Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

More news from isolation, and plans

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I know, this is getting boring. We’re still here, tenth day of isolation, waiting for the next supply drop, and trying to devise some more contingency plans as the situation looks bleak: a new lockdown on the horizon, the country’s economy stalling, no jobs coming my way, payments fizzing out…

Which is depressing for me, I don’t see why it should be for you too.

Because there’s also good news.
I’m also writing like mad – a testament to Michael Moorcock’s idea that creditors are an infinite source of inspiration.
And I do not know if I’m ever going to write something as good as the Hawkmoon series – I am no Moorcock, alas – but consider this: between January and August I had submitted 33 stories. In the following six weeks, I have submitted another 35, and I am now at 68 submitted stories – and yesterday I sold one, and also received a very complimentary mail from the editor.
It’s good for the soul, and the accounts.

And when I mentioned I’d like to offer online courses starting this November, I was asked by some to do a course on

how to sell stories to foreign magazines

Because let’s be clear – domestic magazines won’t pay you. Not really.

And so I have been thinking about it.
I did a post, at the start of the year – when everything was looking up – about what I called the Bradbury-Heinlein Method.
In the intervening months, I have refined it, turning it into the Bradbury-Heinlein-Zelazny Method … that is a mouthful, but it seems to be working in a good(ish) way.
My average is a 23% sales.

I might call it BHZ Method and try and bottle it up and sell it.

It might be fun – and it might keep the lights on.

Author: Davide Mana

Paleontologist. By day, researcher, teacher and ecological statistics guru. By night, pulp fantasy author-publisher, translator and blogger. In the spare time, Orientalist Anonymous, guerilla cook.

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