Thursday, December 27, 2007

Reading, Writing and (I Hope) Arithmetic

I'm working on my New Year's Resolutions.

Some are the same every year.

One of those is to write and market my science fiction short stories. I've always listed it as a personal goal, but this year, I'm putting it under my financial goals. And I'm making it public. We'll see if it makes a difference.

It's no secret that unless you're Norman Mailer (in which case, you're dead), Danielle Steele or J.K. Rowling, you're not going to become wealthy as a writer. On the other hand, there really IS a paying market out there for science fiction and fantasy short fiction, unlike the more literary markets where one is supposed to be satisfied with copies of prestigious but usually non-paying Reviews.

I've been reading science fiction since I was fourteen. I started writing it during graduate school. Occasionally, I've sent out my work to various magazines, and even more occasionally, some of it has been published. With that comes a check, usually somewhere between $200 and $600. NOT enough to give up my day job but a nice little bonus for doing something that I love.

So this year's resolution is to stop being a dilettante and start being a REAL writer. Along with that, I hope, comes some REAL money that can be applied to REAL debts.

And you, Dear Reader? Any hobbies that done with more focus and more energy could help increase the cash flow?

3 comments:

Heather said...

This is soooooooo eerie! I don't know anything about writing a book but I had pm'd a friend a few weeks ago mentioning that I want to start one lol.

I have been searching online on how to get started. I have been jotting down ideas for this book on paper too so that is a start at least lol.

Good luck on your book, I think that is a wonderful goal to have :).

E.C. said...

Science fiction is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. How did you work up the courage to submit your stories? I don't have anything I'd be willing to let others read yet, but maybe someday that will change.

Sara said...

I love fantasy, personally. Where do you submit your stories? Do you use WritersMarket.com?