But often the publishing just doesn’t keep up with the writing and production. I know a lot of writers who have told me they are a number of books behind getting them out and published. Kris and I are both that way at the moment.

Kris has a fantastic novel she wrote over a year ago that we were going to do a Kickstarter for, but then life, business issues, and other things got in the way and now we have that planned for this fall. She has two Fey novels, both new, that have not seen the light of day yet. One will be in a Kickstarter this spring.

And on top of that she just finished a new big Kris Nelscott novel.

I ended up having just over 100 short stories that have never seen the light of day as I work to put these collections together. (By the way, all 15 science fiction collections will be going out to that Kickstarter in a few days.)

But now I have over twenty brand new short story collections (beyond the fifteen going out) all done and no plan on any push on them yet.

And as I said, I have been told by other writers they have this same issue.

How does this come about in this new world of indie publishing, where books can be published within days of finishing writing them if you want. Simple… you want to do some basic promotion like a Kickstarter or an offering to a Patreon base before you put it out wide. And that takes time and planning.

And when the writing is the first priority, as it is with all long-term writers, the writing gets ahead. Simple math.

Say you do 1,000 finished words per hour when writing, no rewriting, just cycling as you go. You know, professional writing.

You have a work ethic and manage 3 hours per day, five days per week. Oh, no, fifteen hours per week. The pain, the pain… (sorry… not really)

15,000 finished words per week, 4 weeks for a 60,000 word novel. 12 novels per year.

You are doing 4 Kickstarters per year as starting promotion, but at best that can take up to 8 books into the public and you end up 4 behind, the books waiting to get out into the light.

Now most writers I know who complained to me of this problem, write more than that.

Of course, in traditional publishing, this would be an impossible problem unless like me you had a dozen or more pen names, but thankfully for any sane human, traditional publishing is a worthless pile of crap. But that leaves the fun decisions to you as an indie writer as to how to get a book out, and when.

Let me be clear to those of you not at this level yet. THIS IS A FUN PROBLEM YOU WANT TO TRADE UP FOR.

As I said, being consistent and prolific with the writing is great fun. Especially in this new world.

It is Kickstarter season again, with lots of new and fun campaigns.

I’ve been doing this every Friday now for a long time. And it certainly has been fun studying Kickstarters.

Here us a summary of what I look for in a campaign to list here…

— I look for fiction campaigns that are not just about “pretty books” but actually want readers.

— I look for clarity in the campaign, meaning can I figure out what the hell is offered.

— I look for a good story that flows and good art. I do not bother with anyone who is so flipping lazy as to us AI in any part of their campaign.

— And I look to see if the campaign will fund or if the writer behind the campaign asked for far too much.

You know, sometimes a campaign just catches my attention and I think it is worth mentioning.

NEW THIS WEEK!

—

Twisted Presents by Michael W. Lucas

Some folks love Christmas. These tales are for the rest of us. Ghosts and guns! Santa’s coal mine! Final exams! Shopping! Plus an orc!

I love Michael’s fiction writing (I don’t understand his nonfiction writing). His fiction is always fun, twisted, and downright powerful, so jump on board with this one. Really great fun from a fantastic writer. And study the voice in his campaign and what he did.

And you want to see one of his stories from the campaign, he posted one on his blog. Take a look https://mwl.io/archives/24991

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwlucas/twisted-presents

Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil & Other Stories by Steve Niles

TEN Brand New tales of horror, crime, and the supernatural by 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles. Cover by Joe Jusko!

I flat love Joe Jusko’s artwork and I have read some Steve Niles fiction and comics and they are great. This collection is fun and wow does he have a bunch of fun stuff with it, plus some other great artists. This campaign seems to be one of the few I can find these days focusing mostly on the fiction and not special editions. This one will be a great read and fun to back.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloverpress/cal-mcdonald-plague-of-evil-and-other-stories-by-steve-niles?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=47

—

STILL GOING

—

JUST A GIRL: A Sweet Romance Where Love Meets Magic by Kathryn Kaleigh

What if the voice you talked to every day suddenly appeared in your apartment? Some questions have impossible answers.

Kathy might be the best romance writer I have read in years and her campaigns are always well done and worth studying. This doing great and she is already hitting stretch goals. If you have not read one of Kathy’s books, this is a great place to start. And study what she has done with the campaign. Stunning. Only a few hours left, so don’t miss this one.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kathrynkaleigh/just-a-girl

—-

A Cut Beyond: Twilight Zone inspired stories in two books by Rob Vagle

The barbershop that wasn’t there yesterday. File under M for Magic. Weird and fantastic stories from the wondrous land of imagination.

I have known Rob and been reading and buying his stories as an editor for forty years. He is one of the best and most original writers I know and these two collections are going to be something really special. Back this now. He is doing great and this one also would be one worth backing and studying. Trust me, you will be very happy you did.

And take a look at the nifty header and the nifty Story header. The best.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robvagle/a-cut-beyond-twilight-zone-inspired-stories-in-two-books

—

A Pocketful of Dragons: A Cozy No-Spice Romantasy by E. R. Paskey

A shy baker saves two dragons, upending her life as she knows it and leading to love & belonging in this no-spice cozy fantasy romance.

E.R. is a great fantasy writer and has done a number of really fun Kickstarters. This one is worth backing. And worth studying. Always fun.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erpaskey/a-pocketful-of-dragons-a-cozy-no-spice-fantasy-romance?ref=1wkh28

—-

GLEN MUST DIE: 22 AUTHORS. 22 GENRES. ONE VERY UNLUCKY GLEN edited by Esther Jones

A wildly unpredictable speculative fiction anthology where every story changes – but Glen’s fate never does.

Oh, my, one of the more creative ideas I have seen for an anthology. Great fun and they kept the campaign fun as well. Stunning and fun art by Paul Jenkins just makes this. I don’t really know more than a few of the writers in the volume, but I think the topic is worth grabbing and reading and watching how they do. They had the great art and they used it perfectly all the way through the campaign to keep it lively and on theme. Study and back this one, folks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/estherjones/glen-must-die?

—

LAUNCHING SOON!

Ghost Telling Their Own Stories by Robert J. McCarter

Celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Shuffled Off with 29 new stories told by ghosts!

I love Robert’s ghost stories and bought a bunch of them for Pulphouse. He’s a great writer and this is a great campaign that will launch in October, but you want to be on the watch list on this one. Great stories.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertjmccarter/ghost-telling-their-own-stories?ref=ch2rtm

—

Festive Fantasy Holiday Tales: 10 Tales of Holiday Magic by Rebecca M Senese

Reindeer and elves, Krampus and Yule creatures, even a magical, runaway turkey, delight in these 10 fantasy tales of magic and heart.

Wow, does this one look great. Rebecca has done a bunch of great campaign and they are always wonderful and I have read some of her holiday stories and trust me, they are wonderful. So get on the watch list of this one and back it when it comes out. Great stuff.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rfarpublishing/festive-fantasy-holiday-tales

—

Voices Through Time: A Ghostly Appalachian Novella Trio by Kari Kilgore

Special edition omnibus full of romantic suspense, ornery ghosts, and the antique postcards and images that inspired the tales.

Oh, my, is this going to be a great book when it comes out. I have read a lot of Kari’s stories and loved them and Kris has bought many of her Appalachian stories. Trust me, you are going to love these, so take a look at the promotions page and get on the Inform Me list. Going to be a treat.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/karikilgore/voices-through-time?ref=ctw09d

For the first time, I have figured out what each book will be in the challenge and I actually think I might publish 76 books in my 75th year. (The challenge was to publish 75 major books in my 75th year on this planet.)

I had determined a month ago that I was going to be short with only my collections. Way short, actually. So since Kris and I are in this clean-up and rebrand mode, I talked about doing my Thunder Mountain books. New covers, new interiors, new paper and hardbacks, and a large print edition. And I spent a few days working on the cover branding, found something I really liked, found a bunch of new art, and then in a very long day with a lot of breaks, I did all 14 novel covers. They are going to be a ton of work to finish everything by the 10th of November, but I can do them.

Then I started thinking about doing a Thunder Mountain relaunch as a Kickstarter next spring and figured I should add a couple of collections. So making sure I didn’t do the same thing I did with Mary Jo Assassin, (undercount my stories) I broke out the trusted spread sheet and counted my Thunder Mountain short stories. 35 of them.

Wow, that was enough for three full 10-story collections and five more stories for stretch goals in the Kickstarter. Cool!

So I spent the afternoon and into the evening putting the collections together, and then with the new branding, I did three covers.

So tonight, I counted how many collections I had left to finish, added in the 14 Thunder Mountain relaunch novels, and the three brand new Thunder Mountain collections and it comes to 76 books. Now I am excited.

So on the 10th, with 30 days to go, I will put up the big image of how many I have done. But for tonight, here are the new covers for the brand new Thunder Mountain collections that will be in a Kickstarter next spring.

Now that Kris and I have gotten rid of all employees, I am doing everything for myself and I am having so much fun. Today I did ten covers, mostly on my Thunder Mountain novels, branding to my name and mostly changing out the art. I also did a couple of collection covers. The hardest part, of course, is finding the art. Took many breaks because that kind of work can mess with the eyes if you are not careful.

I came back after a break and doing a Vellum on one collection and I hit a wall on the third collection cover. Just flat nothing I could find fit and my critical voice got really ramped up. So forced myself to take another break.

Plus I was not happy with the long title of the main story I picked to lead the collection. Just too much. The title was THE YARD, THE PARK, AND OTHER COLD PLACES. Good title, horrid for a collection because then the full title would be THE YARD, THE PARK, AND OTHER COLD PLACES and Nine Other Twisted Mystery Stories.

Nope, just nope.

But now I am in charge of my own work, so I switched out the title story to THE WOMAN WHO HATED HEIGHTS which is a brand new story and no issue finding cool art for that one.

This is so much fun.

Weirdly enough, I still don’t know exactly how many collections I am going to get out of this Collections Project which is inside my 75 Books Challenge. But in the next two weeks I will know and maybe even have all the collections at least put together. Getting closer.

But wow, not a chance on the planet could I have done this with employees. This had to be all me, doing every step of everything. And that is far more fun than I could have ever imagined. And after fifty plus years in this business, I can imagine a lot of things.

Got home from the Aces’ game and watched an episode of Neagley and then decided to binge the last two episodes. So worth it.

Some of the best writing in series streaming I have yet to see, and no worry, no spoilers from me. High body count and worth the time to watch. And wow, some great storytelling.

WNBA season this year is flat amazing. With one game left in the season, eight powerhouse teams have made the playoffs and are now, with one game left, still fighting for positions and home court advantage. Minnesota Lynx are leading but got toasted tonight by Indiana, but only game ahead of San Francisco who got beat tonight by Portland, and ahead of Vegas by 2 games. We won tonight against LA.

Top four teams have home court advantage in the playoffs, so we are locked into that at least. Now these last games will determine who we play in the first round starting Sunday.

We have been fans of the WNBA for five years now, watched the Aces win three championships in that time, and we have never seen a season like this one.

So a fun night tonight all around. Great dinner, a winning game, and some fantastic television.

Now back to working on my challenge.

I did a post a few nights ago about how sad it was so many estates of writers were not being taken care of in any real way. And I got a comment about how the commenter just realized I was not talking about the money, but about the sadness of first off losing the person and secondly losing the amazing work the writers produced.

Exactly.

Harlan’s estate and work and home is being taken care of wonderfully by Joe,

Mike Resnick’s work is being handled wonderfully by Laura.

And there are a few others, but not many.

And of all the pulp writers, Edgar Rice Burroughs, L. Ron Hubbard, Earle Stanley Gardner, and Lester Dent have had their estates pretty well tended.  I am sure I am missing a few, but again, not many.

Now granted, this is not a fun topic when the writer is alive. Kris and I have a massive amount of work we would like to try to live past us. And we have some stuff set up and will be doing more. (Don’t ask me, I am not an attorney or an accountant.)

But digging into all this Anthropic theft and settlement was a real eye-opener about how bad so many estates are handled. There were a couple anthologies where out of 21 writers, only Kris and I and Mike Resnick estate  claimed anything that was actually copyright based.

Granted some of the writers in the book were still alive, I think, but I knew of at least eight who were gone and their estates made no claim. Wow, just wow. And sad.

So I pretty much work on my writing and publishing all the time, seven days a week. But occasionally Kris and I go do something else. We have the Anthropic stuff done and turned in, and Kris finished a major project and I am in a good position to run at my challenge, So we headed off to a great lunch and even had some deserts.

Then off to an Aces game. Aces did not play the way they needed to play for the playoffs, but still beat Seattle by 20 points.

Then instead of going home, we headed off to a nice dinner. I took a nap when we got home and Kris read and then we watched an episode of Neagly, a Lee Child’s spin-off character from his Reacher books. It’s really good.

Now I am here writing this, and yes, more than likely I will do a bunch of work on the challenge books. It is what I do, but considering that the Raiders won as well today, I think I will be watching some morning sports shows before heading off to bed.

A really fun day.

Talking to my best friend of 62 years the other day and that What-Ever-Happened-To question came up a number of times. Half the time, sadly, neither one of us knew the answer. And for 75-year-old-guys, we are both still very sharp and have good memories.

And I have no doubt that at times we all are the subject of that question in one group of people or another.

Why I call it a sad question is because in the writing community, it usually means the loss of a dream. Usually some writer really pushing and learning and publishing and then something happens and the writer vanishes. Health, family, discouragement, and just loss of desire to keep pushing.  And the person goes another direction. Not a worse direction, just a different direction.

Today, finishing up the Anthropic settlement stuff, I got hit by this over and over and over. It seems that some writers, bless then, decided to put in the entire table of contents of an anthology. So to get my share that I had claimed, I had to go through all the names.

Sadly, many of the writers on these table of contents were dead and had no estate to make a claim for them. Many of them had been my friends. That’s fun. Not.

And a share of the writers in these anthologies were names I went “Wow, what-ever-happened-to them?” I remembered them and often these were hotshots at the time, but had no staying power. Other names I flat could not remember, and these were professional anthologies of the 1990s.

But the worst anthology was one of the Strange New Worlds anthologies that someone put in all the names on the table of contents (bless them for making a ton more work for those of us actually claiming…) In theory, as the editor, I bought every story in the volume, but honestly, I had no memory of three quarters of the names. In fact, some of the names I checked to even make sure they were in the book.

All new writers, selling to a professional anthology, who seemed to not make it past that first major step. Granted, a few writers every volume went on to publishing careers, but 90% of the writers in the volumes did other things. More than likely just selling a Star Trek story was a goal and they didn’t need to push any more.

The saddest part of the professional anthologies were the friends who had died. Great writers who had lasted a long time and had large bodies of work. I miss many of them and the great conversations and fun. But except for one friend that I always quoted for business advice and who left us too early, no other writer had estates claiming anything that I could tell.

Tells me how little those estates are being tended as those major writers, many of them close friends, fade into history and into the land of ‘what-ever-happened-to” with their wonderful fiction.

I am glad this Anthropic shit is over. Just don’t need that kind of reminder again any time soon.

It is Kickstarter season again, with lots of new and fun campaigns.

I’ve been doing this every Friday now for a long time. And it certainly has been fun studying Kickstarters. I look for fiction campaigns that are not just about “pretty books” but actually want readers. I look for clarity in the campaign, meaning can I figure out what the hell is offered.

I look for a good story that flows and good art. I do not bother with anyone who is so flipping lazy as to us AI in any part of their campaign.

And I look to see if the campaign will fund or if the writer behind the campaign asked for far too much.

And sometimes a campaign just catches my attention and I think it is worth mentioning.

So for another week, here we go again.

NEW THIS WEEK!!

JUST A GIRL: A Sweet Romance Where Love Meets Magic by Kathryn Kaleigh

What if the voice you talked to every day suddenly appeared in your apartment? Some questions have impossible answers.

Kathy might be the best romance writer I have read in years and her campaigns are always well done and worth studying. This doing great and she is already hitting stretch goals. If you have not read one of Kathy’s books, this is a great place to start. And study what she has done with the campaign. Stunning.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kathrynkaleigh/just-a-girl

—-

A Cut Beyond: Twilight Zone inspired stories in two books by Rob Vagle

The barbershop that wasn’t there yesterday. File under M for Magic. Weird and fantastic stories from the wondrous land of imagination.

I have known Rob and been reading and buying his stories as an editor for forty years. He is one of the best and most original writers I know and these two collections are going to be something really special. Back this now. He is doing great and this one also would be one worth backing and studying. Trust me, you will be very happy you did.

And take a look at the nifty header and the nifty Story header. The best.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robvagle/a-cut-beyond-twilight-zone-inspired-stories-in-two-books

—

A Pocketful of Dragons: A Cozy No-Spice Romantasy by E. R. Paskey

A shy baker saves two dragons, upending her life as she knows it and leading to love & belonging in this no-spice cozy fantasy romance.

E.R. is a great fantasy writer and has done a number of really fun Kickstarters. This one is worth backing. And worth studying. Always fun.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erpaskey/a-pocketful-of-dragons-a-cozy-no-spice-fantasy-romance?ref=1wkh28

—

STILL GOING!

Halloween Hearts – An Anthology of Love Stories edited by Brigid Collins and Ron Collins

Twelve tales of cursed love, monstrous meet-cutes, dark and stormy witchcraft, and happily ever hauntings to warm your Spooky Season.

Oh, my, folks, you want to back this one now. This has some stunning stories in it. I know, I have read them all. And some fantastic writers. And two super editors putting it all together. This is a must buy for great reading. For now, take a look at it and back it. Great reading. A great campaign

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roncollins/halloween-hearts-an-anthology-of-love-stories

—-

GLEN MUST DIE: 22 AUTHORS. 22 GENRES. ONE VERY UNLUCKY GLEN edited by Esther Jones

A wildly unpredictable speculative fiction anthology where every story changes – but Glen’s fate never does.

Oh, my, one of the more creative ideas I have seen for an anthology. Great fun and they kept the campaign fun as well. Stunning and fun art by Paul Jenkins just makes this. I don’t really know more than a few of the writers in the volume, but I think the topic is worth grabbing and reading and watching how they do. They had the great art and they used it perfectly all the way through the campaign to keep it lively and on theme. Study and back this one, folks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/estherjones/glen-must-die?

UPCOMING FUN CAMPAIGNS…

Twisted Presents by Michael W. Lucas

Some folks love Christmas. These tales are for the rest of us. Ghosts and guns! Santa’s coal mine! Final exams! Shopping! Plus an orc!

I love Michael’s fiction writing (I don’t understand his nonfiction writing). His fiction is always fun, twisted, and downright powerful, so jump on the watch list on this. This is one you are going to want to back when it launches.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwlucas/twisted-presents

—

Ghost Telling Their Own Stories by Robert J. McCarter

Celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Shuffled Off with 29 new stories told by ghosts!

I love Robert’s ghost stories and bought a bunch of them for Pulphouse. He’s a great writer and this is a great campaign that will launch in October, but you want to be on the watch list on this one. Great stories.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertjmccarter/ghost-telling-their-own-stories?ref=ch2rtm

—

Festive Fantasy Holiday Tales: 10 Tales of Holiday Magic by Rebecca M Senese

Reindeer and elves, Krampus and Yule creatures, even a magical, runaway turkey, delight in these 10 fantasy tales of magic and heart.

Wow, does this one look great. Rebecca has done a bunch of great campaign and they are always wonderful and I have read some of her holiday stories and trust me, they are wonderful. So get on the watch list of this one and back it when it comes out. Great stuff.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rfarpublishing/festive-fantasy-holiday-tales

—

Voices Through Time: A Ghostly Appalachian Novella Trio by Kari Kilgore

Special edition omnibus full of romantic suspense, ornery ghosts, and the antique postcards and images that inspired the tales.

Oh, my, is this going to be a great book when it comes out. I have read a lot of Kari’s stories and loved them and Kris has bought many of her Appalachian stories. Trust me, you are going to love these, so take a look at the promotions page and get on the Inform Me list. Going to be a treat.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/karikilgore/voices-through-time?ref=ctw09d

There is nothing at all intelligent about AI. But the name ARTIFICIAL STUPID fits perfectly.

AS for short.

Now, please don’t try to explain to me what AI (or AS) is, I understand it. And for heaven’s sake, don’t tell me about some threat that Harlan imagined over fifty years ago and Cameron stole forty years ago. I will not have an AI (or AS) discussion here to prove how stupid humans can be. I already know that.

I just wanted to point out that today alone I dealt with three ARTIFICIALLY STUPID things that businesses thought would be good for customer service and save them money. One I had to work through and finally gave up. Two businesses lost my business by having the ARTIFICIALLY STUPID voice try to direct me and get me trapped in some circle yelling HUMAN!!  Which of course did not work.

Saved them money all right. Saved me money as well since I didn’t give any to any of them. Their AS greeters would not let me.

And then today I got two more of those scam ARTIFICIALLY STUPID emails hyping books I talked about yesterday, and one book was not even mine. Considering how many hundreds of books I have written and hundreds and hundreds more I have published, the AS could at least find one of my books to try to get me to pay for fake hype.

Now to be fair, I did deal in another business with a HUMAN STUPID person. It was just one of those days.