Getting published

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Let’s say you’ve got Reggie Jackson willing to give away hitting tips, answer questions about breaking into the Major Leagues. And someone says, “Hey, Reg! I want to be a pro ballplayer — but my local Thrifty doesn’t carry batting gloves. Where can I buy a pair?” I think most people would recognize that question as a waste of time for all parties involved.

— Quote from here.

I wasn’t really planning to write this post, but my editor suggested it. (Or did she? I remember that she did, but I was getting a lot of input at the time, so maybe I misremember.) Here’s the story behind that suggestion:

I had just finished the “Escapist Fantasy” panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and I knew I had stammered and lost the thread once or twice, but I’d also made a decent point or two. While I’d been up there at that long, long table, I’d seen my editor out in the audience. We’d never met, but thanks to the power of Google, I knew what she looked like. Hey, no pressure, right?

Also, during the panel, the moderator mentioned her by name, saying something like: “We have Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief at Del Rey, in the audience today. What do you think, Betsy, about…” and outed her to the whole room.

After the panel ended, I thanked folks and made my way down to the floor. I was meeting my editor face-to-face for the first time–and I hadn’t done as well as I’d have liked on the panel, so I was all set to apologize, plus I was on my way to my first signing, and I was trying not to be a complete goof–but before we could get past the pleasantries, a guy butted in to say “Hi, I’m an aspiring writer and I’d really like to be published with your company. I’d really appreciate any advice you could give me.” Or whatever.

Now, I was sorta annoyed by this, because that was not the conversation I needed to be having at the moment. Betsy gave him a brief answer, stating that they only accept agented submissions, then she turned to me and said: “You broke into publishing recently. Do you have any advice?” Continue reading

Who doesn’t love charts?

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The chart of fantasy cover art.

eta: Also, craziness!

Two difficult, but necessary, links

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First, Jim C. Hines discusses the legal tactics of the Hotel Marriott lawyers in response to a lawsuit brought by a woman who was raped on their property: They are blaming the victim. (I’m linking to his LiveJournal because I can’t get his WordPress blog to open.) Jim has a warning at the top that his post is potentially-triggering discussion of rape and victim-blaming, and the comments are, too. FYI.

If you stay at Marriotts when you travel, you might want to write them a little letter.

Second, Hal Duncan has written an open letter to John C. Wright concerning Wright’s recent diatribe against Syfy, GLAAD and tolerance. I won’t like to Wright’s post itself, which is pretty gross, but Duncan’s response is excellent.

It’s also long, and the background makes it difficult to read. It’s worth the trouble, though.

The new Segway

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This is the new product that will change the way the world exercises!

As far as I can tell, that’s not a joke. It’s a real product.

Something I buried earlier in the week

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I realize that I buried this in a previous post, so let me repost it here:

If you want to get a free signed ARC of Child of Fire, Suvudu is giving one away–along with a bunch of other books–in a sweepstakes. You have until August 21st to enter.

If you’ve read the Sample Chapter and can’t wait for the rest, well, here’s your chance to get an early copy.

(Okay. That’s as much hucksterism as I can manage. Too much?)

In lieu of actual content…

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I give you this sad and tender song about GI Joe and Cobra, at the end of the day.

Which is freaking hilarious! I wish I were better at recognizing all the stars doing cameos here.

Oh, fer…

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I can not understand why the characters in this book insist on chatting so much. Can’t we just jump straight to the violence? Please?

Also, I can not make the links on the right sidebar (on my blog, for those reading this on LiveJournal) rearrange themselves into the order I want.

I attribute both problems to a sleepless night and really awful dreams.

Child of Fire giveaway

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I have a post about breaking in to professional publishing (at least, how I did it) and why I’m writing about it, but I finished it so late that I knew it was an ugly first draft and would have to read it again before I posted it.

In the meantime, Suvudu.com is giving away a signed copy of Child of Fire as part of their sweepstakes promo. Lots of other books there. Check it out.

Also: the online press kit. I’m going to get me one of these, and I’ve already sent a couple notes to my PR person at Random House to see what he thinks I should include. Seen via LJ user marthawells.

While you folks are thinking about Worldcon

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And arguing about Hugo winners, I will continue with my lifelong quest to be behind the times by posting… San Diego Comic Con photos!

Most people see a person in costume and ask them to pose for the picture. Which they do. Me, I liked taking pictures of them while they were looking at their watches, impatiently waiting for a pal, or sitting in a corner for a rest. What I wanted most was a picture of a cosplayer eating one of those sandwiches out of the plastic clamshell, or maybe a hot dog, but it was not to be.

Candid!

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But here’s one picture that’s not candid:

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Yeah, that’s me posing beside a poster for the book

You can see pictures of my panel, my signing, and the people at the con by skimming through the set.

The Peter Parker

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I know. It sounds like a impolite euphamism, doesn’t it?

This weekend, bittercon is going on, and as part of my general desire to procrastinate on Man Bites World I’m going to write about a topic I’ve wanted to cover for quite a while.

It’s a type of protagonist I think of as a “Peter Parker,” the secret identity of Spider-man. For those who don’t read a lot of comics and have never bothered with the movies, let me make a brief list of qualities a Peter Parker would have:

* – always tries to do the right thing, usually at great personal cost.
* – does not receive just rewards for the good they do.
* – often have tremendous personal troubles unrelated to their do-gooding activities
* – while skilled or powerful, they aren’t the *most* skilled or powerful, usually getting by on cleverness or grit

Harry Dresden, to take one example, started off as a Peter Parker hero. He never backed away from doing the right thing, even when everyone else around him thought of him as a villain.

Peter Parkers stand in opposition to other hero types. There are the Clark Kents, who are quite powerful in their own right, extremely idealistic and concerned with living by fair and just rules, and who receive the accolades they deserve for the good they do. If they have personal problems, they stand in stark contrast to their near-invincibility in their realm of conflict. Captain America is a Clark Kent (in fact, I was tempted to call this type the Steve Rogers, but I figured Clark was more well known). Quite a few TV cops fall into the Clark Kent mold, too, including Swoozie Kurtz’s character in THE CLOSER.

Another type is the Bruce Wayne–a hero who is extremely skilled/ powerful and tremendously efficient in the realm of conflict. Whether they receive accolades or not is beside the point for this type, because they are an authority figure apart from other types of authority. The Bruce Wayne characters are less about admiring a character for doing the right thing no matter the personal cost as they are (often brutal) power fantasies about extreme competence in the face of terrible danger. James Bond is a Bruce Wayne type, for instance.

For them what wonder, I chose comic book character names for the label because they are long-lasting, well-known and relatively static.

What do you think? Any other heros you’d like to categorize or any other categories you’d like to create? Personally, I’ve been trying to decide where Indiana Jones would fit in, or whether he deserves his own category.