Acceptance of the changes in publishing

There's a lot of talk about the self publishing revolution that is radically changing the publishing worl. In case yoiua re wondering where I stand, I am firmly on the side of mavericks like Konrath and Stackpole.

For years I tried to get a traditional deal. I went the same route all writers go. I have the rejection slips to prove it. There were times when I became so depressed over it that I stopped writing for a few years. But I woud always get up, dust myself off and get back on the merry-go- round.

Except this time, last May I was surfing the internet looking for information on rewriting and I came across by accident that writers no longer had to get a trad deal to publish their work, nor did they have to go through a vanity press. They could self publish straight to Amazon and other venues, big and small. I was estatic over this! You mean to tell me that I don't have to sit and beg and wait for years and years for the minute chance that I may get a publishing deal? Seriously? I accepted the change in a snap. I didn't wait, I didn't feel the need for a trad deal for validation and I didn't feel invested in the old way of doing things and I've been writing for many years now. I accepted the change instantly and the first thing I did was get out old manuscripts, rework and proofread them, figured out how I could publish my work and where I needed to get started!

Some writers need someone else's approval to publish their own work. They require validation. I won't knock them. It's too easy. I have confidence in my work. It ain't perfect but I like it. I just don't need other people's approval.

A small goldmine of ideas

Well I went rummaging around for some of my old stories and not only did I find my old short story but I found a whole bunch of poems and short fiction pieces that I wrote. I was over the moon! I wrote these things back in high school and some of them were graded works.

I used to take creative writing classes all throughout my primary school years. Some of them are what you'd expect from a young person but a few pieces were truly inspired. I know that in the near future I will be re-dusting and revise the best pieces for publication.

I think that I should also state that I just finished The Pumpkin Princess first draft! I'll be posting updates over the course of the month but the first major step is done. Expect The Pumpkin Princess to come out in October.

Rehabilitating old stories

I was reading one of my favorite writer's forums today and ran across a thread about old stories.

It got me thinking about some of the stories I wrote back in high school. There are two stories I still remember vivdly, short stories. One was called 1929 and the protaganist's name was Orl. Odd name, but anyway, you can pretty much guess what it was about. This wasn't a science fiction or fantasy story, if I remember it correctly.

Then there was a story about a man who was a wine connoisseur - an arrogant one who is invited to a dinner which turns out to be a frightening affair for him. I had kept those stories around for many years but it's been so long now that I wonder if I still have the copies. When I have some time I plan to go digging around for those stories.

Why? I want to rehabilitate them. I think that I can make them better. Much better. People seemed to like them back then, especially my T.A.G. teachers. I wonder if people will like them now?

It will be a long time before I make a decision about exactly how to rewrite them because I'm in the middle of so many other writing projects. We'll see. . .