So, some yummy links from the interwebs:
Charles Stross gives us the lowdown on the coming century in his FAQ >> Highly interesting questions are answered in a very straightforward manner. I almost completely concur with Charles' analysis of our near future...
Jay Lake's new novel Escapement is released to the masses in paperback.
"Lively and thought-provoking...Lake effectively anneals steampunk with geo-mechanical magic in an allegorical matrix of empire building and Victorian natural science." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review) on "Escapement"
I really liked Mainspring, so I'll have to go for Escapement as well. Besides, Jay seems like a great guy judging from his blogodentity; so go out and shop!
Jed Hartman reports on the flood of submissions they're seeing at Strange Horizons >> Is this symptomatic of the collapse of a number of other fiction markets? Is this because they are one of the few "pro" markets who accept electronic submissions, which makes them much more accessible for the novice writer?
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4 comments:
Agents have been getting more subs too. Probably the economy -- unemployed joes finally have time to write that story or novel.
*kapow*bang*woooot*
[note for the visually or hearing-impaired: fireworks go off to honor first comment on my new blog]
Hi Tara,
That might well be the case. I know I would go for it if - heaven forbid - I would lose my job. Even though I probably have a few years' work cut out for me before I can submit anything even remotely resembling a novel :-)
As someone who's just starting out, I was just realizing how much easier it is these days to find out about who is who in publishing, which magazines are pro and which are not quite so hot, what editors think of current trends, how to format manuscripts - and the list goes on.
Any kind of question a newcomer can have can be answered by a good day's googling.
In my opinion, that alone removes much of the mystery and therefore also the "not-for-me" factor of writing (or more accurately, getting published).
Of course, I'm in no way implying that having access to this knowledge makes it easier to get a sale (well, maybe it shortens the process a little). In the end you need to have the voice, the talent, the persistence.
I fear it makes it harder to get a sale, for the simple reason that if writers are submitting more books but publishers are buying fewer (the other side of the economic crunch) the competition is fiercer.
On the other hand, if one can make it in a market like *this,* it says a lot.
Well, I can only it won't make it too much harder... I hope there's still room for at least one more aspiring writer :-)
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