Aaron Polson's Blog, page 61
January 21, 2010
If You Build It, They Won't Come
...or Self-Publishing in the Era of Self-Publishing Part 2
Thanks to Michael Stone for pointing me to Brian Keene's post of January 4th. (I can't seem to read Keene's blog at school...something about "adult language" filters it on our network...go figure.)
Keene starts the ball rolling nicely, and the comments (and there are a lot of them), are almost more insightful. The take home message (in my opinion): Brian Keene would sell a fair amount of self-pubbed books. I wouldn't. Not that I needed ...
Thanks to Michael Stone for pointing me to Brian Keene's post of January 4th. (I can't seem to read Keene's blog at school...something about "adult language" filters it on our network...go figure.)
Keene starts the ball rolling nicely, and the comments (and there are a lot of them), are almost more insightful. The take home message (in my opinion): Brian Keene would sell a fair amount of self-pubbed books. I wouldn't. Not that I needed ...
January 20, 2010
WIP Wednesday: Brain Splatter
I'm juggling two short stories right now, one without a prospective market (why do I do that to myself) and one that's lighter than I usually write.
Both are about 1/2 done.
The first finds four men in an Antarctic research post. No, it's not The Thing or a riff on "Who Goes There?" I wanted isolated, and a tiny research post in Antarctica was about as remote as I could muster. Then the rest of the word goes dark (no satelite feed, no radio, nothing). Did I mention a stranger shows up - *...
Both are about 1/2 done.
The first finds four men in an Antarctic research post. No, it's not The Thing or a riff on "Who Goes There?" I wanted isolated, and a tiny research post in Antarctica was about as remote as I could muster. Then the rest of the word goes dark (no satelite feed, no radio, nothing). Did I mention a stranger shows up - *...
January 19, 2010
Self-Publishing in the Age of Self-Publishing
Remember when Lars Ulrich of Metallica went "crazy train" over Napster? Now most musicians purposefully give away mp3s of their music. Funny how times change.
I don't mind giving away some of my stories. (Flash Fiction Fridays, duh.)
But I won't self-publish a novel. Not yet. And I'm glad I didn't start handing out short stories on my blog when I started writing.
When you self publish (be it POD or traditional or what-ever), you eliminate competition. Yes, competition sucks sometimes. Yes, the s...
I don't mind giving away some of my stories. (Flash Fiction Fridays, duh.)
But I won't self-publish a novel. Not yet. And I'm glad I didn't start handing out short stories on my blog when I started writing.
When you self publish (be it POD or traditional or what-ever), you eliminate competition. Yes, competition sucks sometimes. Yes, the s...
January 14, 2010
Henry Barlow's Ghosts
I met Maggie Farnsworth before I left for the war. She was a few years younger than me, fifteen at the time, and a beautiful girl—her hair always held waves, her eyes a powerful green like the darkest buds in spring. She had a laugh that some might have seen as too bold in a girl, a great, romping laugh that could break through the most serious façade. Sometimes, she fell down laughing so hard. We met at a barn dance the summer I left for the army; she'd just moved to town with her folks.
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January 13, 2010
WIP Wednesday: The Big Feelings About Genre
Horror this. Sci Fi that. Fantasy whatever.
This isn't the post I intended to do. I intended to go all "I think Loathsome, Dark, and Deep is about as good as it gets and my query is coming along nicely thank you very much blah blah blah."
No. I'm going to talk about identity instead.
Genre identity.
I'm a member of the HWA because being a member of a professional organization is the right thing to do. I've always felt that way. I joined the NEA when I started teaching. Do I agree with eve...
This isn't the post I intended to do. I intended to go all "I think Loathsome, Dark, and Deep is about as good as it gets and my query is coming along nicely thank you very much blah blah blah."
No. I'm going to talk about identity instead.
Genre identity.
I'm a member of the HWA because being a member of a professional organization is the right thing to do. I've always felt that way. I joined the NEA when I started teaching. Do I agree with eve...
January 12, 2010
Tuesday Grab Bag
Here's your free schtuff for Tuesday:
A piece of haunting ambient music, "Gentle Now, Ghosty", from a longer work of love songs for ghosts on which I'm working. (look, I'm no professional musician, okay?)
A lovely Amazon comment about "Former Vocations" (a poem in A.P. Fuch's Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes ):
"...'Former Vocations' (Aaron Polson) provides marvelously personal snapshots of the end of it all." - from Anton LeCancre "horror geek"
A recommendation for Rio Youers' Mama Fish over ...
A piece of haunting ambient music, "Gentle Now, Ghosty", from a longer work of love songs for ghosts on which I'm working. (look, I'm no professional musician, okay?)
A lovely Amazon comment about "Former Vocations" (a poem in A.P. Fuch's Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes ):
"...'Former Vocations' (Aaron Polson) provides marvelously personal snapshots of the end of it all." - from Anton LeCancre "horror geek"
A recommendation for Rio Youers' Mama Fish over ...
January 11, 2010
Beating the Spartans by 100
...this being my 400th post (or so says Blogger...all hail Blogger).
So, whoot. I celebrated by watching five stories slide into "short list limbo" over the weekend. Man, I know how to party. And now, I wait. And wait.
Sometimes waiting pays off...like hearing the news that "Cargo" has made the cut for the Blade Red Dark Pages anthology. Whoot! Mr. Tomlinson has kept me on the proverbial pins and needles with his updates, and now I can wipe my brow. A little. Edits forthcoming...
Speaking o...
So, whoot. I celebrated by watching five stories slide into "short list limbo" over the weekend. Man, I know how to party. And now, I wait. And wait.
Sometimes waiting pays off...like hearing the news that "Cargo" has made the cut for the Blade Red Dark Pages anthology. Whoot! Mr. Tomlinson has kept me on the proverbial pins and needles with his updates, and now I can wipe my brow. A little. Edits forthcoming...
Speaking o...
January 9, 2010
Like Nature TV, Only Weirder
"Courtship", a flash fiction of the bizarre variety, is up at
Everyday Weirdness
today. Enjoy your weekend.
And lock your windows.
And lock your windows.
January 8, 2010
Thaw
He woke from the dream and immediately rolled over to find her, but she was gone. His hand found damp sheets and a soaked mattress.
"Molly?" His heart thrum-thrummed in his chest, and he feared the silent house would be the only answer.
"In the kitchen," she called.
He hopped from the bed, nearly skidding into the wall when his socks slipped on the hardwood. She was there, standing at the kitchen window, her white arms folded across her chest.
"I had a dream." He reached out and touched her shoul...
"Molly?" His heart thrum-thrummed in his chest, and he feared the silent house would be the only answer.
"In the kitchen," she called.
He hopped from the bed, nearly skidding into the wall when his socks slipped on the hardwood. She was there, standing at the kitchen window, her white arms folded across her chest.
"I had a dream." He reached out and touched her shoul...
January 7, 2010
The Tundra
By tundra I mean my front yard. The twelve inches of snow from Christmas has yet to melt, and we've added another foot since then. Now, before any Northeasterners start to poo-poo our paltry two feet of snow, might I add our projected high temp for the day is 5 Fahrenheit? That equates to -15 Celsius. Then you add wind chill, and our 5 degrees feels like -15 Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius). If you live in Canada, North Dakota, Montana, or Antarctica, mock away. We still have Caribou, Maine bea...
