S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 171

What Gutenberg Invented

I'm bailing on you guys for the next couple of days so I can deal with work stuff and get ready for my next road trip. I will be back once my bags are packed and my desk doesn't look like the Mount Everest of Unfinished Assignments.

If you're fortunate enough to live in or near Houston, Texas you can see what Gutenberg did for mankind at the Museum of Printing History on Clay Street. If not, here's a short film by Danny Cookie featuring Paul Collier, a modern-day Gutenberg at work in the UK:

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

See you next week.

More Big Huge Labs Stuff

I've been back over at Big Huge Labs looking for some ideas, this time for an art project. I wanted to frame some of my own photos in interesting ways, and decided to try out their Framer generator.

The Framer offers these options to frame any image file you upload:

USA Stamp ~ USA Stamp, no postmark ~ Canadian Stamp ~ Canadian stamp, no postmark ~ Stamp border ~ Stamp border, no postmark ~ Canvas Panels ~ Canvas Panels (portrait) ~ To-do List ~ Autumn Leaves ~ Film ~ Holga 35mm ~ Holga 35mm (portrait) ~ Frosted glass ~ Frosted Glass (portrait) ~ Wood Frame ~ Reflection ~ Polaroid ~ Brushed edge ~ Brushed edge (portrait)Bulletin Board ~ ColorCraft Bonus Photo

It's very simple to use this generator; you just upload your photo, choose a frame style, select the position of your image within the frame, set the background color, choose a date (for the postmark frames) and add a photo credit if desired. Once you click on create, the generator does the rest. Here are some of the framed images I did in a few seconds:

Postage Stamp with Postmark Frame:



Frosted Glass Edge Frame:



Traditional Wood Frame:



Brushed Edge Frame:



They also offer one option that produces a nice organizational helper:

To-Do List:



For those of you who are making your own covers or promo items, this might be a useful online tool to bookmark.

Audio Pre-Order Sale

Nightborn will be my first novel released in audio as well as print and e-book, and Tantor Audio has the CD and MP3 editions on sale for 50% off if you pre-order now. The story will be read by Johanna Parker, who has a lovely voice with amazing range, and who has narrated among many works the audio editions of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series as well as Stephanie Tyler's Shadow Force novels.

Mine is not the only title on sale; there are also other plenty of other audio books featured in the 50% off sale at Tantor's site, from nonfiction on Presidents & Heads of State, Cultural Heritage books in honor of Black History Month, and (just in time for Valentine's Day) lots of excellent romance novels.

I listen to audio books in the car whenever I'm on a road trip, but they're also great when I'm sewing or taking a break on the porch (I can't cook when I listen to books; I always end up burning something.) Audio editions also make great gifts for a commuter or someone who has to travel a lot for work, or simply wants something to listen to other than radio or television.

Visual Fun

Big Huge Labs, home of many fun and useful Flickr toys, has one generator I often use for title and story ideas: the photo fortune generator.

The generator, which provides a random pithy quotation and three random images based on a single keyword taken from the quotation, often produces some interesting combinations. Here are a few screenshots of my results (click on any image to see larger version):



Classic fairytale and fable retelling is a favorite device among fiction writers, and this one seems to hint that there might be more to the story of the goose who laid the golden eggs. Such as, what has that pretty girl been feeding her flock? Whatever is shining in that jar? Might be fun to explore. Title ideas: The Golden Goose Girl, A Light Lunch, Hold What Glitters.



I cringed a little as soon as I saw the first image -- quite painful looking, and reminded me of this guy who came into the ER who had . . . no, I better not tell that story. Anyway, the following two pics added some irony and a wry chuckle to the tableau, especially followed by Plato's silly pronouncement. Title ideas: Good for Evil, Make It Happen, The Spoiler, Forked (and there's a Twilight parady begging to be written.)



The Woody Allen quotation adds a bit more comedy here, but the images tell a different story -- a very engimatic one. The beautiful feline, the bright flower and the hall filled with paintings would make interesting and (if handled correctly) powerful story elements. I'm thinking a thriller or mystery. Title Ideas: What the Cat Saw, Silent Bloom, Torn to Masterpieces.



This was my favorite of all the ones I generated; I love the grinning pup. The sunset (or sunrise) and the fetching young lady all add suggestions of romance, as does the Howe quotation. Title ideas: Loving Enemies, Better Friends, Sunset Smile.

If you don't care for the randomness of this generator but are still in finding inspirational images tailored to your needs, you can head over to Flickr and perform a search using keywords that directly relate to your story. I did one search with the keywords strong, stubborn and warrior and found this amazing but totally unexpected artwork that gave me some new ideas on how to flesh out one of my secondary characters.

Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Ralan has an open call listing here for an "Apocalypse Story Contest ~ ALL THINGS DOOM ~ Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Apocalypse" [Gotta love the title]: "On Spec has a special story contest for the Apocalypse! We are looking for a variety of engaging "end of the world" theme stories (3,000 to 6,000 words please). The best story will receive $300 and be the lead story in our Fall 2012 issue (said issue to be published, come hell or high water!). Submissions must have "Apocalypse:" in the e-mail title plus the story title (e.g. "Apocalypse: Story Name")." This one is open only to Canadian writers with electronic submission only, entry window is 15 February to 31 March 2012. See Ralan's page and On Spec's sub guidelines link there for more details.

Horror writer Glynn Barrass has an open call for an antho working-titled Steampunk Cthulhu (scroll down to January 14th entry). Since the site doesn't allow right-click copying you'll have to visit it to read the details on what to submit. Ralan has this info: "Pay: 3¢/word +3 copies & discounts. Words: 2k-8k. RT: after DL. Reprints: no. E-subs: ONLY." Deadline: July 31st, 2012 or until filled.

Heathen Oracle has an open call for its Azieran Adventures anthology Artifacts and Relics: Extreme Sorcery and is looking for "heroic fantasy submissions (in the vein of sword and sorcery, sword and planet, dark fantasy, and high fantasy) of up to 10,000 words (query if over 10,000 but I'm very open to the idea of anything up to 20,000 words). The work should prominently feature a powerful artifact or relic, and include strong characterization, a well developed plot, interesting setting, and a satisfying conclusion. Writers who hit upon all of these points will have a greater chance of acceptance. The story should be set on a secondary fantasy world and include original characters/settings and not infringe upon the copyrights of others (therefore fan fiction is not accepted). Content should be no worse than an R rated movie. It may be worth noting that the editor is a fan of the following authors' works from the old (and not so old) guard: Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, David C. Smith. This should give some indication of the styles and types of stories that would be a good fit for this anthology." Payment: "$50 per story, $25 per reprint." Electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: June 30th, 2012.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly webzine has opened submission windows in March, June, September and December; they want heroic fantasy fiction and poetry. Length: up to 10K on fiction, up to 30 pages on poetry. Payment: $100.00 for fiction, $25 for poetry, $100 for epic poetry) No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Editor Tim Lieder has an open call for his King David and the Spider of Mars antho, and is looking for "Short stories, ideally between 1000-12000 words. All stories must be based in some way on the Bible stories. I would prefer stories from the book of Samuel (usually edited to be 1 & 2) which is the story about how Israel transitioned from a Judge based society to a kingdom under King David. However any story based on a Bible tale will suffice. Seeking stories in all genres including horror, bizarro, science fiction, fantasy, humor, literary and romance (although if you write a romance between Tamar and Amnon, I'm going to be worried about you and not in a good way)." What he does NOT want: "I have a blog post for the first Bible anthology where I go off on the "do not want" list. It basically comes down to "no preachiness" which is the major pitfall for people tackling these kind of stories. I don't want a story with an agenda - whether it's atheist, Christian or Jewish. Do not set a Sodom & Gomorrah story in San Francisco. Do not send poetry. Do not retell a Bible story from a character's perspective that adds absolutely nothing to the narrative. In the last anthology, I got a bunch of stories that had to stop to tell me that "Jesus is love" just as the fundamentalist Christian axe murder was about to strike. Please don't do that. Also, there are themes covered in the first book (Samson, Witch of Endor, Daniel) that I thought were amazing. If you read the first book and see a story with your theme, your take better be radically different for me to consider it." Payment: $100.00 advance against shared royalties, reprints okay, electronic submissions only. See LJ post for more details. Deadline: March 31st, 2012.


Q&W Publishing has an open call for their The Old Weird South antho: "The American South is a haunted place — full of ghost stories, native legends, persistent devils & angels, souls sold at the crossroads, and moon-eyed maidens living in the Okefenokee. The South's best writers — Faulkner, O'Connor, McCullers — all keep this sense of the otherworldly in their fiction. In this spirit, Q & W Publishers is looking for submissions for an anthology of short fiction and non-fiction that explores the fantastic, eerie, and bizarre side of the American South. Submit fiction and non-fiction pieces between 1,000 and 4,000 words. Pieces should be grounded in the American South (any time period, pre-historic to modern; rural or urban) and should include elements of the fantastic / supernatural that come from Southern history, tradition, or folklore. Generic vampire and werewolf stories aren't appropriate. While violence, gore, and eroticism may be part of your submission, they should not be the primary focus — let's keep it more PG-13 than R-rated. Submissions must be previously unpublished. Payment: "$50 per accepted piece. Authors with accepted pieces will also receive one free copy of the published anthology. The anthology may appear in electronic and printed form." Query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: March 1st, 2012.

Third Flatiron Publishing is "open for business and looking for submissions. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We're looking for tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something instructive to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We miss the days of the great anthologies like Orbit, Universe, and Clarion, so we are going to begin by showcasing some of the best new shorts available today. For each issue, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred." Publishing schedule: "Short story collection on the theme of 'environmental disaster', deadline for submissions – March 31, 2012; Short story collection on the theme of 'war', deadline for submissions – June 30, 2012; Short story collection on the theme of 'origins', deadline for submissions – September 30, 2012." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Tumblehome Learning is open to submissions for "children's and YA adventure books, mystery books, and biographies that center around science themes. Submissions should be based around real science and be appropriate for somewhere between ages 7 and 17. We accept manuscripts 25,000 to 70,000 words in length, but no simultaneous submissions. Our readers are looking for exciting stories with a little bit of learning along the way. THL readers are fans of "fun facts" they can share with their friends and family. The science fiction in THL books center around real science. The only aliens found in THL books are microorganism fossils found in meteorites." Payment: advance and royalties, query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Wily Writers publishes two short stories online per month in podcast and text formats, and looks for "short fiction that falls under the genre umbrella of speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal romance/mystery/adventure" with specific themes each month. Length: 1-4K, Payment: 5¢/word, reprints okay, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline for next issue: February 28, 2012.

All of the above sub ops were found among the many marvelous market listings over at Ralan.com.

Winner

All the comments for the Many Valleys giveaway gave me a new perspective on the ways we use creativity to heal -- and much to think about, as always.

We put the magic hat back in action tonight, and the winner is:

Nikki

Nikki, when you have a chance please send your full name and ship-to address to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can get this package out to you. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

The 8-Track Mentality

I just read a vastly entertaining article making the rounds of NetPubLand in which a Big Important Author ridiculed e-books. It seems the evil that is e-books once more threatens the very fabric of our society. Or, at least according to Mr. Big Important, readers are damaging it by wanting e-books.

I really should be on his side. I love print books, and I have a pretty extensive personal library of them. The e-books I purchase are those I can print out at home. Print is my reading preference, hands down. Thing is, I don't expect the rest of the world to limit themselves to writing, publishing or buying only print books to accommodate me. Why would I?

For that matter, why does it have to be either/or -- print book or e-book? I write both, I publish both, and I want both for my readers. I don't believe print will ever become obsolete, but so what if it does? Maybe they'll invent an e-reader that suits me (they've finally got small tablet touchscreens; now all they have to do is something about the weight, the slippery casing, the glare from the screen and all the non-book crap on it.)

Whether we like it or not, the world moves on.

Big Important Author's mistake is that he is clinging to an 8-track mentality in an MP3 world. Think about it -- how often has the way we listen to music changed in the last forty years? 8-track tapes were all the rage when I was a kid, and then cassette tapes came along. The 8-track people were horrified. CDs then replaced cassettes (I was a bit put out by that; I had my entire music collection on cassette tapes. But I got over it eventually.) Now MP3s are replacing CDs, and I'm sure the format will change yet again in my lifetime. As long as I can buy new copies of all my old Coldplay, Linkin Park and Staind albums again, I won't bitch about whatever format they're in.

And despite all these technological changes to how music is delivered to the consumer -- many more changes than the Publishing industry has weathered -- it hasn't damaged the fabric of our society. Music is still here, still wonderful. We still listen to it. Music continues to enrich our lives, and we still love it.

Why would books be any different?

Storytellers have been in business since prehistory. Before there were books we used to sit by a fire and tell our tales to the tribe; do you think any of those storytellers would be pissed to know that their descendants started writing them down on scrolls and carving them into clay tablets? Would they despise the monks who often spent their entire lives working in scriptoriums and illuminating them page by page?

For that matter, how about Gutenberg and his invention of mechanical movable type printing? Gutenberg was the Steve Jobs of his time, agreed? So should he have been roasted over the tribe's fire for his temerity to bring book production out of the Dark Ages?

Anyone who truly belongs to our ageless clan of scribes knows it's the story that's important, not how you tell it, or with what you tell it. It doesn't even matter who tells the stories. As long as they're told, there will be someone who wants to hear them.

I don't want to have an 8-track mentality in an MP3 world, so Big Important Author's tirade was actually good for me. I'm going to get out there and have a look at the latest crop of e-readers. I'll also check and see if there is a better type of monitor for my computer that would allow me to read comfortably from it -- that might be a good compromise. And as the world moves on, hopefully so will I.

Many Valleys

I was reading Art Journals & Creative Healing by Sharon Soneff to get some ideas for my home journals, and for the first time the dedication caught my eye:

"In loving memory of fellow artist and contributor Mary Zakrajsek, whose inspiring faith and impassioned art accompanied her through many valleys and then to her heavenly home."

Aside from this being one of the most beautiful dedications I've ever read, some of the phrases jumped out at me: impassioned art ~ accompanied her ~ many valleys.

Creative people are definitely mountain climbers, but we're also pretty good at falling, too. I never thought of sliding into my black pits of depression as journeying through a valley. Maybe if I could convince myself that's what it is, I could gain a healthier perspective.

The faster the world moves, the slower I want to go. Or rather, I want to go in a different direction -- contrary as always, I guess. This past month I've been doing that every day, creatively and practically, and finding that while it's not always comfortable, it's where I want to go. I'll take whatever trips through the valleys come with it because I think that's how you reach the mountains: not by jumping from peak to peak, but by climbing up and down.

I'm going to give away a brand-new copy of Sharon's book, which along with the dedication has some amazing ideas on how to work toward healing by creative art journaling, both in projects and personal essays by the contributing artists. If you'd like a chance to win it, in comments to this post tell us something creative you do that is healing (or if you can't think of anything, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, February 4, 2012. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner an unsigned copy of Art Journals & Creative Healing by Sharon Soneff. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

La Toilette du Matin

I am going to bail on you guys today to take care of some work stuff. To brighten your day, here's forty-two seconds of one utterly adorable (and completely silent) critter:



Video link nicked from Gerard over at The Presurfer.

Ready-Made Promo

Next month I'll be invading making guest appearances on some other blogs in NetPubLand, and for all my visits I'm planning a giveaway as well. I think signed books are always best, but in keeping with my color outside the lines directive for this year I'd also like to do something special with them.

I went to BAM to get some inspiration, and wandered over to the bookmark rack to see if they had any new products. I found four that jogged my imagination in different ways: The Book Holder by That Company Called If; a nifty little man-shaped plastic clip that holds your book open while you read it ($3.99); a foiled and embossed double-sided inspirational bookmark by Vibrant Expressions ($2.99); a Plant Me I'll Grow bookmark by Lil Bloomer that is embedded with annual and perennial wildflower seeds ($2.99); and a neat little box of twelve Herman Yu Flora bookmarks by teNeues ($6.95).

Using a ready-made product as a promo widget isn't anything new; writers have been doing it forever. The weirder the item, the more attention it gets -- I remember one RWA National I went to where one author had parked a basket of real chili peppers in the goody room. I'm not really into the gimmicky promo stuff, so I prefer to build around a product, using something ready-made as a theme for the rest of the promo. Back in December, the snowflake tote I picked up at B&N became the central theme of my holiday giveaway, from the Let it Snow title to most of the bag's contents.

teNeues' box of bookmarks caught my eye because there were a dozen (one for every month of the year), the bookmarks individually were cheap (about fifty-eight cents each) and there's a place for notes on the back of each one (readers who like to keep track of what they read could jot down titles there), there are two of each design (perfect for sharing with a reader friend) and the flower theme is attractive but general enough that I can pair a lot of things with it. For this giveaway I could go with flower seeds and gardening stuff for a floral theme, an all-year theme with calendars and other time management helpers, or a share-with-a-friend theme by offering two of everything.

Some ready-made items can also be a jumping-off point for your promo; you add some items to help with the use of your theme product (such as a gardening guide, a pretty flower pot and a pair of weeding gloves for the bookmark with the seeds embedded in it.)

As a reader I'm most attracted to unusual promo that has a practical purpose. I like things I can actually use, especially when I went to conferences and had a limited amount of space in my suitcases. I love tote bags and I use a million of them, but I've never found one used for promo that was particularly sturdy or had pockets for small items. I passed on most of the custom promo, as even the most attractive cover art on an item becomes quickly dated, and unattractive cover art is just sad.

One final note: the more gimmicky something is, the more leery I become, especially when an item poses more of a hazard than a benefit. The basket of chili peppers I mentioned definitely grabbed my attention, but as someone who frequently cooks with them I know they shouldn't be handled without protective gloves on. So that promo actually backfired; I didn't touch the peppers or take any of the actual book-related stuff parked with them.