…and why not competition costumes? (First, this is a costumer and convention Thing. Wander off, if this bores you. Costume geeks won’t mind.) My work quality is good enough to at least enter SFF convention costume contests. I’ve entered, and won or at least placed in mainstream fiber arts competitions. But I dislike the structure,…
Read More Why Hall Costumes?Hi, everyone. Blue Night is back online after 1) a bit of scheduled maintenance Saturday night led to 2) a Jet-Pack update that went horribly awry. Oops. Since Sunday morning, I have learned the following: John Stewart is breaking my heart, Brian Williams is breaking my heart, the 24-hour news cycle needs to take a…
Read More We’re baaaack!Go here and laugh: https://twitter.com/levostregc
Also, weep, smile foolishly, and hold your heads up high, all you students of the humanities. We may be out of fashion, but we’re not extinct yet.
(Go here, even only to see the glory of a Rickroll or American Pie rendered in 13th C English. Things of beauty.) ∞
For authors unfamiliar with show business, few words will evoke the sheer magic of ‘They’ve optioned my book!’ That means someone has paid an author a certain amount of money to allow least the possibility (the ‘option’) of making that story into a movie, television drama, series, webcast, etc. Hold on there, pilgrim. You’re not…
Read More Option daydreams and nightmaresI’m an unrepentant chocoholic. When everything goes downhill and we’re living in a post-apocalyptic, climate-ravaged wasteland, I might actually miss chocolate more than hot water. Just sayin’. So I’m very disappointed in the Hershey Company, for deciding to use legal threats to keep the British version of Cadbury’s chocolate out of the US. They cite…
Read More Boo Hiss, HersheyBlurb: Five thousand years ago, the Atreianii transcended humankind, reducing men and women to slaves and pets. These post-human demigods reigned for centuries across their world and throughout the solar system, and for a time they created their paradise. Yet it could not last; they warred amongst themselves, reduced the globe to dust and ash,…
Read More A Requiem Dawn, by J.L ForrestI am thrilled to see that the moderators of Marketing For Romance Writers (MFRW), one of the biggest genre marketing support groups online, have made the following announcement: “Calls for submission may be submitted only by publishers who DO NOT charge fees for services such as editing, cover art, printing, and etc. A publisher must…
Read More Responsibility in marketingWriters: treat writing contests the same way you’d treat new agents, publishers, or marketing/publicity firms. With caution. C’mon, you know the drill: trust, but verify. Often, verify before you even trust.
Some writing contests are reputable, honest, and offer great prizes and viable publicity for winners and finalists. Even entry-fee contests for various writing genres can be worthwhile, if they offer an industry-respected status, and the entry fees are reasonable and used toward covering the administration of the contest.
Some ‘contests’ are merely fishing expeditions set up by uninformed or possibly predatory publishers, to build a source of fast capital from entry fees and/or get the names of authors who might become clients.
It’s up to you to research your venues *before* you apply to them. Publishing is a party, and you don’t have to dance with everyone who asks! Ditch the beer goggles and the ‘They like me!’ squee, and focus on who’s asking, and what they can offer. ∞
The last of our Paths to Publishing post is up at the Snarkology blog, where you can join Rachel Leigh Smith for another inspirational story about persistence and broadened horizons. Rachel read voraciously as a homeschooled child and teenager, putting her love of words to work in an intricate shared-world saga with a best…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Rachel Leigh SmithA very long time ago when I was in the Society for Creative Anachronism, I knew embroiderers who were so skilled the backs of their pieces were as flawless as the fronts. Same with the work from the masters of the Royal School of Needlework, to which I could never aspire to at my best.…
Read More Accidental artJax Daniels started publishing because of winning a writing contest with a small-press publisher. Ah, but there’s a lot more to that story. Head off to the Snarkology blog for the rest! Jax says of her journey: “What to take from this? Firstly, don’t give up. If you love writing, if you just have something…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Jax DanielsInterested in paranormal romance and persistence-pays stories? Visit the Snarkology blog for an interview with Maureen L. Bonatch. Her path to publishing began in childhood, with a private, ongoing tale about a girl who could talk to animals. After submitting the story as part of a junior-high assignment, Maureen was crushed to get it back…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Maureen L. BonatchToday on the Snarkology blog, Barbara Meyers says: “I don’t suppose many authors begin their writing careers by throwing another author’s book across the room and declaring, ‘I can write better than that,’ but that’s how I started.* It was a long time ago but I was that disgusted with a poorly written romance novel…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Barbara MeyersThe Snarkology’s own Melissa Snark talks candidly about her decision to finance her self-published audiobook A Cat’s Tale, once she had the rights back from the previous e-publisher. Audiobooks are a fast-growing but still far less saturated market for romance subgenres…worth any author’s serious consideration. Melissa paid upfront for some serious narrative and sound-editing talent,…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Melissa Snark<Takes a deep breath.> I need a word to describe the feeling I got when someone I only vaguely know (from a large genre marketing site, where we exchange no more than pleasantries) announced proudly they’ve just had their first book published, and I was really happy for them, until I looked up the book…
Read More I need a word, pleaseMartha O’Sullivan’s love affair with romance began when she was a child, finishing library books’ unsatisfactory endings in her head. A teenage trip to Lake Tahoe, a solid grounding in technical writing and journalism, and seven years of solitary effort led her to write her first book and the sequels continuing it. All before publication…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Martha O’SullivanI tend not to read much commercial mainstream fiction, for many reasons. I certainly avoid it if the Hype Machine insists I read it. So I was unfamiliar with ‘The Rosie Project’ until this morning. I can’t give a full review of a story unless I read all of it, and I managed only a…
Read More The Rosie Project: failHappy Friday! Join Dixie Hart on the Snarkology blog, for a candid and inspirational tale of wanderlust, travel, exotic locales, and fearless risk-taking – all of which Dixie distills into a second career in self-published non-fiction and romance. I won’t give the whole story away, but you should listen to Dixie: “…Sometimes the willingness to risk…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Dixie HartC’mon over on the Snarkology blog, and visit with Racheline Maltese. When she and her co-author Erin McRae jumped into the LGBTQ+ Romance niche market, they already had publishing experience in poetry and short SFF fiction, as well as long- and short-form nonfiction. Their path to publication had some hitches: unlearning some ‘stuffy’ professional habits…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Racheline MalteseThe Snarkology blog catches up to author Sydney St. Claire today, as she shares her by-the-bootstraps journey to publication, and the changes she’s noticed in the publishing industry since the pre-Internet days. Her writing career started when she wrote a single compelling scene in a genre she loved to read – Native American romance – and made…
Read More Paths to Publishing – Sydney St. Claire