One thing that I always wanted to do was to make money through writing. I wrote anyway, for my own pleasure, but the main thing was to try to learn how to write well enough to earn spending cash from my efforts. So when I began to send my stories out into the market I would begin with the highest-paying markets I could find. If a story failed there I would down-climb the ladder of paying markets until I reached the folk near the bottom who paid 1/2 cent or so per word.
What I did not do was give my stories away for free. If I couldn't sell one, it went into the trunk where all bad little stories go to sleep forever. Or, if they're lucky, to be dusted off and rewritten or cannibalized into something that can be sold.
One of the things I dislike most about the current self-publishing scene and the accompanying micro-publishers is that there is often no promise of payment. I see ads from online magazines asking for submissions of fiction--and yet these markets ask that stories be submitted for no payment. The author receives absolutely nothing in return for publication! Worst of all, there is no shortage (apparently) of idiots willing to give their work away.
Recently I recommended a novella to an online fan. The novella was by a professional writer and the work is quite good. The person to whom I had recommended the tale balked at buying it. Why? Because the writer was charging $2 for it! "Most stuff I get is either free or only a dollar," they wrote back. "I can get novels for less than $3. I'm not going to pay $2 for a novella."
I really do wish this self-publishing ebook market would implode. It's loaded to the gills with idiots, fools, and just by-Jove lousy writing. The purveyors of this monstrosity are, quite frankly, a bunch of jerks. I hope they all get ass-cancer and die horrible, painful deaths.
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| We're gonna self-publish our own novels on KINDLE! Yup! |
5 comments:
Ass cancer. That hurts just thinking about it.
http://bit.ly/sZemqx
Indeed.
I know! Self-publishing is awful! I'm making over, like, $5,000 a month self-publishing -- so far nearly $30,000 this year alone. It's terrible! My agent even admits he couldn't make me more money going the traditional route. Oh well, at least I'll enough money to pay the doctor when I get ass-cancer ...
You're obviously a GENIUS!
You might want to invest in some good health insurance. From what I hear, ass cancer costs a whole lot more than $5K a month. That might cover your deductible.
Actually, I already have really good health insurance, thanks. But that's not because I'm a genius. I just have common sense. Perhaps someday you will too ...
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