I-CON
Current mood: sleepy

Okay, I know this is a little late, but I did want to write a quick blurb about I-CON, which I attended in Springfield, IL, last week.

Shane Moore, the talented author of "A Prisoner's Welcome," invited me to the convention and it was certainly fun even if I didn't sell too many books. While there I was able to meet some other great and very nice authors: Charles Embry Jr. (The Lost Keep of Kaywall), Elizabeth Donald (Nocturne) and E.E. Knight (Many books, including Way of the Wolf). I also want to give a quick shout out to Shane Beningfield, who took great care of the guest authors. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed meeting all the people who attended. I whole-heartedly recommend taking a look at the books written by the other authors in attendance. They're good people and loaded with talent.

Currently reading : Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book) By Neal Stephenson Release date: 02 May, 2000

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Giving this a shot
Current mood: awake

In all honesty I'd never planned on writing a blog entry. For one thing my life's not particularly interesting and for another I can't remember the last time I wrote anything that wasn't a work of pure fantasy or a scathing move review. Still, folks kept prodding me and the good Mr. Joe Lawson finally acted as the proverbial straw, breaking the reluctant writer's back. So, this particular entry is going to serve little purpose beyond 1. getting me started and 2. answering a question that comes up a LOT. So, the first issue now resolved, I'll move on to number two.

Whenever someone finds out I'm an author I'm invariably asked a host of different questions, but one particular question arises in every single conversation: how did you go about getting published? Or words to that effect. They ask because they're curious, certainly, but also because as aspiring writers (and let's face it, the vast majority of readers want to try life on the other side) they want guidance. Let me say right here and right now that I am the last person in the world you want advice from when it comes to this matter.

There are a host of books, articles, essays, lectures, and courses on how to get your book published, and according to each and every one of those works I did everything completely wrong. I wish I could say I did this in a rebellious effort to fly in the face of authority, but I'm not much of a rebel. In truth, I did it because I never planned on getting published. I wrote because I enjoyed it and it passed the time... I had no other motive. I was published via the grace of Lady Luck. You see, I wrote my little book quietly, late at night, while trapped at my job because I was bored. A few close friends and family members read it and proceeded to nag me unmercifully to get it published. I didn't want to get it published because that involved a lot of work. Still, one can only take nagging so long before cracks appear, so I reluctantly agreed to send it in to someone, get the rejection letter, and proudly display it for all to see. Would that suffice? They ageed this would be an acceptable course of action. So, I sent it in blind (no agent, no query letter, no anything...) to a few publishers I knew of. I promptly forgot about the whole thing and returned to normal life... only to be accepted somehow, some way, by Mundania Press.

So, as you can see, I am not exactly an authority on navigating and conquering the tricky, frustrating publication maze. Please, for the love of God, don't listen to any advice I might dispense whilst in a sleep-deprived stupor. Don't think to yourself "well, it worked for this fellow, why not for me?" and send your cherished work off to the slush pile. Lady Luck strikes in such ways only once or twice every hundred years. If you really want to be published, read all those books on publication. Listen to the lectures. Jump through the hoops. But don't, don't, DON'T, follow my lead. Thank you.

Currently reading : A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) By George R.R. Martin Release date: 05 September, 2000

12:18 AM - 7 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment