Mark Lord's Blog, page 24

ESPN parts ways with talk show pundit Rob Parker

ESPN has severed ties with embattled Detroit commentator Rob Parker, according to profootballtalk.com. Parker had been suspended for 30 days for his racial comments in mid-December about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, including ESPN has parted ways with Rob Parker, the First Take panelist who was suspended by the network following his offensive comments [...]

Self Publishing Pros and Cons: Distribution

A while ago I did a couple of posts regarding the pros and cons of Self Publishing, with the intention of doing some more posts at some point. Well this is the next one. It’s on distribution and an area that is bugging me quite a lot at the moment and where I think there [...]

My Reading Challenge – Hugo Winning Novels Since 2000

Sometimes I read whatever I feel like, while at other times I try to read books based on a certain theme. So for instance a while ago I wanted to investigate how thrillers worked and read a number of thriller novels by authors I hadn’t read before. The idea was to get a good idea [...]

Science Fiction Magazines Increase Contributor Pay Rates

For quite a while now the contributor pay rate for a professional Science Fiction and/or Fantasy Magazine has been 5 cents per word. So if you were to write a 5,000 word story you should be making $250. This rate has been pretty much the market standard and fixed as the sign of a professional [...]

Completely Bonkers Comments on Tobias Buckell story A Game of Rats and Dragon

I came across this on Twitter yesterday – Tobias Buckell tweeted about it. I recommend checking out the comments to his story A Game of Rats and Dragon in Lightspeed Magazine - they’re funny, sad an infuriating in equal measure. I do wonder who this Chris Fowler guy is and what his beef is - ostensibly the guy is [...]

Update on Alt Hist Issue 5 | Alt Hist: Historical Fiction and Alternate History

There’s some news about Alt Hist, one of the magazines I edit Update on Alt Hist Issue 5 | Alt Hist: Historical Fiction and Alternate History. Still looking for some quality stories for the next issue – I’m probably getting pickier in my old age!

A Books That Don’t Exist Yet On Your Wish List for Christmas

I thought it would be cool to compare Christmas wish lists for books, but not wish-lists for actual books that exist. What are the top 5 books you wish were going to be out for Christmas but aren’t because they don’t exist and haven’t been written yet? Follow-up to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna [...]

Tales of Magic and Mayhem Published

I have now published my first collection of short stories. Tales of Magic and Mayhem contains five tales – all with a fantasy theme, some are historically set, while others are pure fantasy. The stories featured are: Chivalry: A Jake Savage Adventure Bird Talk: A Tale of Medieval Magic Bisclavret (The Werewolf) Forged in Blood [...]

Would you like to get a regular update on new releases from me?

If you would like to receive occasional newsletter-style updates from me about my latest book releases – whether they be short stories, collections or even novels, you can now do so by signing up to my mailing list. Simply complete the form and away you go!

Quick update from me and a question about eReaders

Just a quick update to let anyone who is interested know that I have some stuff to announce soon – a short story collection and some new short stories as well – 3 I think that I haven’t announced on the blog yet. However, I’m waiting for them to filter into all the different eBook [...]