November Summary

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November was a bit of a mess for my writing. I tried two different starts on the novella I was working on before deciding to switch to working on The Raven King.  The bad news is that I didn’t finish anything.  The good news is that I finally found a stride in this book and it will be done shortly and likely out in January as I’d hoped.

The novellas are percolating in my head and I think I’ll be ready to make a third run at them as soon as I finish this novel.  That’s the benefit of working on multiple projects at once.  When I get stuck, I can just switch to something else and work still gets done.

All right. Here are the numbers for November.

Short stories sold to magazines: 1

Words written: 39,078

Ebooks sold: 226

My husband has been compiling my ebook sales data into spreadsheets for me and making nifty graphs. I will have a giant data-filled post for the end of the year, hopefully with visual aids and stuff.

In happy news, I just published a Remy Pigeon short story.  Ever have one of those characters who just storms into your head and won’t leave? That’s Remy for me.  I have two novels planned with him to be written in the next year or so and I’ve already written three short stories about him.  After many near misses with the magazines, I have decided to publish one of them myself.  So here is the cover for Flashover, a paranormal mystery short story.  I hope others will love Remy as much as I do.

Description: Creole gentleman Remy Pigeon has a gift, or a curse. He can touch objects and read the past from them.
He prefers to stay away from trouble, but when an attractive red-head with a serious problem and a supernatural secret wanders into his house on a hot summer day, Remy knows that trouble has just found him.

It isn’t live yet  for Nook, but it is on Kindle or all formats are available via Smashwords HERE.

I also have discovered a very cool new way to organize my writing time. I think it deserves its own post, however, so I’ll work on that this week.

2 Responses to “November Summary”

  1. jerryfletcherlives

    Annie,
    I read your story “Lists” at Daily Science Fiction, and gave it the highest “rocket ship” possible. It was very good. I’ve been trying to get into that market myself for a while now. I started writing a year ago, and with the help of Duotrope.com, have become something of an addict. I’m addicted to writing. But man, I’ve read through your blog, and I can’t imagine how you write so much. Well, you must not have kids, like I do.

    (Absolutely LOVE your blog header by the way).

    Some interesting points though: I’m working on my first novel, and just this morning I took your 45 minute advice. I even found a “kitchen timer” app that I downloaded on my smartphone, (because yes, just like you, I’m too freaking lazy to walk down the hall and retrieve the timer I know is in the cupboard above the washer and dryer!).

    I wrote 368 words. I have a habit of editing while I write. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes I can blast out over a thousand words in an hour. Other times…well, I won’t curse here on your blog.

    I’m a little confused about your bibliography. How many short stories have you actually written? I started writing this time last year, have written 43 short stories, 5 chapters into my novel, and a bunch of odds and ends. I only get a few hours in the morning before my real life begins. I’m lucky. I know it sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m actually comparing myself to you. This is a common trait of insecure people, you should know this (according to what you’ve written on your blog).

    Anyways, I’ve seen other writers like yourself. It seems like you only go for the tough markets. Do you publish stories at the easier markets at all? If not, why? Almost half of my stories have been accepted/published, but that’s because once I’ve exhausted the tough markets, I send them out to the easier ones, thanks to Duotrope, they get accepted, I jump and kick my heels, and yes, I’m addicted.

    I’ve had a few accepted at tougher places, though. Not bad, for a first year. Even had a story short-listed at Glimmer Train, and Indiana Review. Not bad at all. But there I go again, comparing myself.

    Your blog actually depressed me. For such a prolific writer, with excellent talent (Daily Science Fiction, Contrary, etc.), you stated that you want to give up on trying to get your books published. That you want to self-publish them. Did I read that correctly?

    For the sake of remaining congruent to my insecure personality, I’ll point out that there are a bunch of great writers out there…and…a bunch of crappy ones. A bunch of crappy ones who make a ton of money. Comparing oneself to others can come in handy.

    What am I really saying at all? Your “story,” and not just the one at Daily Science Fiction, was inspiring for me. I thank you.

    P.S. Don’t laugh if you should happen across my blog. As a family man, I have a limited amount of time to myself. I’d rather spend that time writing, because yes, I’m addicted. But if you should happen across it, and perhaps read some of my stories, I recommend “Gravity 101.” It was my first story ever, I wrote in a few hours upon waking from the horrible nightmare, of which the story itself, in its entirety, had been.

    Also, being that you’re from the Pacific Northwest, (from which I myself hail), you might like my story “Went Missing,” despite its intentional, boring, omnipotent narrative voice.

    15 minutes is up, 610 words. The kids are still in bed, time to write.

    Christian Riley

    • izanobu

      Oh, Christian, where do I begin? 🙂

      First, thank you for liking my story in Daily SF and taking the time to comment on my blog.

      To answer some of your questions:
      I’ve written about 70 short stories in the last three years. At the very beginning I was submitting to semi-pro markets but I quickly decided that if I wanted to be a pro, I needed to submit to the top markets. There are still a handful of semi-pro markets (markets that pay 1-4 cents a word) that I consider submitting to on the basis of stories from them being nominated for awards, that kind of thing (or if I love what they publish). My view on things (which is not the only view, mind you) is that if you want to be a professional, you need to make sure you are paid professionally for your work.

      If you are addicted to getting sales instead of rejections though, my path is probably not going to work for you. I’ve got over 450 of the suckers.

      As for “giving up” and self-publishing, well, welcome to the new world of writing where we have more than one path to publication. I don’t see it as giving up at all. I’m making money with my novels, novels that were sitting on the proverbial desks of editors unread (well, maybe read, judging by the full requests and personal rejections I’ve gotten) or sitting on my computer. I’ve chosen, for the moment, not to send out books anymore but to finish series and put them up for sale on my own. I’ll probably send out a book or two next year, but for 2012, I’m going solo. It’s a business decision, not a giving up.

      If you read bestsellers and go “wow, they are so crappy, why did they get published”, you are probably missing a learning opportunity. I read a ton of bestselling writers and analyze WHY their books appealed to hundreds of thousands of readers. I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t ever because “readers are stupid”.

      43 stories in a year is awesome! Keep it up. Do that for another 5-10 years, send to the top-paying markets, and you’ll have the start of a great writing career. Novels are good, too. It’s a lot easier to make money with novels than short fiction, but if you love short fiction, keep going.

      And to close, here are some links you might find useful:
      http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=860
      http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=2168
      http://kriswrites.com/freelancers-survival-guide-table-of-contents/
      http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-table-of-contents/
      If you want to be a professional writer and run a freelance business (which is what professional writing is), you need to make sure you know the business side of things as well. Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith have been in the business as writers, editors, and publishers for about 30 years now. Go forth and read. Good luck!

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