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The Princess of Dhagabad free for Kindle May 25-27, 2012
Download your copy at Amazon.
And, check out my new blog site, where I plan to move all my contents in mid-June.
The Goddess of Dance GIVEAWAY — enter the drawing by following the instructions posted on my new blog site.
And, check out my new blog site, where I plan to move all my contents in mid-June.
The Goddess of Dance GIVEAWAY — enter the drawing by following the instructions posted on my new blog site.
Interview with Ellen Datlow, award-winning editor of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
I am excited to interview Ellen Datlow — a legend in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, a multi-award-winning editor of anthologies and story collections. Thank you, Ellen, for agreeing to do this interview.
Q: What you would like the blog readers to know about you. Which anthologies to you regularly edit?
I’m an endangered species: a short story editor of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, although I’ve been concentrating more on fantasy and horror the past few years. The only anthology I regularly edit is The Best Horror of the Year for Night Shade Books. I co-edited The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror for sixteen years with Terri Windling and then five years with Gavin Grant and Kelly Link. I always read for the horror side. They always read for the fantasy side.
Q: Apart from the regular ones (such as "the year's best"), how do you decide which new anthology to work on, and how does the theme get selected for these anthologies?
Usually I’ll think up a theme that interests me, then contact some writers to ask if they’re interested in writing for it (bigger name ones first), write up a proposal and give it to my agent. Then she sends it out and we hope that a publisher is interested and makes an offer I can afford to accept. (this includes paying the contributors at least 6 cents a word plus how much I need in order to acquire and edit the project). Sometimes a publisher approaches me with an idea I like (for example the Poe anthology in honor of the Edgar Allan Poe Bicentennial a few years ago. Also, my editor at Dark Horse suggested Supernatural Noir as a follow up to Lovecraft Unbound, which I edited for them a couple of years previously. As I love the supernatural and love noir it was a natural. I very much enjoyed editing that one. The third way I decide is that someone with whom I co-edit or who would like to co-edit with me comes up with a theme that I like. That’s how Terri Windling and I began co-editing our original anthologies. Nick Mamatas approached me about co-editing Haunted Legends (initially for the Horror Writers Association but that didn’t work out) because he thought my being involved would help sell the antho –which it did.
Q: If possible, describe the overall process of editing an anthology.
There are several different types of anthologies. There are all-reprint anthologies for which the editor chooses stories that already exist and there are original anthologies for which all the stories are solicited. Then there are theme anthologies vs. non-theme anthologies. An all reprint anthology can be based on a theme and/or an historical overview.
For a reprint theme anthology I put out open calls for stories, asking that readers recommend their favorites (eg. my cat anthology Tales of Wonder and Imagination and Hauntings, my forthcoming ghost story/hauntings anthology.)
For an original anthology I make a list of the writers I want in the anthology (leaving room for serendipity, i.e. the unexpected submission received through word of mouth). In fact, asking bigger name writers for stories is a part of the process of selling any anthology to a publisher. The bigger names the better. I cast a wide net among the many writers who I’ve worked with in the past and who I would like to work with in the future. My aim is always to acquire a variety of stories, always pushing against the theme. The closer an anthology comes to being done, the tighter the parameters. So if I realize I’m receiving too many stories about a specific sub-theme, or with similar types of characters, or too similar in point of view, I start urging those writers who haven’t yet handed in their stories to do something else. Several times during the process of acquiring and editing the stories (which can take up to year) I periodically encourage the writers who need encouragement and ask how their stories are coming. Most of the stories come in way before deadline, which is good. I pay as much as I can from the advance on signature of the contract, so the early birds don't have to wait until I hand in the book to get paid. The rest get paid from the “delivery and acceptance” money. Also, there's more flexibility in the type of story I'll buy in the beginning. As the anthology begins shaping up I'm much more careful of repetition in point of view and sub-themes—as I said above.
A couple of months before the deadline I’ve set with the contributors I start nagging, and I also may alert the writers who haven't yet submitted their stories that I don't want any more of a particular type of story.
Also, as I buy stories I ask for an Afterword (if that's the type of anthology I'm editing) and a biography for each contributor.
A month or so before I hand in the finished manuscripts I do the final line edit of each story—although for most of the stories I've already worked with the author on any substantive editing before I've committed to buying the story. But every story gets a final and thorough line edit towards the end of the process.
Q: What is your selection process of stories for the anthologies?
For The Best Horror of the Year, I send out an annual “call for submissions” which explains what kinds of stories I’m considering and my deadlines for that year. I make it clear that this is reprint only and that I’d prefer publishers to send me their anthologies, single-author collections, and magazines. Also, in the letter I explain that in my summary of the year I cover novels, novella chapbooks, non-fiction, art books, and what I call “odds and ends” —interesting things that don’t fit into other categories. I note stories that make an impact on me as I read during the year and toward the end of the year I go back to those stories to reread them multiple times until they drop out of the final table of contents or I take them. On occasion I read a story for the first time and decide on taking it for the Best of the Year immediately.
For original anthologies, after I approach the writers I want for each anthology, I follow up with them periodically (as I mention above) to see how the story is coming along. Inevitably, writers drop out because they don’t have the time to meet my deadline or they don’t have a workable idea. The advantage of asking writers I’ve worked with before or who I’ve at least read and whose work I’ve admired previously, is that usually they will write a story that works for the anthology and that I like or hopefully love. I usually make my decisions on the submissions immediately. If I love a story but think it needs work, I’ll discuss that with the writer. If the revisions it needs are minor and it’s someone I’ve worked with before I will likely commit to the story and send out a contract. But if it’s a newer writer and the story needs more work. I’ll not commit to buying the story until after we work on the story and are both happy with it. Sometimes even after an edit a story won’t be “right” for me. I find that if I’m sitting on the fence about taking a story, it usually means I don’t love it enough to buy, in the end.
The only original open submission anthology I edited was Haunted Legends, which I co-edited with Nick Mamatas. He insisted on having a two week window for open submissions, which we did. But we did this with the understanding that he, not I would be reading those submissions, and only passing on to me the best. So I ended up reading about twenty-five and we chose about five. But none of those stories were from complete unknowns. At least one was by a writer Nick had published. Another was from a writer I had published. And the three others were by writers one or both of us had heard of.
The selection process is always ultimately the same for any anthology. Which stories do I love and must include in the book, what stories complement the other stories and the theme (as broadly as I wish to interpret that theme), and which lend a feeling of variety to the overall selection.
Q: Does it ever happen that an invited story is not accepted, and what happens to the story in such case?
If a story doesn’t work for me or for the anthology I turn it down, saying that. It’s difficult to turn down stories from writers who have become friends (or from really big names) but one must do it. It’s my reputation on the line. Often the writer will just sell it elsewhere. But see, that’s one reason why I hesitate to open my original anthologies. The danger is that there will suddenly be a flood of rejected stories on a specific theme floating around in the marketplace, and very probably being published before my own anthology is published. (because magazines come out more often than most anthologies).
Q: Does it ever happen that you get too many, or not enough stories that fit the theme and the style of a particular anthology, and what do you do in this case?
If I’m aware that too many great ones are coming in, I’ll alert the writers who have committed to the anthology and ask if they’ve started their story yet. If not, I’ll tell them not to. I’ve rarely turned down a brilliant story that came in at the last minute—I’ll ask my in-house editor if we can fit it in (this doesn’t mean I can slip in a novella at the last minute, but usually a short story). If I’m worried about getting enough stories I’ll contact a few other writers in my “stable” and ask if they have time/interest in writing something quickly for me. I may also ask for a short extension on my delivery date if necessary, but I generally give myself plenty of time for drop –outs.
Q: How do you decide on the order of the stories in the finished book?
I feel the first and last stories are the most important in setting up the order. I try to begin with something accessible that’s not too dense or too strange (I’ve made exceptions, at the suggestion of my in-house editor). Last and next to last I try to put in what I consider the strongest stories—or have a really strong story with a grace note of a story afterward. I may put the oddball of difficult stories toward the middle because I feel the reader will accept the strange ones if they’re already engaged by the earlier stories. I vary length—not putting two really long stories next to each other. If I have two stories that bear some similarity to each other I’ll either put them at different ends of the book, or maybe just put them next to each other to compare and contrast their differences and samenesses intentionally. The problem with creating any anthology order is that there’s no guarantee how the reader will read the book. She may read her favorite authors first, skip around to shorter or longer stories, or she may read straight through. I have no control over that.
Q: How is the title selected for an anthology?
Usually the title comes first, as that could be a big selling point. The title for Lovecraft Unbound just came to me-I was influenced by Brian Aldiss’s use of the title Frankenstein Unbound for one of his novels. It seemed to perfectly reflect my intent for my Lovecraftian anthology—not to create yet another anthology of pastiches but to encourage writers to use elements of Lovecraftian literature to inspire new stories. Some titles were agonizing to come up with. The title of A Whisper of Blood, my second vampirism anthology was dreamed up during a five hour ride to and from Boston with my editor David G. Hartwell. The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy was suggested in desperation when neither I nor my editor could find a title we agreed on.
Q: How do you approach the editing? Is there ever a case where you like the idea of the story but there is too much editing and as a result you have to pass on it?
If I receive an interesting submission that I like but don’t think works without total overhaul, I won’t bother with it. At a magazine, it’s different. I had more leeway, as I wasn’t looking for a specific theme nor did I have deadlines regarding specific stories. I could spend the time working with a writer on her story and schedule a different one needing only a final line edit already in my inventory. An anthology has a deadline and my time to work on any one story is finite.
Q: What do you like to read?
I enjoy dark crime novels, dark, twisty novels with complex characters and the unexpected.
Q: What are your upcoming new projects?
I’ve started reading for The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five. Terri Windling and I have a young adult dystopian anthology coming out from Hyperion this October called AFTER. We’ve got adult writers in it, such as Richard Bowes, Jeffrey Ford, and Carol Emshwiller, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Carolyn Dunn , Genevieve Valentine, Katherine Langrish, Matthew Kressel, N.K. Jemisin, and Nalo Hopkinson plus popular YA writers such as Carrie Ryan, Beth Revis, Jane Yolen, Sarah Rees Brennan, Garth Nix, Gregory Maguire, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Steven Gould, and Cecil Castellucci.
I’ve turned in an all reprint anthology of ghosts and hauntings to Tachyon called Hauntings. It will be out next spring.
Terri and I have recently turned in a Victorian fantasy anthology to Tor called Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells.
I have several anthology proposals out right now but the market is tighter than it has been.
Q: Is there any advice you can give to aspiring authors on writing and publishing?
Keep writing. Send out a story and don’t wait for the acceptance or rejection. Start your next story (or novel). Research markets. Start with the highest paying markets and move downwards from there. Publishing a story on your website means it’s “published” whether 5 people read it or 50, 000 people read it. But the likelihood of 50,000 people coming to your website to see your story is pretty low. Take a chance and get your story out there. Get used to rejection. You can learn from them. Never throw out a story. Keep it around and cannibalize it in the future for other stories.
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Guest Interview Post: Angela Korra'ti, author of Faerie Blood, talks about her successful Kickstarter
Hi there! My name's Angela Korra'ti, and like Anna, I was previously published through Drollerie Press. When the rights to my urban fantasy novel Faerie Blood reverted back to me, I chose to pursue running a Kickstarter project in order to republish it, and along with it, Book 2 of its trilogy, Bone Walker. Anna's asked me to come by and tell you all a bit about how that's gone for me, and how other authors may apply my experience to running their own Kickstarter projects.
Let me break this down into a few basic questions and their answers.
Q: What is a Kickstarter?
A: A Kickstarter is a project run on Kickstarter.com, which is the best known of a variety of what are called 'crowdfunding' sites. Crowdfunding is a way for people in various fields of creative arts—publishing, music, video games, you name it—to raise the money to do specific projects by seeking backers directly from the Internet. You attract backers by describing what you're trying to accomplish, and offering various levels of rewards depending on how much money a backer pledges to your project.
Q: What kind of rewards should a Kickstarter project offer?
A: Your rewards should reflect whatever you're trying to create with the project. If you're an author, you should offer at minimum copies of the book, novella, short stories, etc., that you're writing. You could add extra bonuses on top of this such as naming a character after a backer, adding names to your Acknowledgements or Dedication page, or even commissioning extra custom stories for sufficiently high pledges!
In my case, I'm offering ebook and printed copies of both of the books involved, as well as ebook copies of shorter, related works in the same universe. I'm also offering named characters (and in one case, a backer won the right to have a character named after her AND to have that character killed off in a dramatic and important fashion!), listing of names on Acknowledgements and Dedication pages, and extra commissioned work.
And since a big emphasis of my project is the cover art I'm commissioning, I'm also offering digital copies of that, postcard and poster copies, and the actual original artwork to the highest level backers.
Q: Why did you do a Kickstarter instead of seeking a different publisher for your novel?
A: Three reasons for this.
One, since Faerie Blood had been previously published, I had therefore already used what are called first publication rights for it, which would have made it much more difficult to sell to a big traditional publishing house.
Two, I'd already queried the book to most of the major SF/F publishers who accept unagented submissions, as well as to a number of potentially interesting agents. And I'd gotten rejections from all of them.
Three, because while Faerie Blood is more or less urban fantasy, it's a much lighter-hearted urban fantasy than many you'll find on sale in bookstores these days. So it didn't seem to me that the tone of the book fit well with the currently active market.
Q: Why didn't you go with a small press like Drollerie?
A: I could have done that, sure. But I myself have the technical ability to make my own ebooks. My partner has layout and design experience, for creating the print editions of the books. A local awesome bookstore, Third Place Books, has an Espresso Book Machine capable of printing those books—and by using it, I can support the bookstore while creating books to sell. And lastly, I liked the idea of commissioning my own cover artist and editor.
So in other words, I'm pretty much doing everything that a small press could have done for me. Given the number of sales I expect to make once I deploy the books for direct sale after the Kickstarter is over, I felt it was to my advantage to maintain direct control of the process.
Q: I'm an author! Should I do a Kickstarter for my own work?
A: That depends on what your goals are for your writing career. If your ultimate goal is to get your book onto the shelves of bookstores, or if you want to be a Hugo-award-winning SF/F novelist, or if you want to be the next Jim Butcher or Cherie Priest or J.K. Rowling or what have you—then you should still maintain much of your focus on the big publishers. They're still your most likely means to get there.
If however you're willing to take on the work necessary to not only write your book but also to run a Kickstarter, crowdfunding might work for you. But make no mistake, it is work. You not only need to finish your novel, you also need to market yourself and your project. And if like many writers you're a raging introvert, marketing yourself is hard!
Q: Marketing myself sounds scary. How does that work?
A: In my particular case, it's helped that I've had an established (if small) blogging and social network presence for years now. I post a lot about books and music I'm enthusiastic about, in an effort to make my online presence be more about just my work. So I've been sending out regular updates about my Kickstarter progress to my various online channels, but I've also tried to make sure that that's not everything I talk about.
I've also sought out a few ways outside my usual online channels to spread the word about the project as well. I've talked about it at my day job and on various mailing lists I'm on, and I've posted to a couple of public forums about it. But I've also regularly encouraged backers to spread the word themselves to reach people I can't.
Word of mouth is everything in a Kickstarter. But you have to strike a balance between generating enthusiastic buzz about your project—and spamming people about it!
Q: What else do I need to do to start a Kickstarter?
A: I have no direct experience with the other crowdfunding sites, so I'll answer this strictly from my experience with Kickstarter.com.
Right at the very top of their homepage, Kickstarter provides a 'Start your project' link. If you click on that, it'll walk you through the process of setting up a project to submit for the approval of their staff, who will review it to make sure it adheres to general site guidelines before they let you activate the project. You will be asked to provide your overall project description, a list of rewards offered and at what pledge levels, how much money you're trying to raise, and how long you want your project to run for (30-60 days). You will need to provide a static image that reflects your project, and—and this part is important—a short video that pitches your project to the Internet.
Kickstarter's pages for filling in your project are very detailed and very helpful, and they even provide a 'Kickstarter school' help section that provides a number of recommendations for how to tailor your project to make it more likely you'll succeed. I'd definitely recommend reading that.
I'd also recommend looking at successful Kickstarter projects in your area of creativity, and use them as examples. If you know people who have run Kickstarters, ask them for advice. What rewards did they offer? How much did backers have to pledge to get those rewards? How much money was being raised, and how were the project owners using it? If the project didn't succeed, what might have caused that?
Once you fill in all of the data that the project creation pages ask for, then you submit your project. Kickstarter's staff will get back to you in a few days and let you know whether you're approved for launch.
Q: Eek, a project video? Seriously? But I don't know how to make a video!
A: This is one of the cornerstones of putting a Kickstarter project together, so you really can't skip this part, sorry! In this era of YouTube, Vimeo, and the like, having a short video to pitch your project is one of the most effective ways to draw in backers.
Fortunately, this video doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as simple as you parking in front of a webcam and talking about your project—and in fact, one successful Kickstarter that I backed myself, C.E. Murphy's Kickstarter for her novella NO DOMINION, was exactly that. But you should take care to polish what you want to say and how you say it. Write up what you want to say and practice presenting it before you video yourself. Get people to sanity check you as you do it.
If you have video editing experience, or if you know people who do, by all means take advantage of that. Again, look at other projects for examples.
In my case, my partner Dara was in charge of making my video. My contribution to it was to write up a short script about what I wanted to say, and Dara did everything else, from staging the shots of me talking, to doing shots of the in-progress versions of Faerie Blood's cover art, to even going to Third Place Books and getting footage of the book printing machine in action. She then edited the whole thing together in iMovie on her Mac so we could deploy it to the project.
Q: Are there other sites besides Kickstarter that do crowdfunding?
A: Yes! Kickstarter is simply the best known of them since it's the one that has had the most famous successful projects. But there's also peerbackers.com and indiegogo.com, and depending on how you prefer to let people pay you for your work, you may wish to investigate all three to see which is best suited to your preferences and needs.
One thing to note is that Kickstarter accepts payments only via Amazon, while peerbackers.com and indiegogo.com accept payments directly from credit cards and Paypal. You may find that, depending on your likely backer audience, some people may be more comfortable using one payment method or another. I've had people who wanted to support my Kickstarter but who were uncomfortable using Amazon as a means of delivering payment, so I had to encourage them to get others to pledge on their behalf. On the other hand, Kickstarter is the highest-profile of the crowdfunding sites, so you should think about whether that'll balance out possibly losing a few backers who don't want to deal with Amazon.
Q: How is your Kickstarter doing?
A: I'm thrilled that as of Friday, May 4th, I got full funding on the project with eleven days to spare! And I've still got over a week to go. Now that my funding is assured, all of the basic rewards I've offered my backers will be deployed—and now comes the fun of shooting for bonus rewards to offer as well! Like a soundtrack of associated music, or if all goes really well in the project's final days, Book 3 of the trilogy!
Q: Where's your project page?
Right over here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1959034636/faerie-blood-and-bone-walker-novels-by-angela-korr
Even though I've achieved full funding, the project will remain active until May 16th, so pledges can still be made! I hope you'll consider coming over to check the project out.
Many, many thanks to Anna Kashina for hosting this post! I'll be happy to answer any further questions about the project, so feel free to drop any questions you have in the comments, or come find me at angelakorrati.com!
Thank you, Anna Korra'ti, for telling about the Kickstarter, and congratulations on the success of yours! I look forward to reading your book series!
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The Princess of Dhagabad giveaway: thanks to everyone who participated!
Thanks, everyone, for visiting my page and downloading my book during the weekend promotion. The giveaway was a whooping success!
If you read my book and like it — please help me spread the word, by reviewing, blogging, sharing, tweeting, and word of mouth. Don't forget to visit Dragonwell Publishing bookstore, and 'like' Dragonwell on Facebook!
And, watch this space for more freebies and upcoming posts.
Thank you for reading.
If you read my book and like it — please help me spread the word, by reviewing, blogging, sharing, tweeting, and word of mouth. Don't forget to visit Dragonwell Publishing bookstore, and 'like' Dragonwell on Facebook!
And, watch this space for more freebies and upcoming posts.
Thank you for reading.
Princess of Dhagabad on Kindle FREE for two days!
Today and tomorrow only, download a FREE copy of the Princess of Dhagabad on Kindle at Amazon.
Doing so will make you eligible for a drawing to win an autographed pre-release copy of The Goddess of Dance!!!
To enter the drawing for the Goddess of Dance*:
1. Download a free Kindle copy of the Princess of Dhagabad from the Amazon store
2. Sign up for the Dragonwell Publishing newsletter at www.dragonwellpublishing.com />
3. Contact me by leaving a comment on this blog or e-mailing me at akashina(at)yahoo(dot)com
Please help spread the word by posting on your blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.
(*no purchase necessary for an eligible entry)
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Doing so will make you eligible for a drawing to win an autographed pre-release copy of The Goddess of Dance!!!
To enter the drawing for the Goddess of Dance*:
1. Download a free Kindle copy of the Princess of Dhagabad from the Amazon store
2. Sign up for the Dragonwell Publishing newsletter at www.dragonwellpublishing.com
Please help spread the word by posting on your blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.
(*no purchase necessary for an eligible entry)
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Small Press: What to expect from your publisher
OK, now that you have signed that contract, it is time to relax. The decision is made. Whew.
But is this decision a good one? How can you tell if your book is in good hands? How can you tell if your publisher is good at what she does?
Here is what you can expect from a good small press publisher after the contract is signed but before publication:
1. Prompt and friendly responses to e-mails (but please try not to overdo it on your side).
2. Upfront information on the realistic time frame for your publication, and the ability to follow through on a schedule that is close to this time frame
3. Periodic updates on how the work on your title is progressing
4. Opportunities to provide in-progress feedback on editing and to discuss all the edits on the manuscript in a timely manner
5. Opportunities to give feedback on cover art choices
6. Updates on your book's promotional efforts and full support for promotional initiatives on your part
Cover art is a sensitive matter with small presses. Most cannot afford (or don't want to invest into) professional cover art. Many small presses do very cheap in-house jobs with collages of public domain clip art and photos. If cover art quality is important to you, browse this publisher's titles before deciding. And, feel free to ask your publisher upfront about the plans for yours.
Here is what your publisher probably won't be able to do:
1. Answer multiple e-mails every day
2. Provide constant and extensive reassurances about the quality of your writing and other types of emotional interactions throughout the publication process
3. Accommodate detailed requests about the cover art, design, typesetting, and print formats. Ultimately, it's the publisher's choice how to package your title, but good publishers will listen to the authors as they make these decisions.
4. Guarantee a review in any specific venue. See my next post on getting the book reviewed.
In summary, you should know what to expect from your publisher, and what is too much to ask. Of course, after you already signed the contract, it is too late to walk away as long as your publisher is fulfilling all the points of the contract that appear on paper. But — this is what places like Preditors and Editors, and Writers Beware are for. If you have a bad experience with your publisher — tell them. Warn the others.
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But is this decision a good one? How can you tell if your book is in good hands? How can you tell if your publisher is good at what she does?
Here is what you can expect from a good small press publisher after the contract is signed but before publication:
1. Prompt and friendly responses to e-mails (but please try not to overdo it on your side).
2. Upfront information on the realistic time frame for your publication, and the ability to follow through on a schedule that is close to this time frame
3. Periodic updates on how the work on your title is progressing
4. Opportunities to provide in-progress feedback on editing and to discuss all the edits on the manuscript in a timely manner
5. Opportunities to give feedback on cover art choices
6. Updates on your book's promotional efforts and full support for promotional initiatives on your part
Cover art is a sensitive matter with small presses. Most cannot afford (or don't want to invest into) professional cover art. Many small presses do very cheap in-house jobs with collages of public domain clip art and photos. If cover art quality is important to you, browse this publisher's titles before deciding. And, feel free to ask your publisher upfront about the plans for yours.
Here is what your publisher probably won't be able to do:
1. Answer multiple e-mails every day
2. Provide constant and extensive reassurances about the quality of your writing and other types of emotional interactions throughout the publication process
3. Accommodate detailed requests about the cover art, design, typesetting, and print formats. Ultimately, it's the publisher's choice how to package your title, but good publishers will listen to the authors as they make these decisions.
4. Guarantee a review in any specific venue. See my next post on getting the book reviewed.
In summary, you should know what to expect from your publisher, and what is too much to ask. Of course, after you already signed the contract, it is too late to walk away as long as your publisher is fulfilling all the points of the contract that appear on paper. But — this is what places like Preditors and Editors, and Writers Beware are for. If you have a bad experience with your publisher — tell them. Warn the others.
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Choosing a small press
Let's face it — once we are exhausted with rejection slips from agents and publishers, once we have decided to explore other venues, an acceptance from a small press seems like haven. Finally, all the worries are over. Finally, *someone* likes my book and is willing to take it!
But even in this elated state, it is good to remember than any author should exercise caution. There are many small presses out there, and a lot of them don't stay in business for long. There are even more with a track record of poor contracts, bad interactions with authors, hidden fees — you name it. So, before you rush into that contract — do your research.
The first thing you absolutely need to do is Google the small press and see what comes up. Complaints? Bad deals? Poor contract clauses? If any of this ever happened to an author, it is guaranteed to find its way onto the Internet. Don't ignore this resource.
Another good place to check is Preditors and Editors (misspelling intentional). It is not always completely up to date, but usually all the red flags find their way onto the P&E pages.
A resource that has always proved invaluable to me is Writers Beware, associated with Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. They always respond, always have up-to-date information, and are overall extremely helpful to aspiring authors.
If you find no bad things about your publisher in these three places, you are up to a good start. However, things can still go wrong. So, you should take time to discuss the contract and everything else you can think of with your publisher. Publication date? Print and e-formats? Marketing plans? Cover art? I know it seems way too early to think of these things before even signing up (and it is difficult to cope with the fear of rejection even after you have already received an offer), but these things are important. They can make it or break it for you in the long run.
Remember: every publisher receives hundreds of submissions, most of them bad. So, they are just as happy to have found you as you to have found them. They will not drop you just because you ask too many questions. And if they do — do you really want to deal with them?...
So, exercise caution, do your research — and, most importantly, never give up!
Good luck!
__________________________
PS: I plan to do a series of posts on small presses and self-publishing, so please watch this space and sign up to follow my blog if you want to read more. Or, 'Like' me on Facebook to receive updates through Networked Blogs.
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But even in this elated state, it is good to remember than any author should exercise caution. There are many small presses out there, and a lot of them don't stay in business for long. There are even more with a track record of poor contracts, bad interactions with authors, hidden fees — you name it. So, before you rush into that contract — do your research.
The first thing you absolutely need to do is Google the small press and see what comes up. Complaints? Bad deals? Poor contract clauses? If any of this ever happened to an author, it is guaranteed to find its way onto the Internet. Don't ignore this resource.
Another good place to check is Preditors and Editors (misspelling intentional). It is not always completely up to date, but usually all the red flags find their way onto the P&E pages.
A resource that has always proved invaluable to me is Writers Beware, associated with Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. They always respond, always have up-to-date information, and are overall extremely helpful to aspiring authors.
If you find no bad things about your publisher in these three places, you are up to a good start. However, things can still go wrong. So, you should take time to discuss the contract and everything else you can think of with your publisher. Publication date? Print and e-formats? Marketing plans? Cover art? I know it seems way too early to think of these things before even signing up (and it is difficult to cope with the fear of rejection even after you have already received an offer), but these things are important. They can make it or break it for you in the long run.
Remember: every publisher receives hundreds of submissions, most of them bad. So, they are just as happy to have found you as you to have found them. They will not drop you just because you ask too many questions. And if they do — do you really want to deal with them?...
So, exercise caution, do your research — and, most importantly, never give up!
Good luck!
__________________________
PS: I plan to do a series of posts on small presses and self-publishing, so please watch this space and sign up to follow my blog if you want to read more. Or, 'Like' me on Facebook to receive updates through Networked Blogs.
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The Goddess of Dance publication date announced!
Dragonwell Publishing has announced the date for the release of The Goddess of Dance: August 30 2012!
It will feature beautiful cover art by Stephen Hickman that really captures the essence of the book.
Check out the book at the publisher's web site, and watch this space for future updates.
It will feature beautiful cover art by Stephen Hickman that really captures the essence of the book.
Check out the book at the publisher's web site, and watch this space for future updates.
The Princess of Dhagabad out from Dragonwell Publishing!
I am exited to announce the release of my book, The Princess of Dhagabad, from Dragonwell Publishing. Please visit the publisher's web site for buying information and review quotations, or check it out at amazon, where it is currently available in a beautiful trade paperback edition as well as in the Kindle store.
Featuring beautiful cover art by Stephen Hickman.
The Kindle edition is currently available for free download for Amazon Prime members. If you have Prime membership, please help promote my book by downloading it for free. You can sign up for a free Prime membership to do it!
Post a review and enter into a drawing to win a signed copy of The Princess of Dhagabad.
Its sequel, The Goddess of Dance, is, scheduled for a June 2012 release!
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Paypal, censorship, and freedom of speech
Should a payment processing company dictate what you do in your leisure time? Should it control what you purchase and read?
Paypal thinks so.
According to their new guidelines, issued on February 18, booksellers may not use their paypal accounts to sell works of fiction that include sexual fantasies containing themes and implied scenarios of: pseudo-incest (including “daddy” fantasies, step-family), incest, fantasies about non-consensual sex or rape, bestiality (widened to include non-human fantasy creatures), and sadomasochism.
Many online booksellers submitted to this policy and pulled books by independent authors from their stores. Some, like Smashwords, went further and banished event paranormal romance that includes shape-shifters - if the shape-shifters were to have sex in their non-human forms.
These guidelines would immediately ban books by Vladimir Nabokov, Henry Miller, Marquis de Sade, and a large number of others. What hurts most is that they would arm-wrestle many new authors from ever getting a chance at a publication. If your book ever mentions rape, or even a forced marriage, it seems that Smashwords would not be willing to take chances with you.
As stated, these guidelines could in principle be applied to a very large number of currently published books, including Romeo and Juliet (an implied sexual relationship between minors), George R.R. Martin (a realistic fantasy saga about the medieval society that mentions forced marriages, rape, etc.), Memoir of a Geisha (training an underage girl in the art of sex)... and even the Bible.
If the publishing world goes along with it, this would be an unprecedented first step into the world of censorship, the end of free speech, and, sometime in the future... burning books, perhaps?
Paypal has a monopoly in the e-payments zone, and one would think they should be content with the money they are making, and stick to what they are good at — facilitating payments. But censoring literature? Changing the things we read and write?...
I hope not.
Paypal thinks so.
According to their new guidelines, issued on February 18, booksellers may not use their paypal accounts to sell works of fiction that include sexual fantasies containing themes and implied scenarios of: pseudo-incest (including “daddy” fantasies, step-family), incest, fantasies about non-consensual sex or rape, bestiality (widened to include non-human fantasy creatures), and sadomasochism.
Many online booksellers submitted to this policy and pulled books by independent authors from their stores. Some, like Smashwords, went further and banished event paranormal romance that includes shape-shifters - if the shape-shifters were to have sex in their non-human forms.
These guidelines would immediately ban books by Vladimir Nabokov, Henry Miller, Marquis de Sade, and a large number of others. What hurts most is that they would arm-wrestle many new authors from ever getting a chance at a publication. If your book ever mentions rape, or even a forced marriage, it seems that Smashwords would not be willing to take chances with you.
As stated, these guidelines could in principle be applied to a very large number of currently published books, including Romeo and Juliet (an implied sexual relationship between minors), George R.R. Martin (a realistic fantasy saga about the medieval society that mentions forced marriages, rape, etc.), Memoir of a Geisha (training an underage girl in the art of sex)... and even the Bible.
If the publishing world goes along with it, this would be an unprecedented first step into the world of censorship, the end of free speech, and, sometime in the future... burning books, perhaps?
Paypal has a monopoly in the e-payments zone, and one would think they should be content with the money they are making, and stick to what they are good at — facilitating payments. But censoring literature? Changing the things we read and write?...
I hope not.
