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

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

Alex wrote: "After a week or so after accomplishing almost nothing because of sucky mental health, I have set up my latest title for pre-order

A Stone's Throw: Inspector Stone Mysteries #5 will soon be availab..."

Congratulations! Glad I could be of some small assistance.

Another small update. I've been casting about among people I know for possible help in putting this together, but so far no luck. Not surprising, since not many people want to commit time to something that isn't even off the ground yet and can't pay them.

I've also been looking into the ins and outs of investor backing. This is a strange new world to me, so I have a lot to learn. The short version: this isn't going to be easy. I'm probably going to have to build at least a prototype platform myself (which I have the skills for but not the time), then recruit some people to help me test it out (like, say . . . indie writers I know?), and then maybe even take it live and generate some actual interest in it before I'm likely to intrigue anyone with money to invest.

Well . . . we'll see how it goes.

A new short fiction piece . . . well . . . not entirely new. I rewrote one of my IU flash fiction stories to flesh it out a bit more.

The Mountains in Morning courtesy of Publishous.

One with no publication attached, just me own self: God: He, She, It?

I think even those of you in the "not religious" camp might mostly like it. I hope....

Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger) wrote: "Hi & Hugs to Everyone,
Stopping by to apologize for not being very active in the group. Most of you know I have numerous physical and mental illnesses. Those of you who follow my Medium articles kn..."

You've nothing to worry about where we're concerned. To quote Han Solo, "We're all fine, here, now. How are you?" ;-)

My next Publishous story: The Magic of "The End"

Thank you, all!

A new flash fiction tale, The Outside of the Curve.

I finished the first draft of Weasel Words (my Bernard and Melody novel)! A lot of work to do still, but there's always something special about typing "The End" on a novel.

Theodore wrote: "If you want to make G_d laugh, tell Her your plans."

So I've learned. I don't make too many plans these days. I just try things out and see what happens. ;-)

Carole wrote: "It explained everything. Thanks!

So, so to be clear, Medium pays now when you publish on those sites. I would think they earn more because they have more followers on the bigger sites. I also see ..."

Correct, and you're quite welcome.

And of course Dale is slow on the uptake. Sorry I didn't answer before, Carole. I think I missed the question somehow.

In theory, you should earn more for a given story if it's in a publication that has a lot of followers, because you'll be read more widely. There is, of course, no guarantee. It's true that not all publications paid . . . in the past. But Medium has changed the payment mechanisms now so you can (in theory, I can't guarantee this works) submit a Partner Program story to any publication and get paid for it. I used to be paid by The Writing Cooperative for stories that appeared there. Now I'm paid directly by Medium. I didn't used to get paid at all by Lit Up. Now I can submit money-earning stories to them and Medium pays me.

Unfortunately, it's hard to compare earnings on stories that appeared before the change-over, because Medium only tracks what it has paid you, not what publications may have paid you. That said, 9 of my 10 most viewed stories are Writing Cooperative stories and 1 I published myself; 8 of my 10 most read stories are Writing Cooperative stories and 2 I published myself; and of my top 10 stories by fan count (those who clapped), 6 are Writing Cooperative stories, 2 are Lit Up stories, and 2 I published myself. Clearly, I get more views, reads, and claps in most cases when I publish through Writing Cooperative.

I think this should translate into higher payments for those stories. But to be sure, I probably will have to wait until the end of the year at least, then go back and examine stats for stories published from October forward. For the current period, my highest earning story is a Writing Cooperative story ("Clean Up Your Language," which was actually published back in April!). Second place is held by a Lit Up story published in June, and third a story I published myself in June. The difference between the first of these and the third is only $0.28. But it's interesting that stories can have that kind of staying power.

I don't know how well that answers your questions, but, well, there you have it . . .

Theodore wrote: "Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "...a field scientist in North and South America, Asia, and Antarctica. ..."

What field of field science?"

MS, Physics; PhD, Geophysics"

Interesting. I was heading down the physics/cosmology path myself at one time, but life got in the way and I ended up as a software developer. It's been a good career, but I've never lost my interest in the physical sciences, especially astronomy and cosmology.

I have a new blog post: Experimenting With Stories. Please enjoy and share!

I've gone since July without adding any new posts, and in the meantime the site suffered a major malware attack. I've just finished recovering from that this weekend and added the new post to celebrate.

My latest Writing Cooperative article: Firing Up Your Creativity.

Theodore wrote: "...a field scientist in North and South America, Asia, and Antarctica. ..."

What field of field science?

Theodore wrote: "Ah, but MY fiction is drawn from real life..."

Sure, and as you say, all fiction is to some degree so drawn. But "drawn from real life" is not the same as "is real life." I'm really just pointing out that we shape our stories in ways that are not 100% "real life" in order to make them readable and engaging.

I've said all I have to say on the subject, though. You've probably had enough of me for one day anyway. ;-)

Theodore wrote: "Not much time for the "ums" and "ahs" in this scene (;>)"

Exactly my point. Realism is fine up to a point, but if carried too far it makes a story disjointed and unreadable. I don't know if you read the Medium article I previously referred to, but I point out there a number of ways in which bonsai artists make brilliant forgeries--trees that are very unreal in certain aspects, but which fool viewers into thinking they are completely real. Writing, I submit, is very much the same. You want it to feel real, but fiction is absolutely not real life. It's fiction, even if carefully arranged to fool the reader into thinking it's real.

I submit that sometimes things we think are necessary for "reality" actually aren't. Your tide charts are an example. I'm sure you feel being accurate with regard to tides adds an element of reality to your stories, and I won't argue that it doesn't. But how many of your readers are likely to even notice if you get it wrong sometimes? Probably somewhere in the vicinity of zero.

I suspect obscenity is very much the same. People notice it when it's there, but do they really notice it when it's not, especially if you've managed to maintain the tension, excitement, or whatever in spite of its absence? I'll bet very few people do. I don't know if anyone here notices it, but I don't use obscenity. Has it hampered my ability to communicate? Does it make me feel any less real? Do you even notice?

Again, it's not my place to tell anyone what to say or write, but if asked for an opinion, I'd say that where obscenity is concerned, less is more, and I personally could do without it entirely. A sufficiently clever writer can generally find ways to get by without it, and without sacrificing the illusion of reality. I'm clearly in the minority on this, but that's my opinion.

Theodore wrote: "Really? Many parts of my novels, short stories, and flash fiction writings include dialogue in voices that mimic EXACTLY how I have heard people speak."

Including all the "ums" and "ahs" and repetitions and free-flowing changes of subject (that in a story would have nothing to do with plot or characterization) and . . . ?

I'm guessing not exactly exactly, even if you're trying to make it as close to real as possible.

Angel wrote: "Dale wrote: "Blood Moon, a descent into flash fiction madness."

Shared."

Thank you!