Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

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Archive for November, 2010

Swinging the Other Way: Vanity Publisher Goes Non-Vanity

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

As I've discussed before on this blog, one of the many changes currently rocking the publishing industry is a general blurring of lines, a mixing and melding of formerly sharply separate categories and functions.

Literary agents, squeezed by a tough publishing market and a growing number of competitors (thanks to the epidemic of mergers and layoffs that has caused large numbers of former publishing house staffers to transition into agenting), are branching out into other fields--consulting, editing, even publishing.

Trade publishers, looking for ways to raise more income to support their core publishing functions, are establishing pay-to-publish divisions: Thomas Nelson with West Bow Press, Harlequin with DellArte Press (nee Harlequin Horizons), Hay House with Balboa Press. (Specialist publisher Osprey Publishing also announced plans to offer pay-to-publish options through AuthorHouse UK--but a search of both Osprey's and AuthorHouses sites turns up no mention of these options, so I wonder if they've been discontinued.)

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Quick Updates for 2010-11-09

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

  • SFWA member @mattkressel reports that the KGB Raffle was a success. Thanks for your generous support! http://bit.ly/cyed7I #
  • Congratulation to SFWA member @seananmcguire, whose novel FEED is one of PW's Best Books of 2010! #
  • SFWA member Chris McKitterick (@mckitterick) had a blast at launch of his debut novel TRANSCENDENCE: http://is.gd/gQxT9 #
  • SFWA member @jimchines has put together a resource on reporting sexual harassment in SF/F to publishers. http://is.gd/gQIbH #

Open Competition: Design the 2011 Hugo Award Base

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Renovation Logo

Renovation is delighted to announce an open competition for the design of the 2011 Hugo Award base. The Convention is soliciting artists and designers from around the world to come up with a base that is worthy of the Hugo Award and which reflects the convention’s theme of the New Frontiers and/or the region of Reno, Nevada and the North-Western United States.

The winning designer will have the opportunity to introduce their base design as part of the Hugo Ceremony itself and the base will also enter the archive of Hugo base designs, including the Hugo History exhibit which travels to each Worldcon. In addition, the winner will receive a full 5-day attending membership of Renovation along with $250 towards the cost of attending the convention.

Entrants are asked to submit initial drawings/renderings of their design by January 1, 2011. Entrants also need to be able to arrange for up to 30 bases to be manufactured if their design is successful, with a target price of no more than $150 per individual base. The winning design will be selected no later than February 28, 2011.

Full terms and conditions for the competition can be found on Renovation’s website.

Quick Updates for 2010-11-08

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Odyssey Writing Workshop: Online Classes Announced

Sunday, November 7th, 2010

Odyssey Logo

The Odyssey Writing Workshop, one of the most respected programs for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, is offering three online writing classes this winter.  Each class is focused on a particular element of fiction writing and is designed for writers at a particular skill level, from beginners to professional writers.

For sixteen years, Odyssey has pursued its mission to help developing writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror improve their work by holding its annual six-week, in-person workshop in Manchester, New Hampshire.  But last year, using the latest technology, Odyssey expanded its mission, taking the teaching techniques that are so effective at the workshop and adapting them to create online classes.  Odyssey Director Jeanne Cavelos explains, “We have worked very hard to ensure that our online classes are of the same quality and caliber as our in-person workshop and that they deserve to carry the name of Odyssey.”  Courses provide a supportive yet challenging, energizing atmosphere, with a class size limited to fourteen students.  While courses are designed for adult writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, interested writers of other genres are welcome to apply.
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Getting Published is Not a Crap Shoot

Sunday, November 7th, 2010

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Many of the writers who contact me with Writer Beware-type questions seem to be convinced that the process of getting published is equivalent to a crap shoot. There are enormous numbers of people trying to sell a book, and very few publishing slots to go around. What slots there are go mostly to insiders and celebrities, rather than new writers. Agents and editors are so [pick one] busy/arrogant/sadistic that they're as likely to toss your query as to read it. All in all, you’ve got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than you do of getting published.

This kind of thinking makes me crazy. I'm not saying there isn't some truth in it--there are thousands of manuscripts in circulation at any given time. The number that find publication is very small. Agents and editors are overworked. But the assumptions that accompany these nuggets of truth are incorrect--and so are the conclusions drawn from them.

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Quick Updates for 2010-11-05

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Quick Updates -- istock

Member News

  • To let folks know: SFWA member Andrew Burt is conducting an Ebook reader survey – here.
  • Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active member Trent Hergenrader with 3 short story sales.
  • Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active member Lauren Beukes author of Moxyland & Zoo City.
  • SFWA member Juliette Wade‘s novelette “At Cross Purposes” leads the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Analog, with cover art by Bob Eggleton.
  • Congratulations! SFWA member Felix Gilman‘s THE HALF-MADE WORLD is #4 on Amazon’s Best SF/F books of 2010!
  • Congratulations! SFWA member N.K. Jemisin‘s THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS is #5 on Amazon’s Best SF/F books of 2010!
  • Congratulations! SFWA member Nnedi Okorafor‘s WHO FEARS DEATH is #8 on Amazon’s Best SF/F books of 2010!
  • SFWA member Genevieve Valentine‘s Tresaultiverse story “Bread and Circuses” is out now in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  • Congratulations to SFWA member Yasmine Galenorn whose Harvest Hunting hit #23 on the NYT list!
  • Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active members Kevin and Karen Evans with 6 short stories to Grantsville Gazette.
  • SFWA member Catherynne Valente has answered reader questions about Palimpsest on io9.

Quick Updates for 2010-11-04

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

The Peter Lampack Agency Loses Suit Against Former Client

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Publishers Weekly reports that a New York Supreme Court judge has dismissed most claims in The Peter Lampack Agency's suit against a former client, best selling mystery author Martha Grimes.

At the heart of the suit is the question of what commission rights an agency retains after a client leaves. Most author-agent agreements include language ensuring that the agency will continue to receive commissions on any contracts it brokers, for as long as those contracts are in force--even if the client leaves the agency before the contracts terminate--and on any sales resulting from its efforts prior to the client's departure, even if those sales post-date that departure. (So, for instance, if the agency pitches the client's manuscript to a publisher, and the publisher makes an offer after the client has left the agency, the agency is entitled to commissions if the client accepts the offer.)

So far, so standard. But some agencies go farther, claiming the right to commissions on any sale deriving from the original sale, whether or not the agency is responsible for the sale--for example, if the publisher retains and licenses book club rights or foreign rights. The agency may also claim commission rights on the sale of successor works--sequels, spinoffs, and the like. And some agencies claim perpetual representation rights--and therefore commissions--on any works they sell for the first time. This kind of provision, known as an interminable agency clause, in effect makes the agency the work's representative for the duration of copyright, and is strongly advised against by authors' groups.

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Quick Updates for 2010-11-03

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010