Fiddlesticks!

Around mid-May, I sent a story to Realms of Fantasy magazine. 

Today, I went to the mailbox and saw a 9×12 envelop.  That didn’t look very promising.  Admittedly, it could have been something completely unrelated to writing.

It wasn’t.

It held my short story and a rejection letter.  It wasn’t completely unexpected. 

I’ve heard ROF is a tough market to crack.  Eventually, I will succeed, though.  I already have another story (almost) ready to send them.

Filed under: writing , fantasy, Jen Nipps, jennipps, market, Realms of Fantasy, rejection, short story, writing

Quirky? Me? Maybe.

OK, more than just “maybe.”

Karen over at WRITE NOW tagged me with the quirkiness meme.  So here we go:

The rules;
1. Link to the person who tagged me.
2. Mention rules of tag.
3. Talk about six unspectacular personal quirks.
4. Tag six other bloggers.

Let me see if I can come up with some writing- or reading-related quirks.

1. I hate bending page corners down, so I use paperclips as bookmarks if I can’t find a real bookmark.

2. I’m on a mission to find good rock music (#1 hits or not) from the late 80s/early 90s to serve as a soundtrack for Navajo Rose.

3.  I like to listen to Irish music when I’m working on the Maguire series, whether it’s writing something new or editing.

4.  If I end a writing session at the end of a chapter/section, I’ll start the next one before I quit so I won’t be stuck thinking “What was I doing here?”

5.  I have to write poems long-hand and then put them on the computer, but I have a very hard time doing the same with nonfiction or fiction.

6.  I obsessively check e-mail to see if there’s been any response from any of the submissions or information requests I have out whether I sent them via ground mail or e-mail.

Those may or may not be quirks.  You be the judge.

Now, who to tag?  Eenie-meenie-miney-mo….

1. Plaidearthworm

2. Nita

3. Rinda

4. Dorothy

5. Jenn

6. Sandy

Filed under: writing , Jen Nipps, jennipps, meme, quirks, reading, writing

Book Spotlight: The Well-Fed Self-Publisher

I don’t know what your goals are or what your publication status is.  I don’t know if you are primarily a speaker who has a book or if you are (or wish to be) a full-time writer.

Personally, I’m in the last category.  At least, in the wish-to-be part.

Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer and The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds, has a new addition to the Well-Fed series: The Well-Fed Self-Publisher.

Publisher rejection letters piling up? Publish it yourself and keep control of the process, the timetable, the rights, AND most of the money! For a free report on self-publishing, visit www.wellfedsp.com, the home of the 2006 release, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. Author Peter Bowerman self-published the award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles (on the lucrative field of freelance commercial writing), generating a full-time living for over five years. (www.wellfedwriter.com).   

This book has definitely given me food for thought. (Ha! Food – well-fed…nevermind.)  I’m still working on Creative TIPs, including The Idea Pocket, Knows, etc.  My first thought, as it is with any large project, was to go the traditional publishing route.

However, on reading The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, I’m seeing that this could work for me.  At the moment, I plan to finish what I’m working on and weigh my options (traditional, POD, and self-publishing).  At that point, I will decide which way to go.

Peter Bowerman might be here tomorrow, so feel free to leave any comments/questions you have.

If you would like to buy a copy of The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, click the image below.

Filed under: writing , creativity, Jen Nipps, jennipps, writing, write, writer, The Idea Pocket, KNOWS, Creative TIPs, The Well-Fed Writer, The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, Peter Bowerman, self-publishing

Article in WritingForDollars

First, I apologize for the lack of posts so far this week.  I’ve had technical difficulties with my ISP since Friday evening.

Now, then…

“10 Tips for Getting Organized” is in this week’s isse of WriingForDollars.

Filed under: writing , 10 Tips for Getting Organized, article, ISP, Jen Nipps, jennipps, organized, technical difficulties, tips, write, writing

US Government Wants to Control Creative Works

I’m a member of CoachCreativeSpace, a social network on Ning hosted by Dan Goodwin.  One of the members there posted about this.  Here it is as I understand it.

The US government, as well as a few countries in Europe are trying to pass legislation that requires all artists of any kind (artists, designers, musicians, writers, filmakers) to register their creations with private registries for a fee. If creations are not registered, they become “Orphaned Works,” which means basically that they have no copyright and become public domain. Anyone can sell or distribute them without the original artist seeing any income whatsoever.

Can you imagine paying to protect everything in your sketchpad, on your computer, or in your notebook? Or every idea you present to an agency, even the ones they don’t use??

You can read more about it here.

Here is a link to sign a petition against this act.  (I’ve heard online petitions don’t carry any weight, but it doesn’t hurt to try.)

Here is a link with the contact information for the president and all US senators, representatives, state governors and legislators.

OpenCongress – H.R.5889 Orphan Works Act of 2008
OpenCongress – S.2913 Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008

(Posted on CoachCreativeSpace by Lin Neiswender.  Since this blog is about writing, I added the parenthetical asides and the bit about “on your computer or in your notebook.” ~Jen)

Filed under: writing

De Ja Vu

One of my goals for this month is to edit Devon’s Wish, which I’ve been working on.  But, for some reason, I also decided to pull Kiernan’s Curse out and dust it off again.

(Actually, I have a good reason for that, but I’ll tell you about it when the reason actually comes about and gets done.)

In chapters 1-3 of Kiernan’s Curse edits, though, I kept feeling like I’d been over it before, doing what I was doing then.  It wasn’t on my computer or my flash drive, though.

Last night, I started chapter 4.  On one section in particular, I thought, “I know I’ve already done this!”

I went and turned the laptop on.  (When I first moved here, before I got my desktop computer, I used the laptop for a while.)  I found the file and….

I WAS RIGHT!!!

So I’ve worked on re-doing edits for the past few days that I had already done.  If I’d followed the de ja vu feeling the first time and investigated all possiblities, it would’ve saved some time.

That’s OK, though.  It means I was on the right track with those edits the first time around because I was doing the exact same thing this time.

Filed under: editing, revisions, writing , de ja vu, Devon's Wish, editing, goals, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Kiernan's Curse, writing

More on Scheduling

On a Ning group I created, Creative TIPs, I posted about scheduling creativity.

A schedule seems like it would be the antithesis of creativity, but, for me, it seems to work.

At the beginning of last week, I was a few pages into chapter 4 of Navajo Rose.  Last night, I started chapter 6.  I didn’t start the scheduled time until Sunday night.

Not only did I get to that point, but in last night’s scheduled time, I also did some editing–surface edits, nothing deep yet–on Devon’s Wish, which is another goal of mine for this month

I wonder if anyone else has tried scheduling around their current projects or most creative time of day.  If you have, how is it going?

Filed under: writing

Monday Poetry Post

I derailed from the poetry train a long time ago, so instead of trying to board it again, I’ll just do an occasional Monday poetry post.  Today’s is courtesy of the weather.

Rain clatters on tin roofs,
puddling in the front yard.
Dogs hide under beds.

Filed under: poetry train, writing , haiku, Jen Nipps, jennipps, poem, poetry, rain, weather, write, writing

Sunday Status Report

Ah, the first status report for June.  Here we go, right into it:

The Absolute Write Water Cooler Freelance board has monthly Just Hit Send challenges. Instead of leaving my information just over there, I thought I’d bring it here as well. Previous months can be seen under the Just Hit Send heading on the right.

June 2008

-Get back on blog schedules.

6/1: “Sunday Status Report” on Creatif.
6/2: “Poetically Speaking” and “A Change In the Blog” on Creatif, “Makeup Minute: PRE-Makeup” on Confessions of a Fat Chick,” and “Exercise: Stand on Your Head” on The Idea Pocket
6/3: “Some News” on Creatif and “Tip: Do Something Different” on The Idea Pocket.
6/4: “Weight a Minute: It’s Decided” on Confessions of a Fat Chic
6/5: “Some News” on Creatif
6/6: “Quotable Friday: Solution” on The Idea Pocket and “Fashionable Friday: Seams” on Confessions of a Fat Chick.
6/8: “Sunday Status Report” on Creatif.

-One query a day from online job boards.

6/3: Three queries to Craigslist ads, one application to eHow.com courtesy of ProBlogger.
6/5: Application for writer/researcher with Humane Society courtesy of PayingWriterMarkets Yahoo group.

-Minimum two magazine submissions a week.

6/7: Application to About.com Guide for Journalism and submitted an article to Writers’ Journal.

-Send nonfiction proposals out to two agents.

-Send fiction queries out to two agents.

-Edit Devon’s Wish.

-Finish first draft of Navajo Rose.

6/1: Currently on chapter 4.
6/5: On chapter 5

Filed under: editing, revisions, writing , agent, chapter, draft, fiction, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Navajo, nonfiction, wish, write

Scheduling in a Schedule?

I’ve decided if I’m going to make any significant headway on Navajo Rose, I need to schedule time to work on it.

It sounds odd, I know, but I did the same thing with Kiernan’s Curse when I was working on it a little over a year ago (oh my goodness!), and it helped tremendously.  Otherwise, I go site-hopping and chat with friends.

There are some things I did not — and would not again — give up, such as the AbsoluteWrite WaterCooler. 

I want to get the rough draft finished ASAP.  The deadline for a writing contest I want to enter is in August, so I want to get it done so I can polish the synopsis and first few chapters for that.

I’ve thought about this for a while.  I don’t remember if the last time if I set aside two or three hours in the evening to work on it.  I honestly don’t remember.  I could plan on 8-10 at night and if more’s needed, go to 11 or start at 7.  (I think going to 11 would be more feasible, though.)

And I need to delete www.freeslots.com from my memory — both computer and mine.  *s*

Filed under: writing , contest, deadline, first draft, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Kiernan's Curse, Navajo Rose, schedule, write, writing, writing contest