Bryce Beattie's Blog, page 10

Writing your First Novel

I’ve decided to make this a series. I have purchased a few copies of now-public-domain writing magazines from the 30s-50s and I’m reprinting various articles from them and calling them “Writing Tips from the Pulp Era.”

Its All A Matter of Timing
Get That Novel Out of Your System (you are here)

Editor’s note: Marjorie Holmes ended up writing 134 books, 32 of which hit the bestseller list. She also wrote for all manner of magazines. From Writer’s Digest, August 1943, which is now in the public domain.

Get That Novel Out of Your System

By MARJORIE HOLMES

Once you’ve written that novel that’s in you, crying to be written, you can live with yourself again. You can face your image in the mirror without flinching. You can sleep nights.

You’ll never be satisfied to dismiss it in a few pages as The Novel I Didn’t Write. A matter of personal integrity is involved. If it’s peculiarly and fiercely your novel, no one else can write it but you. And if you’re at all serious about your work, you’re in for self-inflicted hell until you do!

Writing a novel is so long a task, so perilous a gamble. The free-lancer must stake so much valuable writing time against monstrously uncertain success. In that same period he knows he can be turning Out many shorter manuscripts, making a go of Writing.

But unless the “good book” in the back of the mind of every writer is actually written, he fears that always he will be a hack Writer, at odds with himself and the people who have had faith in him.

But-and here looms the most sinister threat of all-what if he does gamble all on his novel and then it doesn’t sell? He realizes that, in that eventuality, he can no longer take refuge even in his dreams. He will be shocked and wounded; he will not only be far behind the eight-ball financially, but he will probably be conditioned for good against the novel form… And so, while you are tormented by the knowledge that you’re compromising, shirking your task, the cold sick dread of failure is holding you back. Mentally and emotionally you are a mess!

This is the story of the novel I did write. Things that affected the slow, agonized crawl to its completion. Maybe there’s something in it for you?

I began my novel shortly after I was out of college. The stimulus was a series of remarkable articles by Clark Venable, which the WRITER’s DIGEST ran from February through July, 1933. “Subject Matter and Beginning,” “The Voice of Jacob,” “Characterization,” “Color and Tempo,” even “The Last Hard Mile.” (They were wonderful!) I gulped down Mr. Venable’s advice, gave myself the tests: “Am I equipped to tell this story? Have I the dogged determination required for the chore? Is my story worth the labor and will it justify the use of the equipment I will bring to it? If all answers are definitely yes,” Mr. Venable urged, “then in heaven’s name begin.”

And so, gasping a frantic yes, yes! to all of them, in heaven’s name I-began. In heaven’s name I wrote, furiously, gloriously, for weeks. Then one sad day I paused for breath and looked back. To my stunned amazement, I found it had taken me 90,000 words to simply set the stage! Actually, I knew nothing about writing the novel. Even Mr. Venable’s fine articles assumed an experience and technical background I did not have.

I would have to put this material away. I would have to start at the bottom with stories and articles. I would have to learn structure and dramatic balance and discipline. I would have to mature.

It was a bitterly disappointing decision to have to make, but I knew it was the only way.

At that time I had sold a couple of pulp and confession stories. To these I gratefully and hopefully returned. I painstakingly built plot outlines; I polished and tested every page.

Sometimes, angrily throwing away the tenth version of a dramatic scene, I would protest, “What’s the difference? The editors will probably cut. And it’s just a confession, isn’t it?” But I could never kid myself. And I believe that this habit of petting, and practically tasting every sentence, every word, before letting it go, made for the kind of writing that had to go into my book. The book that I was still working on-simply because I couldn’t resist it-now and then.

To get my name into the more general magazines, I was also writing fluff. Airy little articles about love, glamor, personality, husbands, kids. These were easy to write and sold readily. I got anywhere from $10 to $75 for them, with frequent reprint bonuses which made the total take for the time involved very good. Together with story sales I made sometimes as much as $800 a month. I was in a (very small) unspectacular way, doing all right.

But-I couldn’t sleep nights. I’d read articles like Steve Fisher’s “Literary Roller Coaster” and walk the floor. Why, the guy was only 25 While I-well, let’s skip that. Anyway, I was old enough to have finished my book too if I’d just quit stalling, if I just had the courage to drop everything else and see it through. In a kind of panic, I’d open my notebook to the words an English prof had scribbled there once: “You can write beautiful things for people who crave beautiful things. There is a duty!” Or I’d gaze wretchedly at Clark Venable’s closing paragraph, clipped, framed, and hung over my desk: “For aught any man can say to the contrary, the author of that greatest novel may be now a lowly beginner who has within him the seed of genius which flowers only when WORKED. You?…”

In spasms like this I would haul down my novel, which despite the infrequent spurts on which I had worked on it, had grown to surprising proportions, and brood over it. I felt that I really had something in it; that, if nothing more, I had captured the spirit of a kind of people I wanted to portray. But something was wrong-and I didn’t know just what. I was too close to it, perhaps too much in love with it to regard it with an objective, discerning eye. Finally, though I’d never had much faith in critics, I bundled it up and sent it off to Mr. A. L. Fierst.

Money was never more luckily spent. I already knew that the book was too long, but I was lost and confused in determining what to cut. He pointed out what must go-and why. He suggested a plan for complete reorganization. In one letter he taught me things about writing a novel that I’ll remember all my life.

One mistake I had made was in the number of characters. I love characterization. My idea of creative bliss would be to write nothing but character sketches till the end of time. This I had been doing with the excuse that I was writing a novel. Every amusing or colorful character I had ever observed and “canned” in my notebook, had been lovingly dusted off and shoved onto a stage where he served no particular purpose and had no business to be. The result was a bizarre collection of personalities, each interesting in itself, perhaps, but contributing nothing to the plot, and only obscuring the true protaganists.

It was these few principal characters who were really important. On their backs rested the plot. It was through their courage, loyalty, and rollicking spirits that I must accent the theme. They deserved the spotlight, the very best that I could give them. To do this I couldn’t go dashing down bypaths, exploring the morals of the town drunkard, deciding what the garbage man thought about.

And once I had-however regretfully-killed off all these other minor characters, I had not only shortened the book considerably, but gained elbow-room to build up the characters I was really interested in. The Andrews family itself, and the few people who contributed to their destiny. This simplified the problem, the story, and the mood. It made for dramatic unity. It quickened the pace.

To further quicken the pace, I did what I should have done in the beginning-made chapter outlines, as if each were a short story in itself, leading to a dramatic climax. Then I went through every chapter already written, trying to shape it over the skeleton of this outline. A lot of irrelevant scenes had to be lifted out bodily-some of them to be discarded completely, others to be salvaged and worked into different chapters where they more aptly fit. For instance, in the original version of the manuscript, I had scattered the theatrical experiences of Ken, the older brother, through four or five chapters dealing with other matters. In revising, I gathered them all together and sewed them into a couple of chapters all his own, where they belonged.

In making these tardy chapter outlines, I discovered chapters that seemed dramatically out of place. These I shifted around until-like those little dime-store puzzles where you tilt and twist until the darkie’s eyes or teeth fall into place-they seemed to fit. To illustrate, I tried the chapter where the kitchen catches on fire, at least four different places. But not until I arranged so that it should follow a chapter dealing with the family’s difficulties at Christmas, did it live up to its own dramatic implications.

Timing, in the modern novel, is important. Almost as important as in a short story, I think. Speaking for the moment as simply a reader, I am distressed at how often novelists pay no attention to it. A dramatic effect achieved, a point made they often still go wordily on, to ruin that effect. I’m wordy enough myself, heaven knows! But the precaution of a chapter outline, pointing to a definite curtain line or peak of interest at which to stop, is a safeguard against going too far afield, as well as invaluable as a timing device.

Another mistake I made in first writing my novel was in handling the dialogue. My own short story experience should have taught me that dialogue serves two purposes-to delineate character and advance the plot. But somehow I got the notion that in novels no such hampering limitations prevailed. I love to write dialogue, and so I had a grand time letting everybody talk their heads off. They argued, they dissertated, they philosophized. And while a lot of it made interesting reading in itself, it kept the characters marking time when they should have been going someplace. A novel-as Mr. Venable had warned-must march!

Perhaps the over-abundance of dialogue had been due to my anxiety to make my characters realistic. I had faithfully reproduced pages of conversation authentic to a certain kind of people. Every interruption and half-speech, every “huh?” “gosh, kid,” “I dunno'” and “damn.” The result had used up a lot of space (you haven’t nearly as much elbow-room in a novel as you might imagine-the pasture looks vast and green after the narrow roads of short story writing, but that’s where so many of us go astray). More disastrously, it had become so realistic as to defeat its own end. The oral word is a tricky thing when reproduced in print. For instance, if I were to take down literally the conversation that took place recently at a luncheon, I would succeed only in making a group of refined ladies sound like a bunch of bawdy madams. Similarly, in my novel, the dialogue of typical, small-town middle-class girls, too conscientiously recorded, gave the impression that they were tawdry and cheap, instead of the nice, appealing youngsters they were. This dialogue had to be pared down and cleaned up. Since my novel wasn’t to be hairy-chested Steinbeck or Hemingway realism, anyhow, dialogue that went all out for realism threw the thing out of balance; actually giving it an unrealistic effect. Rather than impairing the ultimate realism–the stuff that makes a reader feel that he sees and knows the places described, participates in the story-a realism that, thank heaven, the critics are agreeing is there-I believe that my willingness to compromise a little with realism, contributed to its final achievement

In other words, the novelist, like the painter, must sort over his material, using only that part of it essential to the design he has in mind-and often streamlining and simplifying even that.

While on the subject of realism, you might like to know something about my methods of capturing it. This will take us back for a moment to characterization. Most people agree that the scene stealer in World by the Tail, is Sam, a cocky, witty, infuriating little clown of a dad, so let’s take a look at him. Better, let’s look at the strip of paper that was long pinned over my desk, labeled-SAM.

Physical Characteristics:

short, fat tummy, bald-headed
big nose
ruddy complexion
fat lips-wrinkled, like prunes
devilish blue eyes
likes snappy clothes
traces of powder on his ear lobes after

shaving.
… etc.

Mannerisms:

thumbing his suspenders
slapping his knee
noisily blowing his nose
pointing foolishly to his bald head
… etc.

Pet speech tags:

“Never did like ya very good, any

way-“
“Don’t y’know it is?”
“Cheer up, Christmas is comin’, ain’t

it???
… etc.

I didn’t remember or think up all these characteristics at once; they came to me as I brooded over the character, recalling or observing them. The list grew along with the story. But having it within glancing distance kept Sam always vividly strutting and chuckling and kicking up his heels before me. I couldn’t lose sight of him, consequently he came vividly out of the typewriter.

I kept sheets like that for every one of the characters-Jean, Ken, Polly-all of them. Such lists helped me to visualize and get hold of the characters I wasn’t quite sure about. And they prevented me from being so mentally sure of a character that I failed to portray him on paper, where the reader could see and know him, too.

The realism of your settings is important. I know the small, midwestern lake town background intimately, but every time I go back to it I fill my notebook with homely little details never recorded there before. The shaggy, mashed-down look of dock posts, the melancholy dip of rowboats at anchor, the dried foam looking like snow upon the sand. Dusty little towns with their jutting flagpoles at the corner of main street, ordering inside turn… small town hostesses reminding pertly, “Save your fork,” as they serve the pie… the look and smell of a hayloft in late afternoon-. Those are the kind of things that go into my notebook. Then when I’m miles from the midwest but trying to write about it, I have at my fingertips all the warm, pungent, vivid details that will recreate the scene.

But in the use of realistic detail, as in all else, I learned that the novelist must not overplay his hand. Background must remain just that-background. It must not be so glowing as to detract from the color of the characters. It must not hold up the action. Any vast ornate chunks of it must be broken up and scattered throughout the scene.

Figures of speech also pepper my notebook. Everything I see seems to remind me of something else. It’s fun to discover unique ones, and I am perhaps overfond of using them. One reviewer said my novel starts off as if I had “contracted with Reader’s Digest to supply its Picturesque Speech department for the season” before I settle down to telling the tale. I shall remember that next time. Too many similes can be too much cake.

Another mistake I made in my first floundering attempts at writing a novel, was failure to clarify the theme. Frankly, I hadn’t considered that I was writing a “theme novel”—that is, a book to prove anything. I was interested only in showing a certain kind of people for the gay, courageous souls they were. What I had failed to realize was that by their gaiety and courage they were proving something-if I could just fasten on what that was, make all episodes, however subtly, point to it, draw it out. I reread novels that I had loved for their characterizations deliberately refusing to be charmed away from that binding thread-the theme. However well hidden, it was always there!

Well, I thought about this theme business a lot during the three years that my novel lay around the house untouched. You see, shortly after receiving my criticism of this first version and getting all steamed up to revise, there were complications on the home front. I was going to have a baby. It seemed a very poor time to turn my back on all the money I could be making free-lancing. Besides, I began to be plagued by all those doubts mentioned at first. What if I gave up my markets, gambled a year or two on my novel, and then it didn’t sell? I just didn’t have the nerve. Perhaps-now keenly aware of its many faults, and quailing at the staggering amount of work involved-I was discouraged. I had lost faith.

And so I went back to free-lancing, writing everything under heaven-confessions, articles, verse, juveniles, pulps. I collaborated on booklengths with Mary Frances Morgan, that clever, attractive gal who never fails. We made a lot of money. We had a lot of fun. But after a while I began to have that harried look again. And again-I couldn’t sleep nights. I’d lie awake thinking about my novel, figuring it out. I began to sneak a day or two Out of my busy schedule to work on it. But I’d just get going strong when a hurry-up, sure-money assignment would come in to lure me away from it. That would be followed by another-it would be weeks, months, before I could come back.

Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. I decided to get that novel out of my system—however swiftly, however poorly I wrote it, to get it done! I dropped everything else-sent back assignments, telling the editors the baby was keeping me busy (and he was). But even taking care of a new baby, an older child and the house didn’t seem so hard when I was doing the work I wanted to do-and now felt that I was ready for. I had had ample time to ponder over the mistakes I had first made; I corrected them. I had learned a lot more about story structure; I applied it to my book. I had gotten a grip on my theme. Whatever my impatience, habits of slow, painstaking writing were not to be thrown overboard. I fought every sentence to a finish. I let nothing go until it was right.

Finally, amazingly, the thing was done. Relieved, almost incredulous, I typed the final word. It might still be a punk book, but by golly, it was a whole one! Whole and balanced out this time in a sense that satisfied.

I sent it off to my agent and forgot about it. It was wonderful just to have it out of the house. I hoped that even if nobody bought it (and somehow I could scarcely conceive that they would) he would never send it back. Consequently it was the biggest shock of my life to arrive in Pittsburgh last summer (after moving up from Texas) and find a letter from my agent, saying the Lippincott editors would like a luncheon date to talk about the book!

I went to Philadelphia with a feeling of dazed incredulity. I came home sort of drifting on bubbles and stars. But I had to get my feet back on the ground and keep them there. There was a lot of cutting to be done, and I had to cook up a new ending before they would decide. I’m terribly superstitious; I didn’t risk jinxing it by telling anyone or even indulging in a dream. All I could do was work. I even wrote two new endings, so as to give the editors a choice. And fortunately so, as it was the second one they liked.

Because of my experience, I don’t advise people to start their novels too soon. Don’t gamble everything on your novel until you’re sure you have something to say, and know how to say it. But once you’re confident of that, wade in. Get it out of your system You’ll never have a moment’s peace until you do.

The Future of StoryHack

For all of you who are waiting for physical rewards from the Kickstarter campaign, I have ordered copies of StoryHack from the printer. They told me I should expect them to come in no later than the 17th of October. They’ve beat their estimates on a large order before, though. May they print and ship quickly.

Now, after I deliver the goods, what is next for StoryHack?

The magazine is a labor of love for me. I don’t need or expect it to ever be a real part of my income. That being said, eventually my wife’s vast tank of patience will run out and I’ll have to stop feeding it from my own pocket. So the plan is to publish at least another 5 issues. (3 or 4 a year, depending) If by the end of that time the magazine is self-sufficient, it’ll just keep going forever. And as the magazine becomes more profitable, I’ll pay more to the authors & artists. I think the fact that the Kickstarter campaign funded despite the fact that I am a nobody without any big name connections or large audience shows that readers are hungry for a quality publication.

If by that time the magazine is not self-sufficient, well, then I’ll just publish when I can, or suffer the indignity of becoming a token-payment market. But that thought makes me sick to my stomach, so let’s spend no more time considering it.

What you can do to keep this ball of pulp rolling?

The biggest thing I need right now are reviews. If you’ve read Issue 0 or 1, please leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, your blog, or anywhere else it’s appropriate. Also, if you see me in real life, a high five would not go amiss.

And what am I doing before I start on Issue 2?

I’m going to run some marketing tests. Without much of a backlist, I don’t think dumping a lot of money into marketing is the right choice. When a new reader finds StoryHack, it would be nice to be able to sell her 4 issues rather than 1 or 2. But I know there’ll be a learning curve, so I’d better start learning.

I’m building a better submissions process. Doing everything via email is rather inefficient. I have plans to make a system that would shepherd stories from submission all the way through editing and approvals. But for Issue 2, I’m just going to have the software ready for the submission/accept/reject process.

I’m setting up a subscription option. It will bill when I release new issues. The plan is to make it $2.99 an issue for electronic versions, and $9.99 for printed (shipping included to U.S.). Printed subscribers will also get the electronic version. I will also try to throw in at least one fun freebie per issue like the extras I included to all backers of the Kickstarter. Price everywhere else will be $3.99 for electronic and $9.99 for paperback-only.

I know this is a wild dream, but If I could somehow get about 300 physical copy subscribers, I can speed up and simplify the printing and shipping significantly so that my grubby hands don’t have to touch a thing. And at that level, I think payment to authors would be up around $0.04 per word.

That’s about it for now. Thank you everybody for your continued support.

StoryHack, Issue 1 is available!

I have my proof back and everything looks good. So I’ve flipped the switch making it available for purchase in paperback. Down below you’ll see what to expect.

StoryHack, Issue 1 – Paperback
StoryHack, Issue 1 – ebook

It took a couple of weeks longer than I wanted to get art back and such, but I believe it was worth the wait. It is seriously the best pulp magazine I have ever published. Thank you everyone who backed the issue or otherwise helped support the project. I hope you like it as much as I do.

And speaking of Kickstarter backers…

I’ll be ordering a big box of physical copies tonight. As soon as they get here, I’ll be packaging them up and shipping them out to those who backed for physical rewards.

Digital rewards have been available since last week, and everyone who backed at any level gets a couple of digital bonuses. If Kickstarter didn’t send you an email about that, then contact me and I’ll give you directions for claiming your downloads.

Cheers,

Bryce

Issue 1 Contents

StoryHack Action adventure is a fiction magazine in the style of the great pulps of years past. It includes stories from a wide variety of genres.

In this issue, you’ll find:

New Rules for Rocket Nauts by Michael DeCarolis. A recently dismissed recruit watches in horror as an alien race betrays and massacres his former classmates. Now he may be the only person capable of stopping the first wave of an interstellar war.

The Price of Hunger by Kevyn Winkless. A desperate chase through the woods leads to an occupied cabin. Has Fred Moose doomed everyone to be slaughtered by the wending outside?

Retrieving Abe by Jay Barnson. Lydia Madison is the daughter of a dragon hunter, and the second of three wives in a plural marriage in a tiny village in the Utah Territory. When her husband is abducted by a dragon, only Lydia can rescue him… even if it means trading her own life for his.

Protector of Newington by John M Olsen. A wealthy inventor has been secretly sponsoring do-gooders in steam-powered suits for years. When another of his heroes faces death, can he just stand by and watch a good man die?

Brave Day Sunk in Hideous Night by Julie Frost. Ben is a PI with PTSD who also just happens to be a werewolf. He is handed a repo job that seems too easy to be true. Of course things go awry and an accident flings him into a grim future. Will he be able to make it back to his wife and friends, or will he be doomed to die amongst total strangers?

Taking Control by Jon Del Arroz. What is a seasoned outlaw to do when she’s too worn out to heist?

Some things Missing from her Profile by David Skinner. His blind date was kidnapped by Martians. He had no idea why. But he wasn’t about to let them keep her.

Dream Master by Gene Moyers. What strange power could cause wealthy men to suddenly give away their fortunes and commit suicide?

Under the Gun by David J. West. A young man with a possessed gun that can’t miss collides with an aging gunslinger that can’t be hit. Trouble and death can’t be far behind.

Circus to Boulogne by Mike Adamson. A WWII pilot is shot down over enemy-held territory. Will he make it to safety, or will he spend the rest of the war in a POW camp?

StoryHack, Issue 1 – Paperback
StoryHack, Issue 1 – ebook

StoryHack Issue 1 Going to Print

Here’s what’s been going on in the world of StoryHack.

I just ordered a physical proof of StoryHack Issue 1. I just want to make sure everything looks good before shipping to backers.

I wrote and did some testing on a download script to deliver all the ebook files to the backers who wanted them. I just need to import backers into it now. By the end of this week maybe early next everyone should get an email with downloading instructions.

 

StoryHack, Issue 1 cover

StoryHack Podcast: Interview with Ryan Decaria

Ryan Decaria is a fellow podcaster and author. His debut novel, Devil in the Microscope, was recently published by Immortal Works. We met in his secret lair high above the bustling streets of Ogden to have a little chat.

Show Notes:

[0:35] The King of the Meeple Nation discusses board games.
[4:23] This was not intended as a fart joke. I promise. I’m not above making fart jokes, but this just happens to not be one.
[5:40] Mad science is better than sane science.
[7:00] Ryan’s favorite mad scientists.
[9:20] Mad science heroes vs villains
[12:16] The Devil in the Microscope
[15:32] Ethically-challenged scientists have more fun.
[17:45] Church ball is great. Not the movie, though.
[19:09] How Ryan writes: in defense of outlining
[20:55] Why Ryan writes
[22:12] What’s next?
[26:15] Where to find Ryan

For more about Ryan:

Ryan’s Website
Ryan’s Podcast
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan’s book on Amazon

StoryHack Podcast: Interview with Gene Moyers

I recently had a chat with with new pulp author Gene Moyers, whose story “Dream Master” is appearing in StoryHack, Issue 1.

Some notes from the interview:

[0:25] Introducing Gene
[1:00] What is pulp fiction to you?
[1:45] How did you fall in with the New Pulp crowd?
[3:35] Pulp-Specific Conventions (Windy City Pulp and Paper, PulpFest) and why they’re great.
[7:03] Gene’s Hobby Shop
[8:08] How Gene writes
[10:50] Gene’s favorite classic pulps
[12:40] What’s coming up for Gene
[18:01] Modern authors Gene likes
[19:00] Writing inspirations
[21:00] Gene loves critical reviews (and positive ones, too.)
[23:00] Gene’s story in StoryHack, Issue 1

For more about Gene:

GeneMoyers.com
Gene’s Amazon Page

StoryHack Issue 1 Updates for 8/9

Here are some updates so that you know I’ve not just been sitting on my thumbs.

I’ve done my edits on all but 2 of the stories.
Artists have been found and started on the interior art.

Still to do.

Get a friend or two to do a copyediting pass.
Hound/plead with the artists to get art back to me.
Layout the magazine.
Once last comb through for typos.
Send out backer surveys getting physical addresses for those that need it and email addresses for those that need it.
Work out a good delivery system for the electronic copies.
Upload/print/publish/etc.
Deliver all the pulp.
Look to the future.

Release date? I think Cirsova is planning to release Sept 1, so I’ll shoot for a week after that.

I’m also working on a double-extra-secret something else for my wonderful backers (& even the less wonderful ones. You know who you are.) I hope it comes together in time.

Thoughts on Hiring a Cover Artist.

First, a couple of examples for those who are interested in behind the scenes stuff. At the end, I’ll collect a list of things I’ve learned. And I’ve talked about a couple of other cover projects before.

Project 1

After I finished the first draft of my children’s book I thought for a while that I would be self publishing it. I eventually decided to hire an editor then submit it for publication, but I did play around with making a cover for a bit. I went on fiverr and found three reasonably-priced artists. I asked for a a single character without a background (Artists on fiverr almost always charge extra for a 3/4 body, full body, background, etc.) I gave the artists the exact same description and this is what I got back.

Artist #1

Artist #2

Artist #3

 

Note: My instructions said “either running or dancing.” I included no instruction on arm position.

I had decided at the time to go with artist 3, simply because it was the most “painted” look. I dropped in a background and did some fiddling and here’s basically what I would have ended up with (but you know, with the title.)

Project 2

Here’s the process I went through for my recently released sword and sorcery novelette Swordcrossed Frostbite.

I tried the same thing again, except this time I just wanted a picture of my main character. If the picture was great, maybe I’d negotiate for commercial usage of the picture or hire the artist to do another for the cover. Here’s what I ended up with:

 

Again, I used the same description to give to all the artists.

In the end, I found someone else on Artistsnclients to do the cover, and I paid a little more. In case you haven’t seen it, this is what the finished cover looks like:

Project 3

There was this time that I thought my artist for StoryHack Issue 0 had disappeared (this was a deviantart hire). I emailed 4 times over a 3 week period without response. So in my freaking out, I hired a backup artist on fiverr. Two days later, I got the artwork back from the original artist and it was fantastic. A day or two after that, the backup artist sent me this:

Who knows, I still may use this for something.

Random Lessons

The sites I have used to find artists are Fiverr, Artistsnclients, and deviantart. I used to just search around deviantart but now I always use the job offers forum.
Artistsnclients either needs to hire a new web guy or move servers. They seem to go down quite often.
Fiverr and artistsnclients.com have a sort of escrow system set up to prevent you from losing your money if an artist disappears or does not fulfill on their end of the bargain. Deviantart has no such system.
Posting a gig request on fiverr is a good way to get a lot of offers for your art. You’ll have to constantly go through and remove offers from artists who obviously don’t use the style you ask for. I think it only lets you have 30 active offers at a time. Hence the constant removing. I’ve seriously gone through like 90 offers before finding one that would work.
If you post on the job offers forum at DeviantArt, you’ll be swamped with artists looking for work. You work out payment on your own. Usually paypal. I didn’t know for the longest time that deviantart even had a forum, so well do they hide it. The quality of the artists responding tends to be higher than the fiverr respondents.
While hiring an artist, especially on fiverr, be sure to look at an artist’s whole portfolio. If it feels like they’ve stolen some art to stick on there, do a google image search. I have almost hired several artists before realizing that they were using someone else’s work in their portfolio. Fiverr has no easy way to report those people, so if the pictures look way too awesome for the price, beware.
ArtistsnClients has a bunch of inactive artists. Just message your chosen artist first before buying a gig. That’s actually a good idea anyway.
No matter what service you use to find an artist, be prepared to look at a lot of portfolios before you start finding ones whose styles meet your needs.
ArtistsnClients itself is slow to respond to inquiries. I once had an issue with an artist. I emailed, tweeted and facebooked the company (after trying in vain to reach the artist) and it still took a few days to get back to me.
If you look around, you may be able to score a deal. Don’t expect to pay less than $100 for a decent piece of art, though.
The more info you can get to an artist, the better. Poses, references, descriptions.
If your artist want pose ideas and you can’t find any you like, you can try the software Design Doll. It’s kind of a pain to get used to the controls, but you can pose a virtual mannequin and render a picture that an artist can base the drawing on.
Know beforehand how well the artist communicates and how long they think it’ll take.

Issue #1 Lineup

Things are moving right along with Issue #1. I just got a new wip from the cover artist and I couldn’t be more excited. Little by little I’m working through edits of the stories. I’m horrible at finding typos, though, so I have to go slow. Also eating at my time is the day job and parenting and such, blah, blah, blah, I’m slow but it’s going to be great.

In no particular order, here’s the lineup for Issue 1:

“Taking Control” A western with a hint of magic by Jon Del Arroz.
“Under the Gun” A weird western by David J. West.
“New Rules for Rocket Nauts” A space opera by Michael DeCarolis.
“Protector of Newington” A steampunk adventure by John M Olsen.
“The Price of Hunger” A supernatural horror adventure by Kevyn Winkless.
“Retieving Abe” A fantasy western by Jay Barnson.
“Brave Day Sunk in Hideous Night.” An accidentally time-travelling werewolf adventure by Julie Frost.
“Dream Master” A supernatural detective mystery by Gene Moyers.
“Circus to Boulogne” A historical adventure by Mike Adamson.
“Some things Missing from her Profile” An off-planet action mystery by David Skinner.

Right about 65,000 words of pure action adventure fun.