Once I separated out the Big Five from all of the other traditional publishers in the U.S., I came to a happy realization. There are a lot of good publishers doing the kind of work we readers want publishers to do—curating books with a voice and an attitude, so that we know what to expect from the company, marketing those books to the best of their ability, and making the books available in all formats.
Business Musings: Types of Brands (Branding/Discoverability)
I’ve been talking to myself lately. Actually, I’ve been talking back to podcasts, vlogs, and emails. Ever since I said I would be doing a series on branding, I’ve gotten links to great branding tips. (Please, keep them coming.) Every single link I received that dealt with branding from a writer’s perspective talked about cover branding. Lots of great information in each and every one […]
Business Musings: The First (?) 2017 Process Blog
I was staring down the barrel of 2017, trying to figure out my writing projects. And I realized on Tuesday that the reason I couldn’t just dive in on Monday was because I hadn’t…oh, crap…defined myself.
I had defined myself in general. That’s easy. I’m a writer first, and to me, that means all the writerly things I do and have done from the old Star Wars book to new fiction I’m writing (from the romance short to the Diving universe to the historical mystery I just finished for the next Lawrence Block antho) to this blog and all the nonfiction.
But I somehow did not handle the specifics of being a writer very well in 2016.
Business Musings: Idle Thoughts
Late Saturday night, I finished teaching a writing workshop about history, alternate history, and time travel for professional writers. We read a bunch of books, worked on technique, and talked about turning points in history. Turning points are important for time travel and alternate history. Identifying turning points and then postulating what would happen if something went differently is an essential skill for the time […]
A Great Review For Women of Futures Past
Great news! Publishers Weekly, the trade journal of the publishing industry, has given Women of Futures Past a starred boxed review. That’s the highest honor the magazine gives. It’ll also encourage libraries and bookstores to order the book. The magazine says, “…the tales themselves are the true stars: smart, beautiful, gracefully aged, and still challenging, each builds on the others in the collection.” It also […]
Slacker Woman’s News Post
Okay, I’m not completely a slacker. But I’ve been slow in updating you on all that’s been going on. That’s partly because I’ve been writing a Diving Universe novel that kicked my butt all winter. I finished draft one yesterday. Yes, I said Diving Universe. I started out writing a novella to explain something to myself, and ended up with at least 100,000 words. (That’s […]
Business Musings: Serious Writer Voice
A lot of the stories I read this past year had wonderful plots. They had great characters and lovely twists. The stories were published, remember, and so they all had something unusual, something strong.
But that something generally wasn’t voice….
Business Musings: Poor Poor Pitiful Me Is Not A Business Model
This poor-poor-pitiful-me attitude has become the norm in the publishing industry right now, and I’m really tired of it.
Business Musings: Fried Cheese
That’s how I described my brain today to a few folks. Fried cheese. Not Swiss cheese, which would imply that there’s space for air to go through. Fried cheese, all melted together—crusty on the outside and unrecognizable goo on the inside.
Women in Science Fiction Bundle
If you’ve come to my website the past few days, you might have seen the bundle on the slider at the top. The Women in Science Fiction Storybundle started last week. I’m the one who curated (read: assembled) the bundle. I suggested it to Storybundle’s Jason Chen as I was putting together a proposal for the women in sf book that I’m doing for Baen. […]
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