Hello, fellow wordsmiths! My name is David and I am a writer, though admittedly, I’ve not been living like one. I recently was able to leave my job doing technical support for Apple, because of my wife’s new job. The story of how I got from degrees in English and Communications is long and boring, but it was mostly out of necessity, to provide for my wife and our two sons. This is the first time I’ve ever had some breathing room to seriously pursue my true calling (excuses, excuses lol.) I woke up one morning, and realized I wasn’t living the life I truly desired, and I had an opportunity to change, so here I am. This is where I’m at: I have four or five books I’ve been working on over the years in various stages of completion. One is a handwritten super-outline which is pretty close to actually being a first draft. I’ve done a little freelance content writing work, which is tedious, but I’m looking for legitimate ways to generate income writing while I chase the dream. The dream is not to get rich or be the next Stephen King. The goal is just to generate an income, even a modest one, and get whatever books I have in me out there for people to read or ignore as they please. I primarily like fantastic and speculative fiction, but I enjoy literary fiction and other genres as well. I plan to write fantasy and sci-fi for young adult audiences, because I want to inspire young imaginations, as mine was, but I know I have at least one true literary work in me - it’s been a bumpy, colorful life lol. I have very little idea what I’m doing or where to start. My plan right now is to publish 50k/word novellas on Amazon Kindle for $2.99 a pop, in the style of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. From my research it sounds like my best bet to generate a passive income by publishing a series of ebooks, after which I can focus on my more serious works. I've got a world, and characters forming, which I could write any number of books about, and the overall outline of the first book is already taking shape. But I am open to advice, guidance, suggestions, verbal abuse, tell me where to begin, tell me to eff off, I’m open to learn! I want to know what possibilities there are and how to pursue them. I also enjoy blogging, and writing social commentary, as my Facebook friends will attest to vehemently. TIA! -dkingrey
A mac man (ex) and a wordsmith (excellent). And a man with a plan (even excellenter). Look forward to seeing some of your stuff in the workshop. You likes Doug Adams and Pratchett (situations vacant (polish the CV)) — I says, you'll love Neil Gaiman (still gainfully employed). Welcome David.
Thank you! Should have been here years ago! And yes, I love Neil Gaiman, one of the masters, and truly unique!
Just FYI, I worked on Windows/Android before I went to Apple, so feel free to hit me up with pretty much any basic tech questions.
This resonates so much with me. I've been putting off my writing for years with infinite excuses about how I need to get other parts of my life out of the way first or need to learn more before writing or something. The plan about putting out ebooks on amazon sounds really solid, and I'm really excited to see your work in the workshops, and beyond! (Especially because I'm also a bit of an aspiring speculative sci-fi author...)
That was exactly it for me too... procrastinating because I "wasn't ready" or whatever. Well, I'm done now. I'm also looking into pitching business to write content for them. Some people are making TONS doing that.
Procrastination is all to human. Some of the best advice I got (admittedly it took one of those character changing moments to really sink in) was to quit getting ready to start and just start already. You'll learn along the way. Best of luck!
Welcome to the forum David! It must be wonderful to have a calling. If I were you, I would cherish it till the end! I too am writing a YA Fantasy story, as my mind was very much captivated by fantasy and its very wide array of adventures to be had. I'll definitely keep an eye on your fantasy work; don't be afraid to hit me up! I wish you luck in your goals and publishing career!
