I can think clearly & Writing Conferece pt. 1

My migraine started last Wednesday, early in the morning. I woke up nauseated, head pounding, and extremely confused as to what was happening and where I was. The level of pain waxed and waned but the headache was persistent until yesterday afternoon when I had a thirty-minute massage that focused on my neck and head. This morning, so far, my head doesn't hurt but I can feel a slight pressure building. Ugh. Too bad I blew my 'personal services' budget on that massage yesterday or I'd order another one.
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I went to a writer's conference on the weekend! I met interesting people, learned interesting things, and hopefully I'll get my notes typed up and analysed tonight so I can share the salient points of what I learned.

One thing I can tell you right off the bat: FINALLY self-publishing and e-publishing are throwing off the stigma of being inferior to traditional publishing. Amanda Hocking's name was tossed about a lot this weekend and while Amanda is not the norm her story is now an inspiration.

...which makes me giggle because no matter HOW lofty a creator's goals might be there are bills to pay and eventually everything comes down to money. The few that can afford to dedicate themselves to craft with no concern for money are just that, the few, or they have a day-job to support them.

Also, ladies and gents of my flist, when you negotiate your contracts with traditional publishing houses make sure you DO NOT sign away your share of the ePublishing rights.

Over the next couple of months I'm going to be publishing at least one book via a print-on-demand (POD) service and that book will ALSO be reformatted for ePublishing. I'm going to try to document what I do and learn along the way so I can share.

Two more things I heard repeated this weekend:
1. Just like when I was making comics, being able to follow guidelines, meeting deadlines, and produce consistently acceptable (not AMAZING) work will get you more work. AMAZING work would be better but hitting deadlines and specs is more important than being the most amazing writer ever. Also, professionalism is essential. Do what you say you're going to do. Respond to emails and phone calls. Don't avoid correspondence. Accept criticism gracefully and with thanks and resist the urge to lash out online where your words can go viral and damage your reputation.

2. My byline for years has been, 'Do it because you love it' and that's, essentially, what I heard over and over again this weekend. What that means to me is I'm going to stop feeling inadequate because I am one of Nature's short story writers. If I ever get into the groove and write a novel, yay, but I'm not going to stress about it. I really enjoy writing short fiction and I'm going to continue to do so.

Also, I babble a LOT when I am nervous. I probably talked far too much and overshared and guh but at least I went and learned.

Link blogging!

And now... links!

Is semen really an antidepressant? - It's not outside the realm of possibility (biologically speaking) but there are too many factors not taken into account with this study. Still, further investigation could reveal this to be marginally true. I have the feeling there may have already been a sexy story written using this theory as a basis. XD

Hasidic newspaper explains why it airbrushed out Hillary Clinton - I had no idea Hasidic traditions were THAT restrictive. Every religion has it's ultra-conservative, embarrassing, factions...

shitmystudentswrite.tumblr.com - I laughed then I slid into a depression. Srsly students? SRSLY? Ugh. The level of ignorance and apathy amazes me! Hm, but looking at the errors it seems there may be a heavy reliance on spell-checking programs and we are not dealing with kids who read for fun.

Oooh another web performance summit!

The last words of a Cancer victim - DO NOT READ if you do not want to cry. Derek K. Miller had stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer and passed away May 3. His final words were published posthumously on his blog.

Girl in a Whirl by Joan Aiken