The High Cost of Being a Writer

Last week, I made my hotel reservations and registered for this year’s BoucherCon Mystery Convention. The last time I attended was back in 2023 when it was at my home base of San Diego. So, no hotel or plane tickets were needed. This year, it’s being held in New Orleans, and my wallet is bruised.

Although I have a great agent and this year has been a leap forward in my career, we still have not sold my novel to a publisher. So, other than some short story sales, my writing is not paying any bills. It’s also not paying for any writer conventions or seminars. There’s no publisher footing the bill for my travel and no conventions are going to invite me to appear when I don’t have a book to plug. So, I have to be picky with money choices.

I chose BoucherCon because it’s one of the best mystery conventions out there. It’s run by mystery readers and all of the best authors attend. The panels are fun and informative. However, the value for me is meeting fellow authors as well as meeting editors and publishers in search of new talent. This will be the first BoucherCon with my new agents and I’m hoping we get some interest in my Fix Larson private detective series.

So, I broke open the piggy bank and made some reservations. The biggest cost? The hotel. After taxes and tourist fees, the cost for lodging is going to be about double the cost of my flight and registration combined. Granted, it’s the Marriott in the middle of New Orleans. Still, it smack in the middle of hurricane season and you’d hope for a in climate weather break.

My patient wife says it’s all an investment in my writing career. I agree. But damn, it’s a costly one.

SHORT STORY NEWS

Things are moving ahead with my writing. My short story, Buford vs The Skunk Ape, has been acquired by Weird Tales Magazine https://www.weirdtales.com for their upcoming Cryptid issue. More info to follow when they announce a publication date.

My short story, Checked Out, will be appearing in the upcoming anthology, Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales from No Bad Books Publishing. It’s release date is 8/22/25. The release party will be at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore on 8/30/24 (time TBA).

I’ve finished the first draft of my latest Fix Larson short story. Now, I’ll let the construction dust settle for a week before I jump into the edit. Meanwhile, my first Fix Larson novel, Toads, Twins, & Tenacity is on submission with my agent, Cherry Weiner.

BoucherCon is fast approaching in September and I made my reservation this morning. This will be my first mystery convention with my agent. We’re hoping to meet with editors and publisher to introduce my Fix Larson series.

That’s the latest. Have a great week. I hope everyone is reading or writing something great (Maybe both).

CHEERS!