Rumblings (and Ramblings) at Madeline's -- JANUARY 2008

[Teresa Edgerton]

Entry #4

And now the piece on Originality with which I've been threatening you. The part on style seems appropriate just at this time, in light of certain discussions in another thread:

http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...tml#post951518

These are just my ideas on the subject, however. Feel free, anyone who reads it, to come back here and strenuously object to anything I say. (You probably won't shake me from my opinion -- I am old and fixed in my ways -- but I'm interested to hear other people's ideas anyway.)

[JDP]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

Every draft I wrote, after the first two or three, I thought: This will be the second to last.

Once again, you're bringing hope to the masses, Teresa (well, to one of them); I just keep redrafting. I often have interested parties saying 'Where are you now? But I thought the last draft was the final draft?'. I'm happy that my editting/reworking is still adding value to the novel, so I'm content keeping at it (making time is hard, though).

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

I'm not fishing for compliments, after all, but trying to improve. If people read it and think it stinks, I need to know why.

Definitely, Sephiroth, I agree. I think the worst reaction you can get from a test reader is a polite smile followed by, 'It's wonderful - I wouldn't change a thing.' There's not much you can actually do with a positive critique, unless there's some negative in there too (and the more the better); if you can change all the stuff readers don't like into stuff they do like, without damaging the parts they liked straight off, you've got a pretty good novel on your hands.

P.S. Sorry, everyone, I seem to be constantly one entry behind with my comments!

[Strife]

Hi

my sister is reading one of your books.

is it for girls only or can i enjoy it too? I am 15-year-old boy. Sorry seems a silly question but your the author, you would know. i cant ask her, she'd make fun o me.

(she's loving it, btw)

Can i enter the contest for her (or maybe for me, if i can read your books)

[Teresa Edgerton]

Actually, some of my most loyal readers are men, Strife. The main characters who are male and the main characters who are female usually get about equal time in each of my books. I don't write for any specific age or sex. (Occasionally I do hear from a male reader that they would like more blood and gore. There I have to disappoint them. It only goes in where I think it's necessary to the plot.)

I'll enter you in the drawing, and if you win, you and your sister can decide between you whether it's something you want to read. Which book is she reading now?



JDP, you can comment on anything in this thread at anytime.

I think the worst reaction you can get from a test reader is a polite smile followed by, 'It's wonderful - I wouldn't change a thing.'

My husband, who is my first reader simply because he's conveniently on hand, always limits his asssessment to, "Good. Where's the rest?" Occasionally he'll point out a typo, or ask me a question, or make a prediction about what is going to happen. So I never know if he's just being tactful because he has to live with me. Not until a few years later when he rereads the book. Then I figure, if he's reading it again he must have liked it. Too late for me to make any changes if he didn't.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Due to all the time the site was down today -- and the other night as well -- I think it's only fair to extend the deadline for the drawing another day, until Friday Midnight GMT.

[Teresa Edgerton]

The time has come, the drawing is closed, and I've pulled three names.

Giovanna, Sephiroth, and Strife: If you will PM me a mailing address, I will post you a book.

[Giovanna Clairval]

Wow!

Today is a wonderful day! Wonderful things keep happening to me.

THANK YOU, TERESA!

[Sephiroth]

Ooh, fantastic! This has cheered me up!




Thank you, Teresa. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, I hope you each enjoy it.

I'll let you know when I've posted the books.

[Strife]

it has been a horrible day until NOW

i have become a smilie myself

thank you ma'am

and the book my sister is reading is

GOBLIN MOON

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Strife

And the book my sister is reading is

GOBLIN MOON

That one's pretty hard to find. (It won't be in a few more months when it's reprinted).

It's very different from The Hidden Stars, but there is a semi-secret connection between the two series. If your sister reads the book I'm sending, maybe she will figure out what that is.

[Strife]

Sorry

I posted my family address here, instead of PM. Mistake

[Teresa Edgerton]

The books have been posted -- estimated delivery 6 to 10 days. I hope they don't get battered on the way in the big envelopes I used.

Please let me know if they arrive. I tend to be deeply paranoid even sending books across the country, and more so, of course, overseas.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Entry #5

This week in the mail I received a copy of the cover for A Dark Sacrifice. And looking at it, one thing struck me quite forcibly. Between the cover art (which does indeed depict a scene from the book), the title (which we arrived at after I had suggested several others), the blurbs, and the whole book design, one receives the impression of a very fierce and bloody tale. And I ask myself: is this how my publisher sees the book -- or is it just marketing? Is this what the book actually is? I don’t, as a matter of fact, have an answer to that last question. But it’s come together in my mind with some other ideas I’ve been thinking about for -- well, quite a long time, probably a year or more -- and now these thoughts and impressions have formed a noisy coalition and are clamoring to be let out:

Some thoughts on the direction Fantasy seems to be heading -- present and future.

As usual, when I get excited about a subject, I have probably gone on far too long -- scattering italics with a free hand as I go. For this I apologize. As for the opinions stated and the questions I have asked, I suspect they are going to be controversial. Am I becoming more fearless in expressing my ideas, or simply going through a phase where I am determined to commit social suicide? At the moment, I am tending toward the latter theory.

[Teresa Edgerton]

(From now on, I'll generally be announcing new subjects/entries here with a change in the thread title.)

Entry #6 (probably the last for quite some time)

The question of how an unpublished writer makes professional contacts comes up from time to time on these forums -- and in fact has come up recently, which prompts me to offer some of my thoughts on the subject now.

Contacts, Networking, Conventions

I should mention here at the beginning that because I have done my own networking for the most part within the genre, these remarks will be addressed to the aspiring SFF writer. And if that’s you, the first thing I have to say to you is this: Congratulations! Your opportunities are automatically much greater (and probably cheaper) than if you were writing in any other genre. SFF professionals are for the most part a friendly bunch of people who genuinely love books, and meeting them is not so difficult as you might imagine -- nor does it involve (as cynical people sometimes think) sleeping with editors, torturing someone in order to learn the secret password, or performing arcane rituals involving gallons of blood.

In general writers are easier to meet than editors and agents, so I’ll begin with them. If you want to meet writers, go where they go. Join a writer’s group: the kind where real people meet face to face; a serious group, who are committed to improving their writing and not just exchanging stories and stoking each other’s egos; a group specializing in genre fiction, ideally one that includes writers at all stages: beginning writers, seasoned-but-as-yet-unpublished writers, and (if you are lucky) a few pros. Even if there are no professionals in the group as yet, a good group may attract a few eventually, and in any case the more experienced amateurs may be the published writers of tomorrow. When someone in the group breaks out, you not only have a valuable contact, you may also gain yourself a nice mention in the acknowledgements for all the world to see. If there is no such group in your area, consider starting one.

Join a SFF fantasy club. The larger and more active clubs are able, from time to time, to attract local authors as guest speakers. On receiving an invitation from a large and enthusiastic group of readers -- a ready-made market for their books -- very few authors, except for the most reclusive or the busiest big name writers, find it easy to refuse. Again, if there is no such club where you live, consider starting one. You may be surprised to discover how many kindred spirits are living in your area, once you start asking around.

But how, you are probably already asking, do I find one of these groups or clubs -- let alone start one? If you are looking for a group, you can start by asking at your local library and any local bookstores that specialize in SFF or at least carry a lot of it. If you want to start a group or club, you can ask to post flyers in these same places. Maybe they will say no, but they won’t spray you with a can of Mace in the process, so don’t be afraid to ask. There is another way, more likely to be successful and I’ll get to that in a moment, but libraries and bookstores are a place to start.

Go to booksignings and author readings. I’m not referring to those occasions where some enormously popular author comes to town. On these occasionas there will be too many people competing for one person’s attention; if you’re lucky, you’ll get about ten seconds of Mr. or Ms. Big Name Author’s time -- in other words, just about as long as it takes him or her to sign a book. Instead, aim for authors of moderate stature, the ones who won’t have a long line of fans, the ones likely to have spare moments -- possibly an entire afternoon of spare moments, if the bookstore hasn’t publicized the event properly -- during which they will be more than happy to have someone to chat with about their books.

Go to SFF conventions. I can’t vouch for the rest of the world, but in the US there are annual regional conventions, larger conventions that float from place to place, and small local conventions; in the UK there are a handful of SF and/or Fantasy “cons” each year, and usually one or two within striking distance on the European continent. If you are a US or UK writer, chances are good that there will be one or several of these conventions coming up in the next twelve months or so at a location reasonably near to you. This is the other way that I mentioned earlier for finding (or starting) a writers’ group or SFF club. One day at a convention I raised my hand and asked a question during one of the panels; afterwards a very nice lady approached me about joining her writers’ group (I did, and it was a great group.) Cons are also one of the best places to meet many kinds of industry professionals in addition to writers: editors, artists, small-press publishers, and occasionally (but much less often than the others) agents. For a moderate membership fee, you can spend an entire weekend hobnobbing with professionals and other fans. If you know of a local SFF convention coming up, you might consider signing on as a volunteer -- most of these events are always looking for “gophers.” Running errands, setting up rooms for panels, checking badges at the door of a function room may not sound exciting, but it gives you a chance to meet the people who know the people that you want to meet. (If you put in enough hours, you usually get a free or discounted membership out of this -- although the free membership may be for the convention the following year.)

I hope it need not be said that on none of these occasions do you run up to the nearest professional and ask them to read your book. (And there are rare individuals who are able to easily initate conversations with strangers and make new friends on the spot -- if this is your natural personality, you may wish to concentrate only on the “where” parts of this article and ignore all of the “what you do when you get there” parts. If you are not ordinarily one of these fortunate individuals, nothing I say here will transform you into one of them. The intent is to help you become a more effective you.) The following suggestions are geared toward establishing your presence and forming friendships over time. ) At the book-signing or author reading, you briefly chat with the author about the book he or she is promoting. At the convention, you attend panels, formulate intelligent questions or comments, and approach the people you wish to speak with as soon as their panel is over. (If you are talking to a writer, it doesn’t hurt to have a copy of his or her book in hand, so that you can ask for a signature.) In addition, you may find opportunities to meet other fans who are already known to these people, and who may introduce you. After a while, the professionals get used to seeing you around; they have a sort of feeling that they know you and rather like you (even though they may not actually remember your name). Once this happens, you may find yourself part of a group going to lunch or dinner together; you may be invited to tag along to one of the after-hours parties where the bigwigs meet. Or you may find out who is likely to turn up at one of the open parties. Parties provide opportunities to approach an editor or a guest-of-honor in a casual setting and strike up a conversation with such seemingly-innocent remarks as, “Have you tried the guacamole? It’s really good.” Or: “Where did you get that diet Coke? I looked in the ice chest over there and all they had was bottled water.” By the time they realize you’re an aspiring writer, you’ve already been talking for ten minutes about the best Mexican restaurants in the area, or the importance of good hydration.

Another way -- and it’s so obvious you are undoubtedly wondering why I didn’t come to it sooner -- is to meet people via the internet: at forums like this one, websites devoted to writing and publishing, writers’ blogs, etc. A pleasant attitude and a professional manner should eventually lead to valuable contacts. And if people already know you from these online encounters, meeting them in person at conventions, signings, etc. becomes that much easier, and cements the relationship. Once you introduce yourself, they already feel they know you. If they have time to talk, you’re more likely to get more of their time than a complete stranger would; if they don’t have time, you’ve laid the groundwork for another occasion. Maybe it will be that intelligent question after a reading, or just a wave and friendly smile as you pass them in the hall between panels at a convention. Though unspectacular, these personal encounters pave the way for that moment when you find your quarry at loose ends and move in for a longer conversation, possibly over a casual lunch or a drink in the hotel bar. Once you’ve got them pinned down at a table long enough for them to eat a hamburger or drink a pina-colada -- and if you don’t dominate the conversation, or barrage them with questions -- chances are good that at some point they’ll do the polite thing and ask about your writing. And even if they don’t do this unprompted -- well, you’re a writer, surely you can think of a creative conversational gambit that will lead them around to asking.

Finally, there are writers’ conferences and seminars. These tend to be pricey and there may not be much focus on genre fiction (but there may, so find out). If there is an annual conference or a seminar series with a good reputation in your area, it may be well worth your money. But, as with all of the suggestions above, don’t be disappointed if you don’t come away that first time having made dozens of valuable contacts -- it could happen, but it’s more likely that you’ll be doing what I said before: laying the groundwork.

And sometimes you won’t know until much, much later how very significant a meeting was that didn’t seem even the tiniest bit important at the time. The fellow aspiring writer with whom you had lunch? Two years from now she may be an editoral assistant at DAW or Orion. That well-known writer with whom you had two or three brief conversations? When you sell your first book and your editor says, “Who can we send it to for possible blurbs?” you have a name. You never know until it happens.

Forget about booksellers’ conventions like the ABA. These are all about books that are already published or soon to be released. They are not open to the general public. Booksellers and publishing houses can get passes, and sometimes publishers will give some of their passes to writers whose books are just coming out -- but mostly they don’t, and anyway, these are the writers who have already sold their books.

All of this may sound unnecessarily time-consuming. If it seems like too much work, then maybe none of this is for you. Many writers have sold their books and short stories without making a single contact first. But if you’re fretting because you don’t know anyone, if you feel you should be out there networking (and I’ve known instances where it really did help a writer get a foot in the door), then clubs, author readings, and conventions are ways to do that while enjoying yourself at the same time, just as writers’ groups and conferences have their own benefits quite apart from the networking opportunities. And remember that SFF publishing and organized fandom are a community. Once you establish yourself as a member of that community, you’ll be in the network, with many, many opportunities for making further contacts. Then, of course, what you do with those opportunities and what you gain from those contacts depends on how you handle them. My aim here has been to give you some ideas you can use to arrive at that point.