Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Archive for August, 2010

Guest post–The Pillars of Your Public Booklife: What Do You Find Most Important?

Friday, August 6th, 2010

By Jeff VanderMeer

More than two thousand years ago, the strategist Sun Tzu wrote that the warrior skilled in indirect warfare is as inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, as unending as rivers and streams, and passes away only to return like the four seasons. Curiously enough, these classic lines could as easily describe the relationship between you and the Internet, given how quickly a writer must adjust to and take advantage of opportunities. It also reflects the ephemeral quality of the Internet. Because of the vast amount of information and opinion posted every single day, every hour, every minute—supplanting the information posted a minute, an hour, a day before—you need to be fluid and flexible while retaining inner calm and balance.

Traditional strengths like being fleet of foot, working hard, creating something seaworthy and imaginative, and finding interesting opportunities for collaboration still tend to be rewarded in the marketplace. However, the traditional career and promotional models that once helped you to brand and leverage your creativity often don’t work today.

The modern context requires from a writer some combination of the following qualities or abilities to achieve lasting, sustainable career success:

• Vision. Look five or six moves ahead, like a chess player, and recognize opportunities to diversify while remaining focused on the main goal.
• Centeredness. Understand that committing to objectives does not mean giving up balance in one’s life.
  Adaptability. Have the flexibility to turn on a dime and reverse course or pursue some new course, depending on new intelligence.
• Risk-taking. Be able to leap into the unknown, although not without a bungee cord or safety net.
• Honesty. Have the willingness to open yourself up to self-analysis and criticism from others.

Thinking about and nurturing these traits will be invaluable in your journey toward a sustainable Public Booklife.

–
This post originally appeared in Booklife Now (Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st-Century Writer)
–

Photo by Keyan Bowes

Jeff VanderMeer has had novels published in fifteen languages, won multiple awards, and made the best-of-year lists of Publishers Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, the LA Weekly, and many others. His award-winning short fiction has been featured on Wired.com’s GeekDad and Tor.com, as well as in many anthologies and magazines, including Conjunctions, Black Clock, and in American Fantastic Tales (Library of America). His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and hundreds of others. In addition, he has edited or co-edited more than a dozen influential fiction anthologies for, among others, Bantam Books and Pan Macmillan. On the pop culture front, VanderMeer’s work has been turned into short films for PlayStation Europe and videos featuring music by The Church. For more information, visit jeffvandermeer.com or contact vanderworld@hotmail.com.

Tags: Booklife, Jeff VanderMeer
Posted in Keeping At It, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-08-06

Friday, August 6th, 2010

• SFWA member @StevenGould's novel JUMPER is now available for Kindle and iBooks. REFLEX to follow shortly. DRM free. #
• RT @daviddlevine: Mars astronauts risk asthma from sulfite-rich and peroxide-rich dust; they'll also be turned blonde by the peroxides #

Tags: twitter
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Quick Updates for 2010-08-05

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Member News

• SFWA member Mary Robinette Kowal releases the book trailer for her debut novel SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY.
• SFWA member Jeannie Holmes will do an interview with WKRG (Channel 5) in Mobile on 8/12 during their Mark Your Calendar segment at 8:30am.
• A video interview with SFWA member Laura Anne Gilman on tordot.com.
• In search of SFWA members who've raised kids while writing. This is for an upcoming article. Email webeditor@sfwa.org if interested.
• Real nanotech. Real medicine. And zombies. SFWA member Edward M. Lerner's latest thriller is now out in paperback.
• Congratulations to SFWA member Brad Beaulieu who has a 3 book deal for his debut novel THE WINDS OF KHALAKOVO.
• SFWA member Blake Charlton is reading at Borders in NYC Sat. Aug 7th, at 4pm.

Tags: Blake Charlton, Brad Beaulieu, edward m. lerner, Jeannie Holmes, laura anne gilman, Mary Robinette Kowal, twitter
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

5 Resources on Tracking Submissions

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

We’ve all done it at one time or another: double-subbed (yikes!), gotten a rejection or buy for a story we didn’t even remember sending (whoa!), forgot when we sent a sub (too early to query?) or simply missed the submission window for the perfect market for a story (boo!). It isn’t news that every writer needs to track (and keep up with) their submissions.
Need a new system or simply need to get your submissions organized in the first place? Check out these 5 resources that can help you keep on submitting, sans stress:

• Duotrope’s Digest is free to use (although they request donations to offset operating costs). It’s one of the most popular online submission trackers out there, because it is tied into their huge, searchable market database, and because, based on other members’ information, offers current average response times for a particular market.
• The Writer’s Database is similar to Duotrope. Free to use, online and searchable, it also allows you to chart your writing habits and graph your word count goals.
• Sonar, a free, fully-featured submission tracking program, was created by Australian science fiction writer, Simon Haynes. Sonar is a download that essebntailly creates a private database on your desktop, as opposed to Duotrope or Writer’s Database, which are online.
• SFWA member, Bud Spearhawk, has written an article which is stuffed with old-school and new-school suggestions for how to track your submissions. If the internet isn’t your thing, or you’d rather use another method, check out his wise ideas.
• Open Source writer Dmitri Popov, has published a clear, concise guide to creating your own custom database (PDF) for submission tracking using OpenOffice.org Base, handy to know if you’d like to track particular sub quirks.

Tags: 5 resources, submission tracking
Posted in Information Center, SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »

Quick Updates for 2010-08-04

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

• Real nanotech. Real medicine. And zombies. SFWA member Edward M. Lerner's latest thriller is now out in paperback. http://tiny.cc/hrtum #
• Congratulations to SFWA member @bbeaulieu who has a 3 book deal for his debut novel THE WINDS OF KHALAKOVO http://is.gd/e0Pwo #
• SFWA member @BlakeCharlton is reading at Borders in NYC Sat. 4 PM http://bit.ly/aipKAp #

Tags: twitter
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Real nanotech. Real medicine. And zombies

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Edward M. Lerner is pleased to announce the mass-market re-release of his 2009 medical-nanotech thriller, Small Miracles.

When the gas pipeline exploded, it took a small miracle – or rather a myriad of them – to save Brent Cleary’s life.  Only now the small miracles have a mind of their own.  And an agenda.
“A very powerful argument for deliberation with experimental techniques as well as a suspenseful story—a modern day Frankenstein with the potential for global tragedy.”
— Critical Mass

“Held my attention all the way through, and kept me awake way past my bedtime as the tensions mounted … This book was smart, engaging, and tight, with all the little pieces fitting together in the long run. Highly recommended.”
—  Intergalactic Medicine Show

“Buy this book quick.  It’ll be obsolete, or will have come true, in 2016.”
—   Larry Niven, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Ringworld

“ ‘Miracle: an event or act that breaks a law of nature — especially one attributed to a deity.’ Well the miracles in Edward M. Lerner’s new book may be small ones but they fit the definition in that they definitely aren’t natural — which could be a problem. When God makes a miracle it is a wonder; but a man-made miracle can as easily be a blunder. We are only human after all …”
—  Brian Lumley, Grand Master of horror and author of Necroscope

SMALL MIRACLES
Edward M. Lerner
Tor Books
ISBN 0765360705

Edward M. Lerner is a member of SFWA.

Edward M. Lerner’s website: http://www.sfwa.org/members/lerner/

Edward M. Lerner’s blog: SF and Nonsense

Posted in Press Book | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-08-03

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

• SFWA member @MaryRobinette releases the book trailer for her debut novel SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY. http://3.ly/shadesmh #
• SFWA member @JeannieHolmes will do an interview with WKRG (Channel 5) in Mobile on 8/12 during their Mark Your Calendar segment at 8:30am. #
• A video interview with SFWA member @LAGilman over at @tordotcom http://bit.ly/dtNHRA #
• In search of @sfwa members who've raised kids while writing, for an article. Email webeditor@sfwa dot org if interested. #

Tags: twitter
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Renovation Increases Attending Membership Rates

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 26, 2010

Reno – On October 1, 2010, the following membership rate changes for Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, will go into effect:

Full adult attending membership rates will increase from $160 to $180.
Converting a supporting membership to an attending membership will be $130.
Family rates will be $460.
Friend of the Reno Bid Conversion from supporting to attending will be $90.

As part of the convention’s policy to encourage families and children to attend Renovation, the following attending membership rates for children (0-16 years old) and young adults (17-21) will remain unchanged:

Children (0-16 years old) at $75
Young adults (17-21 years old) at $100

These rates are based on the person’s age as of August 17, 2011.

The rate for a supporting membership will stay unchanged at $50. All of the rates listed above will be valid through to 28 February, 2011.

Existing membership status can be determined online (unless the member has requested that his or her name be withheld from public listing) at http://www.renovationsf.org/memlist.php.

Renovation memberships are available for immediate purchase at various conventions, at www.renovationsf.org and by postal mail. Memberships can also be purchased by installment plan, allowing costs to be spread over the next year while still locking in the lowest membership rate.

Full information on all registration, payment options and the current rates, which are good through September 30, 2010, are available at http://www.renovationsf.org/memberships.php.
ENDS

For more details on the convention, visit www.renovationsf.org. We encourage your input to help us create a memorable Worldcon.

Direct press questions, or requests to be removed from the Renovation press release mailing list to press@renovationsf.org. Direct general queries to info@renovationsf.org.

“World Science Fiction Society”, “WSFS”, “World Science Fiction Convention”, “Worldcon”, “NASFiC”, “Hugo Award”, and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

Renovation
The 69th World Science Fiction Convention
RCFI
PO Box 13278
Portland, OR 97213-0278

press@renovationsf.org
www.renovationsf.org

Posted in SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2010-08-01

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Member News

• Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Jerry Gordon. Read his qualifying story.

Resources

• SFWA member Jim C. Hines has a good post on how he sold his first novel, GOBLINQUEST.

Tags: Jerry Gordon, Jim C. Hines, twitter
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