An Update on Writing, In Two Parts

First: I received the "Letter of Doom" from HarperVoyager yesterday. I didn't get in, needless to say (would you call it a Letter of Doom if you did? I suppose it could go both ways).

This was the contest that opened last October and was open to all fantasy/sci-fi authors, promising digital publication for a select few. They said they wanted to publish at least one book a month (but would undoubtedly take more of there were more than twelve awesome books). So, already the chances were higher than ABNA, though I didn't have a whole lot of hope for myself. I do like entering these contests as an exercise in pitch-writing, which I think I need to get better at. Are there classes for such things?

Anyway. I'm glad to finally know, and no worries, I'm not disappointed. Now I'm free to enter more contests! (Or send it off to agents... actually, how about I start that editing process soon, hmm?)

Second, and more uplifting: a little while ago I sent off some applications to write for various blogs and magazines and websites. Almost all of these were on a "paid with experience" basis, which I am perfectly okay with. I just need something to fill my otherwise unemployed time, and having publications out there with something legitimate never hurts, either!

So, a few days ago in my inbox there was an e-mail offering a spot as a regular columnist with an online magazine. I won't go into too much detail yet as I don't have all the details yet myself, but... I'm excited!

AND THEN this morning there was another e-mail in my inbox from one I'd applied to a while ago and thought had probably overlooked me. It's really nice when an e-mail is like "sorry this took so long" but "by the way, you're on the shortlist!" And for this one, there's money involved. I had to quote a price per article in my application. Having absolutely no idea, I did a bit of research and erred on the cheap side from that research--$20/article.

So: I'm writing a trial article for them (todayifoundout.com if you want to look 'em up!), and if they like that enough (and I don't have competition that's too fierce!) I might be invited to write for them regularly (and get paid, too!).

Obviously this isn't "quit my day job" money, but it's money for writing! This is what I've wanted since I was a kid. And I get to learn random facts along the way--what could be better?