Helpful Links

Thought these writing links might come in handy. Most are my genre orientated (f/f/p romance) but there are a smattering of general sites.

Agents/Editors (for researching information)
Agent Query - http://www.agentquery.com/default.aspx
AuthorAdvance - http://www.authoradvance.com/
Literary Agent Verification - http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html
Preditors and Editors - http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm

Miscellaneous Sites
Time and Date.com - http://www.timeanddate.com/
Australian War Memorial:Military Organisation and Structure - http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/structure/rank_comparative.asp
IRS:Tax Identification Numbers for the USA information - http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96696,00.html

Writing Related
Brenda Hiatt's Show Me the Money - http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
Dictionary of Sexual Terms and Expressions - http://www.sex-lexis.com/
Gordian Plot:thesaurus technique for writers - http://gordianplot.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Great Source iwrite - Grammar - http://www.greatsource.com/iwrite/students/s_grammar_hndbk.html
The Perfect Pitch - http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2007/04/02/the-perfect-pitch
Publishers Weekly - http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Stephanie Smith's Contest Chart for Writers - http://www.stephiesmith.com/contests.html
When An Agent Offers You Representation - http://www.agentquery.com/writer_or.aspx
Write to Done - http://writetodone.com/

Organisations
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - http://www.sfwa.org/
RWA:Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal Chapter - http://www.romance-ffp.com/
ParaNormal Romance - http://www.paranormalromance.org/
Romance Writers of America - http://www.rwanational.org/
Romance Writers of Australia - http://www.romanceaustralia.com/
Romance Writers of  New Zealand - http://www.romancewriters.co.nz/
Australian Romance Readers Association - http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/

Submission Guidelines
Avon - http://www.harpercollins.com/imprints/avon/SubmissionGuidelines.aspx
DAW - http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/daw/index.html
Dorchester - http://romanticreads.net/2009/05/07/now-accepting-electronic-submissions/
e-Harlequin - http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=538&chapter=0
Hachette Australia - http://www.hha.com.au/about_submissions.html
Orbit - http://www.orbitbooks.net/about-orbit/
PYR - http://www.pyrsf.com/index.html
Tor - http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx?publisher=torforge&id=255#ctl00_cphContent_ctl30_lblQuestion

Web Design
Free Images for Websites - http://www.imagehousing.com/
Free Fantasy Design artwork for Websites - http://fantasyartdesign.com/free-wallpapers/best-fantasy-art.php?s=12&np=10&srt=1&best=1
Free Web Counters - http://www.freestatscounter.com/
The Three Bears Method - http://threebearsmethod.com/

(All links are current as of 23rd Dec.2010)

NB. Author's comment - all sites listed are intended to help writers with their research or as helpful links only - not promotion of any particular site.

SFR Discussion Alert!

If you're registered on the Barnes and Noble site, please hop on to the B&N Community Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog for an article and discussion on our favorite subject (which, by the way, prominently features one Brigader's work):

Shockingly Supernova: Who Knew Science Fiction Could be so Sexy?

It still amazes me that some readers aren't aware SFR is alive and well, and a growing subgenre.

E-Publishing - Is it Right for You

Author and fellow Brigader Lindsay Buroker stops by to talk about the pros and cons of e-publishing.

Hello all! There are many paths and expectations to publishing success. One of the first things I will always stress is for every new author to research the industry and identify the best path for their writing. As such, today I have Lindsay Buroker to the blog to talk about e-publishing and particularly self-publishing in this route. I was pretty impressed with the thorough research she did in this journey.

Lindsay...take it away!

****

If you write in genres that aren’t on most agents’ wishlists, or--worse--you write those cross-genre stories that defy categorization, then you might have grown disgruntled by the agent hunt. I know I felt disheartened before I even started. My novel Encrypted is one that doesn’t fall into any neat categories, though I’m going with science fantasy romance (I’m probably the first to use that).

When I browsed QueryTracker, there was a dearth of agents requesting science fiction and high fantasy. And there wasn’t anybody saying, “please send us your science fantasy romances because we know they’ll be huge as soon as this vampire craze dies down...” In fact, most agents had notes that said, “We’d rather cough up hair balls than represent SF/F” (that’s not a direct quote, but it’s the vibe I got from many!). Urban fantasy and paranormal romances were an acceptation, but I grew up reading Eddings, Tolkien, and RA Salvatore, so I don’t even think of those genres as fantasy.

About the time I was debating whether to try querying those few agents who did want SF/F, I stumbled across blog posts about JA Konrath, Brian S. Pratt, and Karen McQuestion, indie authors making a good living publishing their work for the growing ebook-reader demographic.

Online booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble make it easy to upload your novels or short story collections as ebooks (you don’t even need an ISBN for those two outfits), and they pay nice royalties too (in the 70% range). This means you can list your ebook at an ultra affordable $2.99 and still take home $2 with each sale.

The more I read about e-publishing, the more excited I got. I even started a blog called Ebook Endeavors to talk about what I was learning and my own results. In December, I listed The Emperor’s Edge, a high fantasy adventure with steampunk elements (all my novels have Categorization Crisis Syndrome) for $2.99. As I write this, it’s been three weeks since the novel went live, and it’s sold about a hundred copies. That’s not exactly enough to live on (it’ll be a while before I recoup my cover art and editing expenses), but I think it’s a promising start for a no-name author. I’ve set aside the agent hunt for the time being.

E-publishing isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but in case it’s something you’re considering, I’ll break down some of the pros and cons here.

Advantages of E-publishing:

It’s a speedy process.

With traditional publishing, it’ll take months--maybe years--from the time you start looking for an agent until you see your book on a shelf (if it ever gets there at all). It took me about a month from first deciding to publish an ebook to having it go live. In that time, an editor proofread it, an artist created a cover, and an ebook formatter turned my Mac Pages file into something readable on the kindle, nook, ipad, etc. When I uploaded the files at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords (a distributor that gets your ebooks into the stores that require ISBNs), it took a maximum of two days for them to go live.

There’s a potential to make good money without being a blockbuster hit.

I’m sure very few people will get rich as indie ebook authors, but some who have great books and who have worked hard at promotion are doing quite well. Some are even in the six-figures-a-year range solely from their ebook earnings. That’s money in the bank account, not gross sales.

The 70% royalty makes it very attractive to be an indie--if you can make sales. Traditionally published authors get an advance, but their royalties are significantly lower--even for ebook sales. Go look them up. Ouch.

You have full control over all aspects of your book.

As I mentioned, I get to set the prices of my ebooks, and I can change them on a whim. This means I can experiment to figure out if I sell ten times as many books at $0.99 as I do at $2.99, or if I can raise my price to $3.99 and see if people will still buy. I’d never price my ebook at $8 or $9 (just look at all the angry reviewers on Amazon giving one star because traditionally published ebooks cost more than paperbacks), even if I was a big name author. That’s not a choice authors who publish with big houses or even small e-presses get to make.

I can also see novel sales as they’re happening, which gives me some insight into what marketing tactics are paying off and which are flopping.

As far as writing goes, there are no deadlines, and you can publish your books at your own pace. The only people you have to please are the readers. You do lose out on the editorial input of an agent/editor, so this could be a con, depending on how much you value that...


For the full article and more information on Lindsay Buroker, stop by The Adventures of a Sci-Fi Writer.

Hailing On All Frequencies

Here are reports and recaps of all the latest SFR-related news. Contact me at Lgreen2162 (at) aol (dot) com (in the usual email format) with your news, releases, contest finals or wins, awards, conferences, workshops, activities, guest posts or anything of interest to fellow Brigaders.  (This may be one of our last HOAF installments.  The community is still very much in need of a new Communication Officer.  See notice below.)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

T. K. Toppin's SFR novel THE LANCASTER RULE has been nominated by her publisher, Champagne Books, as Novel of the Year 2010! 

(She'll have to hold her breath until April to learn the results though.)  Congratulations on your nomination, T.K.!

UPCOMING RELEASES

Darynda Jones' debut novel FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT will be released Feburary 1 from St. Martin Press.  This much anticipated novel, winner of the RWA 2009 Golden Heart for Paranormal Romance, features subtle SFR elements. This is the first novel in a series.

Congratulations, Darynda!

In addition to her work with the Australian flood relief Book Appeal, Jess Anastasi has a new release coming on the 14th of February, SEVERANCE. This is the sequel to the novel SANCTUARY, from Noble Romance Publishing. 

Congratulations, Jess!

HELP FIGHT E-BOOK PIRACY

You can help support Senate Bill 3804, also known as the "Combating Online Fringement and Counterfeits Act." Members interested in reading the legislation can click here. RWA also has information on their web site about their efforts to support this bill.  To read their press release, click here.

The SFR BRIGADE NEEDS YOU!

We are in desperate need of a new HOAF Communication Officer or team. Thinking about it? Want to try the Communication Officer cap on for a time to see how it fits? Able to report for duty once or twice a month?  Step right up!

As I prepare to de-orbit into a serious round of revisions, I regretfully announce I won't be able to continue these regular news roundups. If we have no volunteers, I'll have to jetison the current format and return to posting individual notices in the old Incoming Transmissions format. 

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY STRIKES AGAIN

If you missed Jessica Subject's article on this blog, be sure to check out the Six Sentence Sunday phenomenon--a great exercise for writers. (Six Sentence Sunday is the brainchild of fellow Brigader Sara Brookes.) Several Brigaders participated last week in what was quite a healthy turn out. Prepare a post on your blog and register with the Six Sentence Sunday site no later than Saturday.  Then grab yourself a cup of coffee on Sunday morning and sit down to read some great excerpts and enjoy the fun.

ROLL CALL

We're taking a roll call on the SFR Brigade web site and asking members to identify their respective regions in hopes we can coordinate future activities, conferences and cons by region. Please stop by the web site and let us know the force is with you. Thanks to all who have reported in so far.

REPORT ON THE AUSTRALIAN DISASTER

A letter from Brigader Kylie Griffin discusses the devastating floods in Australia on the SFR Brigade web site News.  Kylie also forwarded an appeal for books to replace those lost in the libaries of affected communities which was posted on the main blog here.  Jess Anastasi, another Brigader, is also involved in the RWA Flooded Communities Book Appeal.  Click the links to read more and see how you can help.

REVIEWERS WANTED

Marva Dasef would like reviews of her novel, ULTIMATE DUTY, and will provide PDF's of the story to prospective reviewers. If you'd like to play amateur New York Times critic for Marva, please contact her at : mgdasef@gmail.com

GUEST BLOGGING OPPORTUNITY

Brigader A.R. Norris announced Guest Blogging Opportunities which can include book or series reviews, author interviews, character interviews, themed articles or showcases. Please email her at ambernorris2000@yahoo.com.

BOOK TAGGING PARTY FLASHBACK

If you missed our Thursday Book Tagging Party CLICK HERE to see what novels we tagged on Amazon this past week.

WINTER WRITING FESTIVAL

The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival is underway. Members set their own goals with an objective to earn 50 points by the end of February. A special web site was introduced on January 6th that includes a chatroom, special pointers and inspiration, and swag! Good luck to all participants.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself.

- Irwin Shaw

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