The short answer to this is because all the bad asses of the literary world have: Flannery O’ Conner, Joyce Carol Oates, Hemingway, Raymond Carver and the list goes on. But why ask this question? Because I like the short story. I like writing them and I like reading them, but the problem is that they don’t really sell. Sure, don’t write because you want … Continue reading Why write short stories?
Native Moments is with the final editor. This is the stage I’ve been dreading. This means it is over. All the hard work I’ve put into this leads up to this moment. No more changes. My worst fear is opening the book for the first time and seeing a mistake. Or if I ever decide to read it again, thinking I should’ve had a different ending. … Continue reading Final Edits
Yesterday I spoke on the sting a rejection letter has even though I have a novel coming out this year. A good way to overcome that rejection: rewrite the piece and send it off to six more journals. The key is to just keep getting better. Continue reading How to Deal with Rejection
Just because I got one yes, and it was a big one, the hustle isn’t over. Been feeling indestructible with the upcoming publication of Native Moments and then had this nice little reminder about the life of a writer when I checked my email today. Continue reading A Simple Reminder
Someone on Good Reads created a list of the most anticipated literary fiction books of 2016 and Native Moments has been included. If you have a Good Reads account please follow this link and give Native Moments a vote. I promise I’ll ease up on the self-centered posts in the future, but I’m learning all these new websites that I apparently need to be active on. Up until about … Continue reading List of Anticipated Books for 2016
Reading posts about goals and seeing how much people wrote in 2015, I’ve realized I haven’t been doing as much as I can to make writing a career. Having Waldorf Publishing agree to publish Native Moments was the boost I needed. I had been in a writing slump for years. Glad to have the fire back. This year, when not working on Native Moments, I’m … Continue reading Setting goals for 2016.
Ray knew what he was talking about. After only 76 rejections, I got the yes. I signed the publishing agreement on Friday. July 2017, Waldorf Publishing, out of Grapevine Texas, will be publishing my debut novel, Native Moments, a literary surf adventure set in Costa Rica. Should be meeting with a cover designer this week. Will chronicle my progress via this blog. But I … Continue reading I’ve done it!!!
My last bite from a publisher ended up with a recommendation for a rewrite and then resubmit in a year. Today, another publisher contacted me saying they believe they could sell my products. Asked me when would be a good time talk on the phone. Maybe this one is “the call.” I know it’s going to happen, just don’t know when. Continue reading Another Bite from a Publisher
Came across the following while looking at a literary agent’s submission guidelines: “We appreciate all queries. But please note that most publishers today are highly selective about what they publish, and often decline to consider works by unknown or uncredentialed writers. We do our best to overcome these strictures for our clients, but they are powerful obstacles.” Basically, if you aren’t a published writer with … Continue reading Moments of Discouragement
I’ve been away for a while. Because, to paraphrase Hemingway, if you talk about it you can lose it. But I’m not superstitious. That’s what I tell myself anyway. But for the past couple of weeks I’ve been talking to a publisher of a small independent press. He is very optimistic about my novel. His editor said he can work with it, which is a … Continue reading Tuesday is the Day
Nic Schuck 