- I get to interview Jack McDevitt for the Nebula Awards Blog!
- My editor/publisher got his short story "Little Hands, Little Feet" published in AlienSkin.
- Looks like the upcoming Manila International Book Fair will be having a cosplay competition.
- Lucius Shepard has posted the list of World Fantasy Award Nominees. Congrats to everyone nominated!
- Girls Do Play D&D (Fantasy Magazine). On a side note, Dragon Magazine has been running columns featuring Shelley Mazzanoble and her experiences gaming as well as at least two podcasts devoted to the subject: Geek Girls Rule! and Secret Life of Girl Gamers.
- Clockwork Phoenix 2 submission guidelines.
- Adrienne Kress on finding an agent.
- Ekaterina Sedia on What makes you stop reading a review?.
- Keep an eye out for Mur Lafferty's upcoming novel, Playing for Keeps, on August 25, 2008.
- Jim C. Hines asks what goblin miniatures you want to see. Go vote now!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Pluggity Plug Plug
Hmmm... doing a lot of plugs this week. Anyway, click at your own discretion:
2008/8/7 Tabletop RPG Podcasts
Every Thursday, I post links to various podcasts that deals with tabletop RPGs.
Tabletop RPG (Mostly)
General Discussions/Reviews/Everything Else
- Pulp Gamer episodes: Legalese (Gama Trade Show Seminar 2008), Table Tips (Out of Character).
- Geek Radio Daily episodes: July 31, August 1, 4, 5, 6; We Miss RPGing (GRD Weekly).
- Fist Full of Comics and Games episodes: This Week in Geek for July 30, 2008; Monarchs Comics Briefing for July 31, 2008.
- Secret Identity episodes: Issue #125.
- RPGCast episodes: Lusipurr's Fountain of Disappointment.
- 3.5 Private Sanctuary, a D&D 3.5 podcast, episodes: Episode 43 on prestige classes, Episode 44 on multiple GMs..
- Order 66, the d20 Star Wars Saga Edition podcast, episodes: If You Build It, They Will Game.
- Fell Calls!, The Podcast About the Iron Kingdoms, episodes: The Soul Still Burns.
- Bear Swarm! episodes: Its a Fact.
- Fear the Boot episodes: Revolting Against a Player.
- The Podge Cast episodes: Chip Coffey Is A Model NPC, Campaign Recap: Kingdom the Next Generation Episode 1, Shameless Promotion for Double Trouble: 8 Legged Freaks.
- The Tome Show episodes: Secrets of 4E Seminar (Mike Mearls), Healing Surges/Raise Dead.
- Gateway to the Megaverse episodes: Just A Heads Up.
- Geekerati episodes: Summer Blockbusters: The Second Half.
- This Modern Death episodes: NPCs.
- Wandering Geek Podcast episodes: Zen Benders & Rock! (Game Bag Review Show)
- Save Against Frostbite episodes: Text Based Guest Nut Snacks.
- 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction episodes: Episode 35 on Good Omen Games, Warhammer 40K, Days of Wonder, and D&D 4E.
- Atomic Array episodes: Prophecy.
- Geek Girls Rule episodes: Sex and Gaming.
- Ninja vs Pirates episodes: Pretty Pink Pony Wrap Up.
- Midnight's Lair episodes: Vol. 2 Episode 3.
- Radio Free Hommlet, a D&D 4E podcast, episodes: The Warlock.
- Role Playing Public Radio episodes: 4E Dungeons and Dragons Rundown.
- RPGObjects episodes: Modern Mayhem.
- What Are You Working On? episodes: Episode 17.
- Secret Identity episodes: Issue #125.5 where they interview Fred Van Lente (Modok's 11).
- The Voice of the Revolution episodes: Agon review and John Wick interview.
- All Games Considered episodes: Interview with Bradley McDevitt (Nightlife).
- Animalcast episodes: Episode 55 where they interview Allen Varney (Paranoia XP).
- Amorphous Blob Games episodes: Gamer Interviews Part 2.
- Master Plan episodes: Working with Intellectual Property, Chris Birch on Starblazer Adventures & Doctor Who RPG.
- Stabbing Contest episodes: It's Judd Again.
- The Basics of the Game episodes: A Conversation with Jeff Griener of the Tome.
- The Bear's Grove Podcast episodes: Rob Bohl and Misspent Youth.
- The Game's The Thing episodes: Kenneth Hite Interview and Last Night on Earth.
- The Independent Insurgency episodes: Elizabeth Shoemaker on It's Complicated.
- The Vintage Gamer episodes: Origins 2008 Interviews.
- Theory from the Closet episodes: Interview with Andrea Sfiligoi.
- Heroic Cthulhu episodes: Paint Redoux (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), Reconnoiter to the Hidden Valley (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), Jury (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), Gamer Talk Thirty (1, 2, 3), Gamer Talk Thirty One (1, 2, 3, 4), Gamer Talk Thirty Two (1).
- RPGMP3 episodes: Rolemaster (7).
- Gamer's Haven episodes: Dungeons and Dragons: Kingdom of Thoth (9).
- Canon Puncture episodes: CPS-AP Star Wars L PTA (5).
- The Myth Weavers episodes: In a Wicked Age, Three Rivers Oracle - “How Shouting Bow Banished the Winter”.
- Fear the Boot episodes: Video Podcast.
- Gamer Radio Zero episodes: Schizoid Interview.
Blast from the Past (And What You Shouldn't Do)
Google Alerts notified me of an old list of books I have back in 2001. This was before I was blogging and before I knew any better (I was making commentaries along the lines of "I haven't read this book but..."). For those curious, this was what I was reading seven years ago and pretty much sums up how I first learned of the genre:
Amazon Listmania Link.
P.S. There's a Zelazny book in there so there's hope for me yet.
Amazon Listmania Link.
P.S. There's a Zelazny book in there so there's hope for me yet.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards Special Feature: Interview with Heubert Khan Michael
Every Wednesday until August, I'll have a special feature on the 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards.
Heubert Khan Michael (the second guy from the left) tied for 3rd place in the comics category during last year's Graphic/Fiction Awards. He released his own comic, "Unstoppable", in last year's Komikon and was recently featured in The Inquirer.
Tell us something about yourself.
I am a 29-year old Guidance Counselor who loves comic books and superheroes. I am a health buff (I’ve been featured in Men’s Health Philippines twice) and a video game addict, and I hold a Master’s Degree in School Psychology, which I don’t think I’ll need where I’m going. I’ll be working as a full-time comicbook artist soon. =) The calling is much stronger this time that I can’t deny it. I think it’s never too late to become what I could have been. I have my works online and I’d be happy if you check it out: wrathofkhan(dot)deviantart(dot)com.
How did you come up with the idea for your story?
Back in the early 90’s I have read this comic where the lead character went to the church to confess, only to find out later that there was not a priest listening to him all the while. I thought it was cool, then I thought, “What if SOMEONE actually listened, and what if that someone is God?”. Then I thought of another twist which I incorporated to the “what if” story I thought after reading that old comic, making the story more complex, with a more unrealistically creepy-it-gives-me-the-goosebumps feel. Mr. Gaiman, though, did not feel that way. Made me realize that you can hardly scare the guy who has already thought of all things creepy. ;-)
What was the most challenging part of the competition?
Trying to impress Neil Gaiman himself is on top of my list in that area. What comes in a close second is trying to best all the wonderful Filipino artists who would be joining. These are the real scare. Wait. There’s an idea. Tell me, if I write about a guy joining the PG/FA and taking the challenge of trying to scare Mr. Gaiman, would that be a horror story, or just a horrible one?
What was the coolest moment you experienced when you won the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards?
I can not think of anything cooler than Neil Gaiman publicly announcing, live on stage, that my entry was THE BEST DRAWN ENTRY among the lot. Man it gave me an instant shrinkage, and I think I was like 2 inches up from the ground, floating. He again told me that during Post-Ceremonial dinner. =)
What advice can you give to those participating in this year's competition?
Oh, since I’d be joining again? I think this would be more of like a note to self, but hey, I don’t mind sharing it to those who look forward to owning the super-cool dreamcatcher. =) Here goes:
1. Be original. Trust your imagination. =)
2. Give it your all. Win or lose, it’s all worth the effort. ☺ and lastly
3. Have fun while working on your entry!
Heubert Khan Michael (the second guy from the left) tied for 3rd place in the comics category during last year's Graphic/Fiction Awards. He released his own comic, "Unstoppable", in last year's Komikon and was recently featured in The Inquirer.Tell us something about yourself.
I am a 29-year old Guidance Counselor who loves comic books and superheroes. I am a health buff (I’ve been featured in Men’s Health Philippines twice) and a video game addict, and I hold a Master’s Degree in School Psychology, which I don’t think I’ll need where I’m going. I’ll be working as a full-time comicbook artist soon. =) The calling is much stronger this time that I can’t deny it. I think it’s never too late to become what I could have been. I have my works online and I’d be happy if you check it out: wrathofkhan(dot)deviantart(dot)com.
How did you come up with the idea for your story?
Back in the early 90’s I have read this comic where the lead character went to the church to confess, only to find out later that there was not a priest listening to him all the while. I thought it was cool, then I thought, “What if SOMEONE actually listened, and what if that someone is God?”. Then I thought of another twist which I incorporated to the “what if” story I thought after reading that old comic, making the story more complex, with a more unrealistically creepy-it-gives-me-the-goosebumps feel. Mr. Gaiman, though, did not feel that way. Made me realize that you can hardly scare the guy who has already thought of all things creepy. ;-)
What was the most challenging part of the competition?
Trying to impress Neil Gaiman himself is on top of my list in that area. What comes in a close second is trying to best all the wonderful Filipino artists who would be joining. These are the real scare. Wait. There’s an idea. Tell me, if I write about a guy joining the PG/FA and taking the challenge of trying to scare Mr. Gaiman, would that be a horror story, or just a horrible one?
What was the coolest moment you experienced when you won the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards?
I can not think of anything cooler than Neil Gaiman publicly announcing, live on stage, that my entry was THE BEST DRAWN ENTRY among the lot. Man it gave me an instant shrinkage, and I think I was like 2 inches up from the ground, floating. He again told me that during Post-Ceremonial dinner. =)
What advice can you give to those participating in this year's competition?
Oh, since I’d be joining again? I think this would be more of like a note to self, but hey, I don’t mind sharing it to those who look forward to owning the super-cool dreamcatcher. =) Here goes:
1. Be original. Trust your imagination. =)
2. Give it your all. Win or lose, it’s all worth the effort. ☺ and lastly
3. Have fun while working on your entry!
Essay: Podcast Fiction - The New Frontier?
Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!
For me, one of the things that stands out as far as the science fiction/fantasy industry goes is podcast fiction. I mean ten years ago, sure, we had these things called audio books yet they were never really the popular section of the bookstore (the exception being nonfiction audio books, specifically the self-help types). Or should a particular piece be adapted into audio, it's usually a classic or a best-seller--basically a novel or short story that's already well established, or at the very least read by someone who's popular (i.e. Tolkien). These days, it's a whole new paradigm: previously unpublished authors are podcasting entire novels, the latest short stories are being adapted into the audio format, and more importantly, people are listening to all these material!
There's something fortuitous about 2008 when it comes to podcast fiction. Not that the podcasters or their audience are acting any differently than they were a year or two ago, but more of the big publishers are finally acknowledging podcast fiction. For example, podcast novelists like Scott Sigler or Mur Lafferty are finally seeing their work in print. We've had podcast magazines like StarShipSofa and Escape Pod for some time now but lately, prominent online magazines like Clarkesworld and Fantasy Magazine are including podcasts in their publication as well. Just last week, Transmissions from Beyond debuted and they're bringing with them not just TTA's fantasy/science fiction stories but horror and crime/mystery as well. Oh, and before I forget, much like my editor Jesse Willis over at SFFaudio, I missed the fact that Tor includes audio downloads in its free offerings (that's not to say they're the first publisher to do so--Small Beer Press has some audio downloads on its site as well--but Tor is one of the more mainstream and gigantic publishers).
I don't think anyone could have predicted the podcast fiction phenomenon (not that it's that big, but more of acknowledging it has a cult following). I mean it's not like the .gif and .jpg photo formats which "make sense" when you take into account the history of the Internet. Ten years ago, the idea of podcast fiction is completely unfathomable. I mean I'm one of the people who still remembers the .mp2 format (the predecessor of the .mp3) and while I was certain back then that people would wait an hour to download on dial-up a 5-minute song on their computers, I don't think the same could be said for a 15-minute short story. People had to wait until bandwidth became cheaper and faster (I still remember the days cursing Rick Kleffel and his Agony Column because his mp3s were encoded in stereo--it could have been encoded in mono--which meant a larger file size for me to download; these days I hardly pay attention to that fact and some people would probably complain if the sound was of less quality). And then podcasts also had to wait until the prevalence of mp3 players (and perhaps unfortunately until Apple coined the term podcast) which made listening to audio books cheap and portable (and this is arguably why audio fiction beats eBooks when it comes to mobility [i.e. reading/listening when not in front of a computer]--the former will work with a device under $100.00).
I won't go into detail the advantages of audio fiction. The biggest asset I think is the ability to multitask while listening to audio fiction, whether it's your daily commute or working on drone-like chores. Another factor is its accessibility and in most cases, that means being available for free.
What I want to elaborate on however is the format. Let's face it, I don't think people will listen to a 10-hour podcast, although a person might spend 10 hours listening to podcasts. I'd say the tolerable length of a podcast should be anywhere from half an hour to two hours at most. What that translates into when it comes to print is a short story or a novelette. I mean for the most part, the bread and butter of sites like Escape Pod have been short stories. Those seem to be the optimum format when it comes to podcast fiction.
When it comes to novels from podcasters like Mur Lafferty, the authors break them down into several episodes. I honestly don't think the podcast novels could truly be called novels because they're not released in one big file. Instead, we download and listen to them in chapters. To me, this is more akin to the serial novel, where readers (or in this case, listeners) go through the book at a certain pace, and at times are left hanging as they wait for the next chapter/episode. There will be exceptions of course but looking at many of the podcast novels out there, they pretty much follow the serial program. And serial fantasy/science fiction, let's face it, isn't prominent in print but seems to be perfectly viable in podcast form. (Of course one could argue that another value of podcasts is that one gets to choose: I could wait until all the episodes have been released and listen to them in one go or download and listen to them as they get released in chunks.)
When it comes to the online magazines, I'm glad to see that they're featuring podcasts, not because of the increased prominence of podcasts, but rather that as online publications, they're starting to make good use of the medium. I mean as far as content goes, online magazines have followed the rules of print, everything from word count rates to formatting. To me, the only thing online magazines have leveraged for themselves when it comes to the medium is how they promote and distribute themselves (the fact that any household with Internet access can view their content or use various networking tools to help spread the word). Podcasts are one the things that an online magazine can do that a print magazine can't (well, a print magazine can try including an audio CD in its package but that seems out of place for a fiction magazine). Hopefully online magazines will explore more the features of its online nature (off the top of my head, what comes to mind are book trailers as promos/ads/advertorials, the occasional YouTube video feature, memes, etc.).
On the side of the industry (publishers/editors/authors), I wonder how contracts will change in the future. Will fiction sales include podcasting rights? What will be the metrics for revenues in podcast fiction? Currently, podcasts are another venue for authors to sell previously published stories. And as far as publishers go, fiction podcasts seem to be a marketing tool to help get the word out without compromising its "print" market ("here's the story: you can listen to it but if you want to read it, buy the book"). As far as fans go, otherwise inaccessible stories ("I'm not subscribed to that magazine!") get circulated--and typically for free. There's also a new sub-industry being developed: skilled people who read fiction. I don't know whether this'll eventually evolve into one with comparable professional fees but I'm sure as more and more podcasts get released out there, the demand for voice actors, experienced podcasters, or simply skilled readers will increase.
Podcast fiction seems to be a new element in the industry that's finally being embraced. Whether it'll be subsumed into the fantasy/science fiction industry or spawn off into its own new territory remains to be seen but it's certainly one phenomenon to keep an eye out on in the years to come.
For me, one of the things that stands out as far as the science fiction/fantasy industry goes is podcast fiction. I mean ten years ago, sure, we had these things called audio books yet they were never really the popular section of the bookstore (the exception being nonfiction audio books, specifically the self-help types). Or should a particular piece be adapted into audio, it's usually a classic or a best-seller--basically a novel or short story that's already well established, or at the very least read by someone who's popular (i.e. Tolkien). These days, it's a whole new paradigm: previously unpublished authors are podcasting entire novels, the latest short stories are being adapted into the audio format, and more importantly, people are listening to all these material!
There's something fortuitous about 2008 when it comes to podcast fiction. Not that the podcasters or their audience are acting any differently than they were a year or two ago, but more of the big publishers are finally acknowledging podcast fiction. For example, podcast novelists like Scott Sigler or Mur Lafferty are finally seeing their work in print. We've had podcast magazines like StarShipSofa and Escape Pod for some time now but lately, prominent online magazines like Clarkesworld and Fantasy Magazine are including podcasts in their publication as well. Just last week, Transmissions from Beyond debuted and they're bringing with them not just TTA's fantasy/science fiction stories but horror and crime/mystery as well. Oh, and before I forget, much like my editor Jesse Willis over at SFFaudio, I missed the fact that Tor includes audio downloads in its free offerings (that's not to say they're the first publisher to do so--Small Beer Press has some audio downloads on its site as well--but Tor is one of the more mainstream and gigantic publishers).
I don't think anyone could have predicted the podcast fiction phenomenon (not that it's that big, but more of acknowledging it has a cult following). I mean it's not like the .gif and .jpg photo formats which "make sense" when you take into account the history of the Internet. Ten years ago, the idea of podcast fiction is completely unfathomable. I mean I'm one of the people who still remembers the .mp2 format (the predecessor of the .mp3) and while I was certain back then that people would wait an hour to download on dial-up a 5-minute song on their computers, I don't think the same could be said for a 15-minute short story. People had to wait until bandwidth became cheaper and faster (I still remember the days cursing Rick Kleffel and his Agony Column because his mp3s were encoded in stereo--it could have been encoded in mono--which meant a larger file size for me to download; these days I hardly pay attention to that fact and some people would probably complain if the sound was of less quality). And then podcasts also had to wait until the prevalence of mp3 players (and perhaps unfortunately until Apple coined the term podcast) which made listening to audio books cheap and portable (and this is arguably why audio fiction beats eBooks when it comes to mobility [i.e. reading/listening when not in front of a computer]--the former will work with a device under $100.00).
I won't go into detail the advantages of audio fiction. The biggest asset I think is the ability to multitask while listening to audio fiction, whether it's your daily commute or working on drone-like chores. Another factor is its accessibility and in most cases, that means being available for free.
What I want to elaborate on however is the format. Let's face it, I don't think people will listen to a 10-hour podcast, although a person might spend 10 hours listening to podcasts. I'd say the tolerable length of a podcast should be anywhere from half an hour to two hours at most. What that translates into when it comes to print is a short story or a novelette. I mean for the most part, the bread and butter of sites like Escape Pod have been short stories. Those seem to be the optimum format when it comes to podcast fiction.
When it comes to novels from podcasters like Mur Lafferty, the authors break them down into several episodes. I honestly don't think the podcast novels could truly be called novels because they're not released in one big file. Instead, we download and listen to them in chapters. To me, this is more akin to the serial novel, where readers (or in this case, listeners) go through the book at a certain pace, and at times are left hanging as they wait for the next chapter/episode. There will be exceptions of course but looking at many of the podcast novels out there, they pretty much follow the serial program. And serial fantasy/science fiction, let's face it, isn't prominent in print but seems to be perfectly viable in podcast form. (Of course one could argue that another value of podcasts is that one gets to choose: I could wait until all the episodes have been released and listen to them in one go or download and listen to them as they get released in chunks.)
When it comes to the online magazines, I'm glad to see that they're featuring podcasts, not because of the increased prominence of podcasts, but rather that as online publications, they're starting to make good use of the medium. I mean as far as content goes, online magazines have followed the rules of print, everything from word count rates to formatting. To me, the only thing online magazines have leveraged for themselves when it comes to the medium is how they promote and distribute themselves (the fact that any household with Internet access can view their content or use various networking tools to help spread the word). Podcasts are one the things that an online magazine can do that a print magazine can't (well, a print magazine can try including an audio CD in its package but that seems out of place for a fiction magazine). Hopefully online magazines will explore more the features of its online nature (off the top of my head, what comes to mind are book trailers as promos/ads/advertorials, the occasional YouTube video feature, memes, etc.).
On the side of the industry (publishers/editors/authors), I wonder how contracts will change in the future. Will fiction sales include podcasting rights? What will be the metrics for revenues in podcast fiction? Currently, podcasts are another venue for authors to sell previously published stories. And as far as publishers go, fiction podcasts seem to be a marketing tool to help get the word out without compromising its "print" market ("here's the story: you can listen to it but if you want to read it, buy the book"). As far as fans go, otherwise inaccessible stories ("I'm not subscribed to that magazine!") get circulated--and typically for free. There's also a new sub-industry being developed: skilled people who read fiction. I don't know whether this'll eventually evolve into one with comparable professional fees but I'm sure as more and more podcasts get released out there, the demand for voice actors, experienced podcasters, or simply skilled readers will increase.
Podcast fiction seems to be a new element in the industry that's finally being embraced. Whether it'll be subsumed into the fantasy/science fiction industry or spawn off into its own new territory remains to be seen but it's certainly one phenomenon to keep an eye out on in the years to come.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Feature: Interview with Carrie Laben
Every Tuesday, I'll have a feature article posted.
Carrie Laben is a new writer whose short story, "Something in the Mermaid Way", debuted in Clarkesworld Magazine and got nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards. Her fiction has also been published in Apex Online and in the upcoming Phantom anthology from Prime Books.
Hi! Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, you're a relatively new writer. For unfamiliar readers, where can we find samples of your work?
Thanks for having me! Two of my stories are available online at present: "Something in the Mermaid Way" at Clarkesworld Magazine and "Potholes" at Apex Digest Online.
How has getting your story accepted into Clarkesworld affected you as a writer?
Well, for one thing, it put my confidence through the roof! It also helped me meet some fabulous people. Clarkesworld is a great place for a young writer for several reasons. First, of course, they have a reputation for publishing excellent, innovative stories and that never hurts. And since they only publish two of those stories per month, you're not going to get lost in the shuffle. And then there's the fact that they publish online, which makes it easy to get eyes on the story - people who wouldn't go out of their way to pick up a copy of a print magazine will click on a link. And if you're lucky they'll forward it to their friends.
You have a few stories out in the professional market. Do you now consider yourself a professional author? Do you still have self-confidence issues when it comes to getting some of your work published?
I've actually considered myself a professional writer for some time, since I'm a technical writer by day. A professional fiction writer? I consider myself to be actively in the process of getting there. I still get nervous when I send out stories - I doubt that will ever go away. The difference now is that instead of worrying that I'm a fraud who can't write fiction at all, I can worry that what I've done so far was a fluke.
Did you always want to become a writer? Do you intent to some day transition to writing novels or is the short story your preferred format?
I wrote and illustrated my first story when I was four or five years old. (It also had a mermaid in it, but the technique is a little more naive.) Since then, I've wavered on the subject of whether or not I'd be able to make a living writing, but never on whether I'd keep writing anyway.
I've actually always envisioned myself writing novels; I've completed three so far that aren't any good, and I'm working on one now that I intend to actually submit once it's finished. I came to short stories later, in part because I read very few of them as a kid and didn't have a sense of the form's potential. Eventually I started writing them just because I was sick of spending a year or more on a project and then realizing it was fatally flawed (see: those three trunked novels) and wanted to pack more trial and error into a shorter period of time. That worked out pretty well.
I've only read two of your stories so far and both have elements of horror in them. Is there a specific genre or theme that you're targeting?
My sense of horror comes, in large part, out of my passion for the natural world. I studied Natural Resource Management in college in the late 90s and early aughts, and if there's any subject matter calculated to scare the crap out of a sensitive soul, that's it! We are really in a terribly bad way. I think that the single horror story that speaks most to me, for this reason, is Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space".
I'm not really interested in human or supernatural maliciousness; other writers have that covered. I'm not interested, very much, in horror that's localized in the human body. I prefer to write about horror that encompasses whole systems - ecosystems, economic systems, religious and political systems. Especially, as I said, ecosystems.
Can you describe your writing process?
I tend to write rather slowly. Oh, the technical writing and even creative non-fiction I can crank out pretty fast; but when it comes to fiction I'm one of those awful persnickety writers who needs a comfy place to sit, the right tunes, and my martini properly chilled. On top of that I'm easily distracted by the internet. Fortunately, when it comes right down to it I find writing fiction fun, so I'm motivated to make the time and chill the martini.
My stories usually start as little nuggets of fact, and I work them over in my head for some time before I get around to committing them to paper. I almost never get a full plot, or a well-realized character, just strolling into my brain as some writers do.
What in your opinion was the biggest hurdle in getting your first piece published?
Time. I had to write a lot of bad stories before I started writing good ones. If the time I spent on those three junked novels and all the horrible stories that will never see the light of day had not been available to me - if I'd had a child or two, or a sick elderly relative to look after, say, on top of working full time, or if I'd needed to take a second job to make ends meet, or my job was of the type that left me so physically exhausted after work that I just fell asleep after dinner every night, then I wouldn't have been able to do it. Some people have been able to do it in those circumstances, but I wouldn't have made it. As it is, I'm thirty now and still a neonate as a fiction writer, and there's no way I'm going to fit everything I'd like to write into the allotted three score and ten.
What are the steps you're currently taking, either to improve your writing, get your work out there, or to promote yourself? What are some of the challenges you're facing?
Well, as I mentioned before, I'm working on a novel. I'm also doing a lot more nonfiction on environmental topics, especially on extinction issues, which are very near to my heart. And since the internet is determined to eat my life one way or the other, I'm trying to figure out the best ways to make it work for me. Right now I mostly use it for market research, but as I mentioned before, it's also useful for word-of-mouth publicity. I currently have two blogs; one at livejournal which deals with writing-centric and personal matters (teratologist.livejournal.com) and one at wordpress which is for my nature writing (pinguinus.wordpress.com)
My main challenge is still time! My current day job is more managerial than any I've taken on before; turns out, I suck at managing, and the stress eats my brain even when I'm out of the office. I've been Peter Principled. So I'm trying to scale back and return to more of a pure writerly role.
Let's focus on you. What are you willing to share to us about yourself?
Let's see... my favorite movie is Cane Toads: An Unnatural history. I have four cats and six siblings (The cats live with me; the siblings, thank goodness, don't.) I'm not happy unless I can have a garden, even if it's only in a windowbox.
What attracted you to fiction?
The usual thing; I was a huge reader as a kid, and from there it was monkey-see, monkey-do.
Who are some of your favorite writers or what are some of your favorite books?
That would be a book in and of itself!
To pick out just a few things that I've read recently and enjoyed, there's Sarah Monette's The Bone Key, Scott Weidensaul's The Ghost with Trembling Wings, Look to Windward by Ian M. Banks, and The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns.
The writers I go back to again and again are Lovecraft (as problematic as he is,) M. R. James, Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley Jackson, and more recently Sarah Waters and Haruki Murakami.
What are some of your hobbies?
Birding is my main hobby, in terms of time and money expended - I recently added the 300th bird to my life list on a trip to the UK. I recently bought a new bike, so I'm getting a lot of riding in. I also enjoying gardening and baking and poking around library sales looking for neglected first editions. And Scotch. Especially from Islay.
Do you attend conventions, participate in workshops, have a critiquing group, etc.?
I average one convention a year - this year I'm attending Readercon, last year it was World Fantasy. In a perfect world I'd attend more. I haven't been in a writer's group since college, but I have a handful of first readers I rely on, people I trust a great deal but who also know they can be honest with me without shattering my fragile artiste ego.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
People will tell you a lot of crap about writing, but the one thing that's true is that you'll probably have to write a bunch of junk for practice before you start writing stuff that isn't junk.
And for the love of Pete, don't argue with rejection letters. Nothing good will come of it.
Anything else you want to plug?
My latest story, "Invasive Species", is appearing in the new Wallace and Tremblay anthology Phantom, which will either be imminent or just arrived depending on when this gets posted. Also depending on when this is posted, I'm either about to or just have participated in my first reading, the Shirley Jackson Awards fundraiser at KGB on July 23rd. It's going to be a great reading (Sarah Langan, Jeffry Ford, and Peter Straub will be participating, among others) and we'll all be reading from the work of the great Shirley Jackson herself.
Carrie Laben is a new writer whose short story, "Something in the Mermaid Way", debuted in Clarkesworld Magazine and got nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards. Her fiction has also been published in Apex Online and in the upcoming Phantom anthology from Prime Books.
Hi! Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, you're a relatively new writer. For unfamiliar readers, where can we find samples of your work?
Thanks for having me! Two of my stories are available online at present: "Something in the Mermaid Way" at Clarkesworld Magazine and "Potholes" at Apex Digest Online.
How has getting your story accepted into Clarkesworld affected you as a writer?
Well, for one thing, it put my confidence through the roof! It also helped me meet some fabulous people. Clarkesworld is a great place for a young writer for several reasons. First, of course, they have a reputation for publishing excellent, innovative stories and that never hurts. And since they only publish two of those stories per month, you're not going to get lost in the shuffle. And then there's the fact that they publish online, which makes it easy to get eyes on the story - people who wouldn't go out of their way to pick up a copy of a print magazine will click on a link. And if you're lucky they'll forward it to their friends.
You have a few stories out in the professional market. Do you now consider yourself a professional author? Do you still have self-confidence issues when it comes to getting some of your work published?
I've actually considered myself a professional writer for some time, since I'm a technical writer by day. A professional fiction writer? I consider myself to be actively in the process of getting there. I still get nervous when I send out stories - I doubt that will ever go away. The difference now is that instead of worrying that I'm a fraud who can't write fiction at all, I can worry that what I've done so far was a fluke.
Did you always want to become a writer? Do you intent to some day transition to writing novels or is the short story your preferred format?
I wrote and illustrated my first story when I was four or five years old. (It also had a mermaid in it, but the technique is a little more naive.) Since then, I've wavered on the subject of whether or not I'd be able to make a living writing, but never on whether I'd keep writing anyway.
I've actually always envisioned myself writing novels; I've completed three so far that aren't any good, and I'm working on one now that I intend to actually submit once it's finished. I came to short stories later, in part because I read very few of them as a kid and didn't have a sense of the form's potential. Eventually I started writing them just because I was sick of spending a year or more on a project and then realizing it was fatally flawed (see: those three trunked novels) and wanted to pack more trial and error into a shorter period of time. That worked out pretty well.
I've only read two of your stories so far and both have elements of horror in them. Is there a specific genre or theme that you're targeting?
My sense of horror comes, in large part, out of my passion for the natural world. I studied Natural Resource Management in college in the late 90s and early aughts, and if there's any subject matter calculated to scare the crap out of a sensitive soul, that's it! We are really in a terribly bad way. I think that the single horror story that speaks most to me, for this reason, is Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space".
I'm not really interested in human or supernatural maliciousness; other writers have that covered. I'm not interested, very much, in horror that's localized in the human body. I prefer to write about horror that encompasses whole systems - ecosystems, economic systems, religious and political systems. Especially, as I said, ecosystems.
Can you describe your writing process?
I tend to write rather slowly. Oh, the technical writing and even creative non-fiction I can crank out pretty fast; but when it comes to fiction I'm one of those awful persnickety writers who needs a comfy place to sit, the right tunes, and my martini properly chilled. On top of that I'm easily distracted by the internet. Fortunately, when it comes right down to it I find writing fiction fun, so I'm motivated to make the time and chill the martini.
My stories usually start as little nuggets of fact, and I work them over in my head for some time before I get around to committing them to paper. I almost never get a full plot, or a well-realized character, just strolling into my brain as some writers do.
What in your opinion was the biggest hurdle in getting your first piece published?
Time. I had to write a lot of bad stories before I started writing good ones. If the time I spent on those three junked novels and all the horrible stories that will never see the light of day had not been available to me - if I'd had a child or two, or a sick elderly relative to look after, say, on top of working full time, or if I'd needed to take a second job to make ends meet, or my job was of the type that left me so physically exhausted after work that I just fell asleep after dinner every night, then I wouldn't have been able to do it. Some people have been able to do it in those circumstances, but I wouldn't have made it. As it is, I'm thirty now and still a neonate as a fiction writer, and there's no way I'm going to fit everything I'd like to write into the allotted three score and ten.
What are the steps you're currently taking, either to improve your writing, get your work out there, or to promote yourself? What are some of the challenges you're facing?
Well, as I mentioned before, I'm working on a novel. I'm also doing a lot more nonfiction on environmental topics, especially on extinction issues, which are very near to my heart. And since the internet is determined to eat my life one way or the other, I'm trying to figure out the best ways to make it work for me. Right now I mostly use it for market research, but as I mentioned before, it's also useful for word-of-mouth publicity. I currently have two blogs; one at livejournal which deals with writing-centric and personal matters (teratologist.livejournal.com) and one at wordpress which is for my nature writing (pinguinus.wordpress.com)
My main challenge is still time! My current day job is more managerial than any I've taken on before; turns out, I suck at managing, and the stress eats my brain even when I'm out of the office. I've been Peter Principled. So I'm trying to scale back and return to more of a pure writerly role.
Let's focus on you. What are you willing to share to us about yourself?
Let's see... my favorite movie is Cane Toads: An Unnatural history. I have four cats and six siblings (The cats live with me; the siblings, thank goodness, don't.) I'm not happy unless I can have a garden, even if it's only in a windowbox.
What attracted you to fiction?
The usual thing; I was a huge reader as a kid, and from there it was monkey-see, monkey-do.
Who are some of your favorite writers or what are some of your favorite books?
That would be a book in and of itself!
To pick out just a few things that I've read recently and enjoyed, there's Sarah Monette's The Bone Key, Scott Weidensaul's The Ghost with Trembling Wings, Look to Windward by Ian M. Banks, and The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns.
The writers I go back to again and again are Lovecraft (as problematic as he is,) M. R. James, Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley Jackson, and more recently Sarah Waters and Haruki Murakami.
What are some of your hobbies?
Birding is my main hobby, in terms of time and money expended - I recently added the 300th bird to my life list on a trip to the UK. I recently bought a new bike, so I'm getting a lot of riding in. I also enjoying gardening and baking and poking around library sales looking for neglected first editions. And Scotch. Especially from Islay.
Do you attend conventions, participate in workshops, have a critiquing group, etc.?
I average one convention a year - this year I'm attending Readercon, last year it was World Fantasy. In a perfect world I'd attend more. I haven't been in a writer's group since college, but I have a handful of first readers I rely on, people I trust a great deal but who also know they can be honest with me without shattering my fragile artiste ego.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
People will tell you a lot of crap about writing, but the one thing that's true is that you'll probably have to write a bunch of junk for practice before you start writing stuff that isn't junk.
And for the love of Pete, don't argue with rejection letters. Nothing good will come of it.
Anything else you want to plug?
My latest story, "Invasive Species", is appearing in the new Wallace and Tremblay anthology Phantom, which will either be imminent or just arrived depending on when this gets posted. Also depending on when this is posted, I'm either about to or just have participated in my first reading, the Shirley Jackson Awards fundraiser at KGB on July 23rd. It's going to be a great reading (Sarah Langan, Jeffry Ford, and Peter Straub will be participating, among others) and we'll all be reading from the work of the great Shirley Jackson herself.
Plug: Call For Submissions - Footprints
From Spec Fic Markets:
PUBLICATION TITLE: Footprints.
DESCRIPTION: Science Fiction anthology to be edited by Jay Lake, jaylake and Eric T. Reynolds, ericreynolds.
PUBLISHER: Hadley Rille Books.
ABBREVIATED SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
THEME. Long after our species and all its works have turned to dust, the moon landing sites will still show evidence of our time here on Earth. Imagine future explorers from among the stars interpreting that. The astronauts’ footprints should last longer than the fossils in the Olduvai Gorge have.
LENGTH. 4000 to 10000 words.
SUBMISSION PERIOD: From 15 August 2008 through 15 November 2008.
More info at ericreynolds and jaylake.
Complete submission guidelines are here.
PUBLICATION TITLE: Footprints.
DESCRIPTION: Science Fiction anthology to be edited by Jay Lake, jaylake and Eric T. Reynolds, ericreynolds.
PUBLISHER: Hadley Rille Books.
ABBREVIATED SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
THEME. Long after our species and all its works have turned to dust, the moon landing sites will still show evidence of our time here on Earth. Imagine future explorers from among the stars interpreting that. The astronauts’ footprints should last longer than the fossils in the Olduvai Gorge have.
LENGTH. 4000 to 10000 words.
SUBMISSION PERIOD: From 15 August 2008 through 15 November 2008.
More info at ericreynolds and jaylake.
Complete submission guidelines are here.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Plug: Federations Guidelines
From John Joseph Adams:
From Star Trek to Star Wars, from Dune to Foundation, science fiction has a rich history of exploring the idea of vast intergalactic societies, and the challenges facing those living in or trying to manage such societies. The stories in Federations will continue that tradition.
What are the social/religious/environmental/technological implications of living in such a vast society? What happens when expansionist tendencies on a galactic scale come into conflict with the indigenous peoples of other planets, of other races? And what of the issue of communicating across such distances, or the problems caused by relativistic travel? These are just some of the questions and issues that the stories in Federations will take on.
Genres: Science Fiction only. Original fiction only, no reprints.
Payment: 5 cents per word ($250 max), plus a pro-rata share of the anthology’s earnings and 1 contributor copy.
Word limit: 5000 words. (Stories may exceed 5000 words, but $250 is the maximum payment per story, and stories 5000 words or less are strongly preferred.)
Rights: First world English rights, non-exclusive world anthology rights, and non-exclusive audio anthology rights. See my boilerplate author-anthologist contract, which spells out the rights in detail.
Reading Period: November 1-January 1, 2009
Response Time: Most rejections will be sent out quickly, but stories that I like may be held until January 31 before a final decision is made.
Publication date: May 2009
Publisher: Prime Books
Submission Instructions: Email your story in rich-text format (RTF) to John Joseph Adams at federations.anthology@gmail.com. Include the title of the story and your byline in the subject line of the email.
August 2008 Plugs
Not the only time I'll be plugging this month...
- The Save Segundo Campaign - Save this podcast!
- Outrage Magazine - Online Philippine magazine that promotes LGBTQ rights.
- Clarkesworld Magazine - New issue out!
- Lone Star Stories - New issue out!
- A Whisper of Blood - A re-issued Datlow anthology. Edit: A Whisper of Blood--which is actually two, two, two anthologies in one: Blood is Not Enough and A Whisper of Blood--35 stories, not the 18 currently mentioned on the BN.COM website. - Ellen
- 2nd Anniversary of Norilana Books - 174 books in print!
- 29th Manila International Book Fair - Start saving up on those allowances and salaries.
- A Field Guide to Surreal Botany Day - August 15 baby.
- Gale Force Release on August 5, 2008 - And join the contest while you're at it.
Book Review: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book reviews.
One of my friends is a big Tim Powers fan but despite that, I've never really tackled Powers's novels despite his recommendations (although I have read some of his short stories). When I began reading The Stress of Her Regard, I found the pace slow and it didn't immediately catch my attention. However, by the time I finished reading it, all I can say is wow: I can't imagine the narrative starting any differently. This is one of those stories where anything less than a novel does it no justice and The Stress of Her Regard makes great use of its particular length and format. Powers tells a secret history/conspiracy narrative involving poets and various myths. Several characters rise to the forefront like Shelley and Byron whose historical life is scrutinized under a darker, more fantastical framework. Our main protagonist, Michael Crawford, is that right mix of frailty and bravery, one of the fallen yet still likable. After the initial build-up, the narrative transforms into a compelling read and Powers sprinkles the beginning of each chapter with various quotes and poems that take on a different meaning given the story's premise. The highlight of the book for me is the ending and all I can say without spoiling anything is that the payoff is well worth it and every detail in the book is deliberate on the part of the author. While not necessarily a weakness, again, the pacing of The Stress of Her Regard is slow at the start and it won't immediately transfix readers the same way a Jim Butcher novel might. Also, just a pet peeve of mine, I feel Powers uses the word "jackknife" too often but that's just a minor quibble. Overall this was a terrific read that combines complexity and character with the fantastical and the horrific.
Rating: 3.5/5.
One of my friends is a big Tim Powers fan but despite that, I've never really tackled Powers's novels despite his recommendations (although I have read some of his short stories). When I began reading The Stress of Her Regard, I found the pace slow and it didn't immediately catch my attention. However, by the time I finished reading it, all I can say is wow: I can't imagine the narrative starting any differently. This is one of those stories where anything less than a novel does it no justice and The Stress of Her Regard makes great use of its particular length and format. Powers tells a secret history/conspiracy narrative involving poets and various myths. Several characters rise to the forefront like Shelley and Byron whose historical life is scrutinized under a darker, more fantastical framework. Our main protagonist, Michael Crawford, is that right mix of frailty and bravery, one of the fallen yet still likable. After the initial build-up, the narrative transforms into a compelling read and Powers sprinkles the beginning of each chapter with various quotes and poems that take on a different meaning given the story's premise. The highlight of the book for me is the ending and all I can say without spoiling anything is that the payoff is well worth it and every detail in the book is deliberate on the part of the author. While not necessarily a weakness, again, the pacing of The Stress of Her Regard is slow at the start and it won't immediately transfix readers the same way a Jim Butcher novel might. Also, just a pet peeve of mine, I feel Powers uses the word "jackknife" too often but that's just a minor quibble. Overall this was a terrific read that combines complexity and character with the fantastical and the horrific.
Rating: 3.5/5.
Rating System:
1 - There are better ways to spend your time.
2 - Ho hum books, usually typical of its genre. Probably only recommendable to die-hard fans.
3 - A cut above the rest, usually with one or more elements that sets it apart from the norm.
4 - Highly recommended and is easily a pioneer of the genre.
5 - A classic or it will be.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Blog Book Reviewers: Asking the Wrong Questions
I didn't get the memo but apparently, this week's "topic of the week" for various book review blogs was the question of whether blog book reviewers should get paid for their efforts (Larry has some links and thoughts on the matter: 1, 2). Many good points were raised as well as some not-so-good ones. To me, it's not really a question of whether one should get paid or not. Book reviewing isn't any more special than what's happening out there on the Internet, whether it's writing, illustrating, composing music, etc. Some of those content creators don't earn a single cent. Others do. And there's nothing inherently right or wrong with either scenario. The right question isn't whether blog book reviewers should get paid or not, but whether your website was intended and set up to generate income.
First off, for aspiring and existing book reviewers, what was your original intention when setting up your blog or website? Was it to simply inform a certain audience or to eventually quit your day job and have it financially support you? Now this isn't an either-or proposition. One could intend to do both. But if you are intending the latter, what steps have you taken to accomplish such a feat or to put it simply, what's your plan? One of my favorite and perhaps underrated literary site is Rick Kleffel's The Agony Column (both Jeff Vandermeer and I have interviews with Rick). Now Rick's site has been up for several years now and he continues to deliver daily content. Is he earning from the site? No, not really (although some of the material he covers does end up in other media). But that's also how he designed his site so there are no complaints coming from his end. Fantasybookspot, on the other hand, has advertising rates and a donation/merchandise page. That's not to say Fantasybookspot is guaranteed to earn money, but it has mechanisms in place to support that model.
Book reviewers for traditional print media earn income from their efforts not just because they one day said to themselves "hey, I'll start writing book reviews!" but rather by doing more: they had to pitch their book reviews to an editor/publisher or perhaps apply for a staff position in a magazine or newspaper. An aspiring book reviewer doesn't suddenly just earn income just because they start churning out material. They have to get their material read and convince someone that it's worth paying for. Of course in the case of a magazine or newspaper, figuring out how to get paid is typically a problem that's being handled by the publisher. If I were a freelance book reviewer for example, all I need to do is convince my editor to pick up and publish my book review. How they come up with the money to pay me is their problem (this is accomplished through a combination of subscription sales, ads, or simply having a rich publisher who doesn't care how much the entire endeavor is costing them).
What many bloggers don't realize is that by blogging, they've become their own publishers. Sure, one doesn't need to learn how to use Adobe InDesign or pay for printing costs in order to become a publisher (the bar to entry in Internet publishing is significantly lower), but everything else falls on your shoulders. Who comes up with the content, who designs the layout, how does one promote the blog? Not many (especially those who simply blog for fun or to promote themselves) ask the question how do I earn money from my blog?
Of course if you want to write book reviews for a living--and on the Internet--one doesn't need to self-publish. There are some sites that pay, such as Strange Horizons. Having said that, there's no guarantee that Strange Horizons will accept your book review for their publication. And they have requirements that may or may not coincide with your own writing standards. The biggest benefit of writing for other online publications is that if they do pay, it's not your problem (although it is in your best interests to find out and support them however you can) on how they recoup their expenses or where they find the money to pay you.
Going back to the self-publishing model that we call blogging, if we do intend to push through with self-publishing, how do we earn a profit from it? There are no simply answers for that one. There's a lot of paying online publications that proved to be unsustainable. The following however are some methods of generating income. The first is to survive through donations (typically via PayPal). It worked for Strange Horizons but then again, the trick is convincing people to donate money for your reviews (oh, and if you find out the secret, be sure to tell me). The second is to find a patron and I use that word in the loosest sense. Typically, a "patron" means ads or becoming part of a network (if you do become part of a network that pays you for each blog entry, the question you should be wondering is how they're profiting from your blogging). Third, you can attempt to gain revenue by selling merchandise from your site, whether this is merchandise you personally create or simply acting as a referral (your personalized Amazon store is an example of a referral).
Some of the blog book reviewers have valid complaints when it comes to ads (specifically, ads from publishers whose books they review). Are they, so to speak, "selling out" or compromising their integrity by doing so? The answer is not necessarily. The first challenge is settling an agreement between you and your sponsor. It's perfectly possible to set up an agreement (and a contract) that states that the sponsor will not interfere with the content of your blog. If that's not a settlement both of you can agree on, then you have one of two choices: compromise or find a different sponsor (and one will probably have to bear this in mind even if you convince your sponsor to agree on your terms: they might renege on the agreement and threaten to withdraw support for the site should they find something displeasing--a written contract aids in enforcing whatever it is both of you agreed upon). The second trick is convincing your audience that your site is bias-free (or at least bias-free as far as sponsors are concerned) despite the ads. This may or may not be an issue depending on how the ads are presented and how you were providing content before. For example, Pulp Gamer, a gaming podcast network, used to have a regular segment where they reviewed games and gave them ratings. Recently, they were sponsored by Mayfair Games and ended up discussing Mayfair's games. Rather than place it in the reviews segment, they made an entirely new show (with a different name and "brand") and dropped the ratings. This I think is a compromise for both Mayfair Games and Pulp Gamer's audience. Their audience knows that that particular segment of the show IS sponsored by Mayfair Games and that they're only discussing Mayfair's games. Similarly, Pulp Gamer dropped the ratings because they know that even if they are honest with their ratings, it might sound insincere to their audience.
Another thing touched upon in the discussion of book blog reviewers is the obligation to do book reviews and whether publishers should send ARCs to blog book reviewers. First, let's talk about the obligation to actually review the books. This topic actually has two sub-categories. The first is whether one should review each and every book one receives. One point made by Mysterious Outposts is that ARCs are calculated expenses on the publisher's part and one shouldn't necessarily review each and every book one receives. To a certain extent, that's true but also bear in mind that while publishers do have ARCs for review, it's not an infinite resource. It is actually costing them money to send you ARCs. And while sending review copies to say, a broadsheet, doesn't obligate the said broadsheet from reviewing the book, it's honestly a case by case scenario. For example, I'm not a book review blog veteran. Publishers don't randomly send me books that they happen to publish. The modus operandi of authors, publicists and publishers when it comes to me is that they email me personally and ask me if I want to review their books (sometimes the process is the opposite: they post on their blog an opportunity to read ARCs in exchange for you blogging or reviewing the book and I email them that I'm interested). The important clarification here is that that they ask me and there's an agreement that they will actually send me copies if I actually review them. So in my case, I am obligated to review the said books: because those were the terms (either implicit or explicit). Now if a book happened to land on my doorstep and there was no prior communication from either the author or the publisher, then it's fair game as to whether I'll actually review it or not (of course that's not really possible in my case because my mailing address is not public knowledge). The important thing here is to pay close attention to what was agreed upon by both parties.
The other sub-category, raised by SF Diplomat, is feeling guilty for panning a book we received for free. I can sympathize with this: here's someone who's giving you a free book yet at the end of the day, all you're going to do is write something horrible about it. My take on this is that, well, reviewing anything isn't for the faint of heart. I work for a music magazine and our reviewers all have stories of how the bands they review get angry at them whenever they give them low ratings. There's the phone calls, the murmurs during gigs, and sometimes even ruined friendships. If you don't want to say something negative about someone, you might want to re-consider doing book reviews. Having said that, here are some rationalizations you might want to take into consideration. The first is your integrity. As book reviewers, integrity is important. It might not be your only currency with your audience or the publishers who send you books, but it is a vital resource. And for some people, especially those who don't get paid to write book reviews, the biggest reward is being able to give their honest opinion. The second rationalization you can tell yourself is that bad publicity is still publicity. You can pan a book and actually boost it sales, or at least drive interest towards it (maybe inviting your readers to read the book for themselves and find out if it's actually that bad). My only caveat with panning a book is that a) you judge a book by what it was intending to do rather than what you wanted it to do, b) you explain your reasons for disliking the book and c) your review is well-written. The third rationalization is that you're the one in charge of the reviews, you have options. For example, if the review you're writing is very very bad, you can opt not to publish the actual review, or at least inform the publisher ahead of time this is the content of the review. This isn't a choice I'd make but it's an option that's there. The other option is to still write truthfully in the review, but focus on the good parts. The Dragon Page for example works on that principle--don't bash the book but rather focus on what makes the book appealing for you. Again, it's not a choice I'd personally make but it's an "out" for the faint of heart.
The second topic is publishers sending ARCs to blog book reviewers. Post-Weird Thoughts for example has a complaint at how one publisher won't send review copies to "small personal blogs". Let's see the side of the publisher shall we? Again, I'd like to bring up the point that while ARCs are calculated expenses on the publisher's part, it's not a bottomless resource. There are finite copies to spread around and just like any limited resource, if I'm going to mail my books to other people, I'd want the biggest bang for my buck--which in this case means reaching out to as wide an audience as possible for minimal effort. For example, if I was selling software that could only be run on one Operating System, it'd be Windows because as much as Mac OS X might be superior or I feel more comfortable using that OS, the fact is, there are more Windows users than Mac users. It's simply a numbers game. However, that doesn't mean said publisher has a free "get out of jail" card. The problem with said publisher is that it didn't really define what "small personal blogs" are. Pat's Fantasy Hotlist for example gets more than a thousand unique visits every day (here's the link to his public tracker, which is at the bottom of Pat's site). Does that count as a "small personal blog" or not? A few thousand unique visitors every week is a site with lots of traffic. Second, while ARCs are finite resources, PDFs aren't (well, the PDFs per se are an infinite resource but the time spent distributing them isn't). I have a long essay on how PDFs affected me as a reviewer, and how publishers can leverage it to promote their books. On the part of Post-Weird Thoughts, I don't know what he said when he approached the aforementioned publisher, but one thing Post-Weird Thoughts could have done was to convey to the publisher how many readers the site has (whether this was actually done or not, I don't know). Looking at the tracker of Post-Weird Thoughts, based on his weekly numbers, the site has around less than a hundred unique visitors each day (I'd just like to mention that this is a minimum--I don't have the numbers for how many people are subscribed to the RSS Feeds of Post-Weird Thoughts, or if the site has a mirror in some other blog like Livejournal or Multiply or some other site) and the highest number of hits the site ever reached was 209. Now whether that's a high enough number for the publisher to consider sending out an actual ARC is best left for them to decide but being transparent in one's numbers probably goes a long way in convincing publishers to send you ARC copies (this fact is also helpful in acquiring sponsors). And if I were the publisher and I only had one ARC to give to a reviewer, I'd most likely go with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist over Post-Weird Thoughts simply because the former has ten times the numbers of the latter. Oh, and just in case anyone's wondering, here is the link to my tracker if anyone wants to know my demographics (unfortunately, I don't have 1,000 unique daily visitors).
One issue brought up is how book reviewing can become like a job. I'll side with Larry on this one: "Yes, anything that involves time and effort is going to feel like work, because it is work." Personally, I've adopted a professional blogging schedule (at least ever since the start of 2008). Why? Because it's best for my readers. If my readers don't know when to expect content from me, or if I don't consistently produce content, there's no guarantee they'll return to my blog. The key here is consistency. My blog is ambitious in the sense that there's a scheduled blog post every weekday but book reviewers don't have to follow that schedule. If you can only do a book review once every two weeks, so be it--as long as you stick with it. Having a consistent schedule not only draws in readers, but also gives you more credibility, either to prospective sponsors or publishers. It shows that a) you're serious about this endeavor and b) you can stick to a deadline and act professionally. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with the mentality of blogging and book reviewing just for fun. But if that's the case, don't expect your readership or publishers or prospective sponsors to treat you any differently.
So to recap, should book reviewers get paid? Only if they build and work with a model that's designed to make them earn money. There are a lot of good reasons to do book reviews that have nothing to do with money. Pat goes for other rewards. Larry wants to improve his skills. Others might simply want to have a voice in the industry. Those are all good reasons to do book reviews. Just be aware of them and have a plan that supports your goals. If you start writing book reviews in the hopes of one day it'll earn you money but have no plans on how to go about it, guess what, that's unlikely going to happen. Publishers and sponsors simply won't start giving you money just because you started blogging. Your readers won't give you donations unless you ask for it. People won't click on your Google ads unless you request it and give them incentives to do so. If you feel entitled to some income from the industry, ask yourself what service can you provide to them so that they'll happily part with their money. To me, this isn't an issue of whether book reviewers should get paid for their efforts or not. It can be a possible source of revenue. But based from what I'm seeing, most book review blogs either don't intend to get paid or don't have good, feasible plans to support this goal.
First off, for aspiring and existing book reviewers, what was your original intention when setting up your blog or website? Was it to simply inform a certain audience or to eventually quit your day job and have it financially support you? Now this isn't an either-or proposition. One could intend to do both. But if you are intending the latter, what steps have you taken to accomplish such a feat or to put it simply, what's your plan? One of my favorite and perhaps underrated literary site is Rick Kleffel's The Agony Column (both Jeff Vandermeer and I have interviews with Rick). Now Rick's site has been up for several years now and he continues to deliver daily content. Is he earning from the site? No, not really (although some of the material he covers does end up in other media). But that's also how he designed his site so there are no complaints coming from his end. Fantasybookspot, on the other hand, has advertising rates and a donation/merchandise page. That's not to say Fantasybookspot is guaranteed to earn money, but it has mechanisms in place to support that model.
Book reviewers for traditional print media earn income from their efforts not just because they one day said to themselves "hey, I'll start writing book reviews!" but rather by doing more: they had to pitch their book reviews to an editor/publisher or perhaps apply for a staff position in a magazine or newspaper. An aspiring book reviewer doesn't suddenly just earn income just because they start churning out material. They have to get their material read and convince someone that it's worth paying for. Of course in the case of a magazine or newspaper, figuring out how to get paid is typically a problem that's being handled by the publisher. If I were a freelance book reviewer for example, all I need to do is convince my editor to pick up and publish my book review. How they come up with the money to pay me is their problem (this is accomplished through a combination of subscription sales, ads, or simply having a rich publisher who doesn't care how much the entire endeavor is costing them).
What many bloggers don't realize is that by blogging, they've become their own publishers. Sure, one doesn't need to learn how to use Adobe InDesign or pay for printing costs in order to become a publisher (the bar to entry in Internet publishing is significantly lower), but everything else falls on your shoulders. Who comes up with the content, who designs the layout, how does one promote the blog? Not many (especially those who simply blog for fun or to promote themselves) ask the question how do I earn money from my blog?
Of course if you want to write book reviews for a living--and on the Internet--one doesn't need to self-publish. There are some sites that pay, such as Strange Horizons. Having said that, there's no guarantee that Strange Horizons will accept your book review for their publication. And they have requirements that may or may not coincide with your own writing standards. The biggest benefit of writing for other online publications is that if they do pay, it's not your problem (although it is in your best interests to find out and support them however you can) on how they recoup their expenses or where they find the money to pay you.
Going back to the self-publishing model that we call blogging, if we do intend to push through with self-publishing, how do we earn a profit from it? There are no simply answers for that one. There's a lot of paying online publications that proved to be unsustainable. The following however are some methods of generating income. The first is to survive through donations (typically via PayPal). It worked for Strange Horizons but then again, the trick is convincing people to donate money for your reviews (oh, and if you find out the secret, be sure to tell me). The second is to find a patron and I use that word in the loosest sense. Typically, a "patron" means ads or becoming part of a network (if you do become part of a network that pays you for each blog entry, the question you should be wondering is how they're profiting from your blogging). Third, you can attempt to gain revenue by selling merchandise from your site, whether this is merchandise you personally create or simply acting as a referral (your personalized Amazon store is an example of a referral).
Some of the blog book reviewers have valid complaints when it comes to ads (specifically, ads from publishers whose books they review). Are they, so to speak, "selling out" or compromising their integrity by doing so? The answer is not necessarily. The first challenge is settling an agreement between you and your sponsor. It's perfectly possible to set up an agreement (and a contract) that states that the sponsor will not interfere with the content of your blog. If that's not a settlement both of you can agree on, then you have one of two choices: compromise or find a different sponsor (and one will probably have to bear this in mind even if you convince your sponsor to agree on your terms: they might renege on the agreement and threaten to withdraw support for the site should they find something displeasing--a written contract aids in enforcing whatever it is both of you agreed upon). The second trick is convincing your audience that your site is bias-free (or at least bias-free as far as sponsors are concerned) despite the ads. This may or may not be an issue depending on how the ads are presented and how you were providing content before. For example, Pulp Gamer, a gaming podcast network, used to have a regular segment where they reviewed games and gave them ratings. Recently, they were sponsored by Mayfair Games and ended up discussing Mayfair's games. Rather than place it in the reviews segment, they made an entirely new show (with a different name and "brand") and dropped the ratings. This I think is a compromise for both Mayfair Games and Pulp Gamer's audience. Their audience knows that that particular segment of the show IS sponsored by Mayfair Games and that they're only discussing Mayfair's games. Similarly, Pulp Gamer dropped the ratings because they know that even if they are honest with their ratings, it might sound insincere to their audience.
Another thing touched upon in the discussion of book blog reviewers is the obligation to do book reviews and whether publishers should send ARCs to blog book reviewers. First, let's talk about the obligation to actually review the books. This topic actually has two sub-categories. The first is whether one should review each and every book one receives. One point made by Mysterious Outposts is that ARCs are calculated expenses on the publisher's part and one shouldn't necessarily review each and every book one receives. To a certain extent, that's true but also bear in mind that while publishers do have ARCs for review, it's not an infinite resource. It is actually costing them money to send you ARCs. And while sending review copies to say, a broadsheet, doesn't obligate the said broadsheet from reviewing the book, it's honestly a case by case scenario. For example, I'm not a book review blog veteran. Publishers don't randomly send me books that they happen to publish. The modus operandi of authors, publicists and publishers when it comes to me is that they email me personally and ask me if I want to review their books (sometimes the process is the opposite: they post on their blog an opportunity to read ARCs in exchange for you blogging or reviewing the book and I email them that I'm interested). The important clarification here is that that they ask me and there's an agreement that they will actually send me copies if I actually review them. So in my case, I am obligated to review the said books: because those were the terms (either implicit or explicit). Now if a book happened to land on my doorstep and there was no prior communication from either the author or the publisher, then it's fair game as to whether I'll actually review it or not (of course that's not really possible in my case because my mailing address is not public knowledge). The important thing here is to pay close attention to what was agreed upon by both parties.
The other sub-category, raised by SF Diplomat, is feeling guilty for panning a book we received for free. I can sympathize with this: here's someone who's giving you a free book yet at the end of the day, all you're going to do is write something horrible about it. My take on this is that, well, reviewing anything isn't for the faint of heart. I work for a music magazine and our reviewers all have stories of how the bands they review get angry at them whenever they give them low ratings. There's the phone calls, the murmurs during gigs, and sometimes even ruined friendships. If you don't want to say something negative about someone, you might want to re-consider doing book reviews. Having said that, here are some rationalizations you might want to take into consideration. The first is your integrity. As book reviewers, integrity is important. It might not be your only currency with your audience or the publishers who send you books, but it is a vital resource. And for some people, especially those who don't get paid to write book reviews, the biggest reward is being able to give their honest opinion. The second rationalization you can tell yourself is that bad publicity is still publicity. You can pan a book and actually boost it sales, or at least drive interest towards it (maybe inviting your readers to read the book for themselves and find out if it's actually that bad). My only caveat with panning a book is that a) you judge a book by what it was intending to do rather than what you wanted it to do, b) you explain your reasons for disliking the book and c) your review is well-written. The third rationalization is that you're the one in charge of the reviews, you have options. For example, if the review you're writing is very very bad, you can opt not to publish the actual review, or at least inform the publisher ahead of time this is the content of the review. This isn't a choice I'd make but it's an option that's there. The other option is to still write truthfully in the review, but focus on the good parts. The Dragon Page for example works on that principle--don't bash the book but rather focus on what makes the book appealing for you. Again, it's not a choice I'd personally make but it's an "out" for the faint of heart.
The second topic is publishers sending ARCs to blog book reviewers. Post-Weird Thoughts for example has a complaint at how one publisher won't send review copies to "small personal blogs". Let's see the side of the publisher shall we? Again, I'd like to bring up the point that while ARCs are calculated expenses on the publisher's part, it's not a bottomless resource. There are finite copies to spread around and just like any limited resource, if I'm going to mail my books to other people, I'd want the biggest bang for my buck--which in this case means reaching out to as wide an audience as possible for minimal effort. For example, if I was selling software that could only be run on one Operating System, it'd be Windows because as much as Mac OS X might be superior or I feel more comfortable using that OS, the fact is, there are more Windows users than Mac users. It's simply a numbers game. However, that doesn't mean said publisher has a free "get out of jail" card. The problem with said publisher is that it didn't really define what "small personal blogs" are. Pat's Fantasy Hotlist for example gets more than a thousand unique visits every day (here's the link to his public tracker, which is at the bottom of Pat's site). Does that count as a "small personal blog" or not? A few thousand unique visitors every week is a site with lots of traffic. Second, while ARCs are finite resources, PDFs aren't (well, the PDFs per se are an infinite resource but the time spent distributing them isn't). I have a long essay on how PDFs affected me as a reviewer, and how publishers can leverage it to promote their books. On the part of Post-Weird Thoughts, I don't know what he said when he approached the aforementioned publisher, but one thing Post-Weird Thoughts could have done was to convey to the publisher how many readers the site has (whether this was actually done or not, I don't know). Looking at the tracker of Post-Weird Thoughts, based on his weekly numbers, the site has around less than a hundred unique visitors each day (I'd just like to mention that this is a minimum--I don't have the numbers for how many people are subscribed to the RSS Feeds of Post-Weird Thoughts, or if the site has a mirror in some other blog like Livejournal or Multiply or some other site) and the highest number of hits the site ever reached was 209. Now whether that's a high enough number for the publisher to consider sending out an actual ARC is best left for them to decide but being transparent in one's numbers probably goes a long way in convincing publishers to send you ARC copies (this fact is also helpful in acquiring sponsors). And if I were the publisher and I only had one ARC to give to a reviewer, I'd most likely go with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist over Post-Weird Thoughts simply because the former has ten times the numbers of the latter. Oh, and just in case anyone's wondering, here is the link to my tracker if anyone wants to know my demographics (unfortunately, I don't have 1,000 unique daily visitors).
One issue brought up is how book reviewing can become like a job. I'll side with Larry on this one: "Yes, anything that involves time and effort is going to feel like work, because it is work." Personally, I've adopted a professional blogging schedule (at least ever since the start of 2008). Why? Because it's best for my readers. If my readers don't know when to expect content from me, or if I don't consistently produce content, there's no guarantee they'll return to my blog. The key here is consistency. My blog is ambitious in the sense that there's a scheduled blog post every weekday but book reviewers don't have to follow that schedule. If you can only do a book review once every two weeks, so be it--as long as you stick with it. Having a consistent schedule not only draws in readers, but also gives you more credibility, either to prospective sponsors or publishers. It shows that a) you're serious about this endeavor and b) you can stick to a deadline and act professionally. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with the mentality of blogging and book reviewing just for fun. But if that's the case, don't expect your readership or publishers or prospective sponsors to treat you any differently.
So to recap, should book reviewers get paid? Only if they build and work with a model that's designed to make them earn money. There are a lot of good reasons to do book reviews that have nothing to do with money. Pat goes for other rewards. Larry wants to improve his skills. Others might simply want to have a voice in the industry. Those are all good reasons to do book reviews. Just be aware of them and have a plan that supports your goals. If you start writing book reviews in the hopes of one day it'll earn you money but have no plans on how to go about it, guess what, that's unlikely going to happen. Publishers and sponsors simply won't start giving you money just because you started blogging. Your readers won't give you donations unless you ask for it. People won't click on your Google ads unless you request it and give them incentives to do so. If you feel entitled to some income from the industry, ask yourself what service can you provide to them so that they'll happily part with their money. To me, this isn't an issue of whether book reviewers should get paid for their efforts or not. It can be a possible source of revenue. But based from what I'm seeing, most book review blogs either don't intend to get paid or don't have good, feasible plans to support this goal.
Plug: Transcriptase
From Transcriptase:
We are Helix writers who believe in a speculative fiction community that welcomes all readers—inclusive of all races, genders, and marginalized people of all backgrounds.
In July 2008, Helix editor William Sanders stirred up controversy in the community with remarks that many found offensive. The blogosphere exploded with discussion. You can find a summary of the events here.
As the controversy continued, several Helix writers asked to remove their work from the magazine and were met with unprofessional treatment. This upset all of us. We agreed that we would not stand by in silence.
Transcriptase hosts reprints of our stories and poems originally published at Helix. During the controversy, some of us removed our work from Helix; others left it up. There are valid reasons to make either choice, and we hope you’ll respect that we had difficult decisions to make. We offer our stories and poems at Transcriptase so that you can enjoy our work away from Helix, if you choose.
It’s difficult to summarize how we feel about the incident, since each of us feels differently. Our reactions range from disappointed to sad to angry. Some writers have chosen to add further comments to this statement:
These statements are personal opinions which belong to the individual writers.
Podcast Focus: I Should Be Writing
Every Friday, I'll talk about a podcast or two that catches my fancy.
URL: http://isbw.murlafferty.com/
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/IShouldBeWriting
Description: Prolific podcaster Mur Lafferty shares with listeners her experiences as she tries to break into the industry (and she finally has with her upcoming novel, Playing for Keeps). You can get advice on writing, book agents, rejection letters, and even author interviews.
URL: http://isbw.murlafferty.com/
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/IShouldBeWriting
Description: Prolific podcaster Mur Lafferty shares with listeners her experiences as she tries to break into the industry (and she finally has with her upcoming novel, Playing for Keeps). You can get advice on writing, book agents, rejection letters, and even author interviews.
Podcast Focus: 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction
Every Friday, I'll talk about a podcast or two that catches my fancy.
URL: http://www.jadelantern.com/2d6feet/
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/2d6Feet
Description: For me, the charm of this gaming podcast are its hosts, one of which is a store owner (and also podcasts over at the OgreCave Audio Report, another excellent podcast). The discussions are intelligent and they talk about not just the impact of games on individual gamers but on retailers and the industry as well. If you want a look at the gaming industry behind the store counter, this is the podcast to listen to.
URL: http://www.jadelantern.com/2d6feet/RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/2d6Feet
Description: For me, the charm of this gaming podcast are its hosts, one of which is a store owner (and also podcasts over at the OgreCave Audio Report, another excellent podcast). The discussions are intelligent and they talk about not just the impact of games on individual gamers but on retailers and the industry as well. If you want a look at the gaming industry behind the store counter, this is the podcast to listen to.
Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2008/7/27
From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here):
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
- The Shack by William P. Young
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
- The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
- Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
- The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge
- Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
- Play Dirty: A Novel by Sandra Brown
- Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
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