Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Archive for June, 2010

Quick Updates for 2010-06-30

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Member News

• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Jason Andrew with a sale to Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic SF (Solaris).
• SFWA member Christopher McKitterick announces that his first novel, TRANSCENDENCE, will be published in 2010 by Hadley Rille Books.
• Congratulations to SFWA members Cory Doctorow, Alyx Dellamonica, & Charles de Lint for their Sunburst nominations.
• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active member, Kevin David Anderson, author of NIGHT OF THE LIVING TREKKIES from Quirk.
• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Larry Ferrill with a sale to Writers of the Future anthology.
• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Affiliate member Alan J. Porter author of SF history, collector’s guides & comics.
• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Hilary Goldstein with a sale to Fantasy &Science Fiction.
• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Brennan Harvey with a sale to Writers of the Future anthology.

Tags: Alan J. Porter, Alyx Dellamonica, Brennan Harvey, charles de lint, Christopher McKitterick, Cory Doctorow, Hilary Goldstein, Jason Andrew, Kevin David Anderson, Larry Ferrill, twitter
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Sunburst Award short-list announced

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic announced their short list today. SFWA members Charles de Lint, A.M. Dellamonica, and Cory Doctorow received nominations for the 2010 Sunburst Award in the adult Category.

Our congratulations to them and to the other nominees.

The short-listed works in the adult category for the 2010 Sunburst Award are:

• Charles de Lint, The Mystery of Grace (Tor, ISBN: 0765317567)
• A.M. Dellamonica, Indigo Springs (Tor, ISBN: 0765319470)
• Cory Doctorow, Makers (Tor, ISBN: 0765312794)
• Karl Schroeder, The Sunless Countries (Tor, ISBN: 0765320762)
• Robert Charles Wilson, Julian Comstock (Tor, ISBN: 0765319713)

The short-listed works in the young adult category for the 2010 Sunburst Award are:

• Megan Crewe, Give Up the Ghost (Henry Holt, ISBN: 0805089306)
• Maureen Garvie, Amy By Any Other Name (Key Porter, ISBN: 1554701422)
• Hiromi Goto, Half World (Penguin, ISBN: 0670069655)
• Lesley Livingston, Wondrous Strange (HarperTeen, ISBN: 0061575372)
• Arthur Slade, The Hunchback Assignment (HarperCollins, ISBN: 1554683548)

The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a prized and juried award that is presented annually. Named after the debut novel by the late Phyllis Gotlieb, one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian speculative fiction, the award consists of a cash prize of $1,000 and a hand-crafted medallion, which incorporates the “Sunburst” logo, designed by Marcel Gagné. It is based on excellence of writing; the jury selects five short-listed works and one winner, representing the finest of Canadian fantastic literature published during the 2009 calendar year. The requirements of the young adult award are the same as for the adult award except for the age of the audience to which the work is addressed. The winner of the annual young adult award will also receive a medallion and prize of $1,000. Winners will be announced in the fall of 2010.

The jurors for the 2010 award are: Don Bassingthwaite, Gemma Files, Susie Moloney, Ursula Pflug and Ed Willett.

The Sunburst jury says about:

The Mystery of Grace by SFWA member Charles de Lint: “On Halloween, artist John Burns meets heavily tattooed garage mechanic Altigracia (‘Grace’) Quintero, and they bond over a shared love of rockabilly music. The two fall into bed and subsequently into love, but the relationship is complicated by the fact that Grace has been dead for two weeks already and may be forever trapped forever inside the neighbourhood she occupied during life.

“Like most de Lint, this book is beautifully written and existentially sad, full of sensual detail and offhand magic; it also has equally interesting things to say about free will, ‘fate’ and the transformative nature of grief. And though the mysteries of Grace are many, de Lint’s talent remains undeniable.”

Indigo Springs by SFWA member A.M. Dellamonica: “When Astrid returns to the town of Indigo Springs and to the house she has inherited from her father, accompanied by Sahara, the girlfriend she has a crush on, and Jake, her platonic buddy who has a crush on her, she finds that, far from being the dissipated drunk the town thought him, her father was a crafter of magical objects called ‘chantments,’ using the power of the mysterious spring of blue waters beneath the house. When Astrid and Sahara learn to use the power for themselves, they discover the magic is both addictive and transformative. As their power grows, their experiments escalate into an ecological crisis … and open an unbridgeable chasm between them.

“Original, passionate, lyrical and powerful, entertaining and terrifying at once, Dellamonica’s debut novel examines how both good intentions and good people can be overthrown by the temptations of power.”

Makers by SFWA member Cory Doctorow: “A busy, optimistic, science-exciting, reality-scary story in a near-future time when a meritocracy is the last resort of a world that badly needs fixing. Enter two inventors and DIYers, Lester and Perry, and their bio-blogger, Andrea Fleeks, who documents their rise and fall. While the novel is probably tailor-made for this generation of multi-screen viewers, the pace is sometimes exhausting, but good-exhausting, like the interactive fair rides which figure so prominently. As a comically dystopian view of the near future, it isn’t that far off the mark, and unfortunately is a bit on-the-nose as the world weighs in with fix-it suggestions on the BP leak in the Gulf. As a novel, it rocks: Doctorow at his breathless, peripherally viewed best, half-mocking, half-predicting the pop culture future with Fatkins and modified Elmo dolls. Using left-behind technology to create something new and better is an excellent model for this sadly limping globe.”

For further information about the Sunburst Award, including additional reading recommendations from the jury, information about past nominees, winners, and jurors, please visit: www.sunburstaward.org

Tags: a.m. dellamonica, charles de lint, Cory Doctorow, sunburst award
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RIP F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre 1948-2010

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

It is with heavy heart that we report the loss of SFWA member F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre.  Froggy, as he was often known, wrote short fiction for magazines such as Weird Tales Analog, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, Absolute Magnitude and Interzone. While primarily known as a short-fiction writer, he also had a wide-ranging career as a novelist, though much of that was as a ghost writer, including at least one Tom Swift novel, The DNA Disaster.

His own novel, The Woman Between the Worlds is a science-fiction that Library Journal called, “Wildly comic, darkly horrific, and surprisingly bittersweet, this quirky novel has a place in most sf and fantasy collections.” It is set in 1898 in London and is narrated by a tattoo artist with a highly unusual client — an invisible woman who wants a full-body tattoo.

Froggy had been troubled of late with depression and took his own life on Friday. He will be deeply missed by his friends.

Tags: f. gwynplaine macintyre
Posted in In Memoriam, News, SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »

“Starbound” by Joe Haldeman

Monday, June 28th, 2010

“Starbound” by Joe Haldeman
January 2010, ACE

Tags: Haldeman, Joe Haldeman, Starbound
Posted in Nebula Suggested Reading, Novels 2010 | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-06-27

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

• SFWA member @mckitterick announces that his my first novel, TRANSCENDENCE, will be published in 2010 by Hadley Rille Books. #

Tags: twitter
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Quick Updates for 2010-06-26

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

• Welcome to SFWA's newest Associate member Jason Andrew with a sale to Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic SF (Solaris). http://is.gd/d3zJK #
• The Locus Awards will be broadcast live http://is.gd/d4gTL begining at 2pm PDT Saturday, June 26. #

Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-06-25

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Member News

• Congratulations to SFWA member Jennifer Pelland whose first novel has been bought by Apex.
• "The Love Quest of Smidgen the Snack Cake," a podcast by SFWA member Robert Jeschonek (@TheFictioneer) is now available on Escape Pod.
• SFWA member Greg Bossert's novelette "Slow Boat" is in the August 2010 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction, in stores starting June 22.
• Welcome to SFWA's newest Affiliate member, J.L. Anderson, a comic book artist and writer.
• SFWA member David D. Levine’s novelette "Pupa" in Analog Sep. 2010, and his short "A Passion For Art" are in Interzone 228, in newsstands now!
• Welcome to SFWA's newest Active member Rowena Cory Lindquist, author of The King's Bastard.

Tags: David D. Levine, Greg Bossert, J.L. Anderson, Jennifer Pelland, Robert Jeschonek, Rowena Cory Lindquist, twitter
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-06-24

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

• SFWA member @gregbossert's novelette "Slow Boat" is in the August 2010 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction, in stores starting June 22. #
• SFWA member @dianapfrancis will be chatting and interviewing at Bitten By Books today, 6/23: http://bit.ly/c4ar2p #
• Welcome to SFWA's newest Affiliate member, J.L. Anderson, a comic book artist and writer. http://www.anaria.net/ #

Tags: twitter
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Quick Updates for 2010-06-23

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

• "The Love Quest of Smidgen the Snack Cake," a podcast by SFWA member Robert Jeschonek (@TheFictioneer) is now available on Escape Pod. #

Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off

Are Agents Underpaid?

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

A fascinating discussion began today on Twitter (as of this writing, it's still going on--check it out under the #agentpay hashtag), kicked off by agent Colleen Lindsay, who asked, "How would publishing change if agenting moved from commission-based payment to billable hours?"

Those in favor pointed out that agents' job descriptions have expanded over the past couple of decades, and that they must now do much more for the same 15% they earned twenty years ago. They also get no payment at all for a good portion of what they do on a regular basis--reading queries and manuscripts, editing, submitting books that never sell. In a highly competitive environment, with shrinking advances (at the midlist level, anyway) and cautious publishers, it's getting harder and harder to make a living.

Those against raised the specter of abuse (there are several questionable agents in Writer Beware's files who soak their clients for billable hours while doing little or nothing to place manuscripts with reputable publishers), the loss of agents' entrepreneurial edge if they got paid no matter what (the fact that the agent profits only when the writer does is at the heart of the traditional author-agent relationship); and, of course, the possibility that only wealthy writers could afford to have agents. Several lawyers participating in the discussion also pointed out that keeping timesheets for billing is a soul-sucking timesink that no one in their right mind would want to undertake.

For authors who at this point are feeling their blood pressure rising, I should point out that this is a hypothetical discussion; none of the participating agents are advocating an immediate switch. Colleen's question does, however, highlight an important issue: agents' job descriptions really have expanded over the past twenty years, while their commission percentage has remained the same. Just as writers are now routinely expected to take an active role in promoting their books (two decades ago, self-promotion was still very much optional), many agents now feel obliged to take an active role in promoting their writers. Selling books is also much more work than it used to be, especially in the hyper-competitive and risk-averse environment produced by the recent economic downturn. I also think that the droves of laid-off editors who've transitioned to agenting--not just recently but during the height of the publisher consolidation frenzy in the 1990's--have contributed to the problem, with more agents than ever vying for the time of fewer editors than ever.

So it's not surprising that some agents feel they are underpaid. In my opinion, though, billing hours is not the way to go. It's too open to abuse. It shuts too many writers out of the picture. It also might have a backlash effect--if only well-heeled writers could afford agents, there would be less need for agents, putting a lot of agents out of business. (Which might in turn limit publishers' choices. Could that spell the end of big publishers' agented-submissions-only policies?) Compromise measures-- charging commission until the first sale and billable hours thereafter, flat per-project fees, fees charged for adjunct services such as editing, even reading fees--create the same concerns. Would agents select clients on the basis of their ability to pay? Would they drop clients who took a long time between books and didn't use enough billable services? As for reading and editing fees, that battle was fought years ago. Most agents' trade groups prohibit them for members.

So what's the answer, for agents and others who think the current system should change? A commission hike is the most obvious solution. During the 1980s and 1990s, US agents raised their commissions from 10% to 15%; it seems to me that an increase to 20% could be undertaken with relatively minimal pain on all sides. This would acknowledge the ways in which agenting has changed and expanded, but wouldn't unfairly burden writers.

Another idea might be for agents to sell their expertise. Branches of an agency could be established for fee-based editing, marketing, publicity, packaging, consulting to self-publishers, and the like. These services wouldn't be sold to clients, however--that would be a conflict of interest (if an agent can make money from a service s/he is urging you to buy, how can you be sure that buying it is really to your benefit?) and could easily be misused. The agency would need to erect an impenetrable wall between the agenting and the fee-charging sides of its business--for instance, no client would ever be sold editing services, and no one who bought editing services would be eligible to become a client. This would be made clear on the agency's website and in its literature.

Agents can also become publishers. Of course, that's even more fraught with ambiguity than selling editing or marketing services. If an agent can publish a client's book herself, how driven will she be to sell the book to another publisher? If an agent is selling a client's book to himself, how can he adequately represent both parties' interests? (See the blogs of authors Stacia Kane and Courtney Milan for a more detailed examination of these potential conflicts of interest.) There are very good reasons why the AAR and the ALAA prohibit members from representing both buyer and seller in the same transaction (the AAA allows it, but only if the client is first informed in writing). Again, to ensure ethical practice, there would need to be an impenetrable wall between the agency and the publisher.

All of these things are already happening. A number of established US agents charge 20%. There are agencies with editing and consulting businesses; there are even agencies that own or co-own publishers. In coming years, I think this blurring of lines will become commonplace, as authors, agents, and publishers all struggle to survive in the digital age. As agencies expand their capabilities, it's essential that they consider the importance of ethical practice, and take the time and trouble to establish rules and customs that ensure that their clients are protected, and their potential clients are fairly dealt with.

(One last thing. I'd love a lively discussion of these issues, but I don't want this post to become a forum for anti-agent hostility. Please don't comment if all you want to do is rant about how greedy, elitist, capricious, undeserving, etc. agents are.)

Tags: agents, Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 7 Comments »

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