Stage 2 was to be underground...

[Starbuck_Jones]

Where are we going?
Where they went.
Suppose they went nowhere.
Then this is your big chance to get away from it all.

So Jan 6th to the day was my 8 year mark working for Dell in Idaho and they shut the place down because we were too expensive and fixed problems for free because they didn't give us a way to charge people. They blamed it on economics and corporate strategy etc, whatever smoke, mirrors and creative accounting aside. So anyway after getting a nice parting gift severance package that was larger than most people there made in a year I now find myself with a whole lot of free time on my hands and enough cash on hand to do what I want for about two years as long as I keep the ale and whores in moderation. I had 4 months notice before they closed the doors so I had a lot of time to prepare.

Anyway I am starting to write professionally. I do not have any delusions of writing the next Dan Brown book or Star Wars trilogy. My outlined plan is to write a portfolio of children books. From simple picture books suitable for pre-kindergarten up to longer stories for the older kids up to about 6th grade. I have a lot of input in this area due to about 6 family members who are all teachers, professors, and librarians and plan to peddle them through the scholastic system. If this works out, then I plan to write sci-fi and fantasy novels for the 18+ group.

If there is anyone here who has written before and tried to publish, I would like to hear some of your experiences good or bad, any advice is also welcome.

[Svpernova09]

enough cash on hand to do what I want for about two years as long as I keep the ale and whores in moderation.

What is the fun in that?



/srsbsns answer:

http://www.duotrope.com/

Make that your BEST FRIEND, once you have something written. It's a VERY good resource. If you have something short (short fiction / flash fiction / etc) check out midnightscreaming.com (quarterly published literary magazine)

(My wife is a published author + editor of Midnightscreaming.com)

The best advice is, don't be afraid of rejection letters. My wife has a wall on her office where she pins them up for motivation. Also, check your local area for a local writers group, if you need a place to start, check the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Forums: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/forum There are local regional groups that do NaNo, my wife and her best friends are the Municipal Liaisons (Regional Coordinators) for NaNoWriMo in memphis. Go to your favorite bookstore and buy some writing magazines, usually they have some good info. Also check and see if there are writing groups / workshops at your local bookstores. Usually bookstores have in house people that handle events so try to see if any are going on in your area.

Good luck in whatever you find. I'm not talented enough to be a real writer, so I just live it vicariously through my wife.

[Multibocks]

Hey Im from Idaho, Burley to be specific. How are my fellow 'hos doin?

[Ughmahedhurtz]

If the publisher tries to give you less than about a 35% cut, you're not getting a reacharound.

[edit] This is something I heard a popular writer once mention, so take it for what it's worth. :P