TrueIdiocy or TrueBrilliance?
October 18, 2011 8:50 PM Subscribe
Good idea? filter: I am a huge fan of the show TrueBlood. In fact, I had an idea for a short story based on a storyline that I did not think they would pursue in the series. Well, a year later, the short story ended up being a book. I know I cannot publish it, but should I send it in to the show's producers? Lots more detail within...
A bit of background about me: I know that writing a book because you love a TV show is a weird thing to do, so let me explain the circumstances. I have always wanted to be a writer. When I was a child, I wrote all the time. However, my teen and young adult years were confusing and complicated times. My parents both lead unusual lives and, after their divorce, I bounced around the country like a ping-pong ball for the better part of twenty years. During this time, I did not write. It was enough to just figure out how to get by day-to-day. Then, during college, the process of writing a zillion papers to get my English degree just about killed any desire I had to ever write anything ever again.
Another six years passed with no ideas, no inspiration whatsoever, just a burgeoning desire to write something, anything. Then, I went through the worst year of my life and my whole world pretty much fell apart. I got hooked on watching TrueBlood, especially the episodes in Season 3, over and over. I don't know why exactly; maybe it was comforting because it provided an escape. Anyway, one day, I saw a hole, a storyline that I knew they would not pursue in Season 4 (and, as it turns out, I was right). Not having anything else to do, I decided it would be good practice to write my idea out. Besides, it was helpful to have something creative and fun to work on while I tried to put my life back together.
Cut to another year later, life is better and I am sitting on a 42,000 word manuscript. I know I cannot publish it because the characters belong to someone else. That is fine, money was never my goal with this project. I think the most I would hope for would be to get the wheels turning, so that one day I can make writing my career. More than anything, I am just grateful for the inspiration. Actually, since I began writing again, the floodgates have broken and I have two strong, original ideas for novels (one that I am already 5,000 words into), as well an idea for a children's book, which I am also working on.
Anyway, back to my question: I have let some friends and family members read my TrueBlood story and they have all been pushing me to send it into the show. They say it is very good and I trust they are being honest with me. However, my husband is afraid that I might get in some legal trouble if I send it in (copyright infringement, intellectual property theft, etc.). I don't know enough about it to make the decision. I want to send it in, but don't want to land us in hot water. What should I do?
A bit of background about me: I know that writing a book because you love a TV show is a weird thing to do, so let me explain the circumstances. I have always wanted to be a writer. When I was a child, I wrote all the time. However, my teen and young adult years were confusing and complicated times. My parents both lead unusual lives and, after their divorce, I bounced around the country like a ping-pong ball for the better part of twenty years. During this time, I did not write. It was enough to just figure out how to get by day-to-day. Then, during college, the process of writing a zillion papers to get my English degree just about killed any desire I had to ever write anything ever again.
Another six years passed with no ideas, no inspiration whatsoever, just a burgeoning desire to write something, anything. Then, I went through the worst year of my life and my whole world pretty much fell apart. I got hooked on watching TrueBlood, especially the episodes in Season 3, over and over. I don't know why exactly; maybe it was comforting because it provided an escape. Anyway, one day, I saw a hole, a storyline that I knew they would not pursue in Season 4 (and, as it turns out, I was right). Not having anything else to do, I decided it would be good practice to write my idea out. Besides, it was helpful to have something creative and fun to work on while I tried to put my life back together.
Cut to another year later, life is better and I am sitting on a 42,000 word manuscript. I know I cannot publish it because the characters belong to someone else. That is fine, money was never my goal with this project. I think the most I would hope for would be to get the wheels turning, so that one day I can make writing my career. More than anything, I am just grateful for the inspiration. Actually, since I began writing again, the floodgates have broken and I have two strong, original ideas for novels (one that I am already 5,000 words into), as well an idea for a children's book, which I am also working on.
Anyway, back to my question: I have let some friends and family members read my TrueBlood story and they have all been pushing me to send it into the show. They say it is very good and I trust they are being honest with me. However, my husband is afraid that I might get in some legal trouble if I send it in (copyright infringement, intellectual property theft, etc.). I don't know enough about it to make the decision. I want to send it in, but don't want to land us in hot water. What should I do?
It's not really a question of getting in hot water -- you may write whatever the heck you want to write about True Blood or anything else on TV. You can't make money off of it, however -- that's where the legalities would come into play.
In terms of sending it in to the show producers -- I have direct, firsthand experience of this (on the production side) and I have to tell you that in almost every case your work will be thrown into the trash and/or returned to you immediately with a form letter stating that it was not read and will not be read. Almost no production companies, producers, writers, etc will accept unsolicited material, because then you might want to sue them later for "stealing your idea." (These kinds of lawsuits actually still do happen all the time.)
So I think you need to just celebrate what you've accomplished, hold on to your newfound inspiration, and keep going on your original ideas.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:55 PM on October 18, 2011 [11 favorites]
In terms of sending it in to the show producers -- I have direct, firsthand experience of this (on the production side) and I have to tell you that in almost every case your work will be thrown into the trash and/or returned to you immediately with a form letter stating that it was not read and will not be read. Almost no production companies, producers, writers, etc will accept unsolicited material, because then you might want to sue them later for "stealing your idea." (These kinds of lawsuits actually still do happen all the time.)
So I think you need to just celebrate what you've accomplished, hold on to your newfound inspiration, and keep going on your original ideas.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:55 PM on October 18, 2011 [11 favorites]
Most decent writers/producers aren't going to touch your story/book, because if they then produce a show or a spinoff book or something with the same or similar plot and you can prove they've read your material, there's the fear that you'll sue them for stealing your idea without credit/payment. Many authors won't ever read fans' writing and show runners won't accept unsolicited show ideas from the public for this very reason.
posted by xingcat at 8:56 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by xingcat at 8:56 PM on October 18, 2011
Shows tend to make sure things like this that get sent in are never seen by any writers or creators of the show, because of the possibility of a lawsuit. I know sometimes shows accept spec scripts for specific episodes, but that's not what you're proposing to send them. And since Charlene Harris is continuing to write the series, you have no shot at the authorized book sort of deal that sometimes happens with shows like Buffy and the X-Files. You could publish it on the internet as regular fanfic (which is what you've written...and there are novel-length fanfics out there) and leave it as good writing practice.
posted by PussKillian at 8:57 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by PussKillian at 8:57 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
However, my husband is afraid that I might get in some legal trouble if I send it in (copyright infringement, intellectual property theft, etc.).
It could only be any of those things if you publish it and sell it.
Generally, fan fiction is considered 'fair use'. Plenty of fan fic out on the internet (for free, of course), but no one in jail.
But you know that True Blood is based on a series of novels, right? It's likely that the rights belong to the author, not the the studio, which may only have the TV rights.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:59 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
It could only be any of those things if you publish it and sell it.
Generally, fan fiction is considered 'fair use'. Plenty of fan fic out on the internet (for free, of course), but no one in jail.
But you know that True Blood is based on a series of novels, right? It's likely that the rights belong to the author, not the the studio, which may only have the TV rights.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:59 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Echoing everyone else. You've written fan fiction, yay! I'm not really into that scene so I don't have anywhere to direct you, but I can almost guarantee that a 42k word trueblood fanfic would be well received and much-adored by some tb fanfic community somewhere.
posted by kavasa at 9:00 PM on October 18, 2011 [11 favorites]
posted by kavasa at 9:00 PM on October 18, 2011 [11 favorites]
The original books weren't very good; I think that if you re-write it to clean it of any True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse residues, you might have success shopping it as an original novel/novelette.
Best of luck!
posted by porpoise at 9:03 PM on October 18, 2011
Best of luck!
posted by porpoise at 9:03 PM on October 18, 2011
There's one other side of this -- if you wanted to move to L.A. and pursue a career in writing for TV, you could turn that into a spec episode which then you could use to try to get an agent, and which your agent would then send around as an example of your (hopefully great) writing, which then might lead to actual paying work, without that True Blood-inspired work ever being sold because you don't hold any of the underlying rights.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:04 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:04 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
The original books weren't very good; I think that if you re-write it to clean it of any True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse residues, you might have success shopping it as an original novel/novelette.
Except novelettes are almost impossible to sell if you're a debut author.
Post it on fanfiction.net! You're guaranteed to get some praise and solid feedback. Then use that to spur yourself to writing original fiction.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:12 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
Except novelettes are almost impossible to sell if you're a debut author.
Post it on fanfiction.net! You're guaranteed to get some praise and solid feedback. Then use that to spur yourself to writing original fiction.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:12 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
Seconding kavasa — and I also want to add that finding a receptive fanfic-loving audience online and publishing your novel for them chapter-by-chapter, if done carefully and with a bit of luck, could be a way of building up a small but enthusiastic audience of fans who will also be interested in encouraging, reading, and promoting your original novels later you're done with them. (And writing a novel because you love a TV show totally isn't a weird thing to do. If you hang out with fanfic-oriented people, it seems like it happens to people all the time!)
posted by dreamyshade at 9:18 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dreamyshade at 9:18 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I know that writing a book because you love a TV show is a weird thing to do
Not weird at all, huge wonderful communities are devoted to this, you should join one and enjoy yourself. :)
Just a word of advice: Wanting to be a "writer" is sometimes a bit like wanting to be astronaut; it sure sounds cool but a lot of us expressing that desire aren't really aware of what that actually means as a job, we just see ourselves up there and love the idea.
You don't need to be a "writer" to write, to write well, to enjoy writing, to share your work with others etc. I think sometimes people with an urge to write and perhaps a measure of talent are encouraged by others push that as far as it can go, and if they don't, they're not "realising their potential", "making the most of it", being cowards etc etc etc. As if, if you're not "trying" to be a writer, your writing is maybe not worth it, not good enough, you don't want it bad enough, and if you are trying to be a writer then you have somehow "made it", and it's proof that you're a good writer etc etc etc.
This is all bullshit. If you want to take it further, by all means go for it. But don't let anyone try to dictate how and why you should write. This is your thing; you do it how you want it,how you feel comfortable. The fact that so much utter horseshit is published should tip you off that writing is absolutely not a meritocracy - but I think a lot of people on both sides of the publishing divide are invested in promoting that myth for one reason or another.
Your novella sounds like a great addition to a fanfiction community, and I think you would find it very rewarding to share it there. Also, post it to Mefi Projects! There are people here who would love to read it. Best of luck, and congratulations. :)
posted by smoke at 9:22 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
Not weird at all, huge wonderful communities are devoted to this, you should join one and enjoy yourself. :)
Just a word of advice: Wanting to be a "writer" is sometimes a bit like wanting to be astronaut; it sure sounds cool but a lot of us expressing that desire aren't really aware of what that actually means as a job, we just see ourselves up there and love the idea.
You don't need to be a "writer" to write, to write well, to enjoy writing, to share your work with others etc. I think sometimes people with an urge to write and perhaps a measure of talent are encouraged by others push that as far as it can go, and if they don't, they're not "realising their potential", "making the most of it", being cowards etc etc etc. As if, if you're not "trying" to be a writer, your writing is maybe not worth it, not good enough, you don't want it bad enough, and if you are trying to be a writer then you have somehow "made it", and it's proof that you're a good writer etc etc etc.
This is all bullshit. If you want to take it further, by all means go for it. But don't let anyone try to dictate how and why you should write. This is your thing; you do it how you want it,how you feel comfortable. The fact that so much utter horseshit is published should tip you off that writing is absolutely not a meritocracy - but I think a lot of people on both sides of the publishing divide are invested in promoting that myth for one reason or another.
Your novella sounds like a great addition to a fanfiction community, and I think you would find it very rewarding to share it there. Also, post it to Mefi Projects! There are people here who would love to read it. Best of luck, and congratulations. :)
posted by smoke at 9:22 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
Have you thought about turning that story into a tv script? You can submit television scripts to different writer's fellowships such as CBS, Disney/ABC, Warner Brother's, etc. This is how a lot of young talent get their foot in the doors. (WB accepts True Blood scripts)
posted by cazoo at 9:44 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by cazoo at 9:44 PM on October 18, 2011
Besides fanfiction.net, get a free account at archiveofourown.com which is a non-profit huuuuuge fan site. Get a livejournal or dreamwidth account (also free - paid gives you more storage mostly for pictures) and start reading and then posting to the many many True Blood fan communities. Lts of people have written shorts and novellas set in True Blood and will avidly readyours, and give comments and critiques once they get to know you.
Welcome to fandom :-)
There are 248 True Blood stories already at AOOO (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/True%20Blood/works) and way more on Livejournal communities.
The Sookie Stackhouse books are trashy, but I was pleasantly surprised by her Lily Bard series and shorts. I think she's a better writer than the latest Sookie books show.
Oh, and the TV writers in fandom - there are quite a few! not writing in their day job universe, but in other fandoms - have repeatedly written that they cannot legally read fan works. I'm sure they do, but it's completely off the record and they can't acknowledge them at all.
You can however send in a polite enquiry to the production house and ask for the spec guidelines. I vaguely remember Jane Espenson writing about this - she famously came from fandom and is now a major TV showrunner/writer. Her blog has plenty of articles, starting here: http://www.janeespenson.com/archives/00000013.php
You'd have to do it in screenplay format, but that could be fun too! If you just want to be read and discuss the crazy voices in your head, fandom is the place for you *g* Where else can we spend three hours dissecting exactly what a two-minute scene means for character development?
posted by viggorlijah at 9:50 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Welcome to fandom :-)
There are 248 True Blood stories already at AOOO (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/True%20Blood/works) and way more on Livejournal communities.
The Sookie Stackhouse books are trashy, but I was pleasantly surprised by her Lily Bard series and shorts. I think she's a better writer than the latest Sookie books show.
Oh, and the TV writers in fandom - there are quite a few! not writing in their day job universe, but in other fandoms - have repeatedly written that they cannot legally read fan works. I'm sure they do, but it's completely off the record and they can't acknowledge them at all.
You can however send in a polite enquiry to the production house and ask for the spec guidelines. I vaguely remember Jane Espenson writing about this - she famously came from fandom and is now a major TV showrunner/writer. Her blog has plenty of articles, starting here: http://www.janeespenson.com/archives/00000013.php
You'd have to do it in screenplay format, but that could be fun too! If you just want to be read and discuss the crazy voices in your head, fandom is the place for you *g* Where else can we spend three hours dissecting exactly what a two-minute scene means for character development?
posted by viggorlijah at 9:50 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
On a slightly related note, I talked to Charlene Harris about fan fiction based off of her characters, and she was not a big fan. So, if you ever get the urge to send her a copy, thinking that she might be flattered, you should just take that effort and put it towards something else. She was a very nice woman, but when I brought up the topic of fan fiction, she gave me a big eye-roll and said that she didn't think it was a good idea.
I have a family member who has written a very long story based off of her books, and it seems like there are a lot of people who read that story, so get your stuff online (knowing you can't ever make a cent off of it) and see what people think!
posted by markblasco at 10:03 PM on October 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
I have a family member who has written a very long story based off of her books, and it seems like there are a lot of people who read that story, so get your stuff online (knowing you can't ever make a cent off of it) and see what people think!
posted by markblasco at 10:03 PM on October 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
However, my husband is afraid that I might get in some legal trouble if I send it in (copyright infringement, intellectual property theft, etc.)
send it in, for christ's sake. but i'd give them a bit, not the whole thing. find an agent to push your work first.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:10 PM on October 18, 2011
send it in, for christ's sake. but i'd give them a bit, not the whole thing. find an agent to push your work first.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:10 PM on October 18, 2011
Nthing above--don't send it--no one will acknowledge it, read it or care. Store under bed, write your own work.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:01 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 11:01 PM on October 18, 2011
I'd say publish it as fan fiction (after looking around the appropriate board to see how it works), and go on to your next writing project.
Otherwise, if you try and send it in, BlahLaLa described the most likely outcomes. Unfortunately, sometimes our favorite TV shows don't go the places we want them to go, and there's little we can do directly to change that. The best we can do, like you did, is create fan fiction and share it with other fans.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:02 PM on October 18, 2011
Otherwise, if you try and send it in, BlahLaLa described the most likely outcomes. Unfortunately, sometimes our favorite TV shows don't go the places we want them to go, and there's little we can do directly to change that. The best we can do, like you did, is create fan fiction and share it with other fans.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:02 PM on October 18, 2011
She was a very nice woman, but when I brought up the topic of fan fiction, she gave me a big eye-roll and said that she didn't think it was a good idea.
I'm sure she doesn't spend a lot of time reading it. Her experienced may be limited to trashy, badly written teen fantasies of homosexual relationships between completely inappropriate characters.
posted by missmagenta at 12:19 AM on October 19, 2011
I'm sure she doesn't spend a lot of time reading it. Her experienced may be limited to trashy, badly written teen fantasies of homosexual relationships between completely inappropriate characters.
posted by missmagenta at 12:19 AM on October 19, 2011
First, find out if they have an open script policy. If they do, which means they will consider scripts from people not already on their staff, turn your story into a shooting acript for a *future* episode and send it.
If it's returned, publish it as fan fiction.
Anecdotally, a long time ago my Dad sent a script to a famous British comedian. He got a letter sayi g that Comedian didn't have an open script policy so couldn't accept it, but that he had read it and found it very funny, particularly the elephant sketch. So it's not inevitable that everything you submit to anyone will instantly be converted into loo paper.
posted by tel3path at 12:22 AM on October 19, 2011
If it's returned, publish it as fan fiction.
Anecdotally, a long time ago my Dad sent a script to a famous British comedian. He got a letter sayi g that Comedian didn't have an open script policy so couldn't accept it, but that he had read it and found it very funny, particularly the elephant sketch. So it's not inevitable that everything you submit to anyone will instantly be converted into loo paper.
posted by tel3path at 12:22 AM on October 19, 2011
The folks above are right, re: Charlaine Harris or the True Blood scriptwriters refusing to even glance at your stuff for legal reasons.
I'm blanking on her name right now, but there's a prominent science fiction author who USED to try to help aspiring writers.... then when she had a new entry in her long-running series of books about to come out, she read something from a fan/aspiring writer that, totally coincidentally, had some situations in common with the pro's book already in the pipeline. The fan (urged by her husband) sued the pro for creative credit, and amazingly won. The pro's book got pulled, and she can't write ANYTHING else in that imaginary universe ever again without putting the fan as co-author (and giving her half the profits!), even though the pro invented that world from scratch and the fan used the pro's characters etc etc. That pro said she learned the hard way, and now TOTALLY refuses to even accept any mail from anyone unknown, let alone read their work.
posted by easily confused at 2:58 AM on October 19, 2011
I'm blanking on her name right now, but there's a prominent science fiction author who USED to try to help aspiring writers.... then when she had a new entry in her long-running series of books about to come out, she read something from a fan/aspiring writer that, totally coincidentally, had some situations in common with the pro's book already in the pipeline. The fan (urged by her husband) sued the pro for creative credit, and amazingly won. The pro's book got pulled, and she can't write ANYTHING else in that imaginary universe ever again without putting the fan as co-author (and giving her half the profits!), even though the pro invented that world from scratch and the fan used the pro's characters etc etc. That pro said she learned the hard way, and now TOTALLY refuses to even accept any mail from anyone unknown, let alone read their work.
posted by easily confused at 2:58 AM on October 19, 2011
What easily confused said has never happened. There has never been an author who was prohibited from writing stories in her own universe. There was an issue with Marion Zimmer Bradley where she wanted to use a fan's idea for a Darkover novel she was writing. She and the fan disagreed on how much credit & money the fan should receive and either she threatened to sue the fan or the fan threatened to sue her and so the novel was shelved. However, Bradley still wrote Darkover novels. Incidentally, Bradley is dead.
Details on this are here, here, and here.
posted by nooneyouknow at 4:21 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Details on this are here, here, and here.
posted by nooneyouknow at 4:21 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Here is a better summation of the Marion Zimmer Bradley fan fic incident: Marion Zimmer Bradley vs. Fanfiction
posted by nooneyouknow at 4:26 AM on October 19, 2011
posted by nooneyouknow at 4:26 AM on October 19, 2011
The problem with your question is that I'm not clear why you want to send it to them. If you want a pat on the back for writing something awesome, post it on a fan fic site instead. If you want them to adapt it into a script and actually make it, well, they aren't. If you want to use it as a calling card to become a professional screenwriter then this isn't the way to go about it and you should follow some of the advice in this thread.
posted by ninebelow at 4:30 AM on October 19, 2011
posted by ninebelow at 4:30 AM on October 19, 2011
Welcome to the world of fanfiction, it's fun. A gajillion fans write fanfiction for a gajillion shows/movies/books/comics/bands/what-have-you. Congratulations, you may have found Your People.
Now for the First Rule of Fan Fiction: do not send it to the authors/producers/actors/editors. At best, they won't read it. At worst, they'll try to crack down on everybody else who is writing fan fiction in that particular universe. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the name of the game, for most fandoms (there are some notable exceptions, but they are few and far between).
The Second Rule of Fan Fiction: have fun, write about whatever inspires you, and know that you're not at all weird for wanting to do so. Hooray.
posted by lydhre at 5:58 AM on October 19, 2011 [2 favorites]
Now for the First Rule of Fan Fiction: do not send it to the authors/producers/actors/editors. At best, they won't read it. At worst, they'll try to crack down on everybody else who is writing fan fiction in that particular universe. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the name of the game, for most fandoms (there are some notable exceptions, but they are few and far between).
The Second Rule of Fan Fiction: have fun, write about whatever inspires you, and know that you're not at all weird for wanting to do so. Hooray.
posted by lydhre at 5:58 AM on October 19, 2011 [2 favorites]
Just popped in to nth everyone saying that you shouldn't send it in.
BUT the idea that you should post it chapter-by-chapter both to FF.net, AOOO and your own blog is a pretty good one -- not just to get it out there but to build a fanbase for your future original novels. Please see Cassandra Clare, author of both the bestselling Mortal Instruments trilogy and the well-loved LotR fanfic The Very Secret Diaries.
posted by AmandaA at 6:49 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
BUT the idea that you should post it chapter-by-chapter both to FF.net, AOOO and your own blog is a pretty good one -- not just to get it out there but to build a fanbase for your future original novels. Please see Cassandra Clare, author of both the bestselling Mortal Instruments trilogy and the well-loved LotR fanfic The Very Secret Diaries.
posted by AmandaA at 6:49 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Setting aside the very real fact that they won't read it for fear of being sued, given the fact that every episode has to fit into that season's pre-planned story arc, and that there's no such thing as a stand-alone episode, the only thing you can get out of adapting it into a shooting script is a piece of writing you can use to try to get work on other shows, as BlahLaLa said. That is something you need to have if you want to write for TV. If you do this, though, you'll have to be sure it really looks and feels like a True Blood episode, which is probably going to mean losing the bulk of it. A single hour of show doesn't tend to have a novel's worth of story in it.
Plenty of working writers have an unpublished first novel or two under their belts. Having a built-in (albeit non-paying) audience who will be happy to read one and remember the name on it is a pretty good deal.
posted by Adventurer at 10:00 AM on October 19, 2011 [2 favorites]
Plenty of working writers have an unpublished first novel or two under their belts. Having a built-in (albeit non-paying) audience who will be happy to read one and remember the name on it is a pretty good deal.
posted by Adventurer at 10:00 AM on October 19, 2011 [2 favorites]
dreamyshade: "...and I also want to add that finding a receptive fanfic-loving audience online and publishing your novel for them chapter-by-chapter."
I agree whole-heartedly. I'm a big fan of blogging about what you like in order to further a career. If you really want to be a writer, starting a blog and getting a little following with this book is an excellent way to begin. Making friends with like-minded bloggers is always a good idea, no matter what your interest.
Publish one chapter a month, and by the end maybe you'll have another, original book (or set of stories or whatever) to start publishing.
One note: Don't add advertising to your blog, or you (further) open yourself up to copyright problems.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:18 PM on October 19, 2011
I agree whole-heartedly. I'm a big fan of blogging about what you like in order to further a career. If you really want to be a writer, starting a blog and getting a little following with this book is an excellent way to begin. Making friends with like-minded bloggers is always a good idea, no matter what your interest.
Publish one chapter a month, and by the end maybe you'll have another, original book (or set of stories or whatever) to start publishing.
One note: Don't add advertising to your blog, or you (further) open yourself up to copyright problems.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:18 PM on October 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lia at 8:55 PM on October 18, 2011 [9 favorites]