Sunday, May 23, 2021

A Week in Writing #352 - What Does it Mean to Be Published?


Hope everyone is staying safe and writing.

This past Wednesday, we dropped the 11th issue of Powers Squared. The issue is available on five different platforms and in print and digital formats. I remember the day we published the first issue and really not that much has changed about the experience. While I want to be excited about each new issue's release, every time is pretty much like the one before, which means nothing seems to change.

We publish on a Wednesday, which is traditionally new comic book day, at least in the U.S. The date is chosen, not by us but by ComiXology, the first site we published on. Since then, despite moving to additional platforms, we've let them set the date. They are, after all, the largest one we publish on.

But the actual day is no different than any other Wednesday, except that I have additional work to do. I still go to work, even if it's working from home, go to meetings, etc., and clock out at the end of the day no different than when I started the day. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to change but the fact is nothing does. Worse yet, there is usually no more money in the bank because of it.

As a writer, you really want people to read and hopefully enjoy your work. You might not expect to get rich off your endeavors but you really want a reaction of some kind. I know that comic books might not be considered high literature to some but it is storytelling, a collaborative creative effort, and something that I'm very proud of. I just wish others would be aware of it and we would hear some feedback from those who had. Is that too much to ask?

While I wait for that answer, let's move on.

Ever have to buy a printer in a hurry? I did. The printer we had been using for several years now ran out of ink and I had neglected to order any.  After ordering more, my wife and I went to our local Office Depot to get a new cartridge of black ink. We put it in and got a message that the ink cartridge was damaged. Never had gotten that message before, so back to the store, the woman gives us a new one, we take it home and it's damaged, too. We did a little research and it appeared it wasn't something wrong with the cartridge but the printer.

As we're both working from home, printing is really something you can't wait the few days it might take to get the printer fixed. And there was no telling if it could be fixed at all and would it cost as much as a new printer would. Couldn't take the time, so a new printer we bought. Maybe it's nostalgia but we miss the other printer. Isn't that just the way it is?

In other writing, I actually had a really good day working on Skylar. Saturday morning and afternoon I was sort of on a roll and hit that proverbial 1000 words a day and then some. It really felt good. That's a feeling I miss most nights.

No new queries this week, as I'm holding at five out. I'll check the status of those and decide if I need to DNR one and send out a new one. But if I can save myself the stress one week, I'm not above doing that.

This Saturday night, rather than draining the DVR, we watched a blu-ray disc of The Sign of the Cross (1932). I'm working on that review and am about 2000 words into it. In other review news, this past Saturday's review of Resident Evil Village (PS5), by Paul, was the blog's 1200th. In the week prior, in order to get to 1200, we had How to Train Your Dragon week, with reviews of all three films, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, respectively. The first was written by Trevor and the other two by Paul.

In other news, my sons and I finally got our second vaccine shot this past Tuesday. Hope if you're not fully vaccinated, you're in the process.

Well, that's about all for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

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