earning an "honest living"

"You must not suppose, because I am a man of letters, that I never tried to earn an honest living." - George Bernard Shaw

My attempts at earning an "honest living" before staying home to write:

movie theatre worker
drug store clerk/pharmacist's helper
waitress
retail women's clothing/jewelry salesperson
car salesperson
microfiche filer (worst job ever)
substitute teacher
ESE paraprofessional
high school/middle school teacher
summer camp coordinator
non-profit site director
bookstore owner

how I spent my weekend

"No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft"
- H. G. Wells

I love editing someone else's writing. A friend told me once it was the perfect job for me. I get paid for telling others what's wrong with what they wrote. Of course, I hope I'm not that crass about how I approach helping others edit and revise, but, I must admit, it does suit me. Perhaps it's all those years of grading student work or my "Miss Know-it-all" attitude, which I have, mostly unsuccessfully, tried to kick over the years.

When it comes down to it, I like helping people learn to write well. I can't say I'm magnificent at it all the time, but it appears to be a skill so many struggle with and are afraid of. It makes me happy when I see them improve or they feel more satisfied with their manuscript. Somehow I believe the world becomes more orderly, more aligned, when I edit.

I spent this weekend editing a manuscript for a healthcare company. Even though it was a rush job, leaving no free time for leisure pursuits, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I get off using the Word Track Changes function. What weird creature am I?

short stories in the fiction market

It's no secret the fiction market is changing. With the ever-lowering price of e-book readers, efforts by online retailers to squeeze out agents and publishers, and falling stock prices of the big box booksellers, what sells and makes money in the fiction market is becoming narrower and narrower. I once read in a feature article in The Writer's Market that trying to make a living as a poet ensured a life of poverty . . . or, something to that effect. I used to buy collections of poetry. I can't remember the last time I did. Sadly, the reality of a shrinking poetry section in most bookstores is commonplace. It seems, more and more, the same can be said of the short story market.

Kurt Vonnegut once remarked, "This country used to be crazy about short stories." I think those days have passed. Recently, I hunted in the latest Writer's Market for magazines to submit short fiction for the YA/teen market. Not counting faith-based magazines, there were four listings, only one of which paid any amount worth considering if one actually tried to make a living selling short stories. The current feeling is one has to be a sought-out writer to get paid any decent amount for a short story, meaning the writer is already a decently-paid novelist.

Flash fiction and short story fiction appears to be most appreciated and published in online e-zines. There are some fantastic online literary magazines out there, but most of the ones I've run across pay little to nothing. Like most online content, the general public feels it should be free.

I can't say I don't contribute to the decline in the short story market. A few weeks ago I stumbled across a recent short story by Katherine Dunn, one of my favorite writers, in The Paris Review. Online, I could read the first few pages, but to read the rest of the story, I had to order a copy. I'm not against paying for content, but looking through the remainder of the magazine's content for that issue, Dunn's story was the only thing I was eager to read. Or, pay $15 bucks, for that matter.

I'd love to see a website similiar to ITunes, where I could download one short story for .99 cents. Heck, I'd pay at least $1.50 a short story for decent writers. They don't have to be well-known, just strong writers. I don't want short story collections to go the way of poetry collections, market losers purchased by the literary elite off the "last chance" bargin table. Won't Apple or a smart start-up create IStories for me?

the end of the dust jacket

"When I was a ten-year-old book worm and used to kiss the dust jacket pictures of authors as if they were icons, it used to amaze me that these remote people could provoke me to love." - Erica Jong

While I won't admit to kissing author photos on a book jacket, I will admit to staring in wonderment at an author or two's book jacket photo the way one might stare at the yearbook picture of the popular kid in high school, the kid you wish you hung out with, the kid you wanted to be. I suppose dusk jackets will go the way of bookstores at some point. E-book readers don't need dusk jackets. Do they even come with front cover art and author photos?

The bookstore massacre is coming Brett Arends' ROI - MarketWatch

The bookstore massacre is coming Brett Arends' ROI - MarketWatch

This article by Brett Arends made me sad, but, alas, I have to agree with him: the massacre of the American bookstore is coming. Apparently, Barnes & Noble is going up for sale. I closed my bookstore business almost two years ago. We were just beginning and headed in the right direction when the recession knocked up a fatal blow. I believe bookstores are making themselves obsolete with e-book readers. Gadgets are fun, but I'm hoping some form of bookstores will remain.

the mind of the writer

"Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God! This is fascinating!'" - Jane Smiley

My friends think I'm a good listener. Don't get me wrong. I am a good listener, but there are times when I worry that I'm not so much listening to empathize and support as I'm listening to take notes for writing. Does this make me a bad person, or is it just the writer in me? Maybe both.

I'm hoping no dear friends read this particular blog, but, being the smart individuals they are, they've probably picked up on my strange habit of seeing the world as an orchard of potential characters and plots, waiting to be harvested. That's the cool thing about good friends: they get how twisted you can be and love you anyway.

I think writers by nature can't help but look at drama, and conflict, and joy, and pain (the stuff of life) and say, "That would make a fantastic story." It's in our blood. We apologize in advance to anyone who expects better of us.

Layoffs at Borders Headquarters

Read the Publishers Weekly article - click here.
Layoffs at Borders Headquarters

I can't help but wonder if the recent announcement of more layoffs with Borders is a direct result of recent increases in e-book sales. Everytime I bring up e-books with my writer friends I hear the same thing, commonly surmized by the idiom "You can't fight progress." Also, I can't help but wonder if the salespeople at the big book chains realize when they push the e-readers on their walkin customers, their got-in-a-car-drove-themselves-to-an-actual-bookstore-to-buy-a-book customers, if they realize they're helping put themselves out of a job.

Bye-bye bookstores. We'll miss you.