Good morning y'all. My name is John and I live in southwestern Virginia. I retired a couple of years ago from a globe-trotting free lance computer gig. Figured I would relax and write all those stories that kept me sane while traveling about on everything from military C-5 Hercules to commercial jumbos, to a lovely three hour trip on a one and a half engine pontoon plane full of day laborers and chickens. Turns out, the writing gig is more work than I ever did working. I've sold four short stories. one horror, one flash thriller, one scifi and one memoir. The memoir never got published - editors killed it after buying it. I've finished three novels so far and all are shopped out to various agents/publishers. I took one of them (Soul Survivor) and ePublished it on Smashwords. (Warning, if you go looking for it - it is a violent period thriller about growing up in Pittsburgh in the sixties) If you want details about the process, let me know and I'll gen up a small thread with all the details. In this thread I'll just sum it up by telling you it really is free, and I retain ownership of the work and can traditionally publish it any time I get an offer. Phew. That's it for now, except I love sharing works and reviews. John
Hello John, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
