HOWS YOUR BOOK GOING?! HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED WRITING SOMETHING PEOPLE READ? Good luck in the trenches out there today. And remember, all you have to do is self publish a bestseller that becomes a movie and write the newspaper about it
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I've done 2 via selfpublishing and am swithering as to whether to do so again with the one I am working on now, a non-fiction history of women's motoring clubs.
Based on the last presidential race it has become self evident folk don’t read OR look up ANYTHING for verification-well laziness is about to be E X P E N S I V E LIKE those #eggs only managed by about 4 or 5 entities that’s why the cost is rising-they don’t have to fight for market share.
Eh. Screw it. I want to write a book that a scared lost teenager finds somewhere or other on a second hand shop and is saved by and cuddles and reads until the pages fall out. Those are the books that save lives.
Just finished mine two weeks ago and sent it in. Working on ancillary material now, editor is excited, waiting for the rest of my advance.
It's narrative non-fiction. Does that count?
Got an agent after my sixth book. Agent actually reached out, saw me doing a presentation.
Working with Quarto on this book (and the previous one).
Last non-fiction book. Planning on self-publishing fiction in retirement. Well, you know: trying it.
I have so many ideas for young adult sci-fi. But my brain doesn't want to work with my body (ADHD/autism) to completion. I want to write the books that I wanted to read while in junior high. I believe I didn't read because nothing jumped out at me.
Also AD/HD. I work in short bursts...unless it catches fire, and then I wake up three hours later with 2,000 words written. And then I have to edit the hell out of that. That was my 'real job' for 20 years, magazine editing.
I'm about 1/3 finished with my first draft. I showed my cousin a scene where a character skins an elk and fucks up, spilling guts and stomach acid all over. My cousin was fascinated
Relatedly, I had people give me a ton of "advice" about an article I'm working on that boiled down to "change the entire premise." Sometimes the best way forward is just to ignore the noise.
I self-published a short novel in 2012. I made a few hundred $ in sales. Then out of nowhere it's selling again. It's no masterpiece but it's worth a buck or so for the kindle version.
This broke the literary airlock again, if you're wondering what the hell is wrong with this Taco Bell thing again, this was a holiday post in the voice of my mother's ghost haunting me for making bad life choices
The thin Baja line is the difference between whether you find creative writing an enjoyable journey or whether it's the specter of all of your worst life choices beginning with the writing degree
We are a Literary Magazine, we come from the literary world, a niche corner of the internet where our audience is 1200 other writers and our families who just want us to be happy. Live más.
I think oil painting is a ✨remarkable✨ talent and EXTREMELY hard. I did a ton of acrylic painting when I was younger and that’s like nothing compared to oil!
It's a skill! (I have beef with "talent" as a concept lol)
It's just like anything, it takes practice!
Fwiw I personally find acrylic more difficult than oil- the faster drying speed is less forgiving. Oil is more fluid, more malleable. Have you tried oil?
I think of talent the same way!!practice, exposure, support really make it up. And no, never! I honestly haven’t painted in ages. Never tried oil. Now my art of choice is actually henna which is a whole other monster 😅 but I ✨ PRACTICE ✨ whenever I have the time or when I need a break from writing
I generally see the concept of talent used to erase or ignore the work it took to get there, even when used as a compliment, but that's a pet peeve developed over decades lol
If you ever get the urge, try oil, you might be suprised! I find it freeing.
I wrote a book. I wrote a second book. Neither are bestsellers. That's okay. I still wrote them and I still published them. And I'm still working on a dozen more books.
Not only did I do this, but I also think I created a new genre. But I’m retiring from my job in 2026 and if I publish this manuscript now, I’m absolutely getting fired.
My first book is going to be a “self help guide to writing”. It will be a hardback with page of instructions on how to write a book followed by 300 blank pages.
Sitting on the table beside my chair, GLARING at me, is the printed rough draft to my completed work. Do I want to work on revisions? Absolutely the fuck not.
Do I want to work on the 50-odd pages of SOMETHING ELSE in Google Docs? Yes, absolutely YES.
I’m getting my book printed as we speak! My debut. It’s a memoir/true crime about my son Ashton, who was murdered and how it impacted me with a lot of conspiracy theories since the bad guy got a plea deal! I’m excited and nervous at the same time!
5 years, 88,000 words, and blending two genres into one Science-Fantacy. Then the doubt and anxiety hits and you wonder...will anyone actually want to read it...
WTH is that about anyway? You spend months or even years cranking out a book, proofing, editing etc. but as soon as someone asks you what it's about your brain instantly goes
Wow, it must be so easy, just sitting down and writing a bit and getting all that money. Oh, you don´t sell that much? Well. Huh. Have you thought of writing, you know, one of them bestseller thrillers and stuff?
"You want to know what you should write" (describes something in a genre completely different from what you write).
Me: you can write that. Also, never tell me what to write ever again.
I enjoy writing speculative genre fiction. My father is obsessed with the notion of me writing the "Great American Novel" without knowing what that term means nor caring that it's not the sort of thing I write. He just heard those three words somewhere and it stuck.
I wrote an alternate history short story published in Asimov’s on this theme. Flannery O’Connor was a science fiction writer who before she died wanted to publish her Great American Novel but she kept winning Hugo awards.
I can barely get through some of these college papers. Lol. I'll worry about creative writing later. I think my final project to graduate is 30-40 pages. I'm dying thinking about it. It's what I get for waiting until almost 50 to go back to school.
That's what I've been doing🥳! It started as a short story that I posted on FB that went viral, so I kept writing. Seeing positive results, I launched subscription plan charging 35 cents per chapter. Made thousands of Euro's, pitched the project and now I'm getting paid to write the first season!
i looked up the publisher of my favorite books. went to their website and looked up how to submit my work. often by email. i don't have an agent and approach publishers myself. if possible, there is one that is almost never open for public submissions and wants to go through an agent 😔
You have to have a send oh humour to believe that works.
I wrote The Superpower as a screenplay then decided I lacked the connections to make it in that space so I turned it into a self-published novel. My only review says “too political”.
When the novel eluded me, I wrote the poem. The one I didn't know I had. The one that contained the themes I love, and hate. The one that followed the narrative arc I longed to resolve. Published to my heart, I'm letting it out again. A word at a time. The novel I knew, the book you've looked for.
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No way how would I ever have known that
It's narrative non-fiction. Does that count?
Working with Quarto on this book (and the previous one).
Last non-fiction book. Planning on self-publishing fiction in retirement. Well, you know: trying it.
ADHD: How are butterflies so brightly colored? *Six hours of rabbit-hole diving* It's too late to write today.
The struggle is real.
It's just like anything, it takes practice!
Fwiw I personally find acrylic more difficult than oil- the faster drying speed is less forgiving. Oil is more fluid, more malleable. Have you tried oil?
If you ever get the urge, try oil, you might be suprised! I find it freeing.
So I’m waiting this out for a year or so.
Having a moral compass sucks. 😏🤟
Happy writing
Do I want to work on the 50-odd pages of SOMETHING ELSE in Google Docs? Yes, absolutely YES.
Me: you can write that. Also, never tell me what to write ever again.
I wrote The Superpower as a screenplay then decided I lacked the connections to make it in that space so I turned it into a self-published novel. My only review says “too political”.
1/2
If you’re too cheep to buy it but are curious, message me and I’ll drop you a PDF.
Next novel: more substantial, male POV feminist. Happy to share a preview PDF (again, message me).
2/2
https://www.amazon.com/Superpower-Philip-Machanick/dp/0620903473
its going well though im doing the first round of editing focusing on continuity clarity and character
currently on chapter 8 out of +/-53
crazy how my style changed in a year