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Mary Rosenblum
|
Hello, all. Tonight we'll be
chatting with Gardner Dozois, award winning editor of Asimov's Magazine and
the Best of the Year's Science Fiction anthologies, as well as many other
anthologies.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I haven't heard from him
today, so I hope that something unexpected hasn't come up to get in the way
of his appearing here!
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I know a lot of people are
anxious to meet him, and he is the best short fiction editor I know...
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Mary Rosenblum
|
But he's leaving town in the
morning to teach a week long workshop on the west coast, and last minute
problems can appear.
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janp
|
He's probably reading your
latest submission
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Mary Rosenblum
|
He already bought that one,
janp. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I need to write him something
new!
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|
chatty lady
|
Been watching TV shows to try
and understand just what definition of Science Fiction really is, its
confusing.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, chatty, you won't get it
from TV or movies. That stuff is junk.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
There is some VERY good SF out
there, stuff that blurs the line between literary ficition and genre.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Gardner will have a whole list of promising writers to watch
for.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
SF is a varied field, from
space opera like Star Wars and Star Trek..
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Mary Rosenblum
|
which are entertainment fare,
to really thought provoking works that follow today's trends into the near
future...
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Mary Rosenblum
|
so we can think about what we're
doing.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That's the type of SF that I
write, by the way.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Greg Bear's 'Darwin's Radio' and
'Darwin's
Children' are examples of that type of SF.
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vmaroukian
|
i just bought the 2004 nebula
showcase today. that will give one a fairly good idea of what sci fi is, i
hope...
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
It will, vmarouk. An even
better example is the anthology Gardner puts out every year: The Year's Best SF.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
He picks the top stories from
all the magazines and ezines.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
By the way, I will have a
story in the June 23 issue of SciFiction for those of you who want to see
what I write.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That is the magazine of the
SciFi channel, edited by Ellen Datlow...
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
who is another excellent
editor and one who tends to publish the literary end of the spectrum.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
And of course, SF is joined at
the hip to fantasy.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Now there is a boundary that
blurs!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
This is our Professional
Connection live interview with Gardner Dozois, award winning editor of
Asimov's Magazine and a host of successful anthologies. Feel free to ask
any questions you like! To ask a question, click on your "Ask a
Question" icon/button. (Or the "word bubble" icon, RIGHT
NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) Or type /ask before your question in the
regular send bar.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Of course he's not here yet...
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
so we're just talking about SF
until he shows up.
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vmaroukian
|
Congratulations. Does our guest
tonight only publish SciFi? And do most publishers have limited scope
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Yes, vmark.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
This is true even in book
length fiction.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Editors will work with one
particular type of fiction or nonfiction.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They are very narrow in their
focus.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
However, Gardner plans to
move into editing Young Adult fiction...
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Mary Rosenblum
|
which makes me understand
suddenly why he has been encouraging me to try writing YA! LOL
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vmaroukian
|
Is it just me or has fantasy
become more popular in the last 5-10 years
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
It is not just you, vmar! It
is now a much more popular genre than SF.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Part of that is quite recent
and due to the Harry Potter interest.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That got a lot of
non-fantasy-readers interested in the genre.
|
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vmaroukian
|
I wonder how much LOTR Is to be
thanked for that...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yep, and that, too. Both those
books/movies worked to increase interest in the genre.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
However, even the blockbuster
SF movies like The Matrix failed to really boost sales of Sf.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
So the reason for the
popularity of fantasy as opposed to SF may go deeper than mere media
exposure.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
But if you are a beginning
writer, you have a much better chance of selling in fantasy than SF right
now.
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senicynt
|
??SciFi channel magazine? I get
the station on satellite, but I didn't know they had a mag also.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
They do, sen. It's a very nice
magazine, large size, glossy, with excellent fiction and interviews with
stars, etc.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I've seen it at Barnes and
Noble.
|
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chatty lady
|
Whats the name of the June 23rd
story again?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's titled 'Jumpers', chatty.
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senicynt
|
Hi mary, Who would you say is
the most definitive SciFi author ? by decade... ;-)
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Ooo, this is a question for
Gardner, who has the historical index permanently stamped on his cortex!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Certainly Isaac Asimov and
Heinlein helped shape the field in the fifties, when SF first took off.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Robert Silverberg and Harlan
Ellison are powerful influencs, as is James Tiptree Junior...
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
who I later discovered was
none other than my Aunt Frances' friend Alice, who wrote under a pen name
she kept carefully secret. TAlk about small world...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Ursula LeGuin who is almost my
neighbor is another powerful voice in the field.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
As is Orson Scott Card, Nancy
Kress, Greg Bear...
|
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vmaroukian
|
it would be great if you could
point us to a site where the major sci fi magazine publications are listed
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The best way is to visit the
magazine websites themselves.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The top are Analog, Asimov's,
SciFiction.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And Fantasy and Science
Fiction.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They all have websites and
Asimov's and Analog (I think) have live chat forums like this one.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Asimov's is on Tuesday nights
when I have a class, which is why I'm never there!
|
|
craig
|
Would "Animal Farm" be
considered as fantasy or science fiction what about "Fired" and
who wrote "Fired"
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Animal Farm, as with
Metamorphosis' by Kafka are literary works that are not at all considered
SF...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
although you could certainly
call them fantasy at least!
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
As I said, the line blurs
between literary and speculative fiction.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Magic realism slides right
across that boundary, too.
|
|
paja
|
Do you think the drop in
interest in SF is because we've got so much science stuff in the news?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Paja, that is certainly my
guess.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
In the fifties in the heyday
of SF, people were so excited about the marvelous potential of science.
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
We were going to cure all
diseases, vacation on the moon, terraform Mars.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Now, science is the boogyman
that is trying to crawl out from under the bed...
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Mary Rosenblum
|
in the form of genetically
modified life, viruses, biological weapons.
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senicynt
|
LOL... tell Greg Bear to get
busy and write more books. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I'll pass that on to him, sen!
I'm sure he's working on at least one!
|
|
coway
|
as a kid I feel in love with
Brave New World
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I liked it, too, coway. And it
wasn't considered SF at all.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The genre really began with HG
Wells 'War of the Worlds' .
|
|
jeff colburn
|
I've noticed that over the past
few years genre stories..
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|
jeff colburn
|
have gone from a traditional
writing style to a more..
|
|
jeff colburn
|
literary style. I often see
stories that ramble, have no..
|
|
jeff colburn
|
ending or an ending that doesn't
resolve the story. I find..
|
|
jeff colburn
|
the writing so poor that I often
read only a few pages..
|
|
jeff colburn
|
to comment on this trend?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I will, Jeff. That is an
astute read, by the way. Yes, that is indeed the trend.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Not in Asimov's because Gardner really
believes in a solid conflict/resolution structure in the tranditional
sense.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But there are several edtors
who are preferentially looking for a more 'literary' style...
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
where conflict and resolution
are not necessarily the foundation of the story.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Jay Lake, editor of the yearly anthology 'Polyphony' likes that
literary style.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Gordon Van Gelder of Fantasy
and Science Fiction tends to publish some stories that could be called
'literary' in style.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Not Stan Schmidt at Analog.
You need a conflict, a resolution and get your science right!
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senicynt
|
I think the Matrix failed to
boost SciFi because it was somewhat dissappointing as a movie trilogy. It
ended up like a video game rather than a decisive ending. I wasn't
impressed by the last one.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Yes, sen. I missed this when
we were talking about the matrix.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But only the first movie
really impressed most viewers, from what I have heard.
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bengalrose
|
How often do you see a really
good piece from the POV of non-human character? Something that makes you
sit up and take notice.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Bengal, that is a good question. The answer is...rarely. It
is VERY hard to create a creature who is not human.
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Generally, the 'aliens' seem
more like humans in furry or scaled or what have you suits.
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coway
|
Heck, now I feel like I'm
wasting my time to finish the sci-fi in hopes to sell it.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Why coway? Publishers are
still buying SF. Why shouldn't they buy yours?
|
|
loriendil
|
Do editors like or dislike
stories that blur SF and fantasy?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Loriendil, in short fiction,
you can blur the two all you want.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
In book length work, the
marketing department wants to put your book on the fantasy shelf or the SF
shelf in teh bookstore.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Your editor will choose one or
the other for you.
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vmaroukian
|
the problem is science has
advanced so much that what once seemed impossible is proven reality every
day
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
No kidding, vmark. All of us
who write near future SF feel tomorrow's hot breath on our necks, believe
me.
|
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bengalrose
|
But if science is the boogie
man, then there is a HUGE market for speculative fiction that leans to the
darker side...isn't there?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, yes and no, bengal.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
It's the driving power behind
top selling thrillers where a plague gets started...
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
or a virus mutates into
something deadly.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But depressing,
post-apocalyptic stories do tend to send readers fleeing in droves these
days!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you want to forcast gloom,
make it cataclysmic doom if you want it to sell well. :-)
|
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senicynt
|
I think Gardner is lost in a
time warp... ;-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yeah, I'm afraid so. I hope
nothing awful happened. If he just forgot, I'll grumble at him.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
But I'll schedule him for
another visit later on. When he's NOT leaving town the next day.
|
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mbvoelker
|
IMO C. J. Cherryh does excellent
alien POV's.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
She does, but they're still
very human. She is one of the stronger space opera writers, and I enjoy her
work.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
She does good space ships! :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
This is our Professional
Connection live interview with Gardner Dozois, award winning editor of
Asimov's Magazine and a host of successful anthologies. Feel free to ask
any questions you like! To ask a question, click on your "Ask a
Question" icon/button. (Or the "word bubble" icon, RIGHT
NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) Or type /ask before your question in the
regular send bar.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Only Gardner is
mysteriously absent so we're just chatting about SF.
|
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vmaroukian
|
mary, oryx and crake, i find,
has no clear conflict resolution. is that your opinion also?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I haven't read that one. It's
in the towering stack by my bed, I'm sure! But there are quite a few
stories where the resolution is tenuous at best in my opinion.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Although many of these stories
imply a resolution that will take place later on.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That is a valid resolution
even if it doesn't happen on stage.
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coway
|
Mary , in your writing career
have you ever accidently stumbled on real issues that would be best for you
not to write about?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Ha, coway. Those are the
issues I am most interested in writing about!
|
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senicynt
|
One of the problems I see for
SciFi is that most supposed SciFi books on teh shelf are actually Fantasy.
They've combined the genres but moved SciFi off teh shelf. Either that, or
there just aren't many SciFi writers now.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Ah, the age old arguement
about Science Fiction versus Science Fantasy! :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It is true that most SF is
based on things that are not founded in real science. Faster than light
travel is one of the biggies.
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senicynt
|
What about Alfouis Huzxley back
in the 30's with Brave New World. He wrote mostly literature but crossed
over on that one.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Yep. And it's now considered a
classic in literature, not SF.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
A lot of writers did that. Shelly
wrote serious literature.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Frankenstein was done on a
dare, as I recall.
|
|
tkat_2
|
I know that the star trek
communicator in the original series is now the cell phone
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yep. And TV, computers, and
many other 'today' technology was predicted long before it happened by SF
writers.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
So read SF if you want a
glimpse of tomorrow. We do get it right quite often!
|
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coway
|
or where does science fiction
cross with reality?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Tehre are several types of SF
stories. Some cross with reality and some don't.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The 'space opera' like Star
Trek and CJ Cherryh's work David Brin's and the others..
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
set their stories in a far
future that is very removed from today's real science.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Then there is the 'if this
goes on' story that looks at something happening to day and extrapolates it
into the future.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If we do this today....what
will it be like in fifty or a hundred years.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
A lot of us are playing with
things like genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and the like with just
that focus.
|
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gskearney
|
I wonder how many of the early
adopters of cell phone technology were influenced by Star Trek? --gk
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, Gary, a lot of them DID
flip open for awhile, if you remember. LOL
|
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loriendil
|
Grumble gently -- he might be
reading my story at the time..
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Oh don't worry, Loriendil. He
would never let someone else's grumbling affect what he's reading. :-)
|
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bengalrose
|
Gardner, what in your opinion helps a manuscript rise from the
slush pile, especially when the ms is from a newbie like me?
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I'll stand in for Gardner a bit here, Bengal. He's a very
good friend of mine, has published a ton of my stories (I actually found
out this year that I am in the top ten authors in the history of the
magazine for published work. Surprised me!)...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Gardner always looks for one thing when he reads a story...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
the answer to this particular
question. And I think it is a question that you need to answer for every
story you write.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
His question is: Why am I
better for having read this story?"
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That doesn't mean that the
story must have a moral, an uplifting message or anything like that.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
What me means by that, is how
has this story changed me?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
How has it made me look at
people, the world, the future, myself differently.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I have heard him give that
answer over and over and it is a question I always ask myself as I work on
a story.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And I'm glad you sent that
question in Bengal, because that was something I was going to ask him if
none of you did.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I think that is why he has won
so many awards for his stories. He publishes work that makes a difference
to the reader.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Every story won't reach every
person, and when you write a strong story...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
some of your readers won't get
it.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But if that reader somehow
perceives the world differently even in a tiny way...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
then you have made a
difference with your writing.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
For me, and for many other
writers I know, this is why we do it.
|
|
mbvoelker
|
Small, rural bookstores put the
Fantasy on the shelf with the SF because they don't carry enough of either
to fill a shelf otherwise. ;-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They do, mb. But the marketing
people sill separate it in the catalog. Even if physically it ends up on
the same shelf.
|
|
senicynt
|
ALL SciFi authors UNITE! Let's
flood the market with GOOD SciFi ;-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Sounds like a plan to me, sen.
|
|
bengalrose
|
Mary, what in your opinion are
the 2 or 3 most critical things to do to help an ms rise to the top of the
slush pile?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I can sure tell you than,
bengal! I know most of the editors in the field personally and I've heard
all their answers to this question.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And unanimously...the first
paragraph MUST grab them.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Most editors pick up a ms and
toss the cover letter aside.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
So don't waste too much time
on it, because it will be read after the ms in most cases!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Then they start reading. The
minute their attention wanders...all over.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If that is sentence two. Too
bad.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Now that seems terribly harsh,
yes?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I mean this story might be a
Pullitzer quality story..once you get to page three and beyond.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But you have to look at this
from the editor's side of the desk.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
He has 1000 ms to read this
month. No kidding.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And if he publishes your story
in his magazine and you are an unknown...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
and the reader stops reading
at sentence two, he has wasted the page space.
|
|
bengalrose
|
Thanks, Mary. It is so difficult
being on the outside looking in. I WANT to be a part of the "in
croud". I know this is gonna sound corny, but I feel like I am close.
Is that crazy?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Not at all. I started out in
the same space, remember.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And if you want to write
seriously in the field, then save your pennies and go to SF conventions.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Writers are all over the
place. Editors attend the big cons.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
There are panels on 'rising
from the slush', 'creating real characters', 'selling to Asimovs'.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And you can talk to authors
and editors. Nobody hides. We're a friendly crowd.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Use some manners and common
sense and you can do a lot of networking.
|
|
vmaroukian
|
mary, how long did it take you
to get to wheer you are now career-wise?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
My first story was published
in 1990 in Asimov's, vmar.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I wa a Hugo nominee in...can't
remember... Around 95 I think.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I got a lot of good reviews
and my career came on very quickly.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Mostly it's a matter or write
good stories and sell 'em.
|
|
loriendil
|
With all the subgenres, how does
one learn how to categorize their stories?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's marketing's job,
loriendil. But you need to do some research before you send a book or story
to an editor.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
For example, Asimov publishes
'soft' SF...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But Analog wants solid
science. If you send your soft SF to Analog, you'll get rejected.
|
|
vmaroukian
|
do you know anyone who has sold
a MS at one of these conferences>
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yes, but it is VERY bad form
to hand ms to editors.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you pitch your story to an
editor he may tell you to send him the ms afterward.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
However, a novice in the
writers workshop I did with Jay Lake back in Februrary, sold his workshop story to Jay. Jay
told him on the spot he'd guy it if he fixed the opening. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
buy it...
|
|
vmaroukian
|
when i think of new ideas for
stories, it is often the effect of seemingly a tiny part of what we call
reality that fascinates me
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's what a lot of writers
focus on, vmar.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's what I personally see
as the strongest part of the genre.
|
|
calgal
|
Are there any SF books you would
reccomend to beginners?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Calgal, the anthologies: The
Years Best SF, to begin with, are excellent assortments of all the stories
that make up SF.
|
|
bengalrose
|
Is pitching your story to an
editor at a con good or bad form?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's fine if you are polite
about it and ask first.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Most editors would much rather
tell you if it is anything they're even interested in seeing...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
rather than have it added to
the mountain of ms beside the desk.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Always ask an editor what they
are looking for right now.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They will tell you what they
do not want to see.
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pjwriter2
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Mary, I would love to attend a
con. but money seems to be a
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pjwriter2
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problem how do u find some close
enough to home to attend
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Mary Rosenblum
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For those of you who are
serious about Sf, you need to subscribe to Locus Magazine.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is the trade magazine for
SF writers. Most of us get it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You read all the publishing
news in it...who just left which house and which house is starting a new
line or looking for a particular type of story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And they have a complete
calendar of events.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is a business expense and
it comes off my taxes.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is not cheap.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's 60 for a year...12
issues.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But you will get all the
inside information in the business.
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mbvoelker
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The one piece of technology I
don't recall seeing forecast in SF when I was a teen is the word processor.
Though Asimov had a voice operated, correctable typewriter with a single,
customized font in one of the Foundation books.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I think they skipped the word
processor, mb.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They went from typewriters
pretty much to voice-to-text machines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And smaller cons are not that
expensive.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you buy a membership way
ahead, it might be under 50 dollars for the weekend.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you know other writers who
are going, you can share a hotel room. The cons provide basic food stuffs
for attendees.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Nothing fancy, but you won't
starve.
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paja
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How do you remember all the
names and faces from cons?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Make notes!
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Mary Rosenblum
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No kidding!
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vmaroukian
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does "writer's
Markets" specify what each publisher prefers. would they say asimov's
likes soft sf
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Mary Rosenblum
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They do, vmar. But guidelines
are vague.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's why it's better to read
a couple of issues.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The guidelines stay the same
but each editor interprets them his or her own way.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is our Professional
Connection live interview with Gardner Dozois, award winning editor of
Asimov's Magazine and a host of successful anthologies. Feel free to ask
any questions you like! To ask a question, click on your "Ask a
Question" icon/button. (Or the "word bubble" icon, RIGHT
NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) Or type /ask before your question in the
regular send bar.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Only we're talking SF tonight,
since Gardner vanished into a time warp.
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paja
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Please define S fiction vs S
fantasy
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Mary Rosenblum
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Paja, science fiction to the
purist is based on real science that exists today. Most science fiction is
really fantasy, based on things that don't exist like faster than light
travel, interstellar communication, and the like. It' s called science
fiction, too.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The distinction is negligible.
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vmaroukian
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so, mary, when you first
approach an editor with a story, do you attach the entire story or a
synopsis. what abotu a novel..."
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Mary Rosenblum
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For a short story, vmar, you
send the entire story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The editor will read it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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As far as novels go, each
publisher will tell what to send.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You will either send the
complete ms.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of you will send a synopsis
and summary of the story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You don't send a query as a
novice writer.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I can do that, but the editor
knows that if I say I can write that book, I can.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She doesn't know that YOU a
novice, can.
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vmaroukian
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what about sample chapters
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually they want one to three
sample chapters, vmar.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They want to know if you can
actually put sentences together.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Again...that first, hook,
chapter needs to GLEAM.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And there are is an actual
selling fantasy synopsis on the website.
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tkat_2
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forgive me, but most of the
scifi I've been exposed to is on TV --and you did say most of it was junk
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, tkat, when compared to
the written SF it isn't very good.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The really cutting edge work,
the cool new ideas, and the really strong stories are in the books and
magazines and anthologies. Hollywood lags FAR behind.
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coway
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so every sentence in first
chapter has to GLEAM?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That would be a very good
thing, coway. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember. Your editor does not
have time to dig for good stuff in your ms. There are 999 book length ms
waiting to be read yet.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You need to smack the editor
in the puss with your powerful prose.
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vmaroukian
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mine simply shimmer, but it is
apparent that may not do. ;-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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I wouldn't say that, vmar. The
big part of breaking in is finding the editor that 'click's.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Every editor wants to find the
'next big name'. Believe me, editors are as passionate about what they do
as we writers are about what we do.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So they are looking for
something new, different, fresh, or just a darn good read.
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Mary Rosenblum
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What one editor shrugs at,
another editor will drool over.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Fiction is VERY subjective!
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coway
|
Making every sentence GLEAM
sounds almost impossible...or like a ver TALL order. WOW
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Mary Rosenblum
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No it isn't coway. You just
revise until it reads really well.
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mrsdesktop
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How do you learn an editor's
preference? They all can differ
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Mary Rosenblum
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They do, mrs.desktop.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's why reading a couple of
issues of the magazine, or some books published in that imprint will help
you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is especially true in the
novel market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Different publishers and
editors like different things.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Each major publisher, like
Random House, or Viking, or Putnam Berkeley has 'imprints'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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These are lines of books that
are similar in content and style, usually edited by a couple of editors.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Del Rey books, where I
published my first 3 SF books, is an imprint of Random House.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You have written your SF novel
or your Fantasy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Go to the bookstore. Get
yourself a nice latte, and start browsing the racks.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Read the blurb on the back.
Does this sound something like your story?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Is it similar in some general
way?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Make a note of the imprint on
the spine.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You will notice that books
like yours will tend to show up most often in a few imprints.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So send your novel to these
imprints first.
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pjwriter2
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Do we ever get to write what we
want or in our way
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Mary Rosenblum
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I do every day, pj.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I wouldn't do this if I was
writing to another's tune. I'd get a better paying day job, believe me!
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Mary Rosenblum
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You write what you want, but
if you don't learn the markets...
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Mary Rosenblum
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what happens?
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Mary Rosenblum
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You send your work out, you
get a lot of rejections, and you quit!
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if you narrow your
markets, focus on the places where YOUR work is most likely to catch an
editor's eye...
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Mary Rosenblum
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you will get fewer rejections
before you break in.
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vmaroukian
|
did all imprints start as
independent publishers?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, they did, vmar.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Lester Del Rey and his wife
published books for years. Their company was finally bought up by Random
House.
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smeagol
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Mary, a friend sent me this
saying to put above my desk: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can,
begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." -- Goethe.
Thought it was good for reading before writing query letters or sending out
ms :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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No kidding, smeagol! That's
great! Goethe does say some very sound things!
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Mary Rosenblum
|
And I would add an addendum to
that: If you want to begin, all you get is older.
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loriendil
|
Most publishers don't have a
slush pile anymore -- they only accept agented submissions. But how does
one find what agents might be interested in what you've got? As you say,
the Writers Market is only a general indication of what they are looking
for.
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