Tag Archive | weblit

Weekend, with non-weekend musings, questions, and such…

This weekend was a weekend of “oh, well, maybe later?” We went a lot of places, but mostly achieved very little. However, it RAINED! Lots! *dances around in the rain*
(Also, we did a lot of shopping, but that’s not all that exciting).
- I’ve been thinking that for Lexember — or possibly before — I’ll do two “translation” projects — a portion of an illuminated page in Old Tongue (the language of the Ellehemaei in Fae Apoc/Addergoole) and a poem in Calenyen (for Reiassan).
  
  Is there anything in particular you’d like to see “translated” for such projects?

We went to see Ghostbusters. My “review”, such as it is, can be seen here (warning — non-positive): https://twitter.com/lynthornealder/status/764593963034669056
We got an Instant Pot! It’s an electric pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, etc, etc. We made steel cut oats in it, and they turned out pretty awesome.
See the Kitchn’s article on the Instant Pot here — https://t.co/P35KyOxnNm
The Shannara TV series has very little to do with my memories of the books, but those memories are 30-some years old. Also? So much eye candy, and much of it male!
If anyone has any more pictures of this guy, cosplaying as Emergency Costume Repair, I’d love to see them. Great idea!
Shutsumon introduced me to #WebFictionChat, and they are having a monthly Serial Book Club. Check it out: https://twitter.com/Chrys_Kelly_/status/763776957314129920
Random moment of awesome while looking into illuminated texts — https://t.co/AazDZfuX0m this dragon climbing his way out of the text.
There is still one 250-word slot open in “Leave a Comment, get a fic” over at Addergoole’s new site.
Annnnd the meta-conversation with Jaco from Lady Taisiya’s Fourth Husband is still going strong over here: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/tag/meta-conversations

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1157120.html. You can comment here or there.

Be a Part of My World: An Auction for Edally Academy (my upcoming webserial)

I have opened up an auction post for my upcoming webserial, Edally Academy.

Edally is a Steampunk Boarding School, set in a fictional semi-fantasy setting on a continent called Reiassan. It’s a setting I’ve used often for fantasy stories in earlier eras of the setting (see the Reiassan landing page), as well as exploring the steampunk era.

The auction offers up a wide range of people, buildings, and things within the setting and the story to name – the House of the school the protagonist is part of, the Head of her House, the classroom Hall she studies in, the food she has for dinner.

Proceeds from this auction will work as a start-up fund for the webserial – art, advertising, domain name, server space, and so on.

Even if you’re not interested in bidding, please boost the signal.

Thanks!

WebLit Wednesday: KAJones (Guest Post)

Apr17

Today’s Weblit Wednesday Guest Post comes from kajones_writing.

Lyn has, since I first started writing weblit and crowdfunding, been one of my inspirations. I remember the first time I donated to any crowdfunding project was when she was trying to get money to help Drake with his diabetes. (When I heard he’d passed away I cried.) Back then I didn’t know anything about the settings she wrote in, or much at all about what she did, so after a quick look through what she did I asked her to write me a story in her Tir na Cali setting – I couldn’t resist the kitties. I still love Cali, but now I know more about the writing Lyn does, and I do occasionally write fanfic for her, I read stories from many of her setting.

It is thanks, in part, to Lyn that I decided to follow in her footsteps by not only crowdfunding but by writing in a number of different settings. I call them collections, because they keep growing, and the thing I’ve found with weblit is that having someone post a comment or tell you they enjoy what you’re writing helps plot bunnies to reproduce. Before I started posting on the DreamWidth and Livejournal accounts I first used they were bad enough, but I don’t regret a thing. Writing more is one of the best thing that’s come out of writing web lit.

Fantasy is one of my favourite genres, because I can world build. World building is something I love, although I may have gone a little overboard with one of my readers’ favourite collections, the World Walkers collection. It’s about people who can travel the worlds of the fae built Web, the races of those worlds, and the worlds themselves, because they’re sentient. One of the things I love about weblit is how easy it is to work with other people, so I have two worlds that are created by other people, and I’d be really happy to have more. To learn more about my worlds check out my Beginner’s Guide .

This year I’m attempting to post at least 500 words a day, because I was forced to take an unplanned hiatus last year due to some family issues. I want to increase my audience for two reasons: I love writing for people, which is why I have prompt sessions; and I want to be able to make a living doing what I love. Crowdfunding means I can experiment with ways of earning money, so I do different things to see what works, and two of my favourite creations are character adoptions and setting rentals. Adopt a character and get a story, in PDF format, of a word count of your choice (currently a maximum of 4000 words) about that character sent to you, which can last for a maximum of six months. Rent a setting and get a story, again in PDF format, of a word count of your choice (currently a maximum of 6000 words) about that setting sent to you, which may also last up to six months. The word counts can be split, depending on what you want.

I’m also writing a serial. It’s set in the World Walkers collection, on a world that was created by Elizabeth Barrette and she wrote the plot. Writing the Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments has been an eye opener for me. Having someone else write a plot has been great for me, because it means I don’t feel like I’ve already written the story which is how I feel if I write out a plot line for myself, even though I’ve already gone way over my planned word count (sticking to a specific word count has always been a problem for me). It’s something I would happily do again if I had the chance, especially as it’s given me more ideas for stories within the collection. I post a new part every Monday and Thursday, I have plans for bonus stories, and I’ve started a side story about one of the characters in the serial, which is something I’m experimenting with by only posting more words if I get donations.

Web lit has been wonderful for me as both a reader and a writer. It gives me a chance to write for both myself and my readers, which is something I attempt to make as simple as possible by adding a write more button at my website. It gives me a chance to read things that might not exist if there wasn’t such a thing as web lit.

Read K.A.Jones’ writing on Dreamwidth, on her website, or on Tumblr.

Want me to highlight your weblit or someone else’s on Weblit Wednesday? Send me an e-mail!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/513214.html. You can comment here or there.

Weblit Wednesday: a Guest Post on Poetry for the Masses!

Mar6

This is a guest post by thesilentpoet

In a way, the Poetry for the Masses! project started in 2010, when trying to raise money to attend a conference in Minneapolis, I hosted a poetry drive on my journal. While never consistent until recently,
I would occasionally resurrect it. In 2012, having renamed it to be Poetry for the Masses!, I started it for what I thought would be a one-off thing, instead, it’s become a semi-monthly event, with calls
for prompts, perk lists, and freebies.

It was through Poetry for the Masses! that Silk Road Allies, the shared world between myself, Elizabeth Barrette, and Marini Bonomi, started. Over the course of the several months, I’ve written poems on
such subjects as fairy tales and folklores, religious traditions, science, and history. In addition to Silk Road Allies, I also frequently write poems regarding to my larger and longer crowdfunded project, Sixty-Four Squared, a tentatively five-novel project, which is directly written and linked to through my journal. Currently, I am still writing my way through Book the first, The Scholar’s Mate. In Poetry for the Masses!, I also frequently dip into Schrodinger’s Heroes, another shared world co-created by Elizabeth Barrette. However, there are many stand alones, and I always love new prompters, commenters, or supporters. All the poetry written during the Poetry for the Masses! sessions are on a pay-what-you-will, with donor perks typically starting at as low as the $5 level.

I had started Poetry for the Masses! again because I needed something to kickstart my writer brain, having just come out of a too long for liking dry spell. I keep continuing it as it connects me to a
fantastic community of writers, poets, and artists, working to create a community where we can all learn and share. I hope to continue it for a long time to come.

The next Poetry for the Masses! will be the weekend March 8-9 with a theme of “rebirth”. Please follow along at http://thesilentpoet.dreamwidth.org or http://thesilentpoet.livejournal.com. Prompts welcome, comments gleed upon, and tips certainly welcome.

Thank you, good-bye, and good night.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/487329.html. You can comment here or there.

Weblit Wednesday: a Guest Blog by Becka Sutton

Feb13

All about Weblit Wednesday

What is Weblit Wednesday?

It all started on Twitter when a few of us started tweeting links to our favourite webfiction serials on a Wednesday and hashtagged it #weblitwednesday or #weblitwed. It lasted a while before it sort of petered out. I’m currently trying to revive the hashtag and expand it to include reviews and similar, so when Lyn asked me to write a guest post about it I agreed. It’s all about signal boosting your favourite weblits.

How do I take part?

It’s very simple to take part. Each Wednesday pick one of your favourite weblits (or take time to read a new one) and then tweet a link to it on Twitter using the hashtag above. In addition (or instead if you’re not on Twitter) you can post about it on you blog, facebook or other social network. And if you have time you can write and post a review of it as well.

Anything else?

I’m investigating setting up a couple of Mr Linky collectors like the one the #SerialTuesday people use. One will be for people to post links to their selected weblit and the other for them to post links to their reviews. We can then collate these into a report and post them up for reference.

I think that’s everything. If you have any questions please ask in comments.

About Becka

Becka Sutton is a self-described crazy cat lady, but she’s not very good at it: while she is crazy she only has one cat. She was born in Britain in 1972 and has lived there her entire life. As a child she started scrawling fantasy stories in exercise books her mother bought her to stop her scribbling in her school books. She hasn’t stopped writing since, and she credits writing as the outlet that allowed her to recover from the nervous breakdown she had after her parents died.

Her other interests include reading, listening to music, attempting to draw, growing her own vegetables and looking after the aforementioned Pumpkin cat.

No, you can’t read the novel she scrawled as a kid – she burned it long ago because it was awful.

You can find Becka’s weblit online at http://firebird-fiction.com/ and she is currently running an IndieGoGo Campaign http://igg.me/at/storm-child/x/29867 to raise funds to turn the second arc of one them into a book.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/474704.html. You can comment here or there.

Thursday, with #WebLitWednesday

Sep27

My friend @Shutsumon, of Firebird Fiction, is trying to revive #WebLitWednesday.

(Yes, I’m a day late.)

WebLitWednesday is a time to tell the world all about the awesome web-based fiction you have been reading. Not on Twitter? Tell me here, or tell the world in your LJ or DW.

I’m going to try to review someone else’s fiction every Wednesday going forward as well; is there anything you’d like me to review?

Recommendations:
@Lynthornealder: Shadow Unit – http://shadowunit.org/ – This engrossing sci-fi #weblit is a crime show for your computer screen, only better. #weblitwednesday

@Shutsumon: Check out my #weblitwednesday review of Akumu Love Panic! by Illise Montoya http://webfictionguide.com/listings/akumu-love-panic/review-by-shutsumon/

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/403631.html. You can comment here or there.

New Crowdfunding Project: “Nightlights” Book Sale

Jul21

Originally posted by ysabetwordsmith at New Crowdfunding Project: "Nightlights"

Check out “Nightlights” by chrysoula. It’s a paranormal YA story with action/romance.

Also:

recessional is having a book sale. Lots of good stuff there!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/82393.html. You can comment here or there.

Resources for Online Fiction readers and writers #weblit #webfiction

Feb5

Recently I have been made aware of just how many barely-connected circles there are of fiction on the internet. I can’t connect the circles, but I can offer up a clearinghouse for resources, so that is what I’m doing.

If I’ve missed something, please tell me about it.

For readers and writers:
http://muses-success.info/ – rated & reviewed listings of online fiction
http://www.epiguide.com/forums/ – a community devoted to original online entertainment
http://community.livejournal.com/crowdfunding/ – a livejournal community for all things crowdfunded
http://crowdfunding.dreamwidth.org/ – Crowdfunding community on Dreamwidth, thanks clare_dragonfly
http://webfictionguide.com/ – rated & reviewed listings of online fiction
see also
http://novelsonline.info/ – Web Fiction Guide listings by rating
http://topwebfiction.com/ – Web Fiction Guide listings by reader votes

For writers:
http://weblit.us/ – WebLit, for marketing, promotion and cross-promotion for web literature

For readers:
http://www.ergofiction.com/ – ErgoFiction, a magazine for readers and fans of webfiction.

On Twitter:
Hashtags for finding online fiction include:
#weblit
#webfiction
#webfic
#tuesdayserial
#amwriting (for writers)
#fantasy (or #scifi, or #spec/#specfic and so on)

Most importantly: forums, blogs, twitter chats – other people. I have connected to more stories, and gotten more readers, simply chatting with other people online.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/4376.html. You can comment here or there.

MeiLin is having a fundraiser!

Jan24

Fundraiser: $10 for Chunk of Book 2 First Draft

MeiLin-miranda, author of Scryer’s Gulch and Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom, is having a fund-raiser.

She says:

Rather than whine here for donations, I’m offering you something for something. You give me $10, I give you the prologue and first chapter of book two. That’s about 8,800 words.

Keep in mind that it’s drafty in the extreme. You’re going to note things aren’t as filled out as they should be. Wording may be awkward in spots. There may be editing artifacts or typos. The whole thing may even get thrown out in the end (don’t think so, but it could happen). But if you really want to know what to look forward to, you’ll get a good idea.

On Readers, audiences, and finding a new author, and how it relates to #weblit

Dec31

My three favorite print-book authors are Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, & Elizabeth Bear.

I can’t remember when I started reading Pratchett; I think it’s likely I picked up his books at a library or a used book store because they looked interesting.

I started reading Butcher because my friends thrust them upon me and demanded I read them (this is often the case – LKH, RR Martin)

And I started reading Bear because someone linked me to a post in her livejournal.

What’s this have to do with Weblit? It’s an old discussion: How do we get more readers? And there’s a lot of flailing about, and some anecdotal research.

Flyers at cons appeared to garner me almost no new readers – TenaciousN’s commentary is about the same on that one. Ads seem to work, but there’s always the trick of where to post them; the most effective ads are also the most expensive. Word of mouth is slow but very effective; that’s where some of my most ~~rabid~~ energetic fans of Addergoole came from.

So my current thought is – how can I take what I know about where I find new authors and devote it to how do new readers find me?.

C. is both easy and hard. A web presence is easy; an inviting and engaging web presence is much harder. I’m slowly working on it, but there are people out there who have mastered it.

B. is hard to do anything about. The only thing I can do there is engage my readers on the forum & on twitter, and continue to produce a good, solid, and engaging story.

And A… well, site redesign. We don’t have covers, but we do have a landing page. Before that, we have the thumbnail that shows on sites like Web Fiction Guide. I need a more engaging cover.

This isn’t meant to be definitive, by the way, it’s just the opening salvo of discussions for 2011.

How do you find new webfiction? How do you find new print fiction?

Alder's Grove Fiction

The Worlds of Lyn Thorne-Alder