Tropical vacations are supposed to be relaxing, right?

Sure.

But sometimes forces conspire against you. The airline loses your luggage (and your child’s car seat), a tropical storm blows in, you wind up visiting the ER (twice), and you discover that fire ants and jellyfish larvae both sting like, well, you know.

So, what do you do? Mope? Rant? Make everything worse?

Maybe.

But there’s another way to deal with all of your well-laid plans going to crap.

Get innovative.

Think outside the box. (Insert your own cliche here.)

Innovation is not just for dealing with disaster, of course. (Although MacGuyver and Hank Lawson are sure fun to watch.) It’s also a key factor in evolution.

The evolution and innovation I’m talking about this week, though, is in the book industry. Most specifically, the latest creative project by WMG author Dean Wesley Smith.
Smith, who is considered one of the foremost voices on indie publishing today, is a leader and a trendsetter in this industry, and his new project is no different.

Calling it The New Short Story Challenge (aka Challenge Two), Smith has resumed his short fiction writing challenge (write 100 short stories in a year) but has added a new twist. He is offering subscriptions for these stories in both ebook and print form (which WMG will publish, of course).

What a great idea. I don’t know about you, but it’s always a highlight of my month when a new magazine I subscribe to arrives. How much more exciting to have that option with short fiction?

I can’t wait to watch this experiment play out. What wonderful opportunities this new world of publishing affords us as readers!

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Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.