I Pulled It From the February Line-up…
I looked back over the records and no one had taken the Magic Bakery workshop since last spring I think. So no point in listing it as a monthly workshop anymore, even though I think it is one of the most important workshops we have done.
So now only nine workshops offered in February. I will continue to work to clean up old workshops so there is room for new ones this spring.
So the Magic Bakery workshop is now a classic workshop. And it has been added to the Lifetime Subscription as a Classic workshop, and I left the original one there as well in case any of the lifetime subscribers want to turn in assignments on it.
On other news, I got some plans in the mix with my writing, so stay tuned on that. Just sort of sputtering along writing some every day but not yet gaining any real speed.
Working on ideas to revamp and restart Smith’s Monthly and get me excited about it again. Which will help the writing as well.
And also keeping up my exercise start-up. So weight should start dropping off shortly. That will help with energy.
And on yet still another topic, Kris and I are watching the short series on Netflix right now called The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. It is a stunningly good, stunningly accurate look at getting older. And funny as hell. Watching Douglas and Arkin chew up the scenery is worth every minute.
Oh, the young actors in the class are cringe-worthy funny as well.
We just finished watching House of Saddam, a BBC/HBO coproduction about Saddam Hussein’s family. A great example how solid writing can make for a gripping story even though everyone knows how it ends and there are no sympathetic characters.
I’m really surprised that so few people have taken the Magic Bakery. It was excellent. If you want a career, and not to just have published a couple of books, it’s essential.
A friend suggested that the workshop needed a different title. Something boring about copyright and dividing rights and running a business and people would then sign up. Got a hunch he’s right. (grin)
Well, I have been planing on taking The Magic Bakery for a while, but life rolls have kept me from it for a bit. I will be taking it soon – looks essential to me. Thanks to you and Kris for putting it out there, Dean.
I’ve been waiting to get my lifetime subscription before taking it, but it’s top of my do-as-soon-as-possible list. Seems a vital workshop.
Lifetime subscribers can take the old version and send in assignments if they want, so yes, better to wait on that. (grin)
Regarding the magic bakery metaphor, do you think an author should worry about second-hand sales? It seems like second-hand sales are both fair and they help keep an author in the public consciousness, but there may be some author or publisher perspective I am missing. Here’s the quote from the Authors Guild 2018 Authors’ Income Survey that prompted me to ask this: “An increase in the number of second-hand books sold by Amazon resellers at lower costs than the publisher’s royalty-bearing copy furnished by Amazon. More and more sales are going to the reseller market and not to the publisher. There can be dozens of copies available cheaply from Amazon; often hardcover copies are available at lower prices than the paperback.”
You should encourage them as much as possible. In fact, I’m going to do a blog about this tonight, actually. And then a Pop-Up on the topic. Writers have this so wrong and it will take me a little time to explain why writers have this upside down. But honestly, I just shake my head sadly at writers who get angry at used bookstores and libraries. They are our best advertising for our work, but writers, especially indie writers don’t understand that at all. So let me explain in a large blog later.