Bizarro in Business

BizarroCon has paid dividends in a real way. I am once again applying to MFA programs in creative writing (aka literary arts). I planned on reusing my previous recommendations but it is not guaranteed that this is accepted everywhere. Then it hit me that some BizarroCon friends and acquaintances may help me out and they are certainly qualified. I reached out to two and both agreed. The Bizarro community, as MP Johnson put it, is truly a literary community where the people generally know each other, regularly meet, and often work together. We edit, publish, read, buy, and recommend each other. I may sign up to become a freelance editor, which would boost my career prospects. I am overjoyed to have found these people, they are always supportive and responsive. The Bizarro community is growing (I'm a perfect example and I wasn't the only rookie). Although this isn't the literary scene by a stretch, it is a legitimate force in the marketplace. I just finished reading my first novel (Kitten), for the previous year I have only read short stories because that's where I aim to start. The novel was a gift from the writer (G. Arthur Brown), who happens to be one of the editors that I may submit to in the future. Garret Cook was pushing me to write and submit to Brown just the other day. And I'm surprised by how active these people are on Facebook, it's constant cross-pollination going on. One of these days they may have to relocate BizarroCon because it is outgrowing the current hotel, which would be sad, or they'll have to limit attendance, also sad. It's cool because it's still small but, ironically, bigger is better for business and general respect among all writers and readers. In that way, there is a sort of pride in anti-commercialism even if the commercial aspect is what pays for the movement to continue. That's the dilemma: small, cozy, and less money or big, cramped, and more money. If only small and cozy could still earn more money.