Please Don’t Feed the Writer

Can you think of anyone who wouldn’t want a box of chocolates? I’d be hard pressed to. I don’t know many people that don’t like chocolate, and of the people I know that do (and that’s most of them), many have started moving into the realm of gourmet chocolates over your basic grocery store bar chocolate bar.

So, it’s the holidays, you need a gift, or maybe just some energy for an all night writing session. Grab a box of chocolates from Fannie May Candies, wrap it up, or just nibble s you write. It’s a better boost than coffee. (But best served with coffee in my opinion.) Just make sure not to smudge your keyboard while munching chocolate truffles.

If you’re a fantasy writer this may just be a great opportunity for you.  Carnivah House has given an open call for submissions for it’s “Infinity Swords” anthology.  stories should be between 1,000 and 6,000 words. Payment is a flat fee $50.00.

this is a good opportunity if you have a knack for writing very short pieces that tell the whole story. (And it’s not easy to do, let me tell you!)  their submission guidelines are prety straightforward, though there seems to be some confusion as to whether the final date for submission is January 15th or June 15th 2008.  I think I’d shoot for january, if i were you.

Have Fun!

I’ve mentioned the need for frequent backups here before. If you don’t have your work backed up somewhere safely off of your computer, you stand the very real risk of losing all of it in some strange, one-in-a-million computer crash or hard disk failure. Even those of us using systems that aren’t Windows driven have the problem of hardware failure. Just running a Macintosh or Linux machine can’t save us from that.

Then of course there’s the issue of storage. Backing up to CD or DVD is nice, but if you’re like me and buy in bulk, there’s nothing to protect that fresh backup from scratches, dust buildup of loss. What’s the use of having all your work backed up to DVD if the DVD is lying on the desktop becoming damaged or unusable?

The simple solution is to go and get some attractive DVD storage cases that can be labeled neatly and placed near your office or workspace.  think of it as a filing system for your important data, and keep up with it!  weekly is best, but even once a month backups are better than nothing.

speaking of which, where’d I put those DVD’s?

Escape Velocity Magazine is accepting stories in the Hard SciFi Genre.  While the magazine only pays $10.00 US for a story, they prefer true shorts of 1,000 to 5,000 words.  If you write like i do, you’re talking about $10.00 for about an hour’s work (three if you want to go back and polish), and a good bit of exposure for your work.

Please note that Escape Velocity is about Hard Science fiction, they do not accept fantasy stories or “cowboys in space” (think Han Solo or Flash Gordon).  If you happen to have something lying about that fits their guidelines, it may be well worth the time to send it in to them.

When I started in the Internet Industry some 20 years ago a few years back, ecommerce wasn’t even a buzzword yet. My how things change over the span of time. Now the big buzzwords don’t really include ecommerce. It’s an expected commodity, something everyone is using, whether it’s just a buy me button through some third party shop or a full blown storefront system, it’s everywhere.

But why should a writer be interested in an ecommerce storefront?

There are several reasons, actually. If you’ve got more than 6 or 7 books out, and you have the option to use an affiliate program or sell directly through your publishing house, having your own ecommerce enabled site might just help you gain a few more precious pennies per sale. How? by getting you the commision price of your book plus the commission on the sale through your publisher, or Amazon. Not a bad deal, all in all.

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