Category: Short Stories

Decision LZ1527 is now live

My second indie published short story, “Decision LZ1527,” is now available for $.99 from Amazon.  This is the same story that was published in the December 2009 issue of Leading Edge.  I’ve also included a short author’s note at the end, explaining the writing process from idea to publication.

As with “Memoirs of a Snowflake,” the epublishing process wasn’t that complicated.  The story was short enough that I didn’t feel a need for a table of contents, and Amazon reformatted the uploaded .doc file without any problems.

The biggest difference with this one was that I contacted the artist from the December issue and bought the rights to use the art.  It cost a bit, but not much more than what Leading Edge paid for the story, so overall I haven’t taken much of a loss.

I wrote “Decision LZ1527” back in 2006, when I was a sophomore in college trying to navigate the bizarre dating world of BYU.  It’s about a boy trying to find the courage to ask out his secret crush, as told from the point of view of the little men inside his head, piloting him like some kind of spaceship.

So yeah, I hope you check it out and enjoy it!  If you don’t have a Kindle, Amazon has a number of free apps that will allow you to read it on just about any platform (including your computer).  And if you haven’t already picked up “Memoirs of a Snowflake,” you can get it for $.99 too.

I’ll do an update in a week or two about my indie publishing venture, but so far it’s been pretty fun!  Hopefully, by putting out these stories, I’ll be able to share them with more people than would have read them otherwise.  So thanks, and I hope you enjoy!

NaShoStoMo

So Dan Wells is taking a page from NaNoWriMo and starting his own writing thing for April, NaShoStoMo, aka National Short Story Month.  The rules are as follows:

  • You must write 30 all new short stories between April 1st and April 30th.
  • Each story must have a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
  • Each story must be at least 200 words.
  • You may write more than one story per day to make up for lost days.

It seems like an awesome idea, and I’m going to try it.  I’m not much of a short story writer, but I wish I were, because there are some really awesome short stories out there that I admire–like Endosymbiont, quite possibly the best singularity story that I have ever read (and available for free from Escape Pod).  Novels and short stories are different arts, but they’re both forms of storytelling, so I figure that no matter what happens I’ll learn something from it.

I’m not sure how many of these stories will take place in universes that I’ve already built, but probably a good number of them will.  I have a few characters from Bringing Stella Home that I would like to do little sketches on, possibly for a later novel, and some things I’d like to do in the worlds I’ve already created.

At the same time, though, I’ve got some crazy ideas for standalone stuff that I’d like to play with, like a crazy awesome dream I had last night that made me  lie awake just thinking about it for almost an hour.  It was insane...but I guess you had to be there.

In unrelated news, my writer friend Charlie got me a thing of sparkling grape juice, for me to open when I celebrate my first major publishing deal (though I suspect another motivation was to make me look like a wino while walking around on BYU campus).

Honestly, I was quite surprised–thanks!  I’ll use it to christen my first yacht that I buy from my multimillion dollar first deal, hehe.

Oh, and in other totally unrelated news, my other writer friend Laura started a blog.  So go check it out!

Memoirs of a Snowflake available on Amazon

I just released my first short story on the Kindle. “Memoirs of a Snowflake,” a whimsical short story about the life and times of a December snowflake, is available for $.99 on Amazon.

The publishing process was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  Because this is a short story, I didn’t have to worry about formatting for a table of contents or other stuff.  All I did was upload the .doc file, and Amazon automatically did the formatting.

Bryan and I did try to upload it as an html file, which failed miserably for reasons we don’t understand.  Also, Amazon automatically generated the free sample for it, which is something I’d like to figure out how to control in the future.

So as far as practice goes, this story perhaps wasn’t the best one to learn on.  However, it’s good to see how the publishing process works–and really, it’s not that hard.  The hardest part was reading all the terms and conditions, which took maybe an hour.  Everything else was just uploading files, filling in fields, and checking off boxes.

The cover art was fun.  To make it, I took this image from Wikimedia Commons (where practically everything is in the public domain), photoshopped it with The Gimp (“gimped” it?), and added the lettering.  Voila!  I don’t know if it’s my best work, but for a short story, I think it’s decent.

$.99 is the lowest that Amazon will allow me to price it.  For every sale, I make about $.35, and Amazon starts transferring money to my account after I earn $10. You can download it to your Kindle device, or you can read it on your computer with Amazon’s Kindle for PC program (where you can also read a two paragraph free sample, heh).

So far, I’ve made two sales and gotten one review–a pretty good one, too!  I posted the story on Facebook and Chuck has blogged about it, but that hasn’t translated into sales yet.  But after reading this, you all are going to go out and buy it, aren’t you?  AREN’T YOU??  Hehe, just kidding.

Next week, I’ll probably release “Decision LZ1527,” after I figure out the cover art.  It’s a little more complicated, because I wanted to buy the art that was in the magazine in which it was originally published.  But I’ve got that squared away, now just tweaking it.  And I’ll probably add an author’s note at the end, too.

This is exciting stuff!  I’m interested to see how the stories take off.  For those of my writer friends who are thinking of doing something like this for their own stuff, I’ll be sure to let you know how they do!

A few additional thoughts

So, after the last post on my ebook venture, I have a few thoughts:

I haven’t yet decided to go all out indie, so don’t think that I am.  All I’m doing right now is putting out a couple of my short stories, mostly so I can learn hands-on how the epublishing process works (and make all my mistakes with something that isn’t a full-length novel).

I write mostly space opera and science fiction adventure, and those are apparently selling pretty well.  I don’t know about horror or epic fantasy, so to all you horror / epic fantasy friends of mine, realize that my experience might not be your experience.

After looking into DBAs, LLCs, business licenses, and taxes, I’ve decided not to register as a business or set up a separate account for this venture–at least, not until I sell more than $500, which from what I understand is when the IRS requires Amazon to start reporting earnings (I could be wrong; I’m not a lawyer).  Again, I’m not doing this for the money right now, more for the experience and to learn how to do it.

Why, then, am I putting together a formal business plan?  Well, it’s more of a self-discipline thing; as a writer, I am in the eyes of the world a self-employed owner of a small business, so I want to discipline myself so that I can be successful as such.

And honestly, I think this is very exciting.  I’ve found, over the past year, that I’m the kind of guy who would rather work for himself or as an independent contractor than work for a corporation and take a salary–firstly, because I believe that the corporate paradigm is fundamentally evil, and second, because I enjoy the independence, the control over my livelihood, and the adventure of being an entrepreneur.

Anyhow, my CS friend Bryan is going to help me figure out how to publish on Kindle this Tuesday, so my short story “Memoirs of a Snowflake” will probably go live that afternoon.  As for “Decision LZ1527,” I’m probably going to spend some money on the cover art, which means figuring out contracts, payments, pricing, etc.  My my goal is to put it out sometime in April, though, and between now and then, I might put up something else.  So keep an eye out!

Business Plan for an ebook venture

Alright, after watching the market and giving it some considerable thought, I’ve decided to venture into indie publishing, if only to test the waters.  I’ll release a couple of short stories first, mostly to learn how to format and release an ebook, and from there I’ll move on to other work.

I spent this afternoon drafting a business plan for the venture, using the resources available at the SBA website (thanks, Jerle).  Here’s what I have thus far:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Mission Statement: To tell cool stories and have fun doing it
Projected Start Date: 31 March 2011
Founder and sole owner: Joseph M. Vasicek
Employees: 1 (services to be contracted on a freelance basis)
Location: Provo, UT (subject to change)
Product: Short stories, novels, and novellas

1) Summary of Growth

As the business has not yet been launched, there is no growth to report.

2) Future Plans

Stage One: Initial Release

In this stage, I will prepare and release two short stories, “Decision LZ1527” (previously published in issue 58 of The Leading Edge) and “Memoirs of a Snowflake” (previously unpublished) as ebooks on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

The goals for this initial venture are to:
1) learn how to properly format and release an ebook,
2) gain familiarity with the ebook publishing system, and
3) gauge a general estimate of ebook costs and profits.

Stage Two: Initial Novel/Novella Release

At least 3 months after releasing “Decision LZ1527” and “Memoirs of a Snowflake,” I plan on releasing Sholpan, a novella based on the novel Bringing Stella Home. By doing so, I hope to:
1) learn how to properly outsource editing and cover art,
2) gauge the earnings potential for my novels, and
3) generate an audience for other books in the Gaia Nova series.

After releasing Sholpan, I will most likely wait for a few months to see what happens, submitting my other novels to traditional publishers in the meanwhile. If sales of my ebooks exceed expectations, I will consider moving to the next stage and fully implementing this business plan.

Stage Three: Full Ebook Release

If success in the previous stages justifies it, I will release my completed novels as ebooks, starting either sometime in July/August 2011 or after September 2012 (depending on how well my other works do, according to a metric which has yet to be determined). Currently, these consist of Genesis Earth and Bringing Stella Home, though Worlds Away from Home should be nearing the final phases of revision.

My business goals from here out are the following:
1) produce and release two novels each year (minimum of one),
2) consistently expand my audience through social networking,
3) obtain an agent to handle foreign/subsidiary rights,
4) obtain a print deal in order to build career prestige, and
5) earn enough to support myself entirely off of my writing.

If the works released in stage two do not sell well enough to justify moving on to stage three, I will continue to make them available as ebooks but will postpone releasing my novels until either my other works begin to sell well, or independent publishing becomes the generally accepted path for new writers.

Mainly, I just want to experiment with ebooks and figure out how they work. Since the initial costs are so low, my initial goal is not to make a lot of money, but to learn how to format and release an ebook. I was a little uneasy doing that with my novels, but I figure it wouldn’t hurt to practice on my short stories (all two of them).

So yeah, that’s the date: March 31st, 2011. I’ll release “Decision LZ1527” for $.99, and “Memoirs of a Snowflake” for $.50 or so (since it’s flash fiction). I’m not sure how well it will sell, but I hope that all of you reading this right now go and buy it!!!1!! (that includes you, Mom) Hehe, just kidding. ;P

But seriously, I’ll keep you guys updated closely on how the venture goes. A lot of ebook authors are very transparent with their numbers, and I plan to be no different. And if you have any feedback on the business plan, please let me know. I’m kind of new to this sort of thing, and while it’s surprisingly fun, I’m sure I’ll make a TON of mistakes. Your help would be appreciated!

Pluggin’ away

Wrote 2,889 words today, bringing the running 7-day total to just under 15,000 words.  If I can keep this up for a month without lagging, I should be able to finish Mercenary Savior 3.0 in time for CONduit.

In the meantime, I’m looking for a job.  A friend of mine who’s in Egypt right now told me about this interesting online freelance contractor, which looks like a promising source of cash in the short term.  Sent in my application, inshallah will hear back soon.  Payment is via paypal on a work for hire basis, with most writers / copy editors averaging $20-$25 per hour, so could be useful.  No benefits, but what the heck.

In between writing and applying with the online writing place, I submitted Genesis Earth to a couple new places, and sent From the Ice Incarnate to IGMS.  I don’t have many short stories, but I really need to send out the few I do have to more markets.  Maybe I can pull out the first couple chapters of some of my novels and call them short stories and/or novellas.  Wouldn’t hurt.

Graduation is coming up in less than 100 hours.  My parents arrived in town about an hour ago, and the rest of the family should be coming shortly.  It will be really good to see them–I’m looking forward to it.

That’s about it for now.  I’ve got some other thoughts on jobs, dating, future plans, settling down, an article I’m writing for Mormon Artist, and the computer I want to build once I’ve got a job, but I’ll write about that later.  Goodnight.

I’m published!

That’s right–my first published story just came out in issue 58 of The Leading Edge.  I am happy to say that after three years of formally pursuing my career as a writer, I am now a published author!

The story is titled Decision LZ1527, and it’s about a guy asking a girl out on a date–as told from the point of view of the little men inside his head piloting his body like a starship. I really like the tagline in the table of contents: “A man, a woman, and a whole crew of matchmakers.”

Full disclosure: I submitted this story after I joined the staff as a volunteer slushpile reader.  Most of the editors for this issue are pretty good friends of mine (including the Production Director, who’s one of my most trusted alpha readers).  I submitted it under a pseudonym, however, so most of the staff didn’t know it was mine until after they’d accepted it.

The Leading Edge is known for the excellent quality of its illustrations, and I’m happy to say that I lucked out with with the artist the editors picked for my story!  Josh McGill is a graphic designer and aspiring children’s book illustrator.  He’s done art for issues 53 and 55 of The Leading Edge. The picture on the right is the one he did for the front page of my story.  I must say, I’m impressed!

The Leading Edge is a semi-professional small press science fiction and fantasy magazine affiliated with BYU.  It’s been in publication since the early 80s, when Marion K. “Doc” Smith’s famous “class that wouldn’t die” got together and started it, along with Quark and LTUE.  If you would like to support the magazine (and read my story!) you can purchase a copy of issue 58 at the following link:

Issue 58: “Redemption Songs”

Lot’s of people dream about getting published, but it takes a lot of hard work and rejection to actually make it happen.  As writers, though, we tend to be harder on ourselves than we ought to be.  It took almost four years for Decision LZ1527 to find its way into print, but it did.  That’s enough to make the rest of the process worth it.

Let’s hope it’s the first of many!

WOTF rejection

So a couple days ago, I got a phone call from my Mom.  A piece of mail had come in from the Writers of the Future contest.

Yeah, it was a standard form rejection.

Well, everyone puts in their time.  I guess this counts toward that.  A modified version of this story did well in the Mayhew contest, so I know it’s not utterly bad.  But I can see, in retrospect, how it wouldn’t do well with WOTF.

The main body of the piece was a scene I took from the middle of my novel–really, it was more of a scene than a coherent, unified story.  I threw on a beginning and an end, to try to fix that problem, but it probably didn’t mesh well with the real meat of it.  Which is fine, because it was originally meant as a scene, not a short story.

The thing is, I’m just not much good at short stories.  I don’t usually read them, and I don’t generally write them.  Novel writing is my craft–every time I try to write a short story, I end up writing a novel.  Once and a while, something clicks and a short story pops out (kind of like a Polaroid), but it’s not the usual thing.

So I’m not discouraged by this rejection from submitting to WOTF again, it’s just that it’s going to be kind of sporadic.  I have one more short piece that I could submit to the contest right now, but I don’t expect it to go far.  Still, it’s better than letting it sit in my hard drive.

In the meantime, I should probably submit that WOTF piece elsewhere, see what happens.  That’s probably what I’ll do.

What I really need to do, though, is work on my novel.  World Fantasy is coming up!

Some updates

Just a few quick updates before I go to bed:

My short story, Decision LZ150207, is getting published in The Leading Edge! Hooray!  This will be my first publication credit.  It certainly won’t be my last!

As you can see from the progress bar to the right, I’ve started work on draft 2.2 of Ashes of the Starry Sea, the novel that I finished back in April of 2008 (my first “finished” novel–and the project that spawned this blog).  My goal is to finish this draft by August 1st, 2009.

It is a beast of a novel–I’m predicting it will be at least 150,000 words.  The draft is currently at 158,000 words, but I’m going to have to add several scenes as well as vigorously trim out the bad writing.

And boy, is there a lot of bad writing in this draft!  I knew, when I wrote it, that I wasn’t that good, but holy cow!  Way too much introspection, way too much “tell”-iness, not nearly enough concrete details.  Too many adverbs, too much wordiness, especially in the scenes with the action.  This is going to be a deep revision.

BYU’s writing conference was a blast!  I’ll try to post more about it in the near future, hopefully tomorrow if I can get around to it.  The three editors who attended are open to submissions from the conference, and one of them prefers full manuscripts to partials, so on Saturday I printed up the full 2.0 draft of Genesis Earth.

Holding the full manuscript in my hands was surreal.  It’s one thing to write it out digitally and see it on your screen, but it is something else entirely to hold the tangible, physical thing in your hands.  I just…keep wanting to hold it.  It feels so real.

But yeah, I’m kind of uneasy sending the full manuscript off to this editor, especially since she hasn’t asked me for it specifically (she just told all the conference-goers that she prefers full manuscripts).  I don’t want to get in trouble sending my full ms out to multiple places, so my game plan is to send this to her ASAP so it can get rejected within the next 1-4 months (what she claimed was her turnaround time).

Because of that, I’m sending her a draft which could be more polished, but oh well.  Anything could be more polished–eventually, you just have to send your stuff out.  Besides, as pessimistic as this might sound, I do think that my mss has a fighting chance.  We’ll see what comes of this.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Welcome to Mars, a magical world of ancient ruins like giant glass chess sets and canals of wine and sandy desert seas. A world inhabited by golden eyed people who can telepathically project hallucinations–some of them still live up in the hills. A desolate, empty world, the next frontier for a new generation of pioneering spirits, each with different dreams, different reasons, different goals and outlooks on their new life in the new world. Some come with respect and reverence to the ancient world, while others come to exploit it. But no matter why they come, everyone is deeply and profoundly changed. Some never return.

Ray Bradbury is one of the biggest names in science fiction, and this book is one of his greatest works. A lot of my friends really love Bradbury, but strangely, I haven’t read a lot of him (Fahrenheit 451, way back in Middle School, and a few essays, but that’s pretty much it). After putting this book down, all I can say is wow. Now I know what my friends were talking about.

The Martian Chronicles is more of a collection of short stories than anything else. That’s understandable, when you consider that science fiction began with short stories, not with novels. Keep that in mind as you read it, too. This is not a book you can read all in one go; you have to take time between the chapters to let each one soak in, otherwise your mind will just get overloaded. Bradbury delivers a bang! ending to just about every story in this book, and some of them are really deep. My favorite one was the one with Sender, and how the fourth rocket discovered that all the Martians were killed off by the chicken pox. There are some really profound ideas in that one, and I loved reading it.

A lot of hard sf purists tend to call Bradbury a writer of fantasy disguised as science fiction, and I can see where they’re coming from. There’s nothing really scientific about this book; the Mars of Bradbury’s stories is a purely fantastic invention (even for the 50s). I remember the story about the third rocket, and how it landed on a grassy green lawn, and all the crew stepped out and found themselves in a little Ohio town, and all I could think was “what??” It was very fantastic, very surreal and even trippy at parts, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not so bad. And really, I’d argue with the whole “Bradbury = fantasy” thing–I think some of the ideas in these stories definitely blur the line between fantasy and science fiction.

One thing Bradbury is fantastically good at is infusing all of his writing with passion. There wasn’t a moment in this whole book when I couldn’t envision Bradbury himself, his eyes wide and bloodshot, gripping me by the shoulders and shaking me. His imagery was amazing, and his twist endings were incredible. You really read Bradbury for his prose and for his ideas; everything else takes a back seat, but he does so well with the first two that that’s ok.

These are the kinds of stories that stick with you long after you’ve read them. They might not be consistent with each other or follow in a coherent, logical order, but they will deeply and profoundly move you.