Dale’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2017)

Dale’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

D.J. wrote: "I’m not sure Dale. What’s the process for Lit up and the Writers Cooperative? I’ll try to think of something for those two."

Okay . . .

The Writing Cooperative'ssubmission requirements page explains what they are looking for, formatting requirements, etc. Near the bottom you'll find a link to their writer request form. Fill that out and submit it to them.

Lit Up's submission guidelines page is much the same. They also have a submission form to request being added as a writer.

Once you are added, you write your story as always, making sure you meet the publication's requirements. Then, click the "..." button at the top right to open the menu. The second command is "Add to publication." Click that and you can select from all the publications you've been added to. When you're ready to submit, click the "Ready to publish?" button. Because you've set a publication, the "Publish" button will change to a "Submit to publication" button. Click that, and you're all set. The publication's editors will review the piece. They may give you feedback in comments or emails if they want to suggest changes. If they accept the piece, they will publish it for you.

I hope that all makes sense. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

My next astronomy piece: Star or Planet?

D.J. wrote: "I need help with that, if you're offering. The prospect of submitting to the Medium publications terrifies me. I need basics like which buttons to press. Do I put a draft somewhere? Do I email them..."

Sure thing. What publication(s) do you want to submit to? The process may vary from one to the next.

Intro to a series of articles I'm starting on astronomy: Go Out and Look Up

Kimberly wrote: "Sounds interesting. Do I have to pay the $5 fee if I just want to write? How does that work? Is it automatically taken out when they pay me. I went to the website and wasn't clear on that? Also are they opened to all types of work? Meaning fiction too because I see they mention storytellers but I did not come across any fictional pieces."

If you want to pay monthly, they probably set up an automatic deduction from your card on a monthly basis. I paid the annual fee, which saves $10/year.

As DJ said, they're open to everything, including fiction and poetry . . . so long as it doesn't violate their terms, which are pretty standard.

Once you get started, it's worth submitting to some Medium publications, because they have a lot more reach. I can help you with that when you're ready.

Kimberly wrote: "Hello Everyone,

I am a poet and author of 4 books. I am seeking a job in which I am able to freely write from home. I can begin immediately. If anyone know of any legit magazines or online website..."

Poetry isn't a lucrative field, generally speaking, but here are a couple of websites that might (I say might) help you in your search:

http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

And one from Publishous, Strange Convergences, a religious meander.

Erica wrote: "I use Skyrai Publishing. It is a combination of my kid's names."

That's clever.

Did some brainstorming the other day and came up with something. My wife even likes it, which is an accomplishment . . .

I can give it a shot. When will it be active?

Looks like I get a two-fer today. Lit Up has published my new short story, Teleférico. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

My latest Writing Cooperative story: What I Don't Think About When Writing Fiction.

Alex wrote: "...but the reviewer said the book is not very believable, which I'm struggling to understand."

Don't worry about a single comment. Maybe that particular reader just doesn't get it.

I've had a few people say True Death was hard to follow because of the multiple points of view and flashbacks, but other people say it's just fine as it is. I took some extra care with that in Ice on the Bay, but to be honest I think it was just that some people are more easily confused than others. (I'm one of them in some cases.)

If after you get a number of reviews you find it's a recurring theme, then it would be something to consider, but probably not based on a single review.

D.J. wrote: "I still haven’t figured out how you write for publications on Medium. Technically-what is the process? Is there a submission process?"

Every publication has its own process, On their main page at Medium they will provide information about that process. It's mostly just a matter of writing a story and submitting it to them following their specific procedures.

If they accept your story, they'll add you to their list of writers and publish the story. After that, you'll be able to directly submit to them whenever you want. On the "new story" actions menu (the one with the "..." on it), there is an "Add to Publication" command. That will show you all the publications you've been accepted to write for. You pick a publication there, then go through the normal process to complete the story, except the "Publish" button will change to "Submit to Publication."

D.J. wrote: " I don't do patience."

I sometimes do and sometimes don't. I'm sitting here with four drafts at Medium (one short story, one flash fiction piece, one writing article, and one religion article), three of which waiting for publications to publish them and the flash story for a challenge that doesn't start accepting entries until next week. Ugh!

I'm really impatient to find out how people like the short story, "Teleférico." I had a great fun writing it. But all I can do is wait...

My pleasure.

D.J. wrote: "You’ve got to be joking. It’s as much as I can do to come up with book titles lol"

LOL - I usually don't have too much trouble, but this time I'm getting no ideas except for things that either don't really work or that other people already use.

And thanks, Alex and Eldon. Anyone else?

Publisher's Weekly has a short article. Not a lot of information, but it's kinda scary:

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here use a personal imprint when self-publishing? If so, what name(s) are you using?

As my wife and I close down our operation (One Voice Press and Serpent Cliff), I'm pondering a new imprint for my own books, but so far haven't come up with anything, so I'm fishing for inspiration.

Hmm . . . we've used it for a number of years in connection with our publishing business. I haven't been out there lately, though, and haven't yet received any info from Bowker about a breach. Looks like it has been, though. I've located some info that confirms it.