Writer Beware Spots the Scams

 Grift in the Publishing Industry?

 Sadly, yes, and Writer Beware helps to pinpoint the publishing-agenting-AI schemes that attempt to part writers from their money and rights. Give it a peek. You owe it to yourself.

 

Gifdb.com

 

 

 

Readers Prefer Books—For Now

 Ebooks, Phone and Audio On The Rise 

Such is the state of reading preferences according to Pew Research. I still prefer a fine hardcover or paperback. It's one less daily screen for my eyes to fix upon. 

 

bookartwork.com

 

Substack Explained in Brief

 Intriguing place, this Substack, alive with many facets. A social media replacement? A platform for fiction? Go here to discover more: https://tinyurl.com/mw6dx8k9. I have and don't regret it.

freepik.com

 

Hero Boy Anime Parody Celebrated in Song

Up in the Skies, He Flies Around

Yes, he does, that Hero Boy. Alas, upon landing he stinks at battling oversized monsters and is laughed at by all. This minor character from the animated series Freakazoid! was recently gifted with his own song, courtesy of Suno AI. A parody of Astro Boy, young Hero Boy rates a tune. Listen and decide. 

 

50 Publishers Not Requiring Agency Submissions

dreamstime.com

Writers! You Are Free!

Submit That Manuscript Today!

Get that fantasy novel off the computer and out the door without someone else's approval. This can be good and bad, but if you lack representation or can't get any movement out of your agent then these 50 + spots await your pages. In a stunning binary move, some publishers also accept non-fiction. Hence, all tales are free to seek a home. 

 

Penning Short Stories Absorbs Me

So I haven't queried any of these publishers just yet. But experience dictates that their slush piles are  immense, equaling long response times. But that could be just what you need to start your next book, finishing around the time the first publisher responds. (That's why many authors self-publish, but less on that today.) They are all free-of-charge. Beware publishers that ask for money.

So go-do-experience.

  

 

 

Markets Galore at Publishing . . . And Other Forms of Insanity

Are These Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry Markets? 

By the Fulsome Beard of St. Crispin, They Are Indeed! 

 

dreamstime.com

A pause in writing as I prepare to send out a brace of short stories. Naturally, I visited Erica Verrillo's Publishing . . .And Other Forms of Insanity. A dense blog stuffed with literary markets of all kinds, primarily paying ones, as well as agents and book publishers open to submissions, and literary contests of all varieties. There's more, but go-see-discover. 

 

This is my first stop when lining up a market. If you're a writer, give it a go.

 

NOTE: I've been informed that the image is not that of St. Crispin, but jolly old St. Nick. In any case, the beard remains fulsome. 

Happy Easter!

WallpaperCave.com

 

Up From Indolence: Down with Runnng

People Magazine

 Here's a runner who is 100 years old and still going. I'm much younger, but I have the strength and endurance of a 200 year old man. I read my notebooks from years past and find the same issues: erratic training pattern, weight gain, ignoring core and stretching. 

So far, I've been striving for consistency, running and walking 3x a week. Today will mark the third week in a row that I've been hitting the pavement. l travel a bit over two miles each outing and that's good enough for now. 

Nothing noticeably amiss with my heart. My next goal is to run three miles an outing before aging up to the century mark. 

Talking Armenian Bobble Heads

Armenian Bobble Heads

 

 

 

 

 

I was in a car wash the other day, owned and staffed by Armenians. They had this merch for sale. Fascinating. I say no more, for what is there to add?
 

Focus Group Fun with an Intergalactic Bounty Hunter

 

Lobo at His Most Charming

looper.com

 

What the Children Saw

As I understand it, they were pleased. For more info on the ups and downs of a Lobo animated TV series, check out my 3-part blog post.

 

Lobo Promo for Animated TV Series

 

Lobo at His Most Charming

looper.com

 

Found in a Box in VHS Format 

This brief promo was created to spark interest in D.C.'s Lobo debuting as a animated TV series on the WB Network in the fall of 1999. So close it came. On Wednesday, I'll post the focus group tape. 

 

A written version of Lobo's rise and demise is contained in my 3-part blog post.