publishing

It’s Official: The Twenty Palaces Series Has Been Cancelled (long)

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(Update to this post: I’m shutting down comments because it’s been over a week and they’re still coming. What’s more, I don’t really want to keep talking about it. Thank you.)

(Second update: Disabling new comments hid the old comments, which I didn’t want, so comments are back on again.)

(Third update: This cancelled series is sort of uncanceled. Self-published novellas seem like a viable path forward, and that’s what I’m trying. Check out my books page for new entries into the series.)

Yep. It’s true. Based on the sales of Circle of Enemies, Del Rey has decided not to offer me a contract to write more Twenty Palaces books.

What? Why?

Well, Pretend Questioner, let me address that in a very long blog post Continue reading

The Write Agenda

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I’m not a part of Writer Beware, but I think they do great work. So I was surprised to see that they’re taking a fair bit of abuse from someone (or someones) called The Write Agenda. I guess it first came out while I was on my internet fast.

I don’t know Ann Crispin at all, but I’ve been a fan of Victoria Strauss for years. I really enjoy her brainy fantasies about zealots and fanaticism, and she was the first professional who ever told me there was something of value in my writing. Of course it was a huge thrill for me when she agreed to blurb Child of Fire.

She’s spent years helping writers navigate the minefield of bad/useless agents and publishers. Whoever this anonymous creep at The Write Agenda might be, I support Writer Beware unreservedly.

Keep doing your good work, guys.

Friday quick notes

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1) I’m taking the family to see Steven Tobolowski live on our local NPR affiliate this morning. Exciting! My son loves his show (my son loves oral storytelling) and we can’t wait to see how it goes. And I don’t think I have to say that I’m also a big fan of Steve Scher, the interviewer.

2) I get a lot of people asking me about the status of the Twenty Palaces books, so I’m going to say: Please stop. I’m waiting to hear something official from my editor at Del Rey, but I’m not going to announce anything until I get the final word from them.

Believe me, when I finally hear, the first person I share the news with will be my wife. The second person will be the whole rest of the world. But it’s a stressful time right now, so please don’t keep prodding me. When I know, you’ll know, believe me.

3) After years of hearing about other writers receiving anthology invitations, I’ve started getting some of my own. The only one I’m sure I’m allowed to talk about is a book related to Evil Hat’s Don’t Rest Your Head rpg, which is being edited by Chuck Wendig. And I have a nasty little story idea in mind…

4) I sent a revised copy of A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark to my agent. New book! Hopefully soon.

5) I’ve been planning a large politics post for quite a while, and hearing that the U.S. government just killed a U.S. citizen without due process is prodding me to get around to it. Watch (or avoid) this space.

Randomness for 9/29

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1) The Dead Sea Scrolls are available online.

2) A flowchart guide to NPR’s top 100 sf/f books. “Enjoy stories about orphaned farm boys?” “No.” “Tough.”

3) M&Ms viewed through water drops.

4) How not to impress a publisher. And it’s all true, which won’t surprise anyone.

5) How to peel a whole head of garlic in ten seconds.

6) Photos of supers in their off moments. Of course Wonder Woman is the only one in a sexual activity and, um, considering the history of the character… Never mind. Love the Spider-man, though. Via Bill Martell.

7) Edible super-hero logos. Hellboy in chili is perfect, but I doubt the Punisher has ever gone near soy yogurt in his life.

The news is public: My editor is retiring.

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Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief at Del Rey and my editor, is accepting early retirement from Random House. She’ll be leaving at the end of the year, at which point I’ll have a new editor. It’ll be David Pomerico, who did such a great job on “A Glimpse of Darkness.”

For her, this means she can stop riding the subway every day and won’t have to attend a whole bunch of meetings. I understand she’ll be opening an editorial services company sometime in the future and, considering what an amazing editor she is, I’m sure she’ll have a long line of clients waiting for her help.

For me, well, I learned a helluva lot from her and I’ll be sorry not to work with her anymore. She was always responsive, fair, and most importantly, she laughed at my jokes. (Some of them, anyway.)

Oh, yeah, and she helped make the Twenty Palaces books way better than I could make them on my own.

Anyway, all things are transitory and I’m glad to have had the chance to work with her. As for the future of Ray Lilly et al, there’s nothing to announce yet.

A thoroughly unscientific survey of ebook buyers

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How do ebook readers choose which books to buy?

The results, while not necessarily reliable, fall pretty much in line with what we know about print books: “Others said it was great” and “I’ve enjoyed this author’s work before.” That’s why reviews are so important for writers when they’re just starting out.

This is how you can tell I’m cool

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Yesterday I was making the rounds signing copies of my books and, as I was walking to my first B&N, I pushed up my slipping glasses and heard a tink!

And my glasses fell off my face in two pieces. The metal bridge finally succumbed to fatigue and snapped apart.

How can you tell I’m cool?

So cool, Brewster.

Hell yeah.

By the way, none of the B&Ns in town had copies of Circle of Enemies in stock. Hurricane Irene delayed them, I’m told. Can I tell you how happy I am that the biggest bookstore chain in the country won’t stock my books in a great many of their stores until at least a week after it’s come out?

This is how happy I am:

So cool, Brewster.

Anyway, my wife “fixed” them by wrapping a wire around the nose bridge and hot-melt gluing it in place. That’s better than tape, I guess? I think she’s mad at me.

This is quite a book trailer

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It’s a little too long and it has a few uneven moments with the actors, but the production values are startling.

Here’s Brent Weeks’s post about it.

Is this the French cover for Child of Fire?

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I don’t know, because it popped up while I was looking at Goodreads.

What do you think?

My mind is melded

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I’m taking a moment to log in at the library that there’s a new Mind Meld up at SF Signal. “What’s this?” you exclaim. “Harry has never linked to a Mind Meld column before! What makes this one so different?”

Well, click through, my friend. The only way you’ll find out is to click through.

(And me without my Spock ears.)