On Rapid Release
In Today's Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* On Rapid Release (and Artisan Authorship)
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
"Sometimes when you're teaching others to do things, you end up learning more about the topic than you ever dreamed." Tari Lynn Jewett
""The only person with whom you have to compare yourself is you in the past." Sigmund Freud
On Rapid Release (and Artisan Authorship)
Note: I was going to address this topic in a single post, but the length became unwieldy. So this is Part 1.
Emilia's recent comment, which I posted here in TNDJ, started me thinking. In one part of her comment, she wrote that "rapid release" is "a good way to do publishing business [but] it's just not presented in the best way currently."
Emilia makes a great point. So I thought I'd take a shot at presenting it, or at least give you my thoughts.
First, whether you're a "rapid release author" or "artisan author" or whatever else you might label yourself, first you have to be a writer. Until you've settled on that, no other labels matter.
And for the purposes of this post, you have to be a "fast" writer (so you have something to release). Being a "fast" writer actually has nothing to do with how fast you type. It's all about how much time you spend in the chair.
Intro
I guess I'm a rapid releaser. Shrug.
Fiction writing isn't some elevated calling and it isn't something I have to force myself to do. Nor is it something from which I require rest or escape. It's what I love to do, so it's what I do.
In fact, barring emergencies, the only time I'm not physically writing is when I'm too exhausted to manipulate the keyboard. Well, or when I have other obligations, but I don't have a lot of those. My body requires rest, but even then my mind and spirit are writing.
I'm currently (and for the past 38 weeks, I have been) releasing a novel every two weeks. In the next day or two, that number will shift to 20 novels in 40 weeks.
Plus I write one or sometimes several short stories each week. Some of those are derived from my novels as I go, and some of them are separate short stories.
In other words, I'm a fiction writer.
But despite releasing a new novel every two weeks and despite releasing a new short story once or a few times a week, I don't think of myself as a "rapid release author." I just think of myself as a writer.
The Gist of Rapid Release
So the core of "rapid release" is writing fiction in the first place.
Not everybody has the time available to write all day every day. But you do have (or at least want to have) time available to write fiction or you wouldn't be reading this.
If you want to become a rapid-release author, you have to write. So keep writing. Write as much as you can whenever you have a chance. To do that,
When an idea or story starter occurs to you, get to your laptop (or pad and pen) and write it, right now (or at the earliest opportunity). This pertains to novels as well as short stories.
Once you've started, keep writing until you reach The End if possible.
If that isn't possible, stop writing in the middle of a scene or sentence so you'll flow right back into the story when you come back. Then keep writing until you reach The End if possible.
If that isn't possible (um, long short story, novella, or novel), stop writing in the middle of a scene or sentence so you'll flow right back into the story when you come back. Then keep writing until you reach The End if possible.
When you eventually reach The End, I recommend running a spell check and then either sending it to a first reader or reading it aloud yourself. Either is equally effective.
Then publish it and repeat all the steps above.
Okay, that takes care of the writing part.
Back tomorrow with “Becoming a Rapid Release Author” and “On Artisan Authorship.”
Of Interest
Word Smarts Subscribe. It's free. And maybe invaluable.
How Can You Spot (and Fix) Run-On Sentences? But (damn it) a run-on sentence is NOT just 'a long sentence' as the writer implies even after she explains correctly. Sigh. BTW, Grammarly is guilty of the 'long sentence' assertion too. The length of a sentence has NOTHING to do with whether a sentence is "run-on."
10 Things I Learned Teaching Children to Write
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 760
Writing of Blackwell Ops 43: Sam Granger | The Quiz Master
Day 1…… 2242 words. To date…… 2242
Day 2…… 3315 words. To date…… 5557
Day 3…… 3192 words. To date…… 8749
Day 4…… 3439 words. To date…… 12188
Day 5…… 3017 words. To date…… 15205
Day 6…… 4041 words. To date…… 19246
Day 7…… 2706 words. To date…… 21952
Day 8…… 3302 words. To date…… 25254
Day 9…… 2335 words. To date…… 27589
Day 10…. 3531 words. To date…… 31120
Day 11…. 3685 words. To date…… 34805
Fiction for May………………………... 20690
Fiction for 2025………………………. 399103
Nonfiction for May………………........ 3840
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 104930
2025 consumable words…………….. 497523
Average Fiction WPD (May)……...... 4138
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 9
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 26
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..... 113
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 296
Short story collections……………………. 29
Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
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Questions are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. But please limit yourself to the topics of writing and publishing.
I really appreciated this post, and the clarity of your framing around rapid release vs. artisan authorship.
Something funny happened recently that made me think about how skewed public perception can be. I was listening to a book podcast run by two avid readers, and they compared authors who release ONE BOOK A YEAR to “fast fashion.” So in their mind, that kind of “fast writing schedule” equated to rushed, disposable, even harmful content. It made me roll my eyes, but it also reminded me how far removed many readers are from what it actually means to write consistently and publish often.
The idea that writing frequently is inherently “lesser” or that creativity can only thrive when it’s slow and tortured is such a strange myth, and it does a disservice to both writers and readers. Some of the most electric, alive writing I’ve ever read came from authors who clearly loved the act of storytelling and just kept going, story after story after story.
Thank you for sharing your perspective so openly. There’s something deeply encouraging about hearing from writers who love the work and don’t see the need to apologize for enjoying the process and publishing often.
I like how you mentioned to stop a writing session mid scene (or sentence even). I have a tendency to stop at the end of a chapter or scene and then I do find that it can be harder to get back into the flow. Ill have to try your mid scene technique. I can see how that would let you hit the ground running