Monthly Archives: December 2017

It’s cold here, so very, very cold. Even with the sweater, coat, and booties, Oscar was in no way inclined to stray outside.

We had a nice, quiet holiday. I spent some time doing behind-the-scenes sorts of tasks to get ready for the new year. And I took a peek at what I did during 2017 as well.

Submissions

I submitted to ~46 short story markets this year. (I think it’s about 46, but it could be a few more since I sometimes forget to log a submission).

Sold

I sold five stories this year:

• Straying from the Path (reprint in audio)
• The Saint of Bright Red Things
• A Knight at the Royal Arms
• Keeping Time (reprint in audio)
• Steadfast

Published

I had three of those stories published:

Steadfast in Flash Fiction Online

A Knight at the Royal Arms in Pulp Literature #15

Straying from the Path at The Centropic Oracle

I also wrapped up the Third Season of Coffee and Ghosts.

Writing

I’d really hoped to start publishing a new series this year as well. That didn’t happen. There were a few reasons for that.

One, I was contacted by an editor from one of the big(ger) publishing houses to audition for a work-for-hire project. I decided to give it a try, not so much for the traditional contract but simply to see if I could do it. The editor sent me a three-page synopsis, and from there, I worked up three sample chapters of about 6,500 words. That was back in May. And no, I haven’t heard anything yet. I actually don’t expect to.

That’s okay. I’m pleased with what I wrote and the fact I could take an idea and make it my own. Plus, the research I did for this project led me directly to one of the new series I’m writing now.

So it all works out.

Oh, and how did this editor know to contact me? She didn’t say, but my guess is Dating on the Dork Side, and one of her books were in each other’s Also-Boughts on Amazon.

If I didn’t get all the writing in that I wanted to, I did some amazing writing-related things this year:

• I spent a wonderful weekend at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. I cannot wait to return this coming summer, and I’m going to make that happen if at all possible.
• I took a couple of very helpful classes, including one on Flash Fiction from LitReactor. (Two weeks, seven stories, and I’ve sold one already–Steadfast.)
• Some deep, story structure work via John Truby.

On the business side of things, I worked on graphic design (Photoshop in particular), and finally took the plunge and signed up for Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course.

In terms of sales, I had my first four-figure month and I’m ending the year at five figures, which isn’t too shabby for my part-time self-publishing business. Not only that, but Amazon selected Dating on the Dork Side as part of their Prime Reading list over the summer. That didn’t hurt.

So, all in all, not a bad year. I always think I can do more. But sometimes it’s good simply to do a little bit each day. It adds up.