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‘The Written’: Another good idea marred by technical mistakes

One of the best things about independent publishing, is authors with really good ideas can get those ideas into print without hassling with convincing a big publisher to spend the money for an initial print run of an untried author. However, removing the big publisher also highlights a problem with many independently published books — all too often there’s no editor’s hand apparent in the work — leaving behind technical problems that detract from the story. It’s easy to understand why a fledgling author would skip an editor. For a full-length manuscript a professional editor can cost a thousand dollars or more, and many fledgling authors just don’t have that kind of money. But even with the … Read entire article »

New author Cedar Sanderson and self publishing

(Editor’s Note: New Author Cedar Sanderson has graciously taken the helm today to give us a few thoughts on self publishing. Be nice kiddies and share the cookies.) If I couldn’t self-publish I probably would not have sought to become published. When I first started to study writing about ten years ago, I started to hear the stories about traditional publishing, and I figured out fairly quickly that I had little to no chance of ever being published. Maybe it was because I was also struggling with the other parts of my life, but I put aside any thoughts of publishing and just wrote when I could. About two years ago, now, I started to hear about self-publishing, and … Read entire article »

An Amazing Superhero Story

Imagine that the world has been changed in such a way that any traumatic incident might trigger permanent superpowers. That’s the world Hope Corrigan lives in, so when a terrorist bombs the bridge she’s crossing, she becomes one of Chicago’s most powerful “capes,” to use the slang term for costumed superheroes. , the debut novel by Marion G. Harmon, begins with a bang (the aforementioned bomb) and ends in tears. Along the way we take a fascinating tour of a few months in the life of a brand new superhero, codenamed Astra. We learn that it’s not all as wonderful as you might think to be able to fly, lift cars, have super-senses, and heal at … Read entire article »

Forbes Says Ebook Sales Slowing; I’m Not So Sure

Well, this is both good news and bad news for writers. Forbes has a report out today regarding the fact that e-book growth slowed to “only” 41% for 2012. They explain: According to the latest numbers from the Association of American Publishers, revenue for ebooks for some of the biggest categories grew by 41% in 2012. Ebooks now account for 23% of trade publishing revenues. In any other industry for any other business, this would be eye-popping growth. For the world of ebooks, it represents a significant slowdown from years past. The AAP has been tracking ebooks since 2002. That year, ebooks represented 0.05% of all trade publishing revenues. To get to the current 23% number, the biggest gains … Read entire article »

WordFire Press titles to become part of the Baen eBook library

Kevin J. Anderson’s WordFire Press has just signed a deal for all their titles to join the Baen eBook Library, the largest SF-dedicated eBook site. WordFire Press features over fifty backlist and previously unpublished titles by Anderson, Frank Herbert, Bill Ransom, Brian Herbert, Neil Peart, and others. WordFire Press books are already distributed in most eBook formats through major eBook retail channels. Becoming part of the Baen eBook Library will introduce those titles to a very large, dedicated, and specialized audience. In coming months, WordFire Press books will be featured in the Baen newsletter, which goes out to more than ten thousand very interested readers of SF eBooks. Baen Books has long been a pioneer and … Read entire article »

Sarah A. Hoyt finalist for her second Prometheus Award

The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its Prometheus Awards ceremony Labor Day weekend at the World Science Fiction Convention. Winners for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) will be presented in San Antonio, Texas at LoneStarCon3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention to be held from August 29th through September 2, 2013. We are happy to announce the finalists for the Prometheus Best Novel award and for the Hall of Fame award. The Prometheus finalists for Best Novel recognize pro-freedom novels published in the last year. The finalists in the Best Novel category of this year’s Prometheus Award, for the best pro-freedom novel of 2013 are (in alphabetical order by author): * … Read entire article »

Amazon Purchasing Goodreads: Good News Or Bad?

The news broke last Thursday that Amazon is purchasing book discussion website Goodreads.com, and almost immediately people started opining on how good, or how bad, this was going to be for Goodreads (GR). Personally, having had personal experience as a customer of another company that Amazon bought, both before and after they became a member of the Amazon family, it looks like good news. Audible.com is the largest online retailer of audiobooks, and if memory serves they were even before Amazon purchased them. However, the Amazon purchase really didn’t change the purchasing experience from this customer’s perspective. About the only difference I saw was when they invited me to link my Amazon account to my Audible account … Read entire article »

2013 Hugo Award finalists released!

Below find a list of the 2013 Hugo Award finalists. Congratulations in particular to Baen Editrix and Publisher Extraordinaire  Toni Weisskopf! Best Novel (1,113 ballots) 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit) Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor) Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW) Best Novella (587 ballots) After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications) The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications) On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit) “The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012) Best Novelette (616 ballots) “The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts: Unfit For Eden, … Read entire article »

Inborn: An Interesting Idea, But Many Problems With Execution

I really wish I didn’t have to write this, because I’m really not a mean guy, but I think it’s my duty, so I’ll do it. , by J. Lawrence, has an interesting take on magic at its heart; however, the technical problems with the writing almost overshadow it. There are a dismaying number of grammatical errors and at least one huge plot hole that really made this book a chore for me to read, rather than the pleasure I was hoping it would be. I’ll start with the good points. The story is, at its heart, the familiar tale of a young man finding that he has magic and trying to cope with the consequences of … Read entire article »

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