There was an interesting bit of scuttlebutt on the #writingcommunity of Twitter this week in reference to a Medium piece published by an author who (basically) squandered thousands of dollars in advance money. There was a lot of snark, a lot of “how could you?”, much “well, this is what I did”, and a couple decent think pieces which dug deeper into the complex world of publishing, author finances, etc. Rob Hart is the wildly successful author of the recent book “The Warehouse.” His career has run the gamut of small and large presses, co-authoring, etc., and he has some fairly concrete advice for authors. His blog post links to a (TOTALLY NSFW) piece from Chuck Wendig. Wendig’s another author who has a varied writing career and if you want to laugh about the “tomfuckery” (Hart’s word) of the publishing world while holding back tears about those same shenanigans, read yourself some Chuck Wendig.
Revisions are the key to success, so dammit – I’m going to be GOLDEN someday. But seriously … I appreciate Jessica Faust and her crew’s insights into the publishing world. They’re a wealth of knowledge for writers.
Finally, as a huge Sean Bean fan, this article gave me a giggle.
***
Watching: I had a chance to go to It: Chapter Two this past weekend in the movie theater from my childhood:
I liked the symmetry of sitting in the movie theater I spent so much time (and money) in as a kid and as a young adult, fast-forwarding to my 40s and watching a movie about oaths and friendships. Sixteen-year-old me would be pretty pleased with my 41-year-old self.
Reading: My senior paper adviser from my alma mater has his debut fiction novel out: King by David S. Faldet. I’ve been working my way through that this week and am enjoying it. It’s always interesting to read books that are set in an area I’m familiar with.
Writing Life: I’ve had a couple awesome writerly things happen recently. First off, coffee with my good friend and horror writer Meg Hafdahl. It’s always good to hang out with peers. And finally, I’m a proud member of Sisters in Crime and have been benefiting from a new education initiative that SinC is offering to its members – a number of webinars with various industry experts talking about different facets of a writing craft and career. This week’s presentation was about being a productive writer by Dana Kaye. There was some good food for thought in Ms. Kaye’s presentation.
– Shelley
***
What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.
michellekubitz 