In a new personal best for me, yesterday I received 3 short story rejections in one day (which is a good thing!) Odder still, The Dark did not reject me within 2 hours like usual. Strange things are afoot...

Ever wonder what 200 #shortstory rejections look like? Only 7 of these were acceptances. The first highlighted area was when I gave up for a while, and that second one was when I was just too busy to look for places to resubmit. Effort adds up! #MondayMotivation

It's coming for us all.

I got a $64 quarterly royalty payment today. It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but it means that one of my books has paid off its advance and is now earning. Progress! In the months to come I hope several more do as well.

I sold my 11th short story today. It's not much in the grass scene of things, but it adds up. This one didn't even have the chance to get rejected before someone accepted it. Amazing.

So yesterday my America stuff arrived in Germany. At last all my personal belongings are on the same continent again. It's amazing how much you really don't need. That's less than 10% of the stuff I owned before my van journey started, and most of what's left is books.

I write whatever I want, which is probably a failing. I spent a few weeks reading from the viewpoint of "what do readers enjoy and want more of," and I think I found a few gaps. We'll see.

Sales for my most popular web novel did not set the world on fire. Still after a year, it's hanging tough. What surprises me is how few sales it takes to stay in the top 100k or 200k on Amazon. It's a very small world. amazon.com/dp/B0DJBTD6T5

The good news: my Amazon royalties doubled this quarter. The bad news: they don't yet cover the grocery bill. Still, progress. Thank God for Patreon! 🙏

I'm very happy to report I sold another short. It was my first YA short, my 7th short for the year, my 12th over all. I'm also almost to 300 total rejections across 49 stories. Adds up quick! Happy 2025 everyone.

Today I learned that more than half of all Americans have a low level of literacy equivalent to a 6th grade reading level or below. Suddenly the popular genres make much more sense to me.

So, since summer I've been very busy and all my shorts have fallen out of rotation. Getting a couple dozen submissions back up and running is pain! That said, I love reading some of these. There's some good stuff in here.

Nothing like a rejection to start the day. Fixing my submissions after neglecting them for two long shows me one thing clearly. I have too many horror shorts. As much as I love darkness, I need more variety. There are only so many venues for that sort of story these days.

I can't recommend the Dresden Zwinger enough. Beautiful museum. Goes on forever. Get the two day ticket if you want to see it all. Amazing museum.

Mexican food is a rarity in Germany, and while this is neither French nor Taco it is good.

I found a building on the way to dinner with Morse Code siding.

The Chemnitz Museum of Industry is unbelievably good. Best €10 museum I've ever attended.

What an amazing place. I'd never even heard of it before this trip.

Leipzig was beautiful. So was Dresden and Chemnitz,but I'll be glad to be home in an hour. I gotta get back to writing.

A couple more short rejections this week, but also a new completion. Short story #50 is all done, and released into the wild.