Something Amiss

I sent out the following newsletter to folks who get the Holly Lisle Writing Updates, but I don’t think it actually went to anyone, though the software reports that it did. So I’m thinking something in my mailing list program is broken.

If you received the following issue, please let me know.

So How About Quitting Your Day Job?

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I did. My older son called from Kuwait and we all got to talk to him before he went back into harm’s way (his job is a nightmare, and I spend a lot of time worrying), and my daughter and her fiance made the long drive to visit for a few hours. My younger son got enough Spy Gear to set up his own listening post, and he’s been merrily writing codes, setting up laser trip wires, and bugging the house. And me.

I’m setting up my work calendar for the next year, putting together my novel and nonfiction projects, and doing general planning.

Which brings me to quitting your day job.

Some of you have read my article How To Quit Your Day Job to Write Full Time. (If you haven’t, it’s here: https://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/quit.html)

The problem is, things have changed since I wrote that article. In some ways, they’ve gotten worse for writers. In some ways, they’ve gotten better.

The bad news: The three book death spiral is firmly in place, breaking in to pro publishing is no easier than it ever was, and even when you’ve published more than thirty books, keeping any of them in print is a miracle, and royalties are a joke. Advances are pretty good if you’ve been doing it for a while, but publishers are still a massive pain when it comes to paying what they owe in a timely fashion.

And that old advice about living on your royalties? Unless you become a bestseller and then STAY one, that will never happen. My royalty income this year (for the WHOLE year), was under a thousand dollars.

The good news: The Internet. Writers (and I’m one of them) are discovering ways to fill in for late-paying publishers, cancelled books, series killed by computer ordering, and the royalties that never come. If I were starting out as a writer today, I’d use the internet to create “royalties” before I quit the day job, and before I wrote my books.

I’m thinking about putting together a short gift e-book to show writers how to do this.

Whether you’re interested or not, please take a second to answer the quick three-question anonymous survey I’ve put together to help me figure out whether I should schedule the time to do this project:

https://hollylisle.com/phpforms/index.php?fid=79fc8f177a

No goodies appended to this one. Just my thanks for taking a minute of your time, and a possible new resource for the site if enough people want it.

This will be it from me until after the New Year, so I send my hopes that your next year will be better than your last, and that it is filled with good challenges, great learning, and the joy of living each moment well.

Never give up on your dreams,

Holly Lisle

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https://hollylisle.com/cac.html
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21 responses to “Something Amiss”

  1. dragonflo1 Avatar
    dragonflo1

    I received this email also, dated:
    Thursday, December 27, 2007 4:32:54 PM.

  2. HK Snapp Avatar
    HK Snapp

    I received it, thanks.

  3. Deedlit Avatar
    Deedlit

    I received it ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. ValMarie Avatar

    I haven’t received it yet. And I searched through my spam and my trash (in case I deleted it by accident). Although I am taking the survey using the link posted in your blog.

  5. shawna Avatar

    I got it at 1:31pm today… but my internet has been misbehaving since I got home tonight, so I just now went and saw it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. InkGypsy Avatar

    Got it today at 1:30pm – survey completed. I’m looking forward to the results ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. ron bruce Avatar
    ron bruce

    Got it as well….

  8. nicolane Avatar
    nicolane

    Sorry Holly my typo it isn’t Hollylist – it is Holly lisle >, it the > in the name and the < in the email address that is sending it to spam for me (fortunatley I was taking a quick wander through my spam to see if anyone had thought of something original, when this jumped out at me)

    But to cure things you could just post a note on your blog that this might have happened. It is also a good cautionary tale to people to check your spam every so often.

    thanks Holly

  9. eponin Avatar
    eponin

    I got it time-stamped at 4:28pm.

  10. peaceheather Avatar
    peaceheather

    I got it, time stamped 4:29pm.

  11. FMSeal Avatar
    FMSeal

    Found in my email at 3:45 pm MST.

  12. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    The old archives died with the DOA mail list program. I’ll set up archives for the new e-mails and make sure there’s a link to them.

    As for the Holly List thing, oh, man, that’s going to drive me NUTS. I cannot find where I made that particular typo in the program, and I have the awful feeling it’s going to be a bear to track down.

    Thanks for letting me know, though.

  13. Inkblot Avatar
    Inkblot

    I got it an hour ago ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks Holly, looking forward to this one…

  14. nicolane Avatar
    nicolane

    I got the newsletter approx half an hour ago – and it dropped into my spam folder because it was from “Holly List >” “<courses@” as opposed to “Holly Lisle” “courses@”

    I would also apreciate a link to past newsletters – the current ones are worth keeping so I am sure past ones would be to!

  15. madaboutbooks Avatar
    madaboutbooks

    I received it about 5 minutes ago.

  16. naomi Avatar

    I received it today. And just finished the survey. Looking forward to the results. ๐Ÿ™‚

  17. anderyn Avatar

    I got this one about five minutes ago. And came to the site.

    I’m very glad, btw, that you heard from your son in Kuwait. And that your daughter was well enough to come visit. Both of those things must have been a great relief!

  18. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    Yeah. Dada Mail did a very weird croak on me.

    Basically, I guess it comes down to “you get what you pay for.”

    I’ve upgraded to the newsletter software I wanted to begin with, and folks will start getting their newsletters again.

  19. TinaK Avatar

    I didn’t get this either Holly – but I did go to the survey from this post.

  20. tambo Avatar

    No, I did not receive it. Didn’t you have a link for *all* the mailings at one point? I tried to find it the other day, since I haven’t received anything for the writers block course in quite a while, but couldn’t.

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