Jul 02

It’s halfway through the year. Time to look at how I’m going on my goals.

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It’s halfway through the year. Time to look at how I’m going on my goals.

Target for the full year: 60 short story submissions to magazines and anthologies.

So far: 41 (68%).

Target for the full year: write 15 short stories.

So far: 10 (67%).

I’ve written just over 30,000 words of short fiction (under 8000 words), and another 80,000 words of longer fiction (novella or novel length) so far this year. That’s more than the whole of last year in both cases, thanks to a changed job situation.

Moving from goals (things I have fairly direct control of) to responses: I’ve had 2 sales, 21 form rejections, and 7 personalised rejections so far this year. One of those sales is to a pro market.

Partly, I think, the low number of sales as compared to submissions is because I’ve been submitting to the established markets, where I’m competing with established writers. I’ll be lowering my sights a little in the second half of the year, and mainly submitting to the emerging pro markets instead.

http://csidemedia.com/shortstories/goals-aspirations-and-achievements/

Jul 02

Because it’s culturally acceptable in Western democracies to criticize the powerful, that can be used as cover for…

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Because it’s culturally acceptable in Western democracies to criticize the powerful, that can be used as cover for bigotry and prejudice when someone becomes powerful who represents a traditional underclass.

This well-written article lays out what you might call the lightning rod effect.

Originally shared by Walter Roberson

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/politics/why-black-america-may-be-relieved-to-see-obama-go/index.html
Jul 02

Love the title’s reference to the Niven/Barnes Dream Park novels, which inspired me to put something similar into my…

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Love the title’s reference to the Niven/Barnes Dream Park novels, which inspired me to put something similar into my novella Gu: immersive experiences, using the programmable matter of the title, hosted in abandoned cinemaplexes.

(Gu is half price in the July coupon sale at http://smashwords.com, incidentally.)

Originally shared by Kevin Kelly

Superb in-depth article on the coming arcade versions of VR and MR by Adi Robertson.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/1/12058614/vr-theme-parks-disney-six-flags-the-void-ghostbusters-virtual-reality

http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/1/12058614/vr-theme-parks-disney-six-flags-the-void-ghostbusters-virtual-reality

Jun 29

I aim for submissions, which I can control, not rejections or acceptances, which I can’t (directly) control.

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I aim for submissions, which I can control, not rejections or acceptances, which I can’t (directly) control. But the principle is sound.

(My figures so far this year: 41 submissions, 2 acceptances, 21 form rejections, 8 personalised rejections. Since the beginning of 2014: 137 submissions, 11 acceptances, 105 rejections.)

Perseverance is the key.

http://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/

Jun 28

So, what would change if we took an evidence-based approach to crime and treated crime (and violence) as public…

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So, what would change if we took an evidence-based approach to crime and treated crime (and violence) as public health issues?

(An evidence-based approach to education would also be nice.)

Another question, though: how do you keep politics from interfering with the implementation of actually effective approaches? Evidence is not exactly enjoying a heyday at the moment as a way of deciding what gets implemented politically.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/evidence-based-criminal-justice-reform/488984/?utm_source=atlfb

Jun 28

tl;dr: Managers will get in trouble for approving something that fails, but not for rejecting something which, if…

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tl;dr: Managers will get in trouble for approving something that fails, but not for rejecting something which, if they’d approved it, would have succeeded.

Also, peers are much better at evaluating your work than you are (you think it’s better than it is) or than your manager is (he or she is looking for the flaws in it).

Could we apply that to publishing? If so, other writers are going to be better than you, and better than publishers, at evaluating whether your book is likely to succeed.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/adam-grant-aspen/489056/
Jun 28

Now there’s science to back up my contention in The Well-Presented Manuscript that writing more slowly may improve…

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Now there’s science to back up my contention in The Well-Presented Manuscript that writing more slowly may improve your work’s quality. (Pity about the clickbaity headline.)

http://www.spring.org.uk/2016/02/improve-writing-quality-with-one-easy-psychological-trick.php