Goals and Such

It's nearing the end of January, which means I get to check some things off of my 2020 list. I've been working to get a better draft of my TV pilot, but most of that time has been spent working up the show bible, not writing those extra scenes that I need. For coverage, I don't need the show bible, but it does help me see where it could go if the project had a future.

I can also check off the first contest entry of the year. I took a chance on a story I've never sent out before, so I hope I didn't waste the entry fee. Now I'm prepping an application for a residency. The work I'm sending is poetry, but for this particular contest, I have to have a good cover letter to go along with it. Although I think I write a good cover letter, I know how rarely they are read, so I find going through the motions a bit pointless. Maybe that's why all my job applications go unnoticed...

Coming Up in February

I'm dedicated the shortest month of the year for the most frustrating part of my professional life--meeting goals that depend on the actions of others. What does that include? Getting more book sales, acquiring more patrons on Patreon, getting more paid views on Medium, having more reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. I know I haven't tried every possible way to boost these numbers yet, but I do think I'm running out of the most cost-effective (=free) options.

The only other goal for February is to get my Book Spotlight gig back up on Fiverr. Since the posts will now appear here, I need to craft two or three samples before I relaunch. I've been putting it off because I thought I would have moved this blog to its own domain by now, but that's not the case. I'll revisit the idea of moving to a new domain in June. For now, I'm staying put on Blogger.

News and Notes from the Writing Desk: January Edition

January tends to be the time when everyone has that push to do more and find a new rhythm. I'm no different, so there are a lot of plans that have been put into place.

The Cost of Publication

As I've talked about before, I don't really like paying people to read my work. But there are occasions where contest fees and application fees are necessary. I try to keep these costs low. Because there are some great opportunities right now, I'm going to be spending my entry fee budget for the next three months split over three opportunities: two short story contests and one residency application. I carefully considered the fees against the opportunity, the top prize, and confidence in my work. I'm happy with my decisions and can't wait to get these entries turned in. The only hiccup? One of the short stories I want to enter is still technically being considered by another publication. But they've had it since September, so I don't know whether I'm going to get a rejection/acceptance in time, or whether I'm going to have to finally finish one of my other stories that I have been neglecting.

Recent Publications

As promised, I'm starting to write reviews for movies that I watch when I know I should be spending that time doing more productive things. I plan on continuing to review at least two movies a week, so I should be generating plenty of content for Medium this year. So far, I've published "From Cornfields to the Edge of Cool", a review of a 1957 James Dean documentary. I'm still in the process of writing the review for Jenny, a TV movie starring Marlo Thomas and Alan Alda. I will continue to stick to those odd, rare, and vintage titles because I don't watch a lot of modern movies, and those titles have plenty of people out there to review them anyway. I'm using Pluto TV, Tubi, and YouTube to find them, and there are plenty I can't wait to get to, including some light horror. But I'm not taking any chances--I will be watching those titles during the day, even if they are super cheesy when it comes to the scare factor.

In Process

I'm still working on my pilot script. It's going... okay. I'm having a hard time coming up with new scenes to meet my page count, so I may work on the show bible this weekend instead of those scenes. Also, I should finish a new short story to have it on deck, ready to go. I have at least six half-finished, so I have plenty to choose from. Aside from the residency application, poetry is taking a backseat for the rest of the month. I feel creative and energized, so the rest of January should go smoothly.

Upcoming Contests and Submission Deadlines

As you know, I've been spending a lot of writing time this month submitting, rather than writing. That being said, there are plenty of publications and contests, but I just don't have the time, the right piece, or the desire to spend a lot on entry fees to submit to everything. That's why I'm giving you a heads up on some that I really want to submit to someday, but can't this time around (excluding the On Dogs and Poetry--I think I have a good piece or two for that one). Maybe another writer out there will have good luck.

North Street Book Prize - Great for self-published authors who want a chance to win $3000 and pro marketing services. Deadline: June 30th. Fee: $60 per book.

UK Kindle Storyteller Award - If you are already thinking about publishing your English-language book with KDP Select between May 1 - August 31, this is a great opportunity for exposure and a chance to win £20,000. Deadline: August 31. Fee: none.

NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge: A great way to get your writing juices flowing and win prizes for your flash fiction. 1-4 challenges throughout the latter half of 2019 (though writers may not be asked to participate in all four). Deadline: July 11. Fee: $48 (early registration)/$58 registration.

Sundress Publications: Lots of deadlines for this publication. Scroll down on the submit page to see guidelines for The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry (deadline: July 1st, no fee) and an open call for full-lenght poetry manuscripts (deadline: August 15, reading fee: $13 or qualifying purchase from their catalog). 

That's what I have for today. If you plan to enter any of these contests, let me know in the comments. 

Excuses? I've Got a Few...

Recently I signed up for another email list. Most of the time, I'm trying to exit them, but this was an additional list from Stage 32. It's a list that provides updates on the opportunities for writers at the site, including script coverage, consulting, pitch sessions and more. Even though there are a lot of emails coming at me from this list, it made me realize that my favorite excuse for feeling guilty when working on scripts (and then not finishing them) has been proven false--there is a way for me to break into scriptwriting.

While these opportunities are great, they do also come with costs. The costs seem reasonable, so I wouldn't mind indulging with one of my scripts--if I could get one finished to the point that I'm ready to share. That, and the fee would come out of a tiny portion of my budget that currently serves to pay for fiction and poetry contest entries. So I would have to give up contest entries for other projects for a couple of months, but really, who's winning contests around here anyway?  (not me, I assure you...)

That leads me to Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to measure April's session in minutes. I will be dedicating 1800 minutes of the month to writing a pilot I haven't started, but have plenty of notes for. It's a strong female-driven comedy. I hope I can pull it off. Then I can start thinking about where I'm going to take it next.

This week's post wouldn't be complete without a plug for my latest project, now would it? Remember that my latest collection of poetry, If It Was New York, Summer 2009, is coming out on MARCH 26. You can PREORDER it now from Amazon and other retailers worldwide. Paperback will be available for purchase on March 26, as will copies through subscription services such as Playster and Scribd.

Dear Literary Journals: You Can't Have it Both Ways

The writers today that are sticking to some of the tradition of the publishing industry by submitting poetry, short stories, and essays to literary journals know that the landscape is changing. Some literary journals have moved to an online-only format; some newer ones never had a print edition to begin with. More journals are moving from only accepting regional authors to accepting writers from around the world. But there's one shift that really getting on my nerves -- reading fees.

Don't get me wrong. I can sympathize with any publication that's barely hanging on financially to keep publishing the work that talented writers send in, but the fact that I spent hours yesterday looking for new places to submit and could find only a few without a submission fee is ridiculous. It's not the reading/submission fee that I oppose--what is making me want to pull my hair out in frustration is that almost all of these "please pay $2-$5 to submit your work" publications also do not pay writers they publish. Let me say it again: THEY DO NOT PAY WRITERS. You as the writer get to pay for the privilege to grace their publication. And I'm not the only one that sees this as a problem, as you can see (article is from 2015, but the problem is only getting worse).

The big, fat secret that's staring writers in the face on this topic? A writer could publish anything they want on their own platform (social media, blog, website) and with a good marketing strategy could get just as many views--without having to pay anyone a dime if they don't want to. Yes, you don't get to say "this was previously published in" but unless your audience is a bunch of fellow writers, is your audience really going to be that impressed that some other publication wanted it first?

All of the major names in the literary world still let you send in work for free, with the exception being contest entries, but those are often fair because of the chance at a large amount of prize money. Keeping these submissions free is a good thing, but writers know that the well-established publications want to see that you've made it into the smaller publications first. I know they'll say it doesn't matter if you've been published before, but no one really knows what's going on in the minds of any particular editor. I would say that it does matter to some of them.

Here's the thing, literary journals: I would gladly fork over $2 for you to read it if there was a chance at being paid for all my hard work. I'm not talking earth-shattering prizes, but $50 seems reasonable for publication. You give the sob story that you're barely holding on, and the only money you make is from these submission fees. So what counterargument are writers supposed to give? Well, here's our own sob story--no one values the written word as much as other professions, so we are constantly being told our work is not worth the money we ask for it. So, dear reading fee journals, it comes down to this: the prestige you try to portray is not worth the money you are asking for it. Go find some other poor sap to pay you for their next rejection letter.

Taking Stock

It's wild to think about, but 2018 is nearing the halfway point. I had some writing goals to complete before the end of the year, so I'm spending a few moments to take stock to see where I am on that.

My main goal was to publish four works--it didn't matter what form it took, I just wanted to get four pieces out there. So far this year there has been a novella, a poetry collection, and a story on the Episode app. The first one is getting pulled soon, and those last two are not completed, but since the finished parts are live and available to the public, it still counts towards my goal. I just have to find one more piece to finish, submit, and find success with.

Speaking of submissions--all of those submissions I was waiting to hear back on in January all died in April. Every last one of them, including the rhyming poetry I submitted to a contest specifically for rhyming poetry in which all of the winners and finalists were not rhyming poems. That's what I get for not realizing they lumped rhyming in with "traditional" so top prizes went to those instead. My poor rhyming poem... it's been through it all, and still no one takes it seriously.

Anyway, the two submissions I was waiting to hear back from when I last wrote about it were also rejections, but specifically rejections because they had each received a record number of submissions for that submission period. Both publications pointed to being featured in Submittable's weekly emails--and of course that's where I was getting my submission leads, so apparently it's completely counterintuitive to use that weekly email. Who knew?

My next step will be getting back to finding a home for my poetry chapbook. I don't think I'll be aiming for contests anymore because they simply don't work out (and can get pricey with entry fees). I'll be targeting micro-presses instead, which may give me a better chance at getting that fourth publication before the end of the year.

Positively Positive

I'm starting this week on a good note, even if I have to force myself to enjoy it. I researched a few contests to enter within the next month or so. Unfortunately, there were only two that I thought my work had any sort of a chance to compete. I'm not sure if that means my work isn't up to par, or these contests were a little too specific in what they were looking for. I'm not too keen on giving up some hard earned money for a small chance to win $1000, so I'm being frugal in what and where I enter.

What has helped me get back into the spirit of it all? Two things: Writer's Digest and my latest poem. Writer's Digest is self-explanatory--nothing to motive a writer more than giving them advice. I'm really glad I subscribed. I also got a bit of a boost while working on my latest poem. I wanted to write something longer. I thought it would include 7 parts, but I'm at part 6 and nowhere near to complete. I really like exploring this poem though. It reminds me more of an independent film when I get the images in my head. I don't know... it will definitely need some revising, but I'm still steadily working to complete draft 1 right now.

And it's nearing spring, so this uncooperative body of mine is really going to get back into shape. Working out always makes me feel a little better, though it sucks up a good chunk of my day when I do get around to it. I don't need a beach body or anything, just an inch or two off here and there to fit into last year's styles--the taxes this year kinda killed me, so I'm on a very tight budget. It's never fun to be broke, but it's a great way to get creative!

Plans for Nanowrimo

I'm usually pretty good at doing the things I say that I'm going to do, but I had a slight fail on Monday. Sunday night I tweeted (to those who follow me @Terri84) that I would share my ideas for this year's nanowrimo competition, but I didn't. So here it goes.



First, my method: everyday gives a chance for the spark of an idea, so instead of stopping everything to work on each new idea, I put down on a sticky note (or whatever scrap of paper is available) and shove it in my Ideas box (see picture). Each year when nanowrimo comes around, I simply close my eyes, pick out a scrap and do what it says. Sometimes it's a short outline of a story. Sometimes it's just a title. On a few occasions, it has been nothing more than a quote from someone else's story that I somehow thought was inspiring. This year, it was a title and one line description of the story. I don't want to give away the plot just yet, so I won't share the description, but the tentative title is "Gideon's Roadmap." I always get frustrated at title time, so I'm really glad that I have provided myself one upfront.

To get a little more business out of the way, you can also be my Nano buddy. I've never had one, because it's really hard to talk people into this endeavor when the only prize is the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Another little bit of business: I'm closer to reaching the Triond monthly bonus. Here are some of the other articles I have post since Monday:

Key Terms for Nondisclosure Agreements
Boat Builders Glossary

And if you write really fast, you have until the end of October to get in 10 articles for your 20% revenue bonus. Think about it. :)

Writing is fun!

Okay, so writing has always been fun for me, but this week it's especially fun. I finally have the time to work on fiction again, and I'm not going to let this chance get away from me. I'm working on a flash fiction story for a contest. I don't expect to win, but this is still a great opportunity to write something new and actually get in done within a reasonable amount of time. I actually have a number of contest entries lined up, all of which are due in by the end of September.

Since the first draft of all the entries have been completed, I'll have plenty of time for work and revisions this week. And if I can get the flash done early, I can get back to working on the poems for Personas. Some of the poems are giving me a hard time and I need to show them who's boss!

My only obstacle this week is the last part of my move: packing a handful of boxes and watching the movers like a hawk. I have never used a moving company before, and I'm very possessive about the possessions I do have. I know it's just paranoia and I'll get over it. And if I can't, I'll write a poem about it. Ah, literary therapy.

Another slow day

I have tons of work now, but the motivation is still lacking. And no matter how many little break I take, I still end up one or two articles short each night. but starting today I will not let myself go to bed until I have all 11 articles done... hopefully it'll be a bigger number, but I doubt it since I am writing this instead of article #5.

On a positive note, I have finally finished my short story for the contest I want to enter. All I have to do is convince myself that it's worth the $10 entry fee. I'll probably send it before the end of the weekend. I really hope I win. I kinda need the $1000 prize money. And recognition that fiction is not just a silly hobby.