Current location:	Feeling Better Town
Current mood:	excited
Current music:	Buzzcocks

5,000 Words or Less?

OOOH! I just had the best idea. I was just thinking about how it's going to take me forever to come up with enough short stories to publish a book, and how I don't really feel like doing all the publishing and promoting by myself, but I don't feel like paying some agent to try and persuade some publishing company to do it... Then I had a breakthrough. I should get together with a handful of other short fiction writers from the Philadelphia area and publish a compilation of our best short stories. We can share the publication and promotional costs, and the profits. Not only would I have enough stories much quicker, but I'd also have a whole group of people promoting it, not to mention helping to pay for it. Wow. I'm sure there are lots of other writers like me, who can't finish a novel, but have all these short stories sitting around that they'd like to publish.

I can see it now. We could call it "5,000 Words or Less," or something, -- that's pretty good actually -- and we'd play up the local angle, "Five of Philadelphia's Best Short Fiction Writers," or something. Woo, I'm good. I could edit it and put that on my resume.. oo and use all the promos I'd create for my portfolio. Two birds! One stone! Ha!

I'm going to wait until I type up "It Ate Everything," which is finished and brilliant. Then I'm going to do A LOT of research and create a sort of business plan, for my potential fellow investors (and add THAT to my portfolio too). It'll be so cool. I'm psyched. Here's a rough outline, just off the top of my head...

1. Compile the best short stories from all writers involved
2. Proofread/edit
3. Create book layout
4. Come up with title/cover concept
5. Publish a short run through an adequate self-publishing company (Discmakers for writers)
6. Create book web site/myspace/facebook
7. Post ads on-line
8. Place displays/fliers in local businesses
9. Request reviews from web sites, magazines, etc.

Um... yeah, that's all I got at the moment. Of course, I'll break that down into more detail later. I'll probably make a Power Point. Yay!

I wish I had time to work on my plan this weekend, but I'm totally booked. I'll at least type that story up. It needs to be on-line. It's long as balls, though. Why do my stories keep getting longer and longer? Am I going to write a 400-page novel one day without even realizing it? I doubt it. I'm going to have to start paying someone else to type these jawns for me.

OK. That's all.