A post about the day and night things. Or, basically, a few random things make a post.
But first a question for my fellow writers. When do you announce a special event. When you receive first notice, sign the contracts, or when it's about to be available? I've just been wondering of late.
At the day thing we finally had a layoff day calendar posted. But it's only for this well (insert ominous music here). Wouldn't it be nice to know in advance what day we would have off so we could do things like schedule car and doctor's appointments? Well, yeah, I think so. Anyway, tomorrow is my day off and I have a car appointment. So fortunately I was able to reschedule.
Since the snow is mostly gone but the ground is still frozen our tree service finally came out and cut down the trees we wanted removed. So my lawn is a mess and it's still going to be cold for a bit. And when it warms up, it's going to rain. Yeah!. I need to clean up all the wood out there, contact the people I asked if they were interested in buying some fresh firewood, and then rake the whole place (there's leaves from the fall that I couldn't get up before bad weather stole in). Then I'll need to restructure the beds and rebuild the stone walls we had to take down so they could grind the stumps. Lift that log, tote that wheelbarrow.
This Sunday I reached the magical 300 again. Weight goes down, then up, then down, then up... but hopefully the trend is still downward. Which it is. I just noticed today that that I have my doctor's appointment next week. Let's hope I keep on the downward trend until then.
Even with the downturn in the economy, I'm having difficulty getting quotes for freelance jobs. What's up with that?
5 comments:
Regarding special events (publishing ones I assume), I usually wait until the story is up. Just kind of superstitious.
I made an exception once, announcing upon acceptance, and the story found it's way to print over a year later, much delayed.
But that's just me; don't listen to me. No one else does this. ;-)
Todd, thanks. And I listen. (and you haven't posted in a while - at least the last time I checked).
When do you announce a special event. When you receive first notice, sign the contracts, or when it's about to be available? I've just been wondering of late.
Depends on the market. With short fiction and poetry I tend to announce at every stage, because I like to help promote smaller markets (if I sold a story to the New Yorker, I wouldn't consider that a smaller market, and would keep that to myself until the contracts were signed or the story appeared).
I usually keep announcements low-key until the actual product is available for purchase/perusal by the general public. (Or at least until a publisher announces my name on a ToC posted on the market's or editor's own site.)
As Todd points out, there's always the possibility a planned appearance goes sour (and it does happen!). I figure it would've happened anyway no matter what I did or didn't do. If it were a high-stakes sale (like a novel) I'd definitely keep the information to myself until my editor/publisher gave me the go-ahead.
When do you announce a special event. When you receive first notice, sign the contracts, or when it's about to be available?
All of the above.
But my journal is multi-purpose. It's both the life of Merrie Haskell and Merrie Fuller. And Merrie Fuller making a sale is of interest to her friends, and Merrie Haskell having a story out is of interest to the theoretical fans that theoretically follow my journal.
Thanks Camille and Mer. It's one of those things I struggle with, like posting where I submit my stories and talking about rejection letters. I hope I've steered away from the "bitching sessions" I've seen some authors do. I did read Wendy Delmater editorial on rejectomancy that you linked to, Camille. I love the haiku (even though some aren't). I'll have to check if I ever got a letter without a "send more soon" tag. I don't remember any.
Okay, well, maybe I need to talk about things a little more. I also need to follow my submissions more closely, especially if the market offers feedback.
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