Writing for the Love

One of my first short stories, "The Mute Girl," was published in eFantasy March 2013 issue. This is my first e-mag short story publication. About four years ago, I wrote the story and decided that I wanted to have it published. I'd been working on my novel, Livinity , epic fantasy, for quite a while. Publishing a fantasy short story seemed like a good idea to get my name out there. I had no idea it would take this long, and even now I praise God that it wasn't published any sooner. Since that time, I've learned a lot in the submission process. Perseverance. Thankfulness to Jesus even in the disappointment of repeated rejection. I lost count of how many the piece received. I learned not to take rejection to heart. If I received feedback, I tried it out. Maybe not following exact recommendations, but I played around with whatever issues the person had with the story. The last piece of valuable advice I received was an editor disappointed in the ending. T...

Now that I've self-published my first e-book, I'm learning quite a bit. In my opinion, the technical side of uploading an e-book is not terribly difficult. A little time-cosuming, yes. I'm exclusively using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Perhaps that contributes to the ease of the tech stuff for me. Reading is required, but the instructions are clear and thorough. There are several places on the site to find answers to questions. I found their guide very helpful. I chose KDP in order to enroll  O Brother, What Art Thou? in KDP Select. The program requires the e-book to be available through KDP exclusively for ninety days. Then the e-book can be borrowed for free by Amazon Prime members. I still earn money from each borrow. I really liked that option. There is a catch. My best friend attempted to borrow the book, but she does not have a Kindle device. I assumed a Kindle app would be sufficient because anyone can read a Kindle b...

Please note: Info about the e-book is at the end of this post. I may have mentioned this several times now, but I'll go ahead and repeat myself. One message I have consistently received from the Lord for over a year now is humble thyself. How have I gotten the message? Via his Word, messages at church, worship songs, Bible studies, friends, and even in my prayer times. Not necessarily his audible voice, but the repetition certainly grabs my attention every time. The funny thing about attempting publication as a writer...there's a conflicting message to humility. A writer who wants to be published, and especially one who is already, has to sound their own horn. Or bang their own gong. Or use all the instruments in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas if they want to get attention for their book. How effective is that in the rest of life? The people I've been around who sing their own praises are often obnoxious, appear to be unaware of their own self-center...