What I’m Reading
This has been a crazy week on the home front, and I didn’t make any notes of short fiction I’ve read, but I have been reading. I am just over a third of the way through George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. I’ve been intending to read this novel for a long time, and luckily I got assigned the read in Holly Lisle’s How to Revise a Novel class. My to-be-read pile has reached gargantuan proportions, so it takes outside influence to bump something to the top of the list. Have to say that I’m enjoying the story so far, and amazingly for me, I do not have trouble keeping track of the immense cast of characters. He does a wonderful job of triggering my memory so I don’t get lost.
Publishing
A clear accounting (all puns intended) of the economics of word count:
http://magicalwords.net/lucienne-diver/the-economics-of-word-count/
The article is a good look at what happens after that first book is on the shelf, but the poem at the end is priceless:
http://lesbianauthors.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/naked/
And solid tips from another author on her second publishing round:
http://varkat.livejournal.com/147185.html
Speaking as someone coming from an editorial background, I just have to share this article. There’s always the hope that greater awareness will lead to change:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jean-naggar/the-editorial-role-an-age_b_482485.html
A breakdown of the steps a manuscript goes through in the publishing process. Note that all these steps barring two are required for eBooks as well as print copies.
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/02/cmap-2-how-books-are-made.html
Life
10 things learned from a website project failure that are useful in any project:
http://writetodone.com/2010/02/25/10-lessons-i-learned-from-a-magnificent-failure/
Writing
A group of 12 tips to being a prolific short story writer that generally are solid no matter whether you write one story a year or 52:
http://io9.com/5457388/
Good tips on ways to title your book:
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-title-your-book.html
Research
This link actually came from someone writing a thank you for my writing links page. It’s not intended for writing, but is a flush list of online dictionaries for many languages, oddly hosted by an answering service.
http://www.qualityansweringservice.com/content/ultimate-list-online-dictionaries
A look at the ways that people can approach a conflict. Should be useful for character interactions:
http://www.kilmann.com/conflict.html
Promoting
Things to think about when designing your author website:
http://www.sfwa.org/2010/03/authors-8-tips-for-your-websites-usability-and-design/
Submitting
Because we all need reminders a time or two:
http://www.learntowritefiction.com/the-secret-to-rejection/
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So you do know that Game of Thrones is the beginning of an uncompleted series right? It’s an *amazing* series and that ability to track the myriad characters continues through all the books…but then you hit the end and it’s NOT the end. Just a warning 🙂
Yes, trust me, I knew that before I had any intention of reading the book. However, at the rate I read, he’ll have finished it, and if not, as long as some things resolve along the way, I don’t need grand conclusion. Remember, I’m the one who reads series out of order because I believe ALL stories should have the sense of a larger world before and after, whether or not those books are ever written.
And again