As some of you may know, arcaedia is my duly appointed intermediary herein forthwith and so on to the business side of the literary world. Well, she is offering a dandy deal here, and I am amazed that it's still priced well in the affordable range.

Personally, I would bid even if I knew I wouldn't be able to meet with her over the course of the year, because I believe the critique alone would be worth the price of admission.

Just sayin'

PS: the link to the bidding page itself is here. Not that I'm hinting or trying to make it easier or anything.

This isn't how you do it.


By way of swivetfeed

Received a contract today as an email attachment. Gee.

I do need to print out and sign four copies. Legal size paper always complicates everything--what is the purpose of the size difference? I'm sure it's a reason grounded in tradition and the fact that documents would probably be twice as long if they didn't make the paper longer, but still.

Electronic signatures would be nice at a time like this.

All publishers move to direct deposit. Agent receives money within days after delivery/publication/second full moon of the month/whatever the agreed-upon dates are, then instantly deducts their commission and sends on the rest with the press of a key. No more 'the check was lost--we need to cut you another.' No more needing to wait 5-7 business days for paper checks to clear. It's just there. Clickety.

I attended BEA a few years ago when it was in Chicago. It was interesting, and I walked my feet off. Not sure if it did me any good, but Harpercollins was nice enough to get me a ticket and I did visit the HC booth, which was huge and spiff.

Interesting to read about this year's event from the POV of a buyer for a small chain of stores. The only "Hey, I know those people!" moment:

"Nice to meet you, we're Small Beer, have a catalogue," says the man at the booth for another wonderfully named outfit.

There can only be one Small Beer, right?

From stealthgeek, by way of Publishers Lunch:

Diana Gill has been promoted to executive editor at Eos and William Morrow imprints, reporting to Jennifer Brehl. Gill has been with the company since 1998, three months after the launch of Eos.

I was one of Diana's first authors--she's been my editor throughout the Jani series.

Major congrats!

Much discussion these past few days. Howard Hendrix, the current SFWA Veep, unleashed a bit of a firestorm with his post in the sfwa LJ, especially the comment that those who post free books/stories on the web are scabs:

A scab is someone who works for less than union wages or on non-union terms; more broadly, a scab is someone who feathers his own nest and advances his own career by undercutting the efforts of his fellow workers to gain better pay and working conditions for all.

Other writers took exception to this assertion. Given that I am planning to post the odd free short work on my website in the hope of drumming up interest in ENDGAME and the other Jani books, I felt the sting myself. Whether it's justified or not, an accusation of undercutting fellow writers hurts.

John Scalzi responded, among others. "Pixel-stained Technopeasant Wretch" has entered the lexicon, and there should be items available at CafePress even as I type.

In this, as in just about every other damned subject, I can see both sides, and my feelings abide in the grey between.

( Kris' Saturday afternoon ramble )

From Radar, by way of MediaBistro:

HarperCollins Book Deal for Jenna Bush (Radar)
It's hard out there for would-be first-time authors — unless your dad is the president, y'all! First daughter Jenna Bush has landed the book deal she was fishing for, with HarperCollins announcing plans to publish Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope this fall. The News Corp.-owned publishing house pursued the deal in spite of a $300,000 price tag that had given other suitors pause.

Rest of story via the above link.

I know it's my publisher. I know publishing is a business, and this book may well make money. But HarperCollins has lost money on these sorts of books before--non-fiction by the media darlings of the moment--and yet they keep going after them.

And the midlists keep shrinking...

I have about 3 weeks or so to have a new, official Author Photo taken. The one that appears in Contact Imminent is very spiff, but it was taken four years ago and I don't look like that anymore. Hair is now short and dark. I still have that sweater, and the leather jacket--I could do one of those shots like the one where the little kid wears the same shirt from infanthood to teen years, except there would only be four years difference and everything fits regardless.

Never mind.

ANYway, I still need to have the new shot taken, so I'll probably make the appointment for next week. Same studio where I had the CI shots taken, though I don't know whether the same photog is there. They do have one staffer who specializes in portraits, and I may ask to work with her. Maybe it'll be warmer and sunny, so we can try some relatively unposed outdoor shots. I hate shots that look posed. I hate having my picture taken. I'm not looking forward to any of this, but I need new photos.

*blech*

Thanks to John Scalzi for discussing the matter of writing income. Note the comment stating that an SF income of $67K/year likely puts him in the top 1% of SFWA, earnings-wise.

This is a man who works his ass off, and writes fast. If you work your ass off and write more slowly, but don't happen to create Hannibal Lecter, shave off accordingly.

I will point friends and acquaintances..and the odd stranger...toward that post when they ask me why I'm still working the day job even though I've published four books.