Challenge,  On Writing

Old Advice

Things In Publishing Change…

So please, folks, if you are reading something I said, check the date on the post before quoting me. I have been writing about writing and the business since the old Genie Board days, and when I was editing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, I wrote posts for writers.

And the internet keeps it all it seems, somewhere. More millions of words and blogs and letters that I wrote than I can ever begin to count.

Indie publishing came about in 2010 for me. Give or take. But for the first four years after that things were really changing, and so was I.

So if I said something before 2014 that you want to follow, write me first to see if I still believe what I said back then.

For example: All Book Agents Are Scams… (Yup, still believe that and have even more proof.)

Another example of old advice: You have to write 1 million words before publishing… Nope, haven’t given that a thought for 20 years. That might have been back in the Star Trek board days. Now I believe you write, publish, repeat, right from the first word. You have nothing to lose. Just keep learning and writing (called practicing, but publish your practice sessions.)

And so on.

Please, folks, before quoting me, check the damn dates on the post. I do keep learning and growing. Honest. Some of my opinions have changed, some have not, and the industry has changed.

So thanks for the courtesy.

(And don’t ask how I got on this topic. (grin))

One Comment

  • Harvey Stanbrough

    Wow, do I ever agree with this one. The first time I met you and Kris (late ’90s or early 2000s) was at a conference where all of us were teaching. (My topic was probably poetry back then.) You were telling a group of hyper-interested readers the best way to find an agent. (grin)

    I still remember that advice: Submit the mss to publishers yourself and when you got a nibble, tell the publisher your agent would get back to them. Then call the agent(s) you wanted to work with and tell them you had a publisher and only needed them to negotiate the deal.

    Talk about old, outdated advice! (grin) Times change (happily) and those in the know change with them.

    Thanks for all you do, Dean.