The Heinlein Technique

I’m not here to apologize or explain where I’ve been or promise that you’ll be seeing more of me in the future. Nope. Not doing that.

I’m here to tell you what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been busy with a bunch of things, but I’ve also made sure to continue submitting stories and writing.

I’ve been following the Heinlein method of submissions. This is possibly totally untrue, but that’s immaterial – if one of Heinlein’s stories got rejected, he allegedly didn’t bother re-reading it or trying to touch it up, he just sent it out again, immediately. Now, Heinlein was so good, he likely didn’t need to re-read or proof his stuff. Me? I do. But I’ve done that before it gets sent out the first time, so I’ve been following Heinlein’s technique. If the story is out long enough (as in over two months), I will give it a re-read, because I will have grown unfamiliar enough with it to maybe catch problems or mistakes. Otherwise, I just find a new market and send it right back out.

I have four stories that are making the rounds. If I don’t find any takers for 3 cents per word or more, I’ll just pull them. I’m not willing to sell my stuff for 1 cent per word, or the $10 or even $5 that some places offer. Call me arrogant or vain. I likely am. I also know my price, and that ain’t it.

The writing I’ve been doing is a revision of a novel I already wrote. It’s rather short for a modern novel, so I’m fleshing it out. It was also written with an incomplete knowledge of where it was going, so it needs a little tinkering to make all the pieces fit better.

I have no intention of trying to get an agent or a publisher with this particular work. I have other plans for it, plans which will only come to fruition if I can actually finish the overhaul. At the speed I’m working, that may take a while. A long, long while.

Don’t hold your breath!