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SFReader Forums > Writing > Print On Demand & eBooks > Why I went Independent

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Jeff Stehman
Sage

Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 1224

Posted 1/6/2007 12:52 AM (GMT -5)

He has a selected bibliography here: www.crimefictionwriter.com/Creative.html

Doing a quick search, I count 35 SF & mystery short stories published (including some reprints) in 2002, which looks like his biggest year for short stories. (Note that he doesn't claim to live on short stories--he also edits, copy edits, and writes novels and non-fiction--but he does claim a respectable income can made writing short stories.)

--Jeff Stehman

Bill Ward
Biblioholic

Date Joined Jul 2006
Total Posts : 1842

Posted 1/6/2007 1:53 AM (GMT -5)

Well, his blurb says 'over 1,000' shorter works in total. I didn't see any writing advice/opinion on that page or anthing, I am curious who or what he has in mind when he say a respectable income can be generated from short fiction. I'm assuming he means for people who's name isn't Bradbury or King ;)

Jeff Stehman
Sage

Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 1224

Posted 1/6/2007 2:02 AM (GMT -5)

I've started browsing his blog. It looks like mostly "what happened today" type stuff, but there's some interesting bits in there. I'm going to add it to my (very short) list of bookmarked blogs and follow it for a while. The following quote is from his 12/31/06 entry: crimefictionwriter.blogspot.com/2006/12/2007-goals.html

"My goal for 2007 is the same as it's been for many years now: To average one acceptance per week... I'll finish 2006 with 66 acceptances (while that total primarily consists of short stories, it does include other freelance writing such as essays and articles), the fifth year in a row that I've exceeded my goal."

I'm impressed.

--Jeff Stehman

erazmus
Master

Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 5357

Posted 1/6/2007 6:28 AM (GMT -5)

Okay, I looked over this Bracken guy a bit.
He's a better than average writer, I give him all props for that.
And there is certainly a difference between "making a living" and "earning a respectable income".
He reaches deeper than I've ever thought of doing, writing for such stalwarts as _True Romance_ and _True Confessions_. That seems to be the multiple genres he's talking about.--Romance, teen romance, ten confession, black confession, black romance, mystery, sf, fantasy, horror. He seems to have done a great deal of buisness with Wildside press. Okay, cool.
He's obviously willing to go the extra mile. I've never even picked up a Confessions or True Crime magazine, though I did research the Star once, trying to figure out how to offer them a story after seeing a substandard one in a copy left lying around my workplace. Never did figure it out.
I have to admit there are somethings I'm probably not willing to do to sell stories for a living. I won't pass myself off as Black, Korean, Vietmanese, or some other ethnic or "racial" type. It is demeaning, to minorities, to do so. (just my opinion). I'd pass myself off as a women writer to sell romances, except I haven't developed the touch to write romances yet (I assume many if not most romance readers know much of the field is written by men).
That said, he's written some good stuff, I found several I'd enjoyed on his list. Maybe I've been a little myopic in my market research. Possibly because I don't really write mysteries. I'll have to think about this some.
Mike

Michael D. Turner
"Psyched Up" in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
"Dutchman Rescue"in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm

"An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern" in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises:
www.fantasistent.com/books/anthologies/BASH.php

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