at my desk a few minutes ago writing a check to the U.S. Treasury for my first quarter estimated taxes--which put a healthy dent in my bank balance despite my increasing ability to plan ahead--I realized this is a significant day. Four years ago, on April Fool's Day, I became a full-time freelancer.

It's been a wild ride.

While I don't normally share personal information as my intent is to track the ups and downs of the "professional" side of freelancing, freelancing does impact my personal life. And not always in a good way.

My ten-year marriage ended a few days ago and my career choice was one of the reasons. I'm certain there's a lesson to be learned here. If nothing else, it's that I should have devoted as much energy to my key relationship as I devoted to my career.

Because now all I have is the career.

When all else fails, fax!

A contract I snail-mailed back on May 5 never arrived in the editor's office, so the editor asked me to fax my signed copy.

Of course, because I keep copies of damn near everything, I had it at my fingertips and was able to fax it right away.

13, 14

I received contracts for two short stories today--both confessions--bringing my total sales for the year to 14.

Getting away from it all

I spent last week in Atlanta. While I didn't have much opportunity to sight-see--I was attending a week-long seminar on new marketing trends for symphonies--I took advantage of the time away from the home office to relax. I spent much of each day attending the lectures/workshops, but still had time to read, walk around the neighborhood surrounding the hotel, and attend a performance of the Atlanta Symphony. More importantly, I didn't take any writing or editing projects with me, and I limited my Internet time to about 10 minutes each day.

I learned a lot about marketing symphonies. And I relaxed.

I'm back home, and, somehow, I don't feel as relaxed.

Sigh.

It's a Miracle!

My essay "Write What You Know" appears in the just-released non-fiction anthology Teacher Miracles, edited by Brian Thornton and published by Adams Media.

Published, again

I received my contributor copy of a magazine today. It includes a bit of my hardboiled crime fiction--written under a pseudonym...

Why writers don't sell

One of my freelance gigs is editing a weekly newsletter. As I was putting together this week's issue, I found an essay in my slush pile that I wanted to use. If I could have contacted the writer quickly, I might have published his essay.

But I couldn't. Neither his manuscript nor his cover letter included an e-mail address. Neither his manuscript nor his cover letter included a telephone number.

I tossed the manuscript aside. I didn't have time to write a letter and expect a response in the half-day I had before deadline, and I wasn't about to waste time looking for a telephone number that might prove to be unlisted.

The writer lost a sale because I couldn't contact him.

Maybe it isn't a permanent loss. Maybe I'll have time later in the week, or next week, or the week after, to write him a letter and await his response. Or maybe I won't. Maybe the manuscript will languish in the slush pile until I get tired of looking at it and I'll just shove it in the return envelope. He may never know how close he was to making a sale or how his own failure to provide complete contact information may have lost him the sale.

I've been on the other side of this quite often--twice in the past month, even--where editors contacted me (one by e-mail and the other by phone) to tell me they wanted to use something immediately. They found me. I said "yes." I made the sale.

My advice: Always, always, always, include complete contact information on your manuscripts. Don't lose sales because you forgot to tell an editor how to reach you.

Published

My story "The Other Sister" appears in the April True Romance.

Today's mail

A rejection. A form letter. From a magazine that's published many of my stories in the past.

Sigh.

"Breaking Routine" in Hardluck Stories

My private eye story "Breaking Routine" appears in the current issue of Hardluck Stories.

I get questions

In a response to a previous post, D.A. Davenport wrote, "I love the short story and flash fiction formats. It forces me to distil my work and insists on absolute clarity at all times. I'd like to know why you have chosen short stories as your major form of writing."

I suspect circumstance more than intent made me a short story writer. In the early stages of my career, the time I had available to write was limited--ten minutes here, a hour there, fifteen minutes somewhere else--and I could not keep a single project in my head. I found that I often had to reread what I'd written before I could continue writing and there comes a point where a project is too long to reread and add to in the short spurts of time I had available.

Also, success breeds. I found early success with short stories, getting them published in non-paying markets while I was in my mid-teens and selling my first story to a professional market while I was still a teenager. Every time I sold a short story, it served as an incentive to write another.

Although every novel I've finished has been published--to good reviews--it took me years to place them all and I couldn't bring myself to invest time and effort into long-term projects like novels with no clear payoff when I could write a short story in a few days and possibly see it in print and money in my pocket in as little as a few weeks.

"I am also curious about how you feel about Ezines as a forum for writers," D.A. also wrote, "Do you feel that they are as viable a vehicle as print magazines for a writer seeking to have her work read and noticed? Do you have a preference?"

My preference is to write for publications that pay me. Currently, the majority of paying markets for my fiction are ink-on-paper publications.

But that isn't exactly what you want to know, is it?

So, a bit of history. When I started writing back in the dark ages, using the burnt end of sticks to scratch my work on cave walls, I was a science fiction fan. Many science fiction fans published fanzines (fan magazines) by, for, and about science fiction/science fiction fans. These were often printed on ditto machines and mimeographs. These were amateur publications that did not pay contributors. And these publications were--except for my junior high and high school literary magazines and high school newspaper--where I first saw my work in print.

Science fiction fans also published semiprozines (semi-professional magazines) that paid contributors a token amount of money--often a fraction of a cent per word--and served as stepping stones into writing for the professional science fiction magazines. I also wrote for a few of these.

I see today's e-zines as the modern version of those fanzines and semiprozines. They are often produced by people with a great love for science fiction or mystery fiction or some other genre but who may lack real background in writing, editing, and publishing. For that reason, they range from terrible to terrific.

If you write for e-zines, try to write for the better e-zines--the ones that look good and aren't filled with typos and spelling errors, the ones that consistently have stories selected for best-of-year anthologies, the ones that are edited by people with some clue about copyright law, etc., etc., etc.

Although there are hardliners on both sides of the write-for-love and never-write-except-for-money debate, I fall somewhere in the middle. If you give your work away, do it with the full knowledge of what you are doing and why you're doing it.

And always strive to place your work in the best publications possible, whether they pay or not. You are, ultimately, known by the company you keep, and if the company you keep is ill-mannered and illiterate, it won't reflect well on you or your work.

Today's mail

I received a contract for a short story (my 12th, duly noted a few days ago when I received the acceptance e-mail), and a rejection for an anthology proposal.

Interestingly, the anthology proposal has funny legs. The first editor who saw it suggested an editor at another publishing house. That editor--the one who sent today's rejection--has suggested yet another editor at yet another publishing house. This is the first time I've ever had an anthology proposal get this much attention without a sale.

Cows and chickens

I'm not in the habit of responding to columnists in national publications, but in today's Parade, D.C. of New York, NY, askes Marilyn vos Savant, "If a farmer has a total of 30 cows and chickens, and the animals have 74 legs in all, how many chickens are in the coop?"

She gave a complicated mathematical answer and said there are 23 chickens in the coop, but here's a simple answer:

All the chickens are in the coop. The cows are in the barn.

Ain't technology grand?

Last evening I received an e-mail from an editor. She was accepting a story and asked if I would e-mail it to her so she wouldn't need to retype it. I happened to be sitting at the computer when her e-mail arrived, so I shot the story back to her within five minutes.

I attended a business luncheon today and, when I stopped at the office* before continuing on to a client's office this afternoon, I found a voice mail asking if I'd sent the story. I sent the story again and then phoned her. Even though neither e-mail had bounced back to me as undeliverable, she had not received them. Neither e-mail was stuck in her spam filter, and neither of us knew why the e-mails failed to reach her or where they had gone. She planned to talk to her company's network gurus to see if they might have a clue what had happened.

I don't know the end of this story. I don't know if her network gurus solved the problem or if she had to retype the story.

What I do know is that problems like these--though less common than they were a few years ago--continue to interfere with my working relationships. We have all come to rely so heavily on e-mail and the Internet that we may think ill of the person at the other end of the wire (editor or writer) for failing to respond or failing to meet a deadline when, in fact, there's a technological glitch interferring with our communication.
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*Sounds more professional than saying, "I stopped at home," doesn't it?