I’m a writer

I took a moment to get my hair cut yesterday. Somewhere along the way, the woman doing the deed asked where I worked. I said, “I’m a writer.” It felt weird, but a good weird.

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The Bartholomew County Writer’s Group met yesterday. It was a fun time, as always. We had a lot of discussion about the business end of things for the first hour–more than we usually have. I think this is good. The group is full of interesting writers, but it’s slanted toward the self-publishing industry–which I think is different from the independent publishing industry, and obviously different from that of the traditional publishing industry.

That’s changing, though. As more information flows through the group, I see people’s minds changing. It’s subtle, but obvious.

Why is this important here?

I don’t know, but it’s probably because I need to put together a real business plan. I actually just realized this as I typed it. I’ve spent the first two weeks of my freelancedom doing good things, and pushing myself to complete tasks that I know are valuable. And I’ve been side-tracked by a very big project that I know will be valuable if it pans out (he said in ominous glee!). But I feel like I’m not focused, like I have no sense of priority right now.

And so I need a plan, (Lisa Silverthorne, if she were here, would be thumping me alongside the head with the wand of “Well, duh!”).

And to have a plan I need to know what I’m trying to do, and to know what I’m trying to do it helps to understand the world around me better. What does it really mean to work as an indie? How will I deal with the traditional wing regarding short stories and novels, and whatnot? What are my real intentions for my fantasy serial? I’ve left these all pretty much open-ended, and it’s time to get serious and chart a course. In this fashion, I’m really no different from the rest of my group. I’ve had a considerable amount of success getting short fiction published in the “traditional” short fiction markets, but that’s of limited value in the traditional market for novels and whatnot. Don’t get me wrong, success in Analog and Asimov’s and others doesn’t hurt there, but it doesn’t give me a clue how to succeed in the business world outside of that process–where there is considerable difference.

Just like the group I’ve been attending, I need to move. I need to learn and I need to change.

So, anyway. There’s my thought for the day.

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