The Fabulist Flash

Issue 92

Mexican Chili Peppers

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. Writer's Bookshelf
3. The Renaissance Freelancer
4. Dan Poynter takes the 18Q
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

When was the last time you bought a book? If you're like me, the answer is probably "within the last week." Next question: When was the last time you attended a book release party or author signing event? That one might be a little more difficult to answer. My own answer is this past weekend, and three times in May.

Over the weekend my writer friends, Gregory Kreis and Carolyn Morrison, released the first book in their six book fantasy series, SeaReach-Power of the Waves. In May, John Smith released Bluegrass Days, Neon Nights; Carrie Lynn Lyons' Dream Pictures came out; and, Nancy Mitchell's helpful guide, Surviving Your Student Loans, arrived on the scene.

It's nice to be able to give my friends and writer colleagues a little shameless promotion. My point: it's important to support our writing friends. We need to buy each other's books and that sometimes means in person, at the cover price. I can feel the collective shudder.

Attending book signings, especially those of "unknown" authors, is important. Anyone with a published book will tell you how lonely a signing event can be when no one shows up. Plus, I believe in Karma, if you want folks to attend your signings and book release parties you have to pay it forward by attending the events of other writers. Showing up for the free champagne and cake isn't enough; you need to buy their books.

While we're on the topic of shameless promotion of author events, I've got several appearances coming up and it would be great to meet you. I'll be in St. Petersburg, Florida, June 22-25. I'm thrilled to be the Grand Marshall for St. Pete Pride. I've been working on my wave for months! As part of their extensive schedule of events, I'll be presenting, The Everyday Gay Activist, on Friday (6/23), the parade is Saturday and I'll be signing my bestselling 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live during the street festival that afternoon. In addition, there are two Las Vegas events coming up. I'm the special guest for the Lambda Pride Mixer at the Leid Library on Tuesday, June 27; and will be signing books on July 1 at the Boulevard Mall's B. Dalton. Click for all the details.

Earning a solid writing income can be a challenge. This week's issue is dedicated to diversifying your writing income stream. There's a new addition to the Writer's Bookshelf, Successful Television Writing by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, Joanne Seiff offers her experience on earning more money as a writer in The Renaissance Freelancer and Dan Poynter, the granddaddy of self-publishing with over 100 books to his credit, takes the 18Q.

If you're a published author and would like to take the 18Q, if you know someone who would like to answer the 18Q, or to read the collected interviews, visit EighteenQuestions.com.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes (www.kompes.com) is a writer, photographer, professional speaker and author of the bestseller 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live, The Endorsement Quest, and Your Intensive Care Unit Stay.

2. Writer's Bookshelf

Successful Television Writing by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin
A Review by Gregory A. Kompes

Have you ever wondered how to write for television? Successful Television Writing by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin answers that question and many more. This insider's guide to the television industry, written by two successful writers, producers, and showrunners, provides an overview of how the world of TV works as well as excellent advice on how to break into the business.

In just 18 chapters, Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Rabkin explain step-by-step what writing roles exist on television and how to work at getting your teleplays read and hopefully produced. In addition, nine appendices offer examples of many industry tools.

What you won't find inside the covers of Successful Television Writing is advice on how to actually write scripts. If that's the help you need, there are other books and writing courses you'll need to explore.

Whether you've imagined yourself writing for today's popular shows or are just interested in better understanding the business of television, Successful Television Writing is the perfect resource to both answer your questions and teach you how to do it.

3. The Renaissance Freelancer

The Renaissance Freelancer: diversifying your income stream
by Joanne Seiff

Being called a Renaissance man or woman is not as prestigious as it once was. Even the dictionary.com definition indicates that the antonym is "specialist." A Renaissance person is 'only' a generalist. Books on freelancing suggest that one needs to be an expert in one subject. I disagree because, well, it's cocky to call yourself an expert, but also because I make money by pursuing the Renaissance ideal. According to dictionary.com, I'm a "modern scholar… [with] more than superficial knowledge about many different interests." I teach and sell articles, designs, and art based on all those interests. How does diversification work?

Most writers focus on one or two fields, like technology, health care, parenting, finance, and fitness and sometimes they teach others in those fields. It's easy to forget that you're knowledgeable about other things, too. You do good research. That helps you learn every thing you want to know when you want to adopt a new dog or find a medical specialist. Your research skills help you to do interviews, go online and read up at the library. Suddenly, you're an expert on that gorgeous mutt from the humane society, or on how to find a well-respected local endocrinologist. Your experiences are just as valid as the next writer's, and that research and experience should sell articles outside of your usual field of expertise. One article leads to another, and you're an 'expert' in pet adoption, too. Add it to your specialties.

Freelance work isn't just one kind of writing. You may be asked to offer photographs for an article, or to produce tables or sketches to accompany your text. I sold my first photographs professionally because an editor wanted my article about making jam and food preservation but she wouldn't buy it without photos. Voilà, I was a food photographer. I wrote articles for fiber arts magazines long before I realized that I rarely followed a knitting pattern all the way through. Instead, I designed my own patterns. Now, I sell my own knitting patterns to those same magazines. Each kind of work requires different skills. You may discover you're great at producing schematics or number crunching. When you take a risk and explore a new facet of the freelance world, you'll grow in your career and as a person. If you grow successfully, you'll start earning money with your new skills.

Sometimes a photo gets cut from an article, or your design pitch for knitted flower bouquets fails, but don't worry. Those one of a kind prototypes are saleable; they're called art. Take another risk. Enter your photo, short story, knitted piece or other art into a contest or show. You'll never know how far it can go. My knitted art was recently part of a juried exhibition in an art gallery in New York City.

Your diversification efforts to earn more in your freelance work will pay off in the long term. Networking happens across all boundaries. My mother went to an outdoor festival while on vacation far from home. She met a gallery owner and heard the gallery was looking for handspun yarns. My mother, a savvy networker, passed along the information. Now my handspinning hobby pays for itself—I've had two commissions to produce one of a kind handspun yarn for a well-known gallery in Berea, Kentucky.

When people meet me, they often call me a Renaissance woman. I don't mind the moniker. I'm a freelancer, earning money from my skills as a writer, knitwear designer, handspinner, artist, and educator. What's not to be proud of?

About the Author
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Joanne Seiff is a writer, knitwear designer and educator. Her work can be found in knitting magazines, conservation and organic farming publications and in art galleries. The Kentucky Foundation for Women awarded Joanne a grant to work on a book, Knitting is Good for You, about knitting as it affects intellectual growth and health. You can find links to Joanne Seiff's writing, knitwear designs, and handspun yarn on her website, www.joanneseiff.com.

4. Dan Poynter takes the 18Q

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?
It chose me. I saw a need to help others, first in parachutes and next in book promotion.

2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)
I come from a literary family but they were famous creative writers: fiction and poetry.

3. When did you 'know' you were a writer?
Not sure but I did not realize I was a publisher until I attended my first book fair. I thought I was just a vendor to the parachute and hang gliding industries.

4. How would you describe your style of writing?
Direct, to the point, clear and not terribly creative. I have to work on that.

5. What is your writing process?
The procedure is detailed in my book Writing Nonfiction; Turning Thoughts into Books. I lay out the pages and then fill them in. Pages are in a page-layout format. There are four drafts: Rough, Content Edit, Peer Review and Copy Edit.

6. What was your path to publication?
I realized no publisher would understand or know where to sell a technical book on parachutes so I took the project to a printer and sold the books myself.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?
Identify your potential buyer and locate that buyer. Sell you books where there is a high concentration of buyers. Go where they have voluntarily come together because they have a like interest. For example, my parachute and skydiving books are mentioned in skydiving magazines, the book are sold in parachute stores, to skydiving schools, to parachute catalogs and so on.

8. What are the biggest surprises you've encountered as a writer?
The day-to-day excitement.

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?
[Not Answered]

10. What is your proudest writer moment?
Your proudest moment is the publication of your second book. When people call to order, you get to ask: "Which one?"

11. What's the best advice you were given about writing?
Get the free InfoKit at http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/infokit.cfm

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?
Writing a book is a creative act, publishing it is a public act. Introverts can be embarrassed by fans.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?
Writing books is a business. Businesses can deduct expenses from their taxes. Many of the toy and equipment other people pay for with after-tax dollars, we get to deduct.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?
Write about what you love and love what you write. I started on skydiving.

15. When you're not writing what do you do for fun?
[Not Answered]

16. Who do you like to read?
Because I travel, I consume a lot of eBooks and audiobooks. Some history but mostly fiction. I like Brian Haig, Brad Thor, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and others.

17. What's your advice for new writers?
Nonfiction: Write what you know and sell to your friends. Write about a subject you love. Turn your passion center into your profit center. I began with books on parachutes and skydiving. Think ahead two years. What do you want to be writing about? What do you want to be speaking about? What do you want to be dreaming about? What will make you wake up at 3 AM so excited that you can't sleep? Turn you avocation into your vocation. Write what you love. Follow your heart.

18. What are you currently working on?
I rarely have a project on the back burner and I rarely know what I will write next. One day inspiration hits and I jump in.

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22 published writers have taken the 18Q. Read all their responses at EighteenQuestions.com

5. About The Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

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