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In All Its Glory
The cover for City of Dragons, by Jackie Morris.
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Support Your Local Genre
Not all people who read fantasy and SF want to be writers. But almost all people who want to write fantasy and SF also read the stuff.
And most people who want to write fantasy and SF also want to be able to sell their stories and novels when they are complete.
So . . . why are subscription rates to the magazines that publish fantasy and SF stories falling off? For a long time now, I’ve watched old magazines fail due to lack of subscribers, and new magazines (including e-zines) come into being, prosper briefly, and then fail. Due to a lack of readership.
It is my opinion that if you want to sell your stories then you ought to be willing to buy other people’s stories. It keeps alive the very markets that your career as a writer may depend on. My personal feeling is that short fiction is the cutting edge of our genre. Reading it is an important part of keeping up with the field as well as discovering wonderful new stories and writers for your own enjoyment. If you want to be a writer of SF or fantasy, I think you need to read what others are writing, if only to save yourself the trouble of reinventing the wheel!
Herewith, my suggestions for three magazines that I think every sf/fantasy writer, aspiring or proven, should subscribe to.
Asimov’s Science Fiction Why? Because my taste in stories is very much in tune with what their editors choose to publish. In other words, in almost every issue, I can find a story that makes me go ‘Wow.’ Or one leaves me pondering something. It’s also where you can yearly find a Connie Willis Christmas story, and those my friends, are worth the price of a year’s subscription just by themselves! Don’t be put off by the SF in the title if you are a fantasy only reader. They publish both on a regular basis.
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction This magazine has a solid history of picking winners. Flowers for Algernon comes immediately to mind. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower was first serialized in Over my years of readingF&SF, I have watched writers appear in those pages, blossom and then become giants in the SF/fantasy field. And I am always excited when one of my old favorites, such as Ray Bradbury, shows up on the cover. Solid book reviews by Charles deLint are also in there.
Locus Magazine Now this is the one that I view as indispensible for those with writing ambitions. Locus Magazine bills itself as The Magazine of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Field. Within its pages you will find reviews of forthcoming books and magazines, news of who is writing, selling or reselling what, thoughtful essays, coverage of conventions and, well, all the news of the SF/fantasy world.
Those are my three favorites. I’ll freely admit that I’m a paper addict and do not know the online magazines as well as I should. If you have a favorite magazine, paper or pixel, please feel free to respond here and let us know about it. After all, it’s in all our own best interests as writers and readers to keep these story outlets alive.
And because I’ve had a lot of response to what I wrote about Writer Beware!, I’ll close with a couple of other links that can be of great use to aspiring writers.
The first is Duotrope. To use it’s own words, this site is “an award-winning, free writers’ resource listing over 3550 current Fiction and Poetry publications.” It’s a great resource for discovering new markets for your fiction and poetry. And dare I add, it’s a great resource for discovering magazines that you might want to subscribe to and support!
The second one is GilaQueen. Gila Queen is currently on hiatus as they recover from Hurricane Irene, but we hope to see it back on line soon. And when it does come back, new subscribers would help keep it in existence. Keep checking back there.
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Writer Beware!
Becoming a writer is a tough process. The writer works alone. Often it’s his or her ‘second job’, the one done for no pay while spouse and friends are watching television or socializing or working at second jobs that have real paychecks. Nevertheless, the neophyte writer labors on alone until he has that first, finished manuscript. And then he lifts his head up and wonders, “How does this get turned into a book?”
And that, sad to say, is when the sharks may begin to circle. A ‘bite’ for the fake agency that charges the author a reading fee and sends him to the fake ‘book doctor’ who takes another bite and sends him on the pretend ‘publisher’ who tears off a chunk of his money and his pride as he sends the writer off, alone, to peddle a badly-edited, overpriced book to his family and friends and no one else. A book that receives no advance, no publicity, no distribution and no royalties.
Worst case scenario? Yes. But it happens far too often to inexperienced writers.
Over many years of writing and years of offering advice to newcomers to the field of writing, I’ve often referred to Writer Beware as an extremely valuable source. If you write or think you might want to write, bookmark that link right now! This recommendation applies for writers of all genres, including poetry and mainstream, because there are no limits to the scam agents and pitfalls for new writers. And in a time when self-publishing is no longer seen as an author’s last resort, but a valid option especially for special interest books, the scams have only multiplied. Make no mistake. There is a long line of folks who would love to take your money and trash your dream.
And that is where Writer Beware! comes into play. Writer Beware! is a site that investigates scams affecting writers and boldly publishes their findings. They will tell you, bluntly, which agents and publishers to avoid. They put out, in plain words, exactly when you should be willing to pay a fee, and when that fee is a cheat and a rip off. They will tell you which publishers are actually vanity presses, and give you the information that can help you decide when self-publishing IS a good choice, and how to go about it.
Plainly put: They teach you what you need to know to avoid being fleeced on your way to being published.
Victoria Strauss and Ann Crispin have been extremely valuable allies, over and over, to me and to many other writers I know. They have given unselfishly of their time, pursued lawsuits on behalf of writers and endured the sort of harassment that befalls people who expose scumbags. There is now a concerted effort to discredit Ann, Victoria, Writer Beware! and many of the people who have supported them. For the details on this, I will refer you directly to Ann’s Blog about the matter.
Don’t be deceived. Writer Beware! is a valuable resource to any writer. If they weren’t effective, they wouldn’t be enduring this harassment.
Ann and Victoria, thank you.
Robin
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A Change of Schedule!
Unfortunately, due to some last minute changes, I will be unable to be at the Northwest Book Fest in Kirkland!
Please do go and have a wonderful time!
Robin Hobb
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NFB and Paddle to the Sea
The National Film Board of Canada has, over the years, provided me with entertainment such as I have found nowhere else. Years ago, I discovered via the NFB an animator called Richard Condie. Through much of my career, Getting Started has been the best way in the world to short circuit an attack of writers block. The Big Snit, also by Richerd Condie, can put any internet flame war to shame as well as putting it in perspective. The simple phrase ‘Sawing for Teens’ can dissolve any family gathering at my house into hysteria.
Likewise The Cat Came Back by Cordell Barker has delighted every generation of my family that as seen it. And if I am in a romantic mood, The Log Drivers Waltz by John Weldon never fails to touch my heart. It’s always a dangerous website for me to visit if I haven any work scheduled for the day, for the temptation is simply to move from one short film to another.
Today was no exception. The email from NFB was in my mailbox and I could not resist the lure of Paddle to the Sea . The rich voice, gentle narration and calmness of this film from 1966 took me back to a time when films for kids were slower paced and thoughtful. It’s 28 minutes long, and it may be the most enjoyable 28 minutes of your fast paced day.
Thanks NFB. A quick injection of pure Story was exactly what I needed today!
But before I go back to my day’s work, I need to waltz with that Log Driver one more time!
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When the Mews won’t let you work
Ever had one of those days when you just couldn’t seem to sit down in your chair and get any writing done?
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Espresso Book Machine and Harper Collins
What is an Espresso Book Machine? A quick summary would be that it’s a machine that can very quickly (less than 7 minutes) print out from a file a paperback book, complete with color, that is virtually the same as a book you would buy off a book store shelf.
My friend Vlad at Third Place Books has made a video of their Espresso Book Machine in action.
These machines were already pretty cool. If you have access to one, then you can get a physical copy of a public domain book, even if it has been out of print for years. Project Gutenberg books, Google books . . . the machine has access to over 5 million books. AND more and more authors are using the machine to make their own ‘out of print’ books available as paper books again. Not to mention self publishing authors who wish to have paper books as well as e-books for their readers.
Now here is where it gets even more interesting.
This link goes to the story from yesterday, about HarperCollins making its paperback list available to any store that has an Espresso book machine. So, regardless of floor space and racks, a little book store can almost instantly hand the customer a copy of any HC papeback. And it’s a competitively priced book, too.
Think of what that means. IF it catches on, it means that publishers and bookstores will have less expense related to shipping and storing books. Returns would definitely taper off. There would be much less waste in the book industry.
I would miss actually browsing a real shelf of books, and opening one at random to take a peek inside. I suppose that sort of browsing can be done from a computer, to some extent, but I will miss the physical part of the experience.
I will be watching this with interest to see where it goes.
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New Cover Art for US City of Dragons
The surprise is, you readers from the UK and Australia will recognize the artist immediately!
This is the first time that my books in the UK, US and Australia have featured the same art!
Here’s a peek at the cover for City of Dragons. The artist is Jackie Morris, often mentioned here. Click on her name to visit her website for all sorts of beautiful images. And to see hints of things to come for Blood of Dragons.
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Bits and Pieces
One of my current resolves is to put more reading time into my life. To that end, I’ve been immersed in Blake Charlton’s new book, Spellbound. It’s the sequel to Spellwright, a volume I greatly enjoyed. No spoilers here, but I’ll add that to be dyslexic in a world where wizards must literally spell their spells can make for very interesting times . . . For those of you who live near me, Blake will be reading at University Book Store in Seattle tomorrow ( Sept. 21) at 7 PM. Definitely a ‘don’t miss’ evening.
My other reading pleasures tonight were a couple of entries from the September 2011 Asimov’s Science Fiction. Both stories featured youthful protagonists (as the cliche goes!) but they could not be more different from one another. “Grandma Said” by R. Neube is about a young man who volunteers to work for the Plague Center, battling outbreaks of an indigenous disease in a colony on a terraformed planet. “Stalker” by Robert Reed (an author who with alarming regularity writes absolutely wonderful short stories) is about a very different sort of teen and the ‘unbounded, bodiless personality designed to hover close to that one significant soul.’ And if that significant soul is the worst possible sort of young man that one can imagine, and your duty is to be devoted to him . . . Where does that leave an AI?
I recommend both stories!
And in my own backyard, I have some cover art news that I’m not quite ready to share yet, but it definitely makes me grin!
And this last week I’ve signed contracts with Heyne for mass market German editions of Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven. From earlier in the month, Luitingh will be bringing out a Dutch edition of The Inheritance. And Pygmalion will be publishing a French edition of City of Dragons. All of which makes me very happy. I’ve been invited to Elf Fantasy Fair in the Netherlands for April of 2012 and I’m desperately trying to fit that in to my writing schedule. It has absolutely everything that I love in a fantasy gathering, and the castle setting is the finishing touch. I’m so hoping that I can make this come together!
But to make that happen, I need less time on the Internet and more time putting words on the virtual page!
Best wishes to all!
Robin
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City of Dragons
Well, the book marches one step closer to being real. I have seen the cover art for the UK edition. Jackie Morris has outdone herself! I will ask permission to post it here. Some of you who are friend with Jackie on Facebook may have already had a sneak peek at it.
The publication date for both the US and the UK/Australia will be February of 2012. The concluding volume will be released in 2013, not 2012 as I had previously thought. But at least I can assure you that the books is finished, edited and safely in the hands of the publishers. Book four will still have to go thorugh copy editing of course, but the story does exist.
The weather here has finally cooled, the sky has grayed and I am comfortable outside again. I am now looking at all that must be done in the garden and down at my pocket farm before it becomes very rainy. Then I try to balance that against all the writing tasks before me, and I realize I’d best sharpen my self discipline and use my time more efficiently.
I still have blueberries and black berries to pick, and it looks as if we will have a bumper crop of apples, if the deer don’t get to them first. I persuade myself that berries will not stay on the bushes forever, so that is what I should get to first this week. But I know it is just a convenient excuse for being outside and doing something I love instead of sitting at my desk.
I’ve decided that this year I will go back to my old ways, and put away a lot of food in the freezer and in jars. I’ve made green bean garlic dill pickles, and all sorts of jam as well as freezing batches of blackberries and blueberries. Perhaps it is time to replace the ancient pressure cooker. I want to do cinnamon apple rings this fall, as well as applesauce and pumpkin. Yes. Better find a good pressure cooker.
Robin
