Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Asimov's Science Fiction print magazine is now accepted submissions via an "online submission system"; seeks science fiction "character oriented stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader’s interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases, but there’s always room for the humorous as well. Borderline fantasy is fine, but no Sword & Sorcery, please. Neither are we interested in explicit sex or violence. A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe." Length and Payment: fiction - <7½k=6¢/word; 7½k-12½k=$450, seldom buys longer than 20K; >12½k=5¢/word; poetry - $1/line 40 lines or less. No reprints, see submission guidelines for more details.

The 15th ChiZine Short Story Contest is now open for entries of "dark, well-written stories" Length 4K or less, prizes: "1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes: Publication in ChiZine: Treatments of Light and Shade in Words at seven (7) cents per word (USD). There will also be five honourable mentions." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see contest guidelines page for more details. Deadline June 30, 2010.

Comet Press has an open call for submissions for their extreme zombie anthology Deadcore: "We are looking for hardcore, gruesome, twisted, zombie stories." Length: 15-30K, Payment: 1/2 cent per word, $150 max, plus three contributor copies, no reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline July 1, 2010 or when filled.

UK science fiction audio magazine Cossmass Infinities is look for "short stories, ideally, between 4000 -- 8000 words. Stories should be either Science Fiction or Fantasy, or even a blend of both. Try to avoid mediaeval-fantasy though. We pay £20 a story, upon acceptance, for non-exclusive audio rights. Previously published stories are welcome. You do not need to have been published elsewhere. Payment is through Paypal." Submission by online electronic form only, see guidelines for more details.

Kitsune Books is "a traditional small-press literary publisher and offer standard publishing contracts to authors on whose works we are willing to take a chance." Looking for literary fiction, memoir, poetry and more. Length: fiction/nonfiction 70-95K, poems 100+ pages. Payment: varying advance, 10% royalty on net. No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Library of Horror has an open call for their Malicious Deviance anthology, and seeks "well written speculative fiction with a heavy horror element focusing on bad protagonists from all walks of humanity. Everyone has the capacity for evil. Some people are born with it while others acquire evil through life's experiences or bad influence. Whatever the reason, I am seeking out stories of bad people doing bad things, meeting bad ends, or even reigning victorious in the end (though I will give preference to the bad guy getting it in the end. I'm not looking to completely glorify evil.) This does go against the lexicon of Good vs. Evil, but I don't give a shit. We're breaking the rules here. Bad people have stories that need to be told, and it's about time they're published in an anthology. The stories must have a strong horror element, but feel free to cross your genres. I would like to see a good mix of styles and genres as long as horror is at the root of your story. Any time frame is welcome. You can use whatever POV you like, though 2nd and 1st person are a hard sell. Be creative. Serial Killers, vampires, zombies, werewolves and other such well-worn themes must be absolutely fantastic and mind blowing; even then they're a hard sell. I'm looking for all kinds of bad people, not just the ones we are used to reading as antagonists. Remember, anyone can be evil... Anyone." Length: 3-9K, Payment: "1 cent per word plus one contributor copy", reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Now open to novel submissions in multiple genres including romance fantasy, mystery, SF, and more, Canadian e-publisher MuseItUp welcomes "new and seasoned writers to send us their manuscripts. Although a submission doesn't guarantee an acceptance, we will offer comments with tips on how to improve your manuscript and invite you to resubmit. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted provided it is clearly stated in your cover letter that another publisher is considering your work. Our authors do not pay a fee to e-publish their books with us. We provide editing and cover art for all our books, and assign the ISBN number to your work." Length 3K - novel length, Payment: no advance, unspecified royalties, query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Annual print mag Science Fiction Trails is open for a brief time to submissions for "stories with science fiction content that are set in the Wild West era. Stories must take place on earth during the time period 1850-1900 AD. All stories should have a strong connection to the western region of the United States [this can include western Canada or northern Mexico]. We very much appreciate historical accuracy." Length: 1-7K, Payment: $10 + contributor copy, reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Steward House Book Publishing is "open to a variety of genres, both fiction and non-fiction, if the writing shows skill and care with words. At this time we are not accepting book proposals: only finished manuscripts will be considered for publication. We are not interested in and will reject outright any submissions of an autobiographical or poetic nature." Length: 15-150K, Payment: varying advance/royalty based on author/content, query on reprints, prefers electronic submissions, see guidelines for more details.

Australian publisher Ticonderoga Publications has an open call for their More Scary Kisses anthology, and seeks "your best stories in the paranormal romance vein. We are looking for submissions with romantic and paranormal or speculative elements. These can be humorous, scary, sexy or thought-provoking, but the primary focus should be romance." Length: 1-8.5K, Payment: "2 copies and Aus 2 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $100) on publication", no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

All of the above sub ops were found among the many marvelous market listings at Ralan.com.

Dream Retreats

Summer is just around the corner. In a couple of weeks the kids will be out of school, the days will stretch out long and lazy and I'll be shamelessly wallowing in picnics, beach days and cookouts -- which I need after this past seemingly endless winter.

For all those reasons summer is my favorite time of year, but especially because it's my season to read. No school = more spare time for me = extra hours to read. I can go to the bookstore or the library and not rush to make my selections. I can curl up with a novel and stay curled up. I never have a summer TBR; I constantly demolish it. I'm also in more of a mood to try new-to-me authors and genres I don't read that often.

When and where we read often has a direct effect on how much we enjoy reading. Certainly I'd rather be on a beach watching the waves roll in than sitting in a doctor's waiting room or being twisted into a pretzel by my physical therapist. Most of my time is spent at home, however, so I have reading nooks all around the house. My bathtub (I love to read when I'm soaking), the comfy but not-too-comfy sofa in my office, and a folding chair in the garage are popular reading spots.

My latest and favorite reading retreat is this corner of my back porch. Every morning and afternoon the pup and I are out here hanging out, watching the birds, enjoying the breeze and soaking up the peace and quiet. Since my guy screened in the porch we can be out here whenever we like and not have to worry about bugs and critters interrupting. All I need is to come out here with a cup of tea and my latest read (today it's Chimera by Rob Thurman) and I instantly relax. It's such a great retreat that I often do my editing out here, too.

I'd love to send you all a personal reading retreat, but the shipping would be outrageous (never mind trying to find a box big enough to fit it in.) However, I can send you something to kick off the summer reading season and enjoy: a fully-stocked retreat bag. If you'd like a chance to win this, in comments to this post tell us about your favorite spot to read (or if you're not that picky, just toss your name in the hat by midnight EST on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner my dream retreat bag stocked with:

--Unsigned hardcover copies of A Secret Affair by Mary Balogh, The Endless Forest by Sara Donati and Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

--Unsigned trade paperback copies of The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark and Broken by Shiloh Walker

--Unsigned paperback copies of Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs, The Hellhound King by Lori Devoti, Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione, The Fire King by Marjorie M. Liu, Scarlet by Jordan Summers, Chimera and Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman and Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler

--Signed paperback copies of Shadowlight and Dreamveil by yours truly

--Melissa Etheridge's new album on CD Fearless Love

--A cool blank journal to write in

--The Nature poet magnetic poetry kit to play with

As always, this giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Hate, Write, Love

While we were at the mall last night, I went to visit my new book, which is out on the shelves a week early. Half the copies the store ordered were already gone; something I consider a good omen. Love seeing my latest book in the stores for the first time; it's always a thrill.

This week I'm finishing up Kyndred #4, Nightshine, in between running here and there for graduation stuff. I just realized this will be the fourth book I've written this year and I think my batteries need a serious recharge. Aside from the manuscript I have two more awards ceremonies and finals week to get through and I'm scared I'll forget something so I've got alarm reminders set for every morning. My old stove finally died and I'm gradually learning how the new one cooks. Jak has a nasty respiratory infection but he won't take the medicine to clear it up. Or, rather, he takes it and then returns it almost immediately, usually on a carpeted area. I need a haircut (badly.) Last night at 2 a.m. I tried to do my nails for the first time in years, and this morning it shows. I hate being behind on everything, so I write a little more each day to channel my frustration.

When I saw my dad a couple of weeks ago (Dreamveil is dedicated to him) I gave him a copy, but I had to read the dedication to him. Because he's dyslexic he's never been a great reader, but his Alzheimer's has stolen what little he could manage from him. Still, the week before that he answered the phone and didn't know who I was, so I considered it an excellent moment. Love my dad.

This weekend I have to buy a decent outfit to wear to my kid's graduation as they frown on parents in jeans and T-shirts. All I have in the closet now are jeans and T-shirts. I hate shopping so much I seriously considered borrowing a dress from a more fashionable friend. Since sneakers and flip flops aren't exactly dress-friendly I'd still have to buy new shoes. I need a personal shopper. I need a wife. Note to self: add pantyhose to the list. I'm going to write a sonnet tonight about how much I really hate pantyhose.

I have almost everything I need for my next giveaway, and last night I found a great tote to put it all in for 50% off. It looks beachy but it's not beach-only, so the winner should get plenty of use out of it and yes, I worry about such things. Found a fun, well-written YA duology I want to tell everyone about and I have to write up that post, too -- but I have to finish reading the second book first. Book will have to go in the purse and run around with me while I finish up the giveaway stuff. And then there's the other big release-week surprise I have for everyone. I love surprises.

Proposals for the next contract pitch are next on the schedule. My series plan for the Kyndred novels is open-ended, which helps, but I don't have a feel yet for how this series is going to perform. Everyone is on book two, I'm on book four, and anything can happen. So I walk around all day wondering if I should pitch two more books, one book and one with something new, or other? Or do I wait for them to tell me what they want, which is what usually happens at the very last minute and and means more plan changing, which I hate. One way to cover all bases would be to put together at least three different sets of proposals. I don't mind writing them, and that way I'll be prepared.

I have an entire year to write the next book under another contract, so for the first time in ten years I think I'm going to take the entire year to write it -- with a quota of 232 words per day. I probably write more than that for a PBW blog post; it'll be like a writing vacation. I love giving myself more time to play with story.

My back hurts. Some kids toilet-papered one of our trees out front (one of the joys of graduation week, I assume) and I spend half an hour each day picking up the pieces that fall onto the grass. There's still toilet paper in the top of the tree, which I can't reach, and I can't climb the tree, which is driving me nuts. This is the busiest time of year for my guy at work, so he hasn't dealt with it yet. But I can't let it blow all over the neighborhood, so I'm out there every day picking up the pieces. Who invented this prank? I'd really like to know so I can give them a good talking-to. And then I think, Lord, I'm turning into that grouchy old lady I swore I'd never be, and hate myself for behaving like one. Maybe I'll kill off my grumpy self in the next book -- or toilet paper some teenager's trees.

In another month it will summer, my favorite time of year. The economy seems to be recovering a little, and things are gradually getting better for my family and friends. Writer friends are starting to sell again in promising new markets. The next generation of writers are among the most talented I've seen in years; going to the bookstore is a pleasure. I have the best job in the world, and I still remember to be grateful for it every day I sit down at this computer. And when I do, and when I write, the things I complain about fade away, and all I'm left with is the joy.

I am reasonably healthy, gainfully employed, and definitely blessed. I am a writer. What's not to love?

Sneak Peek

Cover art for the German language editions of Private Demon (to be released in July '10)and Dark Need (to be released in February '11) -- click to see larger version:



They're carrying on the theme they began with the If Angels Burn/Versuchung des Zwielichts, which is gorgeous. I couldn't be happier.

Eureka!

I know, you're probably tired of hearing about my latest bird drama, but this is kind of cool.

First, some backstory: my guy watches television when he can't sleep, but when he falls asleep before shutting off the TV I usually wake up to the sound of infomercials at 3 am. Which annoys me to no end, but it's one of those compromise things you do in a relationship (in return, he never makes a peep about me leaving books I'm reading on virtually every flat surface in the house.)

Tonight I was trying to think of some way to save my sweet potato vine without disturbing Sweetie, and one of those obnoxiously advertised products popped in my head. I told my guy about the idea, and he thought it might work, so we drove over to the mall and picked up these from the As Seen on TV store:



First I think I'll test one on the other (unoccupied) sweet potato vine to see just how damp it makes the soil in the pot. Has anyone out there ever used these things, and if so how have they worked for you? Let me know in comments.

Sweet

I like surrounding myself with beautiful things. For me the top five on that list are family, quilts, art, books, and plants. Every spring I make extra time for gardening so I can insure I'll have lots of flowers and green thing to inspire and calm me for the rest of the year. It also adds a little joy to every day (whoever said you can't be unhappy in a garden was right on the money.)

We can't keep plants in the house because the pets won't leave them alone, but the back porch is fully stocked with containers now and we're planning a new rose garden around my much-loved miniature Japanese maple. I also put out my favorite hanging plants, sweet potato vines, on the front porch (I love how fast they grow and the way they spill over the pots like leafy waterfalls.)

I went out to water the front porch pots when I noticed a shadow among the leaves. At first I thought it was some dead leaves cluttering the middle, until I got closer and saw some very familiar spots:



Yep. Seems I'm not the only one who appreciates sweet potato vines.

For a couple of minutes I was pretty ticked off, seeing as we just hung these pots up only two weeks ago. Now I knew I'd have to stop watering it and let it die while Sweetie nests, and then wait a couple more weeks until the babies were ready to go before I took it down and replaced it with a new plant. This was going to totally ruin the look of my front porch.

Some people would chase off Sweetie, I know. And I was briefly tempted, because I didn't want her mate defending her and the nest by flying at the head of anyone who came to the front door (which we have learned the male doves will do because they're never far away during nesting.) I also knew it was my own fault for feeding them. If I didn't put out so much wild bird seed, the local avian population wouldn't spend so much time on my property or decide to nest in all these weird places.

It would be more logical just to stop feeding the birds. Eventually they'd get the message and then leave us alone. Life would be far less nerve-wracking.

Actually, life would also be kind of boring without our bird visitors. We wouldn't wake up to all this chattery birdsong in the morning. The pup and I would have no one to watch when we go out to sit on the porch. I'd never find another blue or red or gray feather in the grass, or see tiny baby birds cuddled together, or watch fledglings bravely take their first flights.

I do love my plants, but I have plenty on the porch and in the backyard. Until we moved to the country I'd never seen birds nest, or eggs hatch, or fledglings fly, not up close like this. Not on my front door step.

I like surrounding myself with beautiful things: Family, quilts, art, books and plants. These are all things I choose to have in my life. That Nature decided to surround me with nesting birds may be a little inconvenient, and spoil some of my plans, but they've become part of the beauty now, too. Then there's that look nesting Mama birds like Sweetie give me when they see me. They're wary of me, but there's also something else in their eyes. Maybe it's a smirk. Or maybe it's a little smile of thanks for the safe haven.



Oh, hell, I can always buy another damn plant.

Added: Sweetie wasn't sitting in the sweet potato vine this morning, and one of my friends said she might just be hiding out there, so I very carefully took down the pot to have a look. I was right, she's not just loitering.

Scene On-Call List

I've been trying a couple different things with writing the Kyndred books, and one of them is creating an on-call list of characters for each scene. This is like a crib sheet that breaks down every chapter by scene and POV, along with a list of the characters who should make an appearance (this doesn't always work out; while I'm writing I may add or subtract characters as needed.)

My on-call list looks something like this (note: POV characters' names are underlined):

Intro A: Palace War Room -- Soko imprisoned, accepts fate, kills ambassador, taken to goldworks [Tend, Scribe, Captain, guards, goldsmiths]

Intro B: Malibu Beach House -- Brent's confession to Randa, Emily gets out of bed, Nanny takes Emily upstairs, Randa argues with Brent about selling Emily/threatens to leave, Brent kills Randa [Randa, Brent, Emily, Nanny, hskpr?]

Chap 1A: Deployed Unit Doyle Drive SF -- Charlie and Vince finishing shift, receive 11-81, respond, find victims in road and CHP dead, Limo Guy shouts warning, Vince is shot, Sniper shows himself, jumps from bridge [Charlie, Vince, CHP, 3 GSW vics, Limo Driver, Limo Guy, Sniper/Jumper]

Using an on-call sheet like this is faster than reading the synopsis or even breaking up the synopsis into chapter or scene summaries (which is what I've always done in the past.) Each scene breakdown gives me a brief summary of where I am in the setting, what action needs to take place, and who is on stage or waiting in the wings. This also creates a great checklist for after I finish writing and go back to edit it (i.e. How far is Doyle from the bridge on the map to verify response time? Did I show all the vics? Where did I stage the jumper in relation to the fender bender to check line of fire?)

I've been preparing my on-call sheet for the entire novel in advance mainly so I can think about whose head I need to be in for what. Some scenes have to be told from the POV of a particular character to give them the maximum impact and effectiveness. Also, when you're writing in third person with multiple POVs, you can get caught up in one character's POV and forget that there are other characters who need to take the lead, and end up with eighteen chapters in one character's POV and two chapters in another.

For those who would like a blank worksheet to use for this approach, I've posted one over on Scribd.com here (I could only fit 2 scenes on the one page so you'll have to condense or print extra copies as needed.) Note 9/3/10: Since Scribd.com instituted an access fee scam to charge people for downloading e-books, including those I have provided for free for the last ten years, I have removed this document and temporarily transferred it to Google Docs here. See my post about this scam here.

Gen Ten

Ten Generators I Love From Chaotic Shiny.com

One thing you can learn while playing with The Civilization Generator is how to put together a synopsis of a fictional civilization and work from that as your foundation; this gen gives you a brief but very effective outline every time.

The Crowd Generator helps you generate 1-15 interesting individuals as characters.

Input text, choose a letter replacement option (or create your own custom alphabet switch) and get a new language from The Language Mixer.

The Medieval Game Generator offers such tantalizing archane fictional pasttimes as Books and Vipers, Rebels and Rubies and Quills and Moons (as well an option for some game requirement details if you don't want to make them up yourself.)

Defiance from Destiny ~ Perseverance is Vengeance ~ Trickery and Tranquility: three reasons I adore The Motto Generator

The Name Jumbler takes whatever name you feed it, juggles the letters and offers up a list of new names.

Like the Name Jumbler, The Name Mixer takes whatever name you feed it and offers a list of new names; the only difference it that this one uses the alphabets from the Language Mixer and some random letter replacements for the results (less chaotic, more logical.)

Seers hoping to be blessed with strength must offer a gift of bronze at a crossroads under a quarter moon on the spring equinox -- or try another result from The Ritual Generator.

You just never know when you'll need a Nuclear Macerar (NM-157), a Phantom Sniper (PS-116) or a Cargo Qualete (CQ-154), so do stop by and take The Spaceship Generator for a spin.

The Superstition Generator is not just good for coming up with fictional folksy warnings, it can spark story ideas too (one that captivated me: Don't make a wish in a grove of rowan trees during a storm.)

Strange Gardens

Author Charlene Teglia wrote a very neat post here about her adventures in gardening as they relate to writing, and I can't resist nicking her topic for some observations on what's growing in my little corner of Paradise.

This year among other things I'm growing grapes, raspberries, and stevia in containers on the porch (this is the trellis I rigged for the grapes.) Two of the plants were my daughter's idea; she wants to make homemade raspberry iced tea (our favorite flavor) and she's fascinated by how sweet stevia is (it's pretty much all I use now to sweeten my beverages.) The grape vine was something I simply couldn't resist; I love grapes and I think the vines are beautiful, especially when the grapes begin to ripen. Gardening should be about what makes you happy and gives you a real sense of anticipation.

I've grown a lot of things over the years and I think I'm a fairly knowledgeable gardener. I'm best with herbs and flowers but I've planted and harvested my share of potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon (which grows like weeds), pumpkins, corn and pretty much every type of citrus known to man. I dream about future gardens; someday I'd love to have enough land to plant a little orchard of peach and pecan trees.

Despite this experience, I've never tried to grow raspberries, grapes or stevia, so they are strange to me. The logical thing to do would be to search for info on the internet, flip through my gardening books or talk to someone who has grown them before to find out more about them before I do anything wrong. Which I'm not going to do. I like to garden without trying to load myself up with too many worries in advance, and when I experiment I prefer to tend to the new plants as I think best, observe and see what grows.

Container gardening is good that way because the pots are like oversize petri dishes; you can control the environment, watch them closely and see what happens without a lot of effort. And even if in the end we don't get a single edible raspberry, grape or stevia leaf from our container experiment, the time won't be wasted. I'll have an entire season of observations to draw on for the next time I try something like this.

When you're trying something new with your writing, it can be like growing something for the first time. You're going to be nervous and excited; you probably don't know what to expect. If you begin doubting that you can before you start the work, you may find reasons to put it off. You may think you need to study the type of story you're going to write, and see what everyone else has done and follow their example before you commit a word to the page (this would be when the fun begins to dwindle away.) You may even talk yourself out of it because you could do all that work and still end up with an end result that is unpalatable. And if you do that often enough, you won't ever try to grow anything but what you already know how to do.

I'm not saying you have to plant only things you've never tried to grow in your garden, or write things you've never before attempted with story. But consider setting aside a little time and space for an experiment here and there, and see how your garden grows.

Right Vs. Left

I was reading an article by Deb Schwartz in the June '10 issue of Real Simple magazine entitled Organizing for Your Personality which opens with this brief review of personality types:

"Right-brain types are visually oriented. They tend to think in images rather than words, focus on the big picture rather than the details, and go through life in a somewhat seat-of-the-pants (a.k.a. scattered) way. Left-brainers are those who think in words (attention, list makers!), do a lot of advance planning, and approach challenges in a rational, linear way."

Now when you consider the habits of writing's right-brainers (pantsers) and left-brainers (plotters) it makes a lot of sense why it's often so difficult for pantsers to plot and plotters to go organic. It's not laziness or paranoia, it's probably the way our brains are wired.

As a writer and a quilter I'm a classic lefty: disorganization makes me uncomfortable and unhappy; I work out and plan everything way in advance before I write a single word of story or make a single stitch, and I write/quilt from start to finish without deviation.

Now here's the interesting blip: as a photographer, a poet and a painter, I think I'm a righty. When I'm snapping pictures, writing verse or fooling around with watercolors I tend to be very spontaneous, play with compositions and colors, dwell more on an idea than the actual execution, and try not to plan too much in case I want to change things.

I think I know why I've got both sides of the brain engaged, too: I write and quilt for other people, but I take photos, write poetry and paint for myself. Also, outside influences like editors and quilt guild friends are usually somehow involved in the process with my writing and quilting, which I also sell. My other arts are strictly solitary, personal projects that I don't sell and other people rarely even see (and this is not to say why you guys might be righties or lefties, it's just why I think I evolved into an ambidextrous brained person.)

Btw, Deb's article has some helpful hints on how to organize your life based on the type of personality you have. I think most right-brainers already know they can't be happy compartmentalizing and labeling everything like the lefties, nor can the left-brained start making spontaneous collages and stack heaps of stuff in artful disorder like the righties. Still, I think there is always room for a little experimentation to see if you can get some fresh inspiration from the other side of your brain. I'm going to set up a cork board in the office so I can create a visual memento collage like one in the magazine. I think putting up some stirring images might give my creative batteries an extra charge before I sit down to work.

So what sort of writer or personality type are you? Righty, lefty, ambidextrous or somewhere in between?

Which Austen Heroine are You?

Does this mean I have to marry a fickle vicar?

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

Off to Write

Generate your own newspaper clipping online here.

Teach Thyself

With all the biz emphasis on costly MFAs, seminars, workshops and what have you in regard to learning how to write fiction, I think the next generation of writers may not always consider or even understand the merits of self-education.

Before I start offending the academics out there, I don't think there's anything wrong with formal education in general. For the medical, technical and scientific professions obviously it's a must. Most of us attend public or private schools as kids, so usually the first thing we think of in regard to learning is continuing that type of education. Also, many people do learn a great deal by going through traditional/institutional forms of education. I'm sending one kid to college this fall and the other to vet school in a couple of years, and I'm paying for all of it. I wouldn't waste my hard-earned money on something I thought was utterly worthless.

That said, I am a completely self-taught writer, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I've made it work fairly well for me, so I thought I'd pass along some of the benefits and perks of teaching yourself:

Internet access + public library card = 100% free education. This works for writers who do not have wealthy parents, spouses, partners, an unused fifty grand sitting in the checking account, or the ability to qualify for those hefty student loans. Also for anyone who would rather spend their money on the little luxuries like food, shelter, clothing . . .

You don't have to quit your day job or give up your daily responsibilities to attend classes, and you can attend whenever you want wherever you want for as long as you want. Not everyone decides to become a professional writer at age 18; sometimes the calling comes much later in life. I didn't decide to seriously pursue publication until I was 28, and I was pregnant or had babies in diapers while I taught myself what I needed to know. If you're already employed, a stay-at-home parent, an elderly caretaker or simply have an insanely chaotic life, self-education can be the best fit for your busy schedule.

You work at your own pace, and can take as long as you need to master a concept or element of writing. Some people can master an idea in a split second. The rest of us mortals generally need to spend a little time wrapping our brains around it, trying it out, etc.

You custom-design your education by by choosing what information you want to study from what resources. Unlike what was hammered into our heads in school, this means things like no required reading. Which means if you don't like Chekhov, you don't have to read Chekhov. Or Conrad. Or Hawthorne. You're tingling already, aren't you? I can tell.

No grades involved whatsoever. Aside from the fact that traditional grading systems are corrupt, inaccurate and wholly inappropriate ways of motivating the learner, you don't have to worry about showing your mom your report card because there isn't one.

You can choose what works for you and discard what doesn't by testing it out yourself. Like on-the-job training it works beautifully, plus you won't have to cater to the preferences of some professor who thinks Melville is timely or that every author born after Salinger should be shot.

You learn independently, so you don't have to rely on anyone else, their schedule and what they think you should or shouldn't know. I think this helps make a writer a better self-starter and problem-solver. It also frees you from dependence on others becoming a necessary part of your writing process (aka writing by committee.)

No pressure to audition, be accepted, perform or obtain any sort of official certification. One thing I've noticed about some of the more critically-acclaimed writing workshops is the fact that you have to first audition for them; then they decide who they want to teach (aka students who most likely are already 90% the way there.) Nothing wrong with this, it's good PR: if you want your writing program to look highly successful, definitely stock it with only those writers who demonstrate that they are already very accomplished and only need a bit of buffing and polishing. How many of us fit that profile when we start out on the road to publication? I certainly didn't.

Self-education is not the easy road. What you learn depends on how determined you are to pursue your own education. When you teach yourself you're not just the student; you're also the teacher. You have to be part hunter-gatherer as well, because in order to acquire your course materials, you have to get online or go to your library and look for them, analyze them and figure out how to work with them. As with working at home, studying at home can be a real challenge, too.

Another thing to consider when contemplating what sort of writing education you want is the likelihood of whether or not you will become a full-time writer. According to the U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics: "Median annual wages for salaried writers and authors were $53,070 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,150 and $75,060. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,020, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $106,630." This sounds great, until you consider that these statistics are for salaried writers who probably work for a company. As a freelance/contracted writer you don't receive a weekly salary; you're paid for what you sell. There is no guarantee that you will sell everything you write every time.

If you're careful the expenses involved with writing don't have to be crushing, but few people can make a living working as full-time writers. For the newly-published writer, the industry standard advance of $5K per book, an agent who collects 15% of your earnings, and the heftier taxes you have to pay as a self-employed worker does not add up to a lot of income. If you're not an overnight success, under those circumstances you could be looking at writing and selling 4+ books per year just to get within spitting distance of that lowest 10% figure the Labor Department cites. Now imagine that level of income while you have yourself and possibly a family to support as well as 100K in college loans waiting to be paid off.

Only you know if you have the resources or the inclination to continue on or go back to school for writing, so I can't tell you what to do. All I can say is that self-education is always there if you can't go the formal route, and for that reason it's definitely worth considering. Teaching yourself won't reward you with a diploma, or credentials you can display in a signature block acronym, but if you stick with it, you may find you end up with everything you need to become a successful professional writer. For free.

Related links:

2010 Average Salaries for Writers and Editors by John Hewitt

50+ Open Courseware Writing Classes from the World's Leading Universities

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Ten for Free

How Much US Have You Seen?

I never really thought about how much of my country that I've seen until I saw a link to this online mapping generator over at Poppy Brite's LJ:


visited 42 states (84%)


Evidently I do get around. The only states I haven't visited are Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Rhode Island (actually I think I drove through RI at night once but I'm not sure so I didn't check it) Utah and Vermont.

I won't visit Ohio or Utah for philisophical reasons, and the plane trip to Hawaii would be too much for me, but the rest are remote possibilities. I'd love to drive up and see Maine and Vermont someday, maybe in the fall when the leaves are turning colors.

My favorite state is Florida, where I grew up, but I've also loved living in Georgia, Colorado and California. Not so crazy about Texas or Mississippi. Alaska was majestic and astounding but also unbelievably expensive and COLD. One week I spent in Wisconsin was a big surprise; great people, pretty country and lovely weather (all we ever seem to see of Wisconsin on TV is Packer games during blizzards.) If I could go back to one state I've already visited for another vacation it would probably be Washington State; I really liked Seattle.

How much of the U.S. have you visited? Has anyone gotten to see all the states yet? Create your own visited map of The United States

Support PBW Ten

Ten Reasons You Should Consider Buying (or Requesting) Dreamveil by Lynn Viehl

Alexandra and Michael from the Darkyn series make a cameo appearance in the book.

Everyone so far has been surprised by the ending. Seriously surprised. Well, not my editor or my agent, but they read the synopsis before the manuscript so they cheated.

How well this book does will have a direct effect on what novels I will be writing and publishing in 2011. If you like my dark fantasy, buying this one or requesting it at your library is an effective way to vote for more.

I finally caved in responded to many reader requests and this time included a French-English glossary in the back pages so that you'll know exactly what words like Écrase mean. Not that I'm saying Écrase to everyone who wrote and demanded a glossary. Dansant says it in the novel to Bernard. They're French. What?

It's shipping two weeks early, so you probably won't have to wait until June 1st to get a copy (and you don't have to wait; I've already hit the top twenty of the NYT mass market BSL twice so they aren't yelling at me about that anymore. But if you want to wait so that my release week numbers look stunning and my agent has to stop whatever she's doing and e-mail me when the Times list comes out, I won't argue.)

Recombinant DNA: it's a beautiful thing that inspired me but that I do not use as an info dump sledgehammer with which to club you throughout the story. Promise.

Rowan from Shadowlight is the protagonist; you'll also see more of Drew and meet Paracelsus and Taire. Originally I had not planned to make Rowan a protagonist until book three or four, but requests for more of her story came in such a flood after Shadowlight released that I decided to shift her novel to the number two spot in the series plan.

Sales from the purchase of the novel will provide much-appreciated income for my publisher, my agent and yours truly. I don't know what they do with their take, but among other things my share finances 100% of the things I do here at Paperback Writer (which is also why there are no ads in your face when you come here.)

The print novel is lightweight, highly portable, does not require batteries, a power cord, on-off switches or scroll buttons to operate. Simply open the cover and, like magic, the story begins. Alas, I can't say the same about the e-book, but since that now appears to be trapped in price-squabbling limbo, you might want to get the paperback.

There is an orange tattooed man wearing a wrinkled wife beater featured on the cover, but I personally guarantee that in the story he's not orange, wrinkly or a wife beater (disclaimer: he is tattooed, but his sleeves cover up the ink most of the time.)

Buy Dreamveil from my favorite online bookseller, Barnes & Noble.com

Buy Dreamveil from Books-a-Million.com

Buy Dreamveil from Borders.com

Buy Dreamveil from Amazon.com

For Fun

What do Amsterdam Yellow, Bridal Strawberry, French Haze, Harvest Swirl, Lily Shadow, Sea Sunrise, Timeless Emerald and Warm Magic have in common? They're all evocative color names randomly generated by Serendipity's Color Name Generator.

If you need to create fictional ABCs and aren't sure how to start, check out Springhole.net's On Creating Fantasy Alphabets.

Register with Malinche Entertainment and they'll give you a free Interactive Fiction eBook entitled Azteca. They also have another page offering lots more free stuff.

He's a raging vampire. She's an eater of souls with bad debts. But he is under a spell. Will they find love? Want another plot like this? Test drive The Paranormal Romance Plot Generator.

Passionfruit Games is offering a free demo version of Marjorie M. Liu's Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box for download here.

3 books

Just Read: Robin Hood: The Story Behind the Legend, novelization of screenplay by David B. Coe, mass market

Why I picked it up: A friend wants me to go see the movie because he's crazy about Ridley Scott films. I didn't like the last movie I saw by Ridley so I thought I'd at least see what the story is like first. Generally I enjoy most Robin Hood books because I like Robin Hood, period, but if anyone can ruin it for me, Ridley can.

What I liked: Russell Crowe on the cover certainly doesn't hurt. Some great fight scenes in this one. Novelizing a screenplay isn't a walk in the park; I think the author did a decent job of it

What I didn't like: The first four chapters, which were overwritten; I'd have cut them and started with chapter five. The characterization of Robin missed the mark for me, and I felt there were a lot of great story opportunities with the characters that were bypassed. The book often reads more like an epic fantasy than historical fiction; subconsciously I kept waiting for the dragons and orcs to show up.

Reading: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris, hardcover

Why I picked it up: I enjoy Charlaine's writing style so I usually buy her vampire fiction. Also, it's not difficult to pickup and follow the story even if I do miss a book or two, kind of a rare quality in a lengthy novel series (this one is book ten; last one I read was seven, I think.)

What I like: The writing, which is easy and fun and effortless. The protagonist continues to evolve in subtle ways. Eric is finally regrowing a heart, I think, and it seems Bill got his ass kicked again, which always cheers me up immensely (not a Bill fan.)

What I don't like: The cover art for this series has never worked for me; it's childish, annoying and it never suits the books. The first thirty-seven pages are mostly backstory or the protag's recovery from/reconciliation with the backstory, which is a bit more than Charlaine usually does (yet this is book ten, so I know she's hauling around a boatload of series backstory now.)

Will Read:The True Love Quilting Club by Lori Wilde, mass market

Why I picked this up: This was a random/new-to-me purchase to expand my reading horizons. Every now and then I make myself buy a book by an author I've never read so that I can try something different and not get into a reading rut.

What I expect to like: The quilting bits. It's kind of impossible to write a bad book featuring quilters and quilting.

What I expect not to like: The true love. Any time that phrase is invoked it sets off certain internal intelligence alarm systems. But nothing ventured, etc.

So what books have you guys read, are reading or plan to read in the near future, and why? Let us know in comments.

Character Therapy

Authors, are your protagonists not in pain? Do your villains suffer from compulsive kindness? What about those sidekicks who simply refuse to be be supportive?

Here at The Character Wellness Center our award-winning staff of storytelling psychologists, conflict counselors and motivational coaches are ready to provide the real answers writers need to craft fully-realized characters, through immediate in-story interventions to long-term quality series care.

Here's just a small sample of some of our critically-acclaimed programs:

Alpha Heroes, No Hidden Pain

Sure he's big, strong, grim, silent and carries more weapons under that leather jacket than a battalion of Green Berets, but why? If your answer is "no reason in particular" then your hero needs to acquire some significant backstory in emotional anguish -- which we're happy to provide. Treatment plans include addition of dysfunctional families, endurance of ill-fated first love affairs, youthful inability to thwart horrific events, and the classic Best Friend Boinked the Fiancee scenario.

Dialoguing with Meaning

If you've ever stranded your main characters alone in remote, abandoned farmhouse during a white-out blizzard and they've still refused to speak to each other, we can provide conversational therapy topical options such as "My Deepest Darkest Childhood Trauma" "Why I've Had Only Cheap, Meaningless Sex Until I Nailed You" and "The Worst Thing I Ever Ever Did But For Which I Had An Utterly Redeeming Motive."

Ferocity Through Fight Scenes

Everyone says they want beta heroes, but it's hard to pump up an emasculated quivering wimp enough to really impress the ladies. Through this program we will teach your dishrag to evolve into the thoughtful, quiet warrior who can and will slaughter hundreds in defense of his lady before returning to the castle to bathe and kiss her pretty feet while he apologizes for his lapse into brutality.

How to Live Happily Ever After

Your characters are damaged, suspicious, depressed people who have inexplicably fallen in love with each other in thirty-two hours: now what? Our hypnotherapeutic sessions will induce in your unlikely couple an appropriate fairytale state of unnatural euphoria, cement mindless commitment and assure your characters will exist in virtual uninterrupted Nirvana for the rest of their natural lives (or, for series characters, until the next sequel.)

Surviving the Black Moment

He's a career assassin; she's a cop who has been hiding his secret baby at her mother's place for the last three years. In real life they'd probably shoot each other, but as characters we can help them get through this painful revelatory period by inventing plausible explanations and/or super-secret identities to justify any surprising dark secret that threatens to tear them apart (i.e. he's a secret assassin but works deep undercover for the CIA; she's a cop who has left the baby with her mother and faked that APB in order to search for him for three years.)

Unlocking the Door on Sex Scenes

Birds do it, bees do it, and your characters can, too -- right out in the open. We can help your shyest characters develop the perfect setting, dialogue and action to explore their most intimate moments without fear of inadequate performance or euphemism-riddled stuttering through the introduction of playful food items, hormonally-charged passionate arguments and even the archetypal "Kisses Gone Wild" progression (virginity loss scenes require a mandatory workshop on location and duration of the female hymen.)

We also have a wide selection of half-day specialty seminars for secondary characters, which include:

Being Funny in Five Lines or Less

Cardboard No More ~ How to Quit Being Part of the Novel Wallpaper

Don't Hurt Your Relationships with the Main Characters; Insult Intelligently

Securing Your Story Position (and Potential Sequel Appearance) Through Subplots

You're Supposed to be the Heroine's Best Friend, So Why Aren't You Acting Like One?

Your characters are as important to us as they are to your story, so why wait for trouble to happen while you're writing them? Be preemptive and avoid massive editor-requested revisions by making an appointment with The Character Wellness Center today (all major credit cards accepted; endorsed by all major writer organizations that didn't ask for a fee.)

Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities (Kids & YA Special Edition)

Annick Press publishes Canadian authors of teen and middle grade children's fiction and nonfiction; does not accept manuscripts from outside Canada. Regarding teen fiction: "Annick Press invites writers to submit proposals for teen novels which possess a high degree of originality and capture strong and distinctive contemporary voices. There should be creativity in the use of language—language that is lively, dramatic and vivid. The story must involve and stimulate the reader. It is essential that it have authentic dialogue and richly visualized settings. The reader must see the real teen experience reflected through the story line. We encourage the use of appropriate and well-timed humor. Please send a synopsis, together with a sample chapter." No electronic or FAX submissions; see guidelines page for more details.

Anvil Press is looking for progressive, contemporary literature by Canadian authors; no formulaic genre novels. From their web site: "Anvil Press is a literary publisher interested in contemporary, progressive literature in all genres. We must stress that we are a small publisher, publishing 8 to 10 titles per year. In general, we are planning at least 12 months in advance and, at present, are only considering work by Canadian authors. We are not interested in seeing formulaic genre novels: Sci-Fi, Horror, Romance etc." No electronic submissions; see guidelines page for more details.

Boyds Mills Press publishes children's books (picture books to novels) of literary merit; welcomes submissions from unpublished writers. From their web site: "At Boyds Mills Press, we welcome unsolicited submissions from published and unpublished writers and artists. The review procedure is time consuming. In order to review fairly the large number of submissions that we receive, we are unable to acknowledge their receipt. To the same end, should we decide that a manuscript is not for us, we will respond to the sender with a form letter. We review each submission in the order that it was received and try to respond within three months." No electronic submissions; see guidelines page for more details.

Captsone Press publishes fiction and nonfiction books for libraries and classroom use for pre-K through high school. Also interested in reviewing artists' portfolios for freelance illustration work. From their web site: "Capstone is keenly interested in meeting authors and illustrators. In fact, they play an integral role, connecting with our young readers and often deepening the reading experience by interacting with them online. Most of our titles are conceptually developed in-house and written and illustrated by freelance writers and artists. However, we are interested in receiving writers’ manuscripts and reviewing artists’ portfolios." E-mail submissions only; see guidelines page for more details.

Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, publishes picture, chapter and some nonfiction books for kids from ages 7 -12. No electronic submissions; responds only if interested, see submission guidelines for more details.

Curtis Brown Ltd., whose agents include Nathan Bransford, represents among their many clients children's authors and illustrators in all genres. "If you would like to submit a manuscript or proposal, please send us a query letter, a synopsis of the work, a sample chapter and a brief resume. Illustrators should send 1-2 samples of published work, along with 6-8 color copies (no original art)." Tip: Check the links on the agents page; some of the agents like Nathan do accept brief e-mail queries.

David Fickling Books publishes picture book and fiction for kids age 5-8, 9-12, teens and YA. Submissions outside the UK should be sent by e-mail. From their web site: "David Fickling Books is a small story house based in Oxford. Three of us editors work here, David, Bella and Hannah. We choose the very best stories or narratives we can find for people to read. It’s a great job. We don’t choose very many, sometimes as few as just one book a month, sometimes a novel, sometimes a picture book, sometimes poetry. We are not so much interested in how many pages a book has, as to how much space the storyteller needs to tell the story properly. And we choose our storytellers and writers very carefully indeed. We don’t think we do a whole lot, but making that choice is the most important thing we do. Our proudest boast has always been that our books ‘work’. That doesn’t sound like a big claim, I suppose, but it is. By ‘work’ I mean that we reckon that if you pick up and read a DFB book or if you give it to a child then the chances are that you or they or both are going to be taken by it in some way, taken to tears or to laughter or to a world that you won’t want to leave. A DFB book will move you." [I think that's the best mission statement by a publisher I've read in years.] Submissions outside the UK should be sent by e-mail, see their submission guidelines for more details.

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers publishes picture books, middle reader and young adult fiction and nonfiction. From their web site: "We seek manuscripts that that are honest, wise, and hopeful; but we also publish stories that simply delight us with their storyline, characters, or good humor. Stories that celebrate diversity, stories of historical significance, and stories that relate to current issues are of special interest to us at this time. We currently publish 12 to 18 books a year." No electronic submissions; see guidelines page for more details.

Holiday House Inc. publishes children's hardcover book ranging from picture books to YA. From their web site: "Holiday House is an independent publisher of children's books only. We specialize in quality hardcovers, from picture books to young adult, both fiction and nonfiction. We publish children's books for ages four and up. We do not publish mass-market books, including, but not limited to, pop-ups, activity books, sticker books, coloring books, or licensed books. Due to the volume of manuscripts we are receiving, Holiday House will no longer be able to respond to or return materials that we are not interested in publishing. We do, however, make every effort to carefully consider each submission we receive. If we are interested in your manuscript, we will respond within four months of receiving it." No electronic submissions; see submission guidelines for more details.

Walker & Company publishes young reader books ranging from picture books to YA novels. From their web site: "Established in 1961, we publish a small and select list of children's books, and we take great pride in our continued commitment to finding and fostering new voices in children's literature. Currently, we publish three lists per year, each consisting of approximately ten picture books and four to five middle-grade and/or YA works, for a total of forty to forty-five titles annually. Due to the limited number of titles we publish, we must be extremely particular about the projects we take on. Often our decision is based on a number of factors apart from a submission's literary merit. For example, due to our philosophy of publishing authors, not books, we rarely accept non-fiction that focuses on nature or wildlife, as we have established strong relationships with many authors specializing in this field. At the moment, our strongest needs are for middle-grade and YA novels and for well-paced picture book manuscripts for both the pre-school and early elementary age levels. We do not publish folk tales, fairy tales, textbooks, myths, legends, books in series format, novelties, science fiction, fantasy, or horror. Submissions that fall within these categories will be returned unread. We do not accept submissions of material written by children." No electronic submissions; see submission guidelines page for more details.

Most of the above sub ops were found in the market listings of the June 2010 issue of The Writer.

The Artisan Seller

One of my first jobs in high school was working as a telemarketer. I was fifteen at the time, and spent three hours a night five nights a week cold-calling people to offer them a free 8" X 10" portrait if they'd purchase a modestly-priced photo package from a national photography studio. I used a call list, read from script cards, and after the first week I got the hang of it and started selling pretty steadily (this is also why to this day I try never to be rude or hang up on telemarketers. I know only too well the confines of that tiny cubicle and the evil eye of the shift supervisor.)

I didn't love the job, but I didn't hate it. I earned enough money to help my mom out with the groceries and keep my little brother and sister in shoes. I probably would have worked there longer than a year if I hadn't gotten a godawful case of laryngitis (for which I was promptly fired.)

Since then I haven't had too many other sales jobs. I've sold commercial A/C parts, industrial materials for paper product manufacturers, and of course books. I liked being a bookseller best because I never felt like I was selling. Connecting people with great reads was already my personal mission; I was just getting paid to do it. I moved a lot of inventory and sold a ton of discount cards, and my boss never yelled at me, so I think I was pretty good at it.

Working as a salesperson taught me a couple of things: find out what your customer wants first, know your products well enough that you can speak knowledgeably about them, and if you can't give the customer exactly what they want, offer something that fits their needs just as well. If you can be sincere and honest versus hitting them with the hardsell, you'll at least interest most of them. It also gives you the bonus of maybe enjoying your job a little versus actively despising it.

The online writing community has always been something of a virtual book store, through which thousands of potential customers browse every day. Some are window-shopping or looking for freebies; some just want to watch the artisans at work. Nothing wrong with this; those who can't buy today may be able to buy tomorrow (and yes, others want to vandalize the merchandise or shoplift it, but that's the price of doing business.) Happily many of our browsers are looking for something to buy, and they're the reason we put our work on display.

Publishers now expect writers to be sales people as well as artisans. They want us out here on the sales floor covering every aisle, working the browsers, handselling to anyone who will stop long enough to listen to our pitch, and moving as much inventory as we can. We do this because our job performance is not based on the quality of the products we produce, or the number of customers we wait on, but by the number of units we sell -- and if we don't sell enough, they let us go. Again, the price of doing business.

I don't have a problem with handselling books online; I do it all the time. I know I'm better at recommending other writers' work over my own because I can revert back to my bookseller self and sell it on the level of one reader to another. I've tried but I can't do that with my work. I don't have the same relationship with my novels; I'm not able to disconnect the writer and pretend they're just another bunch of units I have to move. Also, by the time a book hits the market I'm usually writing something that is three or four books ahead of it on the schedule. It's not that I'm over it, more like I'm way past it. The time lag is no one's fault but it does create a significant obstacle.

This past year I've been working on a different approach to the problem and came up with a radical solution, one that began with the concept for the novel and that I developed along with the proposal package. This time I didn't tackle it like a salesperson, however; I took an artisan's approach. As in, what can I create now that will sell the book next year when I'm busy doing something else?

It's the second time I've worked on marketing and writing a book simultaneously, but the first time I will have complete creative control. It was also enormously helpful to have the idea before the book was written so I think about both versus brooding over marketing once the story was finished and trying to market it twelve months after that. I don't know if my idea will work, but along with eliminating the time lag between writing the book and releasing the book it allows me to sell without having to disconnect the writer at all. If nothing else it should be a decent learning experience.

Writers, are you trying anything new with your self-promo? Readers, have you noticed anything interesting and/or creative out there that convinced you to buy a book? Let us know in comments.