Ten years ago today I quit my day job.
Money had been saved, a novel was in the drawer, and my tech job was winding down. So I said, “Hey, I wanna work at home in my pajamas.”
For the first month, however, I got up, put on real clothes, and worked from nine to five. I was afraid of turning into a Howard-Hughes-like guy wandering around with Kleenex boxes on my feet. But after a month I got an agent, and after five I had a two-book deal (paying a whopping $9,000), so I did relax a little.
I’ve been crunching the numbers for that ten years, and here are the results.
Novels published under my own name: 13
Powerpuff Girls choose-your-own adventures (also under my name): 3
Goosebumps ghost-written: 5
Legal thrillers ghost-written: 1
Short stories published: 6
Essays published: 3
Interviews published: 1
Years before I made enough to write only as me: 8
Total ghost-written words: 240,000
Total words published under my own name: 1,015,000
That last statistic just curls my hair. It comes out to 100,000 words a year, which even with the ghost writing is only about 300 words a day. Still, there’s rewriting too, you know. And page proofs. Research. Thinking. Sick days.
And here are some things I realized:
1. Writing part-time is like going out with somebody; writing full-time is like living with them. It’s not just that you write more . . . your whole relationship to writing changes. For example, when writing has moved in and doesn’t pick its socks up off the floor, it’s not cute anymore, just hateful. But on the other hand, you know writing in ways you couldn’t have otherwise.
2. Writing too many books in one year = shingles. And you do not want shingles.
3. I crossed the million-word mark when Specials came out, and that was my first book to make the NY Times bestseller list. So that’s the rule, I guess.
4. Living with another writer totally rocks, even if it means you can’t leave your socks on the floor.
5. It’s worth it to pay for your own author photos, so you can look as silly as you want:
Credit: Samantha Jones, who in all fairness said I should take off the sunglasses
Ah yes, there’s one other thing that happened in that ten years . . .
Yesterday and today I wrote the first 1,427 words of Leviathan, my next trilogy, set in alternative-history airship heaven!* It’s really fun, and I can’t wait to write another million words. (But no shingles, dammit!)
*Book 1 comes out September 2007, so don’t be holding your breath. In the meantime, The Last Days comes out September 2006, and will get me up to 1,090,000 words.
June 5th, 2006 11:21
Congratulations, darling! I’m so proud of you!
June 5th, 2006 12:26
um…did you just call yourself darling?
leviathan! a *trilogy*!! woo hoo!! can’t hardly wait!!!!!
by the way, that is an amazingly huge number of words. the thought of that many words makes me almost lightheaded. wow.
June 5th, 2006 12:29
Is Scott trying to boost his confidence? heheh, kidding. Don’t worry, we’ll congratulate you too: Congratulations!
too long… oh well, I’ll still buy it. I’m getting worried ’cause some good series take a REALLY long time to be published, and with some of them the sequels aren’t coming out until I’m in COLLEGE and I’m worried I won’t read them in college… what with the really big fancy college books and all. heh.
“set in alternative-history airship heaven” AWESOME, but 2007?
… wait, you wrote POWERPUFF girls books??? It’s weird finding out when authors write stuff like that, it turns out Diane Duane (Young Wizards Series and some other stuff I haven’t gotten around to reading yet/is out of print and I can’t find, Star Trek included) helped write the script for “Barbie Fairytopia” *shakes head* weird…
June 5th, 2006 12:32
*Star Trek included meaning she helped with like, two of them
June 5th, 2006 12:51
Nah, that was me congratulating him and calling him darling. I was doing some webmistressy stuff for him and forgot to log out before I posted a comment. So, my bad!
June 5th, 2006 12:53
justine–i actually kind of guessed it might be you…but it was kind of funny to think scott was calling himself darling.
June 5th, 2006 13:00
Wow that’s a lot of information to take it. But congrats to making it to the lifestyle you’re living today. It’s obvious that it took a while to get ready for it and I’m glad that you got into writing.
As for that new trilogy, wow. Another trilogy. =D Too bad you’re holding out on it until ‘07. Ah well, stilled very exctited about it.
June 5th, 2006 13:04
Over a million words, that’s…wow! Great job! Leviathan sounds good, waiting is going to be hard. But I’ve got The Last Days to look forward to I suppose.
I do find it a little bit funny though that you wrote some powerpuff girls books.
June 5th, 2006 13:56
Love the living with / dating analogy and all that it implies. A lot of people like to flirt, not so many want to commit. Cheers on a very handsome milestone.
June 5th, 2006 13:58
Nah, I think I can hold my breath that long. I mean, I’d be breaking my record a little bit, but I always like to challenge myself just a tad.
You know, I never noticed it before, but The Risen Empire cover thingy reminds me of the Van Halen logo.
June 5th, 2006 14:00
AIRSHIPS!
EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
June 5th, 2006 14:23
Congrats and conga-rats! *does a dance with rodents*
June 5th, 2006 14:38
That is absolutely inspiring. Is that your big news, that you have another trilogy coming out? I love airships, by the way… Probably because I like the Final Fantasy series :p.
I was wondering, do you plan your books before you write them? And if you do, how do you go about doing that? Do you fill notebooks with whatever or do you have an outline? How do you sort out your ideas and make them all come together?
June 5th, 2006 14:42
Congrats! And, ooh, I used to love Goosebumps. I’m sure you won’t tell me which ones you wrote, even if I asked nicely. But just give me a yes or no: Did you write The Horror at Camp Jellyjam? Because that is the best one ever.
June 5th, 2006 14:43
YESSSS!!!!! New trilogy!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!
Hurray for one million words!
ARRRGGGHHH!!!! See, I know you’re contractually obligated not to tell which books you’ve ghostwritten, but DAMMIT! I wanna read them. Especially the Goosebumps books. I used to read those when I was younger. I wanna see how you do it. *le sigh*
And now that that’s over, let me just say I am SO glad you quit your day job.
I really wanna read some of your earlier stuff….will soon. Hate waiting. *le sigh* (again)
Shingles. Is that like carpal tunnel? Running off to Wikipedia now…. Good god. That would definitely put a cramp on your writing. Hope you never get it again.
That’s a great picture. Hehe!
“Leviathan. (לִוְיָתָן “Twisted; coiled”, a Biblical sea monster referred to in the Old Testament. It has become synonymous with any large monster or creature. In Modern Hebrew, it simply means “whale”.” (Wikipedia)
I am intrigued. ME CAN’T WAIT!!! And there is going to be a pink fairy in there somewhere, right? And to quote Sir Tessa, “AIRSHIPS! EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”
“I’m getting worried ’cause some good series take a REALLY long time to be published, and with some of them the sequels aren’t coming out until I’m in COLLEGE and I’m worried I won’t read them in college.”
I’m a sophomore in college, and I still read them. In fact, I started reading “adult” books before I read YA books, but I got bored with them. Sometimes adults just take things way too seriously. And sometimes their attempts at being “literary” get in the way of a decent plot. That’s not to say I haven’t read any good adult books, because I have, and there are many. But for the last two years, I’ve been on a YA kick, and I think it’s going to stay that way for a long while. And dude, I TOTALLY know what you mean about everything taking freakin’ forever to come out. Grrr, and in the meantime, I peruse the YA shelves at Borders, all for naught. But I keep trying, ’cause that’s how I discovered Scott.
June 5th, 2006 14:45
Trilogy! Three books! Excellent!
May I ask what Leviathan means? Or what your definition of an airship is?
So, was that the big news? Or is it still coming?
June 5th, 2006 15:04
YAY! Congrats! And new books YEEE!! Try to keep that release date, btw, your book will help cushion the blow of my freshman year of college. Seriously though, congradulations, and good work. When you started 10 years ago, did you think you’d ever have a fan-base that is so creepily-obsessed with you that we post around 90 times before you can update?
On a personal note: One year ago this month, I bought Uglies to read on a plane trip, and although I had already read Secret Hour, Uglies was the book that taught me who Scott Westerfeld was, and that there was no “i” in Westerfeld.
June 5th, 2006 15:33
Woooo numbers! It’s always fascinating to see your life in numbers. … Yep.
Is the new trilogy still going to be YA? ‘Cause it’d be sad if they were like, adult books. Psh. Haven’t read one of those in ages.. *kicks fully spine-cracked Temeraire under the bed*
WOO HOO on the million words! If only those were, like.. Dollars. $.$ A million-word-bonus, oh yes.
And Airships! Squee!
June 5th, 2006 15:42
Oops. Apparently I forgot to close a tag.
June 5th, 2006 16:08
Fixed.
June 5th, 2006 16:20
Yay! Thanks.
June 5th, 2006 16:44
So pretty amazing to hear this news. Also is the itroduction of levaithan your big news or are you still holding out on us???
And one thing i really wanted to know is how much your have made in your career? Seeing as you made $9,000 for just the deal not including sales, appearences, or marketing ect. right? Or do you not really know how much you’ve totaled?
June 5th, 2006 23:48
*and also, not like Scott needs to boost his confidence, what with all those words lol
June 6th, 2006 00:58
wow….a million words….thta’s amazign. I could never write so much. i’d probably go insane. Congratulations on how much work you have accomplished. Leviathan sounds so interesting..but 2000007777777……nooooooo.
ugh…i don’t know if i can stay calm that long.
June 6th, 2006 03:38
Scott that totally rocks! and that is kinda weird that Specials crossed the million mark and made NYT bestseller list, i mean no surprise that it did, it totally rocked, but like i wonder if one million words was the final push…. i think too much sometimes lol.
O and about leviathen! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA! im soooo excited, its going to be the best! airships=action and adventure, plus they are totally sweet!
o and about shingles, my grandfather has a chronic like case of those, and trust me, you dont want them. they hurt like H-E-double hockey stix according to him. But like yea, just for those who dont know what it is, its a condition where all the nerves in your skin are super sensitive and everything hurts to touch *yes, it hurts to where clothes*. well at least that is what happend to my grandpa. but yea.
againg total congrats to you scott, and good luck in your writing *or is it bad luck to say that….well in that case break a pencil* lol.
ps. i know its been asked, but like is this the big news? or is there even bigger news coming!?
June 6th, 2006 03:38
AIRSHIPS! wOOt! I loved the Airborn/Skybreaker series, by Kenneth Oppel. Best airship books ever. Except for the Laviathon series, I’m sure. But 2007? Nooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooo. That’s when Harry Potter Seven comes out, too!
Have you ever seen Farscape? It’s a show about this guy who works for like Nasa, but he travels through a wormhole, and ends up on this kind of living ship named Moya. Her species is Laviathon. Anyway, there are a bunch of aliens, and an evil corporation called the Peace Keepers of all things, and the ship has a baby, and the guy rom Earth falls in love with one of the aliens, they get married and have a baby. Phew. I can breathe again. Anyway, coolest show ever. Except for Gilmore Girls. And CSI. And House. And Firefly.
Wow, was that 500 words? I could write a book with all my random blog entries! wOOt!
June 6th, 2006 03:40
Also, could you be in Canmore, Alberta in July? That’s in Canada, btw.
June 6th, 2006 04:16
Congrats! I just quit my day job to start on my own writing adventure, and you’re certainly an inspiration
June 6th, 2006 05:00
The new Trilogy sounds great! Can’t wait!
And this is kind of off topic, but I am in the middle of the midnighters trilogy and think I found a great girl to play Jess in the TV show!
Danielle Panabaker
What do you think?
June 6th, 2006 06:15
One million published words! Wow. That’s certainly an impressive statistic (and I can’t help but hear it in my head as Dr Evil’s voice – ‘One Mil-li-on Words!!!’). Congratulations, and the new trilogy sounds wonderful – have fun writing it.
June 6th, 2006 09:54
So many…words…wow! That is a lot! So much writing! But it sounds like more fun then a having “real” job. Except “when writing has moved in and doesn’t pick its socks up off the floor”. Haha. The dating analogy is perfect.
I can’t wait until the new books. September isn’t too far away for Last Days. Maybe I should read some of those powerpuff girls books while I’m waiting
June 6th, 2006 10:49
Answering various questions in no particular order is fun:
No, this was not the big news. The big news is bigger than this. So big that it moves very, very slowly.
My favorite of my own Goosebumps was “All-Day Nightmare,” an amnesia-based choose-you-own-adventure. What’s not to love?
By “airships” I mean big bags of hydrogen (or helium) with frames. Like Zeppelins.
Yes, lots of people write part time and produce amazing work. All I’m saying is that your whole relationship to writing changes when that’s all you do professionally. Having no other identity to fall back on makes a big difference.
I plan some books more than others. “Uglies” was very outlined, because all those betrayals and reversals have to be organized ahead of time. “Peeps” mirrored the research on parasites I was doing, and so wrote itself. My lame-but-true advice here is: Try lots of different ways of writing, and see what works for you.
And hey, one of my Powerpuff Girl books is still available used on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439332591/sr=8-24/qid=1149551260/ref=sr_1_24/102-4551546-6709705?%5Fencoding=UTF8
June 6th, 2006 11:42
on a random note. im having difficuly with the email jiveness.
when i click to emil Scott, it doesnt work.
whats his email?
June 6th, 2006 11:47
Hey, cool! Happy Anniversary, man. And some intersting stats about the full-time writing gig too, I gotta say. I’m taking notes.
And also: alternative-history airship heaven! Sweeeeeeet!
June 6th, 2006 12:25
I was looking at a modeling site because … I like doing that in my spare time. Anyway, I came across a girl who looks like she could be the model on the Specials cover. Her name is Thea Owens:
The girl from Specials?
Do you think she’s the same girl?
June 6th, 2006 12:59
Congrats Scott! i personally like the sunglasses
and this “big news” is taking FOREVER!
Kate
June 6th, 2006 13:16
yea she does look alot like her, i wonder if she is….strange….
June 6th, 2006 13:19
I’m just coming up to the point where I’m leaving my full-time job to write part-time for money and write the rest of the time for myself. Consider me inspired – thanks, Scott.
June 6th, 2006 14:22
Weeeeee! Adding to the Amazon wishlist is fun.
The amnesia idea is interesting for a Goosebumps book. I’ve been screwing around with amnesia themes myself lately. They present some interesting scenarios.
Always wanted to watch Farscape, ever since I saw an ad for it during my first *COUGH*startrek*COUGH* convention. I was in eighth grade and they played it with that “I’m too Sexy for____” song. But I have never yet gotten to see an episode. Someday….:)
GUESS WHAT!!!! I’m so excited!!! I went to Borders tonight b/c I had some extra money, and I was looking for Magic or Madness, but the computer said they didn’t have it. So I started browsing as usual, and right as I was preparing to leave, what did I stumble over but two copies of Magic or Madness!!! EEEEEE!!! I haven’t had anything new to read since….I’m pretty sure it was Specials. YAY!!!!
Wow, all you people quitting your day job. I am in awe of you. Good luck!!
Wow, that model girl does look a lot like the Specials cover. And that is some crazy getup she’s wearing. Like a combination cape, coat, and Catholic schoolgirl skirt.
Gah, big news! Well, something to look forward to this summer.
June 6th, 2006 14:52
rebecca…i went to a star trek convention when i was in eighth grade, too….
June 6th, 2006 14:59
MichL
hehe, yes you are so right! That is definately her!!!!
June 6th, 2006 15:03
i cant believe i let 40 comments go without saying a word. but yesterday i went to galveston and the beach with exchange students, and when maria tried to take me home we couldnt find my house… so i went to hers. and she lives downtown houston. why is always so much better downtown? just like that one song, the oldie. “downtown, where all the lights are bright, downtown…” yeah. i like dowtown. but sadly, i’m a burbanite. sigh.
congratsulations scott, one million words! thats truly righteous.
i think the whole part-time writer and full-time wirter thing is interesting. its kinda like, ‘what do you say when a new acquaintance asks you what you do?’ because if you’re a part-time writer, you’d probably say your other job. although maybe not, i suppose. but if all you do is write, all you can honestly say is “i’m a writer/’ must be agood feeling
i mean, i write. i write a lot. journal, blog, notes, lists, random notes i leave to strangers in public… but when i’m asked what do i do, i say “student” or “bum” – although, come august, i get to say “exchange student” or “foreign bum” 
, which is super exciting. but i think it would just feel good to be able to say “i’m a writer.” and it be completely true in every sense of the word.
and on a random note, i like 80s music.
June 6th, 2006 15:05
oh, and ince author picture you got there, scott. i always secretly wanted to write a book solely so i could use an xray of my skeleton as my meet-the-author photo, and write it with only intials and hide my gender and location so i could be mysterious.
June 6th, 2006 15:05
“I was looking for Magic or Madness, but the computer said they didn’t have it. So I started browsing as usual, and right as I was preparing to leave, what did I stumble over but two copies of Magic or Madness!!!”
Yeah, Borders is mean that way, they never udate their stock so you have to either ask the information desk people (I hate doing that, it ruins the fun of going to a bookstore) or you have to go and search for it in weird places… I have found Clive Cussler books in the Children’s Section before, very weird. (I was looking in the children’s section for the Pendragon books, I got obsessed with them when I was 12 and well, I have to finish the series now… lol)
June 6th, 2006 15:35
Hey jane-la, have you ever seen Girl-Interupted? cause that song is kinda a big part of that movie. Well to all, its a very good movie (but for the younger readers, it has some adult themes, so be sure to have parental consent). Anjelina Jolie, Wynona Ryder, and lots more. Its really good. check it out ^.^
June 6th, 2006 16:04
are you kdding, i love that movie! at this very aecond its like two feet from me. mhmm. i love it. i even have the same shoes as winona in the movie does. and i’ve read the book, written in vignettes, its also very good.
June 6th, 2006 16:18
One month ago today I became a full time writer. I’m going to get shingles, I suppose, since I’m under contract for about 175,000 words this year. Wow, these pajamas are comfy.
One day, Westerfeld, I will catch up to your million word greatness. Until then, I will simply watch in awe as Specials rocks the bestseller list and you keep coming up with amazing series. :0) Congrats.
Good running into you the other day.
June 6th, 2006 16:58
“rebecca…i went to a star trek convention when i was in eighth grade, too….”
I met Garret Wang. I was soooooo starstruck. And I got a picture with him. ahhhhhhhhh. never has a star trek actor looked so hot….
ahhhhh, another one like me.
“come august, i get to say “exchange student” or “foreign bum”
”
oooooh, where are you going?
“Yeah, Borders is mean that way”
totally. that’s what happened with midnighters 2. computer said no, but there it was on the shelves, and i found it totally by accident as well. i seem to get lucky.
look at me, not using capitals. i swear, two comments on justine’s blog and i’m already converted.
June 6th, 2006 17:41
i really need to read magic or madness, i have never read one of justines books, and i have been meaning too….hmmm i feel a trip to the bookstore coming on! ^.^
June 6th, 2006 18:02
Leviathan is the perrrfect name for an airship, by the way. I was just watching this thing on them, on the History channel or somesuch, and they said something about how they hoped one day people could live Up There in one forever and ever. And I thought that was an awesome idea. I’m sure you’ll do it justice and such. Yay!
June 7th, 2006 03:23
WOW! Congrats! And I can’t WAIT for the Leviathan trilogy…
Loving the new look, too.
June 7th, 2006 06:32
Scott and fans,
Hey all! I have started a forum specifically for Scott and his books. Please join – I hope this can be a good place for discussions and stuff.
Here is the link: http://michl.proboards76.com/index.cgi
Hope to see you all there!
~Michelle~
June 7th, 2006 09:04
Hey about michelle-wa’s forum, its really nice, but she is having some problems decorating it, so if anyone knows where she could find codes for forums that would totally rock! thx a bunch
June 7th, 2006 10:51
Or if anyone wants to join and decorate it themselves … I’ll give you special decorating priviledges!
June 7th, 2006 13:29
“I have started a forum specifically for Scott and his books.”
Sweet! I’ve been thinking something like that would be pretty awesome.
“i really need to read magic or madness”
You should! It’s awesome. I just finished it about twenty seconds ago (no kidding) and it was awesome!! But I recommend buying both of them at once so as to save yourself the trouble. Bloody cliffhangers.
June 7th, 2006 14:43
So i noticed that it went from 22 to 56 comments in less than a day and all i wanted to know is a rough average of how much you’ve made. Or if you didn’t know exactly.
ALSO i’m dying to know this big news, and i’m so impatient!
June 7th, 2006 17:56
sometime this month hopefully rob
June 8th, 2006 05:05
Omg hooked on Michelle-wa’s board thing. Congrats Scott! I’ll probably write a million words on your boards, considering my ridicusly long posts. Hehehehe. YAY NEW TRILOGY! Ver Ver happy-making.
June 8th, 2006 05:40
A NEW SERIES!!! that’s awesome!!!!!!!!!!
you wrote power puff girl stuff???
June 8th, 2006 07:47
Keep the sunglasses! They make you look mysterious.
Ack, I’ve only had about 100 words of mine published—a poem in a local newspaper’s article about my school’s poetry club. (And they printed the title wrong!) So for now, I’m just hanging around on deviantART.com, hoping that someday I can publish a book of my poetry.
Ooh, I’m already anticipating that Leviathan series. Have you read Thomas Hobbes’s philosophical work of the same title by any chance? It’s about how humans are inherently immoral and when faced with a choice between doing the right thing and self-preservation, they will chose to live at the expense of others. I haven’t read it myself, but it made for interesting discussion in my Humanities class.
June 8th, 2006 08:48
New trilogy…awsomeness! The Last Days seems like it will be just as great as your other books. *Ties Scott to chair* Now write or else! hehehehe just kidding
June 8th, 2006 08:53
oooo just read the rest of your comments… so this wasn’t the big news???????? Then what is?????? Is it Midnighters on tv or So Yesterday the movie or something else? I’m dying to know.
June 8th, 2006 10:20
Hm – maybe the big news is that the Midnighters TV show is airing this fall! That would be so happy-making!
June 8th, 2006 10:56
aw i love power puff girls
i acctually own some of their books from when i was little.
they’re in a box now,
wonder if i have any of yours…
i could have been your fan and not even have known it!
tehe
June 8th, 2006 11:24
mr westerfeld, i just want to say, i’m 22 years old and i am not a big sci-fi fan. my interest extends as far as Buffy and the X-Files. but i was in a walden books the other day with my friend and we saw the book “uglies”, picked it up, and read the back, and were both hooked. i finished it in three days and have already ordered pretties and specials off amazon, and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. somehow, your book has touched me very deeply and caught hold of me. i am a writer as well, although i haven’t had any books published yet, just a few poems overflowing with teenaged angst. i just wanted to say, from a struggling writer to someone who made it–thank you for your inspiration.
- vans.sister at gmail dot com.
June 8th, 2006 11:39
i was looking at some of the old entries,
its so crazy because some of them have like only 6 or 3 comments
now there are MILLIONS!
just thought that was interesting…
anyways…
yeah accutally thats it…-_-
June 8th, 2006 12:07
“you wrote power puff girl stuff???” okay, good, so I’m not the ONLY one that thinks that’s weird…
“Hm – maybe the big news is that the Midnighters TV show is airing this fall! That would be so happy-making!” YES, VERY happy-making, verrrrrrrry happy making indeed… *evil laugh* heheheh
June 8th, 2006 13:00
omg i hope that that is the big news! that would be soooo awsome making! its june now tell us what the news is scott! come on!
June 8th, 2006 14:29
“Hm – maybe the big news is that the Midnighters TV show is airing this fall! That would be so happy-making!”
Yes, that would, seeing as there is NOTHING GOOD ON TV anymore. Well, except Lost. But Lost to me is kind of a curiousity more than something I would weave through traffic to get home in time for. Not that I would ever weave through traffic.
June 8th, 2006 15:43
wow i realized that both of my favourite authors have written stores for goosebumps. which is ood, because i reallt dont like them. i guess i just like that style of writing
and powerpuff girls? scott you never seemed like a powerpuff girl…i mean…powerpuff boy. i used to watch that show in…well a long time ago. (i liked the blue girl) it was good, except their voices were REALLY annoying.
June 9th, 2006 05:43
hmmm, i think it’s a little wierd, but tis k scott.
i bet all writers are “eveolving” and stuff so maybe the power puff girl stuff was just a stage or something…
and ,
“its june now tell us what the news is scott!”
i agree!!! tell you publisher or the person who won’t let u tell us that officially sevral ppl around the globe now hate him, lol
can’t you just accidentaly let is slip and then say that you were sleew typing? (is sleeptyping possible??)n ]
lol
well, we’ll keep waiting
June 9th, 2006 07:06
Do we have a choice anna b?
June 9th, 2006 11:36
i saw specials at waldenbooks yesterday…. i had ten dollars, and it was 15.95
if only it were in paperback…grrr. now i have to wait for my library to get a copy. humph. tis frusturating.
June 9th, 2006 11:45
scott! i posted something crucial in the midnighters section! i cant post it here cause it will be off topic!
but anyway, to stay on topic, i never knew you wrote goosebumps. thats really surprising cause i read goosebumps all the time when i was little. did u work with RL stine??? cause that is so cool!
:]
June 9th, 2006 12:55
Jane-la have you joined the forum yet? you totally should if you havent. In fact, anyone who hasnt signed up yet really should cause its alot of fun! ^.^
June 9th, 2006 13:26
Forum????
June 9th, 2006 14:12
Korbe what forum????
June 9th, 2006 14:27
Hah! I have destoryed all negativity! (But thanks for defending my honor, guys.)
The forum is this one:
http://michl.proboards76.com/index.cgi
Which is rolling along pretty well.
June 9th, 2006 15:48
Forum rocks.
June 10th, 2006 04:01
Will the new trilogy still be Young Adult?
June 10th, 2006 08:02
Scott post on the forum. PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! WITH 13 TRIDECAGRAMS ON TOP!
June 10th, 2006 19:11
Kelly, you’ve scared him away.
June 11th, 2006 02:11
Kell-wa: I did manage one tiny post on the forum, but as you guys know I’m working on Leviathan at the moment. So I’m not as posty, emaily, etc. But here’s a few answers:
Alex: Yes, the new trilogy will be YA.
Rob: Authors make about $1.50 per hardback, and about 60 cents per paperback. As far as how much I’ve made, it’s impossible to say. Because publishers pay you about a year after the books are sold (to make sure they’re not returned) and a majority of my books came out less than a year ago. But questions like this need a whole post.
Anna: Yes! I wrote PowerPuff Girls! (They paid good money, by the way.)
All: News. Soon.
June 11th, 2006 05:46
OMG OMG!!!! SCOTT, YOU’RE GOING TO BE IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!! I JUST READ YOUR APPEARANCES LIST!!! IT’S TLA!!! CAN ANYONE GET IN?!?!?!?! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GO?!?!?!?!?!
*GASP* I’m shaking.
Oh my god, this made my day. My week. WILL JUSTINE BE THERE TOO?!?!?! AAHHHHH!!!!! MUCHO EXCITEMONDO!!!!
Sorry for the freakout. But I’ve never gotten to meet another author before, not in my entire life, and now my favorite, possibly two of my favorites, right in my hometown!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!!
June 11th, 2006 05:48
Must go back and check to make sure this is real. It is real, right?
June 11th, 2006 07:05
Thanks for that little piece of info Scott. As to why i was asking i’m almost in my senior year in high school and still trying to decide what i like best. So far i have Engineering, Art, Writing, and Sports.
I was thinking though that i could be an engineer and still do art and writing, but if i do engineering i’m not sure if i’ll ever get really serious about writing which i want to do. So i started with the payment schedule…hahaha. I don’t think i’m good enough to go professional in golf but close. By art i meant architecture, but i’m not sure if i like better than engineering. Ugh chosing careers is confusing and difficult.
June 11th, 2006 07:08
keep Kickin A$$ with leviathan, can’t wait till its release date.
June 11th, 2006 08:46
rob, i feel ya. i just graduated and torn between the following:
film
international studies
writing
nuerology
forensic studies
aaahhh… thank god for general ed. give me some time to think it over. right now film is winning…but who knows.
i’ve been neglecting the posts. my friends just flew out from california to visit me until the 17th, so i’ve been a little preoccupied, i’ve been missing them like crazy and its just so good to see them i dont get on the computer much. but i Will check out the forum, promise.
June 11th, 2006 09:23
When you get to college be an undecided major for a bit. That’s what I’m doing
Although I’m leaning towards Engish. Or Art History. Or maybe Psychology?
Okay – you can see why I am currently undecided.
June 11th, 2006 09:28
scott–we absolutely and 100% forgive the infrequent postings and such. (*i* do, anyway.) just write leviathan!! i don’t know that i’ve ever been so excited for a book with a release date so far away. there are many other books/authors that i like quite a bit, but it really makes a difference that you take the time to answer a question if i have it, either here on the blog or by email, or to encourage/participate in the sometimes on sometimes *way* off topic conversations we have.
so, in one word…
thanks.
June 11th, 2006 10:07
“so, in one word… thanks.”
Yeah, ditto. Not a lot of people would spend so much time.
I think I am the only person in the universe who has not changed my major. I am still a writing and rhetoric major.
I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. And it’s only now, after a year of college, that I’ve even started having second thoughts. I love film and layout design, and I’ve just recently gotten into graphic design. Argh! So many choices. It just seems so hard to make it as a writer that sometimes I wonder if I ought to do something else professionally, at least for a while. But for now, at least, I’m sticking to writing.
June 11th, 2006 10:14
Scott you made my day wiht your single post.And it was on my page
But don’t feel the need to post! GO WRITE! If don’t hear form you for a year but then get an amazing new trilogy (which it will be) no one iwll complain. Well we’d miss you. Ack all you poor people deciding careers/what ot study. Well actually I have 5 years till I graduate but I’m trying to decide anyway. Becuase I like to plan ahead.
June 11th, 2006 12:21
I lurve you.
June 11th, 2006 13:33
dear scott!!!
well ur contact me thing wont work on my computer idk y! but i am a realllly huge fan!!!!!!! and i would like to mail some stuff? is there any other way to?
well i am uglies trilog’s biggest fan!! at leat one of them!!!!
well c yea
love u
June 11th, 2006 14:19
Hey, Steph: Just click CONTACT replace the “AT” in the email address with an @ sign. The reason it pops up that way is to fool spambots.
June 11th, 2006 14:36
uhhh ok? i think i can? ill try ooo this is kewl i am talking to u!!!
June 11th, 2006 14:42
ok? i think i did it? could u reply to…
WorldxOfXBeauty
thx
and thx for the help!!
June 13th, 2006 09:22
Ooh! So much excitement! The Big News is soon?! YAY!
And the appearances pasge said something about being in Seattle in October? Wow. I want to go to this school librarians thingie. But I’m guessing I wouldn’t be able to get in. Sad. It actually sounds sorta cool…
“Just click CONTACT replace the “AT” in the email address with an @ sign. The reason it pops up that way is to fool spambots.”
- So THATS why the email thing looks like that. I always wondered…
June 13th, 2006 09:41
100 comments
I’m gonna join that forum thing. Scott: In all your days did you ever think you would have an entire forum dedicated to you?
June 27th, 2006 16:57
Congrats on the ten year mark! I only just started in this wacky world of YA writing five years ago and have done all right so far, but the idea of dropping everything and doing it full time fills me with fears of living in shacks and eating top ramen for the next decade. Good to see it can work out so well, albeit after a lot of time and effort and words.
Incidentally, my editor and I both love your books, and we’ve both been praising them up and down to our writer and editor friends. I’m almost at the end of Midnighters 2 and expect to be up insanely late as I must know what happens. I’m glad I found your blog!
July 15th, 2006 04:27
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