The Bouncy Castle in Space

timp67

Guinea pig in the laboratory of God
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Thanks for the tip, Alanna B.! I am ready to PLAY. :)
 

Smish

Reads more than she writes.
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Sigh. Thanks, timp. Now that's going to be stuck in my head for days... and I'll be singing gibberish to people. :D
 

MsJudy

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You didn't see the margarita maker? Judy hid it behind the pinball machine. Sneaky girl, that one. :rolleyes:

What, me?! Nuh-uh! I didn't do it! I was just...um...keeping it safe from the wolves. Ask timp. He started it.
 

MJWare

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Did anyone see last week's episode of Community? I have a feeling our bouncing castle is going to end with broken bones and Nazi's!!! =-(
 

Morrell

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Figures I would come up with the prompt for the month NO ONE writes anything... :( Le sigh....

Sorry Che--I doubt if I'll do it this month, but it's not because of your prompt, I promise!!! I'm doing NaNo, and that's about all I can manage right now. Plus, you know, all the other stuff life is flinging at me, like progress reports/parent teacher conferences, and prior commitments that cut into my writing time, and my daughter's minor car accident (everyone is fine, but it was still upsetting). I'll let the miniature world thing percolate, though... maybe I'll surprise myself! : )
 

Alanna B.

Um,yeah so... ok then.
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I love tire swings. :D
Me too, as long as they don't become infested with wasps, which this one will not because there are no wasps allowed in the bouncy house :).

*Swing swing swing, is that a skylight? Timp did you build that?

ETA: I will certainly respond to the prompt next time, this month is kicking my ass.
 
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CheG

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Sorry Che--I doubt if I'll do it this month, but it's not because of your prompt, I promise!!! I'm doing NaNo, and that's about all I can manage right now. Plus, you know, all the other stuff life is flinging at me, like progress reports/parent teacher conferences, and prior commitments that cut into my writing time, and my daughter's minor car accident (everyone is fine, but it was still upsetting). I'll let the miniature world thing percolate, though... maybe I'll surprise myself! : )

:) Everyone is busy with NaNo. I completely forgot about it! It's not something I can do.

No worries though- I may volunteer again in the future
 

mbroadway

Owned a Monkey — Once
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Well, thanks to your castle-mate, Sissybaby, I have inadvertently wandered into this group. She emailed me regarding the great stroke of luck that mware discussed regarding his short story book. How marvelous is that? Very, sez I.

Since it's fairly warm and cozy in here, I think I'll rant for a few moments. I need something like that to happen to me and my writing efforts. I'm going to investigate smashwords and see what that's all about. I'm actually getting a bit tired of waiting for agents to make an offer on any of my middle grade novels.

I've been thinking lately of going the self-publishing or POD route. Maybe I could get some sales through Amazon. Or perhaps I should call up my years of experience in editing and proofing and offer that service to writers. Or my years of experience in graphic design design, layout and production art, purchase a new copy of Adobe InDesign for my Mac and set up a manuscript design and production service for other authors wishing to publish through Lightning Source or CreateSpace or other avenues.

Or maybe I should just take a nap since it's so quiet and comfy in here.
 

jvc

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Before your nap, don't forget to bounce around for a while. Things can seem so much clearer after a few bounces in the castle. :D
 

Alanna B.

Um,yeah so... ok then.
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mbroadway,
I think pretty much all of us can relate to the waiting game. (And the head banging that goes along with it). I'm sure you know that nothing that matters is gained without a certain level of persistence. This is the perfect place to sit back, relax and ponder the many facets of the writing world. Good luck with your decision. While you're here, slide into the hot tub, have a margarita (if you can find the hidden machine) and hop on the tire swing for a bit. :)
 

MJWare

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Well, thanks to your castle-mate, Sissybaby, I have inadvertently wandered into this group. She emailed me regarding the great stroke of luck that mware discussed regarding his short story book. How marvelous is that? Very, sez I.

Since it's fairly warm and cozy in here, I think I'll rant for a few moments. I need something like that to happen to me and my writing efforts. I'm going to investigate smashwords and see what that's all about. I'm actually getting a bit tired of waiting for agents to make an offer on any of my middle grade novels.

I've been thinking lately of going the self-publishing or POD route. Maybe I could get some sales through Amazon. Or perhaps I should call up my years of experience in editing and proofing and offer that service to writers. Or my years of experience in graphic design design, layout and production art, purchase a new copy of Adobe InDesign for my Mac and set up a manuscript design and production service for other authors wishing to publish through Lightning Source or CreateSpace or other avenues.

Or maybe I should just take a nap since it's so quiet and comfy in here.

The biggest problem with Indie publishing (Indie publishing just sounds better than self-pub) is that MG aged kids don't have eReaders and (most) adults don't read MG.

I've gotten about 9,000 downloads of my short Monster in the Mirror by offering it for (mostly) free. However, that's only translated into about 50 sales of my $2.99 short story collection (in about 6 weeks).

I know a YA author who's making over 10k a month. But lots of adults buy YA.

For me self-publishing the shorts has been a good alternative to publishing them, because there's so few kid mags that pay well. But, except for the Amazon promotion, I'm not making much $$$.

Still, in a year or two, I think a lot more MG kids will start getting e-readers, so it might be diffident then.

On a personal note, I'm starting to feel the pain of R's that everyone else is so familiar with. I've gotten two R's just today, one on a full.

I thought magazine R's were hard; I'm learning a lot respect for those of you who have been submitting for years!
 

mbroadway

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To Mware, et al...

Speaking of the dreaded "R," I wrote a blog post yesterday on where publishing used to be and were it is now, along with my thoughts on where it may be heading.

The only reason I bring that up is because, as I was writing it, I recalled a memorable rejection I once received. And this will serve to illustrate how long I've been writing.

I won't spill the beans here, but if you'd like to take a minute to read THE POST, you may be surprised to see a VERY familiar name. Today I feel kind of honored that I was rejected by someone so famous. I would feel much better today if she had sent me an acceptance letter. LOL!

Good luck, Mike, and everyone else who heads into the Indie publishing arena. I'm thinking it may be the best option with the way things are heading.
 

MJWare

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Speaking of the dreaded "R," I wrote a blog post yesterday on where publishing used to be and were it is now, along with my thoughts on where it may be heading.

The only reason I bring that up is because, as I was writing it, I recalled a memorable rejection I once received. And this will serve to illustrate how long I've been writing.

I won't spill the beans here, but if you'd like to take a minute to read THE POST, you may be surprised to see a VERY familiar name. Today I feel kind of honored that I was rejected by someone so famous. I would feel much better today if she had sent me an acceptance letter. LOL!

Good luck, Mike, and everyone else who heads into the Indie publishing arena. I'm thinking it may be the best option with the way things are heading.

Great post. I still remember in the 6th grade, when I started using an Apple II, I was like wow, this is so much better than a typewriter.
Anyone who's thinking about Indie publishing should visit the Kindleboards.com. Several guys over their are making a living (most marginal) self-publishing. If you are willing to write romance, it seems fairly easy in fact (no, that's not for me). But everyone over there is a great help.

I'm also glad to answer any questions that forum members have about the it (though I'm not expert, I've been doing it long enough to know some of the pitfalls to avoid).

I think publishing at least a novella or collection of shorts does help build a platform and doesn't cost much. I pay $1-0.85 cents a page for proof reading and my last cover was just $50. If you have some Photoshop skills you can do free covers.

Personally, I haven't given up on traditional publishing. But I see Indie publishing as becoming a viable alternative for at least YA authors.

BTW: Here's a couple of my covers: Monster in the Mirror was $50, the other one was free using a NASA (public domain) photo.
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