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Solicitation Alert: Blessed Hope Publishing
Recently I received a question about an apparently new Christian publisher, Blessed Hope Publishing. The writer who contacted me was suspicious because Blessed Hope had not only solicited his manuscript, but had accepted it within a matter of days.
Guest Post: The Importance of Pie: Cooking the Books with James D. Macdonald
A short story is like a pie because, first, you can do one relatively quickly. Second, everyone likes pie.
Third, with both short stories and pie, you can use the finest ingredients in the world and still come up with an…
A Partridge in a Penguin Tree
India is a vast book market, and print is still king. So it only makes sense that Penguin (whose parent company, Pearson, acquired self-publishing giant Author Solutions Inc. last year) has just announced the expansion of ASI into India via…
Five Tips to Improve Your Amazon Author Central Page
If you’re selling books on Amazon, you’ll want to set up your page in their Author Central program. Use your Author Central page to provide more information for your readers: upcoming events, a full listing of your books, pictures and…
The Benefits of Copyright Registration
Writers are sometimes confused by the “registration” requirement under the US copyright laws. In this post, I hope to clear up the concept and help you decide whether copyright registration makes sense for you.
Orphan Works: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Weighs In
The issue of orphan works–out of print, still-in-copyright books, films, photographs, etc. whose rightsholders can’t be found–is one that has been much in the news over the past few years.
Concern over a potential monopoly on orphan works was a…
An Introduction to Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction,
Part 2: Content
In Part 1: Definitions, the members of SFWA’s experimental MG and YA group asked industry professionals to help define the middle grade (MG) and young adult (YA) book categories. Today we’ve asked those same professionals to tackle the controversial issue…
Christian Writers Guild Publishing: Pay to Play from Jerry B. Jenkins
Earlier this week, a press release caught my eye: Bestselling Author Jerry Jenkins Announces Innovative Publishing Firm. Since “innovative” in publishing press release-speak often means “charges a whopping fee”, I decided to investigate.
An Introduction to Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, Part 1: Definitions
For writers who are interested in writing middle grade or young adult fantasy or science fiction, the first step is puzzling out what exactly those categories mean. Science fiction and fantasy, after all, has a long tradition of featuring young…
Guest Post: Scientific Accuracy in Literature:
The WAS Seal of Approval doesn’t get Mine
According to newflashes popping up around the web, the Washington Academy of Sciences has created a seal of approval for the scientific accuracy of novels.
Lifeboat To The Stars Award
The Lifeboat Foundation will present the “Lifeboat to the Stars” award along with $1,000 to the winner at the 2013 Campbell Conference.
Legal Tidbits
In 2008, following a bitter divorce, Iowan Scott Weier paid one of the Author Solutions Inc. imprints to publish his memoir, Mind, Body, and Soul. Subsequently, Weier’s ex-wife filed suit against Weier and ASI for libel, citing allegations in…
MFA Programs and You
MFA Programs and the efficacy or use thereof tend to come up in discussion periodically. For those of you interested, here is a run down of the types of programs and what to expect. I personally have an…
An Interview with Jennifer Brozek
Award-winning author and editor Jennifer Brozek has edited over ten anthologies (with more on the way in 2013). The creative director of Apocalypse Ink Productions, she also has won both the Origins and the ENnie awards for her work writing…
Baltimore Science Fiction Society Writing Workshop
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society, a 501(c)(3) located at 3310 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, is proud to announce more writing workshops for 2013 run by professional writers.
Venerable Vanity Publisher Vantage Press Closes Its Doors
You may have heard that Vantage Press, one of the USA’s oldest vanity publishers, closed its doors at the end of 2012.
Alert: UK Speaker Scam Targets Writers (and Others)
John Scalzi reported on this scam earlier this week, and his post was widely disseminated on Twitter–but since not everyone reads the same blogs, and the scam is a recurring one that isn’t limited to science fiction and fantasy writers,…
Guest Post: The difference between audience and market
You might have heard the advice, “Don’t chase the market.” That’s good advice, as a general idea, but many people misunderstand it and think that it means that you should not write for a specific audience. Here’s the thing… Your…
Global Talk Radio: How to Waste Money and Fail to Influence People
You’d think that dodgy publishers, publicists, and others would know better than to spam Writer Beware. But no. Disproving the frequent spammer claim that their email lists are carefully targeted, I get quite a substantial number of advertisements, press releases,…
Guest Post: Invisible Ink
When people speak of works that “have withstood the test of time” it’s worthwhile asking “Withstood for what?” and “Withstood for whom?” For instance, The Malleus Maleficarum is indeed an immortal work, but it’s not remembered for the reasons its…
2012: Year in Review
As we begin the new year (Writer Beware’s fifteenth–good heavens!), here’s a look back at some of Writer Beware’s most notable posts and warnings from 2012.
Baltimore Science Fiction Society Invites You to A Party!
On Saturday, January 12th, 2013 at 8PM, the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS), located at 3310 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224, will have a free, public party to celebrate 50 years of promoting science, science fiction and fantasy throughout…
Guest Post: Don’t Watch Your Work
I’ve just finished a story, and somewhere in the primitive part of my brain, I’m determined to milk it for all it’s worth.
Foxhole Pizza and Interstellar Quail: Cooking the Books with Joe and Gay Haldeman
In The Forever War, I had fun writing about cooking under primitive conditions. It’s easy to write about because you don’t have to explain things so much. People understand cooking over a fire. When you start to…