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Hey, folks. I’m a week late posting this here because I was getting ready to leave for Worldcon (which I attended, and which we’ll talk about later), but that’s cool because anyone who might’ve missed this one will get a second chance now.
And you simply can’t miss this one, not if you’re serious about being a freelance writer.
In my humble yet thoroughly informed opinion, there is no better example of a professional freelance writer in this here modern age than Mikki Kendall. She works in multiple mediums and genres ranging from non-fiction markets like e-learning and major newspapers to comic books like her debut in the Swords of Sorrow series which drops next month. She’s a power user on Twitter, and has amassed a huge social media following that she cultivates and maintains extremely well and smartly, especially as a platform for a freelancer.
We’ve been a fan of hers for a while and we asked Mikki to be part of the newest episode of Ditch Diggers which dropped last week, and the result is pure ditch digging nirvana. We talked about how she built her freelance writing portfolio, how/why/when she made the decision to go full-time, the logistics behind it, how she landed her comic book writing debut and how the comics writing process works, and we talked thoroughly about her social media platform and how she built and continues to build and use it as a freelance writer.
This is invaluable inside tradecraft-type shit here. This isn’t about “how do I get a book published,” this is about how to be a full-time freelance writer making real money.
Also, Mikki agrees with me that the philosophy of the Patrick Swayze classic Road House is cross-applicable to all things.
She agrees with me and NOT MUR.
So there.
Click here to go to the new episode.
Also be sure to subscribe to the Ditch Diggers podcast via iTunes by clicking here.
Finally, the absolute best way to support Ditch Diggers is to back our Patreon which can be found here. Mur and I are trying to put more focus in to creating more episodes with a wider range of guest, and this helps us put the time into doing all of that.
The next episode of DD will be the one we recorded live at Worldcon. Like I said, I’ll write more about the con in detail, but what I’ll say now is Ditch Diggers Live was an absolutely freakin’ smash hit. We had a great crowd, amazing guests, and we sent four brave authors into the dread Forest of Publishing to play a Ditch Diggers version of Dungeons & Dragons, complete with dice.
Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it!
I’m currently at a fever pitch trying to get myself squared away to leave for Worldcon, but so much amazing is happening I had to make sure all of you were updated on it lest you miss the podcasting, convention, and freelance writing event of the year.
Hyperbole?
Nay.
We all know the Hugo Awards are the hot SFF ticket this week. HOWEVER, Sasquan/Worldcon is also the site of the first ever Ditch Diggers Live, where Mur Lafferty and I will be recording an episode of our blockbuster (BLOCKBUSTER, I SAY) podcast about writing as a job in front of an utterly fervent, raucous crowd for the first time.
Mur and I are excited to be part of the programming at the con, and we’re determined to be the most talked about part of it.
To that end we decided to shake things way the hell up and rather than just talk at folks for an hour, we’re going interactive and featuring several special segments we’ve cooked up and a plethora of truly bad-ass special guests for those segments.
You’re not ready.
You’re purely not.
Let’s break it down.
WHAT WOULD THE PROS DO?
When Mur and I came up with the idea for this segment we knew we needed authors of the purest steel. We needed authors who could handle deep pressure. We needed authors who would be at the con first thing on Thursday when we’re scheduled.
None of these were easy requirements to meet.
I am immensely proud and pleased to announce SFF titans and true ditch diggers Linda Nagata, Aliette de Bodard, Kate Elliott, and Fonda Lee have answered the challenge.
How about that for a line-up? We may bag the whole “podcast segment” malarky and invade Canada. I mean, Fonda is from there, she can totally be our inside player.
Anyway.
This fearsome foursome of SFF authors will face a speed challenge all about facing adversity and the unexpected in the publishing industry. Because you will and we all do.
We’re calling it “What Would The Pros Do?”
With thirty seconds on the clock apiece Mur and I will present each of them with a sticky, perilous scenario one would and does face in the world of professional publishing. They’ll then have that time to construct an answer to how they’d handle said scenario and why.
Why add the element of a ticking clock? Because in this business you have to think on your feet. Because authors above all others tend to pontificate endlessly. Because Sasquan has only given us 45 minutes to record.
I am supremely excited about this segment. I was already a fan of all of these authors except for Fonda, and that changed as soon as I became aware of her and her debut novel Zeroboxer. This is going to be a fun-as-hell segment in the true spirit and mission of the Ditch Diggers podcast.
But wait, folks! There’s more!
THINGS YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT EDITORS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK!
Lee Harris is a transatlantic editorial cyborg built to function at the highest levels of the publishing industry. Lee was formerly the publisher of Hub magazine and the senior editor of Angry Robot Books, and is currently the senior editor of Tor.com Publishing’s new line of novella books (he’s also, in the sake of full disclosure, my editor).
We’ve managed to trap Lee in a reinforced crate, not unlike King Kong, and we will be smuggling him to Spokane where, at Ditch Diggers Live, we will prod him with electrified sticks and force him to answer questions that normally you’d be too afraid to ask a big fancy New York City publishing editor and they’d be too irresolute to answer.
In truth, Lee is an immensely cool dude, a very talented and experienced editor, a veteran of SFF publishing, and it will be a fantastic opportunity for our listeners to get an inside look at editors’ perception, process, and point of view.
And that’s going to be our show, folks. I hope you’ll agree this is not one you’ll want to miss.
If you’re planning to be at Sasquan/Worldcon or hell, even if you’re just in the Spokane area, get your posterior to Ditch Diggers Live and make sure the rest of you is attached to it for maximum enjoyment.
It’s all happening at Sasquan in Spokane, WA this Thursday, the 20th, at 12:00 noon in Conference Center 110 (CC).
BE THERE.