August 25, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Reports: Listing

August 20, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Packing It All In

Monday is typically a slow day at WorldCon. For many people, it is a travel day back to wherever they came from. Dealers tend to start packing up early to avoid the crunch at the close of the convention.

When WorldCon was (is?) held on Labor Day weekend, it makes more sense to me, as Monday is a holiday (at least in the U.S.) when people can attend with their family and free from work. On the other hand, by Sunday night, we tend to be pretty wiped out and Monday is a good day to chill, reflect on the Hugos, and maybe get in some last-minute shopping.

Monday for us was mostly logistics and packing (and a lot of carrying boxes to the car). And, at the end, the table was once again the blank black canvas on which we had built our dreams for the weekend.

To everyone I met, and to everyone I saw: Thank you!

August 20, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Autographs: Spider Robinson

I waited in line for an hour and a half. I met some new people — and met up again with a few people from the line on Friday.

Shortly after I arrived in line, I was informed by a staff member that I was the last person probably guaranteed to get a signature. (WHEW!)

And, this time I did. Spider was every bit as charming and personable as you might hope and expect and thought he probably was.

From what I heard, from talking to people later, everyone in line at the time the session started got autographs.

I sincerely hope that this is part of a “comeback tour” for Spider, and not a “last hurrah” as one of the staff members implied.

August 19, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — Creating a Book Cover: Part 4

Lee will present the illustration to Elliott and Heather. While working through any small requested changes, they’ll contemplate type and line design of the book. Type, design, focus, the spine, and readability on the web will all be discussed.

Panel: Elliott Kay, Lee Moyer, Heather McDougal

This was largely a visual sessions, with lots of images projected, so my notes are sparse as you really need to see what they were referring to in order to understand the context. Also, I won’t repeat points that were made during the first session in this series.

  • “Everyone is an Art Director … and very few are qualified.”
  • “Covers are iconography, not just illustration.”
  • How can you tell when something is self-published?
    • cover image is clearly a stock photograph
    • reliance on basic fonts like Helvetica
    • the cover doesn’t use fonts that reflect the content or tone of the book
  • don’t use crazy fonts or wild special effects with the fonts
August 19, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — The Paths to Publishing

The publishing market continues to evolve with new technology, new business models, and an ever-changing ecosystem of publishers, booksellers, and distributors. Professional writers looking to profit from their work have more choices than ever. How do you choose between pursuing an indie career or a traditional one? What are the benefits to working with a larger publisher? What are the opportunities available if you do it all yourself? Panelists will discuss the paths to publishing success, how to decide between the options, and the factors that go into making the decision.

Panel: SL Huang, Amanda Bridgeman, Scott H. Andrews, Wesley Chu, Linda Nagata

  • Self-Publishing
    • What do you like to read?
    • Reading short stories vs. novels: “Nibbling on a cracker vs. gorging on a steak.”
    • Be at the point where you’ve actually written something; there’s really no point in doing it sooner
    • How much time (patience) are you willing to invest to do traditional publishing?
    • short fiction is a great way to learn the craft; however, it’s a completely different muscle than writing a novel
    • it’s easier to go from traditional publishing to self-publishing than the reverse; it does happen, but those instances are actually quite rare
    • if you’re not patient, you probably shouldn’t be a writer (particularly if you want to go the traditional publishing route)
    • “There is no easy path.”
    • self-publishing takes a lot of time and mind-time
    • “You have it love it.” (all of the aspects of self-publishing)
    • “Even with traditional publishing, you will get stuck with a lot of the promotion.”
    • “At the end of the day, it’s your book and your career.”
    • It can get frustrating with traditional publishing to get the promotion that you want
    • “Being in control can be very satisfying.”
    • “We don’t see the back end of things with traditional publishing.”
    • “The path of a career in writing is littered with dead associates.” (I think he meant this metaphorically)
  • Agents
    • “An agent is like dating.”
    • at the end, it’s a business relationship
    • “You need to value yourself.” (Don’t stick with a bad agent.)
    • Some agents wear many hats
      • some are editors
      • some are contracts
      • some are sales people
  • “We are declining and depressed industry.”
  • audiobooks are harder to produce outside of the U.S. (because some countries don’t support the royalty-share model)
  • Misconceptions (about self-publishing and writing)
    • “It’s not a mean to print money.” (Sure, some writers get fantastically successful, but you probably won’t.)
    • “If you’re writing for the love of it, you’ll be far happier.”
    • “If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it.” (about writing)
    • “If you need alcohol to write, don’t write.”
    • need an inner drive
    • “When you’re contractually obligated to write, then you’re a writer.”
    • “Everybody in their life has one good book in them.”
  • Social networking
    • if you have no social network presence, then write more books
    • can be very valuable for making connections
    • use it as just another tool in your promotional toolbox
    • you do need to monitor your time on it (vs. actually writing)
  • Promotions
    • email newsletters are the best, but take a lot of time
    • BookBub is a great way to sell lots of copies at a low price
  • How to tell a bad agent
    • want money up front or a reading fee
    • they don’t treat you with respect
    • they ignore your messages
    • people keep bad agents because they believe they must have one
August 18, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — Which Road to Publication?

The road to publication has splintered into many twisty paths. Options have never been greater for aspiring authors, but navigating the choices has never been murkier. Where do you start? Indie, traditional publishers or small presses? What about Amazon and Kindle Unlimited? A panel of authors from indie to Big Five publishers—and everything in between—maps the routes and outlines the pros and cons of each path in the brave new world of publishing.

Panel: Jennifer L. Carson, J.L. Doty, Tod McCoy, Jonathan Brazee, Jack Skillingstead

  • Issues an author should consider
    • have a goal
      • sell books
      • win awards
      • make a living
    • to sell  100 or 200 or 1000 copies of a book is a lot of work (indie publishing)
    • how much do you want to put into the non-writing work?
      • sometimes you have to pay for the expertise
    • be aware of external factors that can influence sales and/or promotion
    • You can tell how large a publisher is by how long it takes them to get a book out
    • Yes, people really do judge a book by it’s cover
  • How much control? How much effort?
    • particularly for traditional publishing, there is an established methodology
    • it’s hard to sell 100 … 200 … 1000 copies
    • it’s easy to sell 10,000 … 20,000 copies, once the momentum or demand has built
    • How do you do the latter? No idea. Not even the “Five 5” know for sure.
    • traditional publishing and self-publishing aren’t that different in that regard
    • be the best writer you can; find your own voice
    • work hard on writing more books; focus on production
  • Self-publishing
    • review the fiction
    • look for a cover
    • editing
    • formatting
    • cover design
    • copy editing
    • know the difference between the different types of editors
    • consider hiring a designer
    • the hard part is everything after those
    • marketing
  • Money
    • average royalty from a traditional publisher for a paperback book is 50-75¢
    • ebook royalties might go as high as 70%
    • How? No one knows for sure. (See the recurring theme here?)
    • A lot of independent authors go with KDP Select to maximize their revenue, but this puts them exclusive to Amazon
      • Amazon is still trying to stop the scammers who manipulate the page-read system to earn money
    • most self-publishers go print-on-demand (POD) for printed editions, otherwise they have to store and ship the books — more time taken away from writing-related tasks
    • shipping costs eat into your profits
    • most booksellers wanted guaranteed return rights if the books don’t sell; this can kill the independent author as they end up paying for shipping both ways
    • you can expect to pay
      • content/developmental edit: $2,000 – $3,000
      • proofreader: $300 – $500
      • cover design: $200 – $6000
  • Essentials skills (even if you have to hire out for them)
    • copy editing
    • cover design
    • in general, a copy editor should be able to turn your average-length book around in about 2 weeks
  • recommended self-editing process
    • write
    • wait 2 years
    • edit
    • repeat for 25 years
  • the odds of your first novel earning out? Not likely.
  • books that do take off tend of have a “halo effect” on an author’s other works — so make sure you have some to benefit from this
  • “When someone tells you how to sell books, that’s how they did it.”
  • Not every thing that works for someone else might — probably — won’t work for you
  • the fundamental difference from the item above is: You didn’t write that book
  • “Success can’t be predicted from working your ass off.”
  • When you self-edit (or have a bad editor), “You are who you came in as”
  • People want to re-hire editors who made them better
  • getting published with a mainstream publisher has a cachet associated with it, but there is often little other advantage for a new or niche author
August 18, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — In Memoriam: Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison thrived on controversy, and left his mark on the professional and fannish sides of the community, for better and for worse. Join friends of Harlan in remembering this cantankerous, strange figure who even in death evokes strong feelings.

Panel: Tom Whitmore, Robert Silverberg, David Gerrold, Chris M. Barkley, Nat Segaloff, Christine Valada

First of all, nearly all of us were surprised that this session was held in a standard-sized room. There must have been a reason why it wasn’t held in the large hall where the Spider Robinson GoH interview was held. It was standing-room only, and many people were turned away. (A lot of people, I suspect, came to the room for the previous session — I have no idea what it was — to ensure that they got a seat, as only about a dozen seats opened up when that session ended. Whoever was on the panel on the previous session probably got a much larger crowd than they expected.)

The session was a wonderful and just barely melancholy mix of remembrances and stories about Harlan, his work, his life, and his impact on others. It was clear that no one believed him to be a saint, not unworthy of criticism, but this was neither the time nor place to dwell on either of those aspects of this influential writer’s life.

As with the Spider Robinson GoH interview, I took no notes. However, if you want to listen to the session, David Gerrold (with the permission of the other panelists) has posted it here..

August 18, 2018

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — Lady Dings the Prudes

Celibacy and Asexuality in Spider Robinson’s Callahan and Stardancer Books
Sexual diversity is one of the strengths of Spider Robinson’s works. His characters engage in a variety of types of romantic relationships and sexual encounters, particularly at Lady Sally’s Place. At one point, Lady Sally indicates that celibacy is “the only form of sexual dysfunction,” yet this seems at odds with the overarching themes of diversity and acceptance. The speaker will argue to the larger context of asexuality in speculative fiction, and how this all plays out.

Panel: Emily Fleming

The main title alone, right?

I originally had marked this session on My Schedule for two reasons: 1) I was amused by the title and its lovely related pun, particularly for a session on the Academic Track; and 2) it was about Spider Robinson and his stories. Either of those alone would have been reason enough. However …

Emily stopped by the Paper Angel Press table on Thursday and we chatted at some length with her about books and writing and Spider Robinson, and she wisely mentioned that she was doing this panel. I promised her that I would attend, even if I was still mildly leery of a session on the Academic Track.

I am pleased to report that Emily’s presentation (which followed one titled “Questioning Mononormativity: Heinleinian Non-Monogamies”, which was quite interesting as well) was engaging, entertaining, and informative. To achieve either of the first two during an academic presentation, in my mind, deserves great and high praise.

I won’t endeavor to capture or try to summarize the presentation. If I find out that it is available online somewhere, I will post a link to it — although that will be far, far from the actual experience of being there when it was presented.

Summary: I am very, very glad that I went. Emily, you did a fantastic job and I hope your sister believed you.

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