Hello, readers! It’s been a while since I’ve gotten personal and provided updates on my writing, so here goes: I finished my novel. It’s def taken longer than I’d planned but I finally made those third-draft edits and saved a brand new file on my hard-drive:
TVFTB_FINAL.doc
Then, on Sunday night, I went even further and emailed the literary agent who emailed me nearly two years ago wondering if I had anything in the works that he could look at. I haven’t heard anything back, but it’s the week of US Thanksgiving and the rest of the holidays are coming up, so who knows, really.
So, with the book out of the way, I can begrudgingly focus on the following:
Patreon
I know I mentioned this a while back, but I still want to set myself up a method earning a side income. Once my daughter goes to school I’ll have to cut back my full-time job to part-time, and working part-time in the service industry can be a tough mess of shifts. I’m not looking forward to returning to work after my maternity leave is up but return to work I must.
I’m hoping that I can utilize my Patreon to make a few bucks to alleviate the stress of cutting my income back, while also using it to keep me motivated to write more.
In the coming weeks I’ll be writing more posts of my Patreon plan. Hopefully I can get some input from you, my lovely readers, as to what I can offer and a proper price for each tier.
Vile Men
Vile Men was great and gave me some name recognition in various literary communities. However, after Curbside Splendor went under, discussing this collection with people interested in my work is, uh, insanely awkward.
First off: It’s great to have published a book. It was a wonderful feeling to have friends and family and fans email me kind words. It’s what every author wants, but ultimately, being an author is a JOB, and if that recognition doesn’t earn me money, well, why am I sacrificing time for this?
A job isn’t to have people say, “YOU PUBLISHED A BOOK THAT’S SO GREAT!”
It’s to make money.
Secondly: It’s hard to put into words how powerless you feel as a writer when your work is essentially stolen. I have no idea how many actual copies of Vile Men have sold. It’s still on Amazon and still available for purchase at bookstore worldwide. I’m not making a single penny off those tales. The contract was never cancelled so I still have to wait another 6 years before I can try to publish the book elsewhere.
Thirdly: Sure, I could lawyer up but honestly, it just feels easier to let it go and move on. I’m just some middle-class POS who needs a new furnace instead of justice. It sucks but that’s just the way it is.
Short Stories
Now that my novel is off my mind and I can shrug away the cobwebs of Vile Men, I can go back to my bread and butter. It’s been ages since I last published a story, which was a bizarre kidnapping story centered around the 2016 election called, “Election Season”, published in Broad Knowledge: 35 Women Up to No Good.
So we’re going back. I need to write more that that’s a part of my plan for the new year. I’ll attempt to write two stories a month.
- One will be for publishing in literary magazines.
- The other will be a super amazing Patreon-exclusive. These stories will stick to the Vile Men vibes you know and love. I’ll ask for prompts and write them out much like I did in the old LitReactor WAR days.
Mailing List
I cringe while doing this. I really don’t wanna spam people and I REALLY don’t want to make one of those pop-up ads asking you to enter your email but I have to. The social media gurus keep telling me to do it.
To test the waters, I have set up a new signup form on the sidebar. You can also be the first to join below:
This mailing list will only provide you with any updates specifically related to my writing career, so any new published stories, books, or Patreon updates will be sent directly to your inbox. Please consider subscribing, as a good email list is a great way to show potential agents and publishers that I have a good fanbase willing to read every word I churn out.
Any Feedback?
I’m really excited to dive into this next stage of my career. Next year will see me getting back into the swing of writing stories again. New projects motivate me, too, so I’m eager to get this Patreon on the road for next year.
Would you be willing to join my Patreon, and what sort of rewards would you like to see from me, other than the exclusive stories? AMA’s? Audio readings? Feedback on your own short stories? I’m hoping to set up something good that I can actually commit to so I’d love to hear what you think.
And lastly, GO AND SIGN UP FOR MY MAILING LIST!
The Comments
Jules
Yay! Congrats on the novel! And the agent connection! I’m excited for you and your writing and can’t wait to see more from you.
You always inspire me to blog more — now if only I could do it. Maybe I can squeeze a post or two in before the new year.
Rebecca
JulesYou do still have your annual books you’ve read post to make!
Emily Slaney
Firstly huge congratulations on finishing your novel 🎉 and sending off, that’s so great to hear! Secondly I had no idea about the curbside splendour thing, that’s awful and I’m sorry that has happened to you, I can only imagine how that feels – I assume you have no rights to republish the stories separately elsewhere either in the next 6 years? Your ideas for patreon sound good – feedback on stories would definitely be a great reward – and just an idea because I don’t know how you’d do it but getting your patreon subscribers involved in writing their own stories off the same prompts you use each month would be really fun, motivating and a good way to build a community. Looking forward to future posts about how everything is going! 😊
Rebecca
Emily SlaneyTo be honest, I’m not entirely sure. The contract refers to VILE MEN itself as the “work” and states that the publisher owns the rights to the “work”. I’m not sure how that relates to the separate stories themselves. Technically they’re like “excerpts”.
So a community would be kind of a cool idea to you? I debated setting up one but didn’t think many people would engage, but I guess writers really do want good prompts. I don’t know why but I never feel motivated to write when searching for prompts online. Are you the same way?To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. The contract refers to VILE MEN itself as the “work” and states that the publisher owns the rights to the “work”. I’m not sure how that relates to the separate stories themselves. Technically they’re like “excerpts”.
So a community would be kind of a cool idea to you? I debated setting up one but didn’t think many people would engage, but I guess writers really do want good prompts. I don’t know why but I never feel motivated to write when searching for prompts online. Are you the same way?
Emily Slaney
RebeccaYes, finding my own prompts has never, ever worked for me – although I have no idea why – yet as soon as they are for War, or another kind of event it just kick starts my brain. I don’t know, maybe there’s some kind of motivation in pressure to? Communities can be hit and miss – I do miss the old ones we used to have, but they died a slow death over quite a period of time. Would it be something other subscribers would like? I don’t know, maybe it’s something you could throw out there and see what the response is? I know in some art based patrons the subscribers like to join in with the prompts to create there own art – there is this whole hashtag thing too called “draw it in your own style” where someone posts an original piece of their art and then everyone has a set amount of time to recreate it in there own style – it’s a really fun idea. But really I’m just throwing ideas around here…
You know what also might work as a reward on patreon? Maybe some writers process type stuff, like behind the story, or how you develop your ideas, that kind of stuff – practical and candid. I always love learning how other writers brains work!
Rebecca
Emily SlaneyI think the pressure is a major part of why the WAR prompts were so good. You literally don’t have a choice.
I’m gonna start doing a prompt-based thing through the blog, I think, just as an experiment. If it goes really well I might take it to Patreon in some format.