Having a nostalgic blogwander, and found this post, which I wrote nearly 10 years ago and still, in large part, agree with. It’s a rambling reflection that starts with John Barthes, continues through Gene Wolfe, and concludes that the problem with both modernism and postmodernism is not that they are empty, but that they’ve been emptied, in a baby-with-the-bathwater sense.
Well, 2016 has arrived where I am, so it’s time for my now-annual post summarising the books I read last year.
I read more 5-star books and fewer 3-star books than in 2014, with about the same number of 4-star books, so the trend is good.
Both Lisa Cohen and S. A. Hunt make the top 15, Lisa repeating her 2014 achievement with another in the same series.
So, my end-of-year short story stats (assuming no surprises in the next 12 hours):
2014: 44 submitted, 1 acceptance, 20 form rejections, 14 personalised rejections, earnings $0.00. (The accepted story was paid for in the following year.)
2015: 52 submitted, 8 acceptances, 28 form rejections, 13 personalised rejections, earnings $354.09.
I have five pending submissions, of which one is a rewrite request that I hope will become another sale.
I started seriously submitting at the beginning of 2014, so that gives you some indication of where hard work and determination can take you in a couple of years. Not far, in some ways, but a long way in others.
Open call: Science fiction dealing with medicine, health, and illness in up to 3000 words. Up to 20 pieces will be published in the competition anthology. Payment of at least 50 pounds for published pieces.
Lisa Cohen, sounds like something you might be into?
Here’s the interview I did yesterday with the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, complete with show notes, links, and both video and audio formats.
http://www.marketingsff.com/editing-and-selling-short-fiction/
Well, hey, look at that – because we did a Hangout On Air, this interview is already available. It’ll also come through as an audio-only podcast soon (I have a good face for radio, so if you want to spare yourself…).
Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself an “editing expert”. But I do know some things.
Originally shared by Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast
Today we’ll talk to indie author and editing expert Mike Reeves McMillan about how to avoid common grammatical and formatting mistakes, and produce the sort of manuscript the traditional publishers are looking for.
Just got finished recording a show with Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast (Lindsay Buroker and Joe Lallo) about my nonfiction book, The Well-Presented Manuscript.
We talked about short stories, being a “light hybrid” author, trad vs indie quality levels, the role of editors, and the importance of not tripping up your readers unnecessarily. It was a good time.
Steven Saus speaks truth.
There are over a hundred professional and semiprofessional markets for fantasy and science fiction (smaller numbers for other genres). For the development of your craft and your reputation, and just for commercial reasons, it’s always worth submitting to the market first.
Originally shared by Steven Saus
Always try to sell short works before putting them in your own collection
I putz about on Reddit sometimes, and ran across this question in /r/Writing (relevant bit quoted below): [I’ve written some short stories now.] I was wondering whether I should submit somewhere online, or put like 5 shorts together and submit it as a book….
“At heart, I’m writing my stories: the stories I wanted to read as a child, the adventures in space where I don’t have to feel excluded; the fantasies where you can be small and dark-haired and Asian and still be a hero.”
I’m overrepresented in SFF, myself, but I don’t want to keep reading the same story over and over again, either. I want stories that help me understand what it’s like to be someone different from me.
Originally shared by Dave Higgins
Tolkien as European imperialism isn’t news; however, maybe it’s time it was history.
Well, that was fast. Signed the contract this morning, and Digital Fantasy Fiction already has “Something Rich and Strange” up on Amazon.
In an alternate version of the late Victorian era, a young woman finds her voice at the Change Storm, the bizarre, transformative phenomenon her professor father studies.
http://www.amazon.com/Something-Rich-Strange-Digital-Uncommon-ebook/dp/B019M18DSI/