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Jim C. Hines

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.jimchines.com

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Jimchines

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Member Since

June 2007

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Jim C. Hines is the author of the Magic ex Libris series, the Princess series of fairy tale retellings, the humorous Goblin Quest trilogy, and the Fable Legends tie-in Blood of Heroes. His latest novel is Terminal Uprising, book two in the humorous science fiction Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. He’s an active blogger, and won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Jim lives in Michigan with his two children. Online, he can be found at http://www.jimchines.com.

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Popular Answered Questions

Issac once mentioned that a book isn't necessary for libriomancy, only readership and that with enough hockey-pucks with writing on them he could pull something out of them as well. So couldn't a libriomancer draw something out of say, a children's trading card? They're read religiously and usually have flavor text and while small, shouldn't tiny objects or gaseous entities be able to be drawn out of them as well?

Jim C. Hines Short answer - yes. If a trading card had enough story content to actively engage the imagination, it would be theoretically possible to use one for…moreShort answer - yes. If a trading card had enough story content to actively engage the imagination, it would be theoretically possible to use one for libriomancy. There's a similar bit of thinking and theorizing that comes up in book four about video game manuals.(less)

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I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?

Jim C. Hines Hi Cintia,

I don't have an easy answer for you, I'm afraid. This can be a very frustrating and discouraging business to try to break into.…moreHi Cintia,

I don't have an easy answer for you, I'm afraid. This can be a very frustrating and discouraging business to try to break into. I've got a box of about 500 rejection letters, and most of the "successful" writers I know have something similar. Which is just to say, I think most writers sympathize with what you're feeling, and know what you're going through.

And there are a lot of writers out there, but I'd encourage you not to think of them as competition. It's not a zero-sum game, and one writer's success doesn't hurt others. (Sometimes one writer's success can actually help, either by bringing publishers income they can use to take chances on new writers, or by getting readers excited about reading more stories.)

For me, one of the keys was getting back to why I *wanted* to write. I stopped worrying as much about writing "publishable" stories, and just had fun. Ironically, those were the stories that ended up being publishable.

Be patient and kind with yourself. Find what you love about writing, and focus on that. And maybe chat with some other writers? It can help a lot to connect and vent with people who understand what you're going through.

All the best,
Jim(less)

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Combine Editions
Jim C. Hines’s books

Average rating: 3.9 · 55,345 ratings · 6,938 reviews · 85 distinct works • Similar authors

	Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1) 3.80 avg rating — 11,546 ratings — published 2012 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Stepsister Scheme (Princess, #1) 3.75 avg rating — 4,946 ratings — published 2008 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris, #2) 3.91 avg rating — 5,156 ratings — published 2013 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goblin Quest (Jig the Goblin, #1) 4.01 avg rating — 3,783 ratings — published 2004 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mermaid's Madness (Princess, #2) 3.90 avg rating — 2,803 ratings — published 2009 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unbound (Magic Ex Libris, #3) 4.12 avg rating — 3,062 ratings — published 2015 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Red Hood's Revenge (Princess, #3) 3.93 avg rating — 2,231 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goblin Hero (Jig the Goblin, #2) 4.01 avg rating — 2,179 ratings — published 2007 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goblin War (Jig the Goblin, #3) 4.11 avg rating — 1,893 ratings — published 2008 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Snow Queen's Shadow (Princess, #4) 4.01 avg rating — 1,686 ratings — published 2011 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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2012 posts
Jim C. Hines's Blog

Cool Stuff Friday

Friday wants to know if this blog post can count as NaNoWriMo words.

Dancers and dogs. Just what it sounds like.
Creative Halloween decorations
Buzzfeed’s w...

Series by Jim C. Hines

Magic Ex Libris (4 books)
by

Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author)

3.91 avg rating — 22,214 ratings

Princess (4 books)
by

Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author)

3.86 avg rating — 11,667 ratings

Jig the Goblin (3 books)
by

Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author)

4.02 avg rating — 8,712 ratings

Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse (2 books)
by

Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author)

4.08 avg rating — 2,350 ratings

Invisible (3 books)
by

Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Mary Anne Mohanraj (Goodreads Author) (Editor)

Fran Wilde (Goodreads Author)

Carrie Sessarego

Benjamin Rosenbaum (Goodreads Author)

Dawn Xiana Moon

Jennifer Cross

MT O'Shaughnessy (Goodreads Author)

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4.40 avg rating — 196 ratings

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Jim C. Hines wrote a new blog post Cool Stuff Friday Friday wants to know if this blog post can count as NaNoWriMo words. Dancers and dogs. Just what it sounds like. Creative Halloween... Read more of this blog post »
Nov 09, 2019 12:01AM · 3 likes · like
Jim has read In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 20, 2019 01:14PM · 7 likes · like
Jim has read Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1) by Ilona Andrews (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 08, 2019 04:46PM · 7 likes · like
Jim has read Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Straight Out of Brooklyn by Saladin Ahmed (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 27, 2019 06:59AM · 5 likes · like
Jim has read Abbott by Saladin Ahmed (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 05, 2019 01:52PM · 7 likes · like
Jim has read Many Waters (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #4) by Madeleine L'Engle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2019 09:04PM · 2 likes · like
Jim has read A Swiftly Tilting Planet (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #3) by Madeleine L'Engle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 28, 2019 04:50AM · 2 likes · like
Jim has read Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 11, 2019 08:19PM · 4 likes · like
Jim has read Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt (Star Wars: Aftermath, #2) by Chuck Wendig (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 02, 2019 11:33AM · like
Jim has read A Wind in the Door (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #2) by Madeleine L'Engle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2019 10:43AM · 6 likes · like

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Quotes by Jim C. Hines

“1. Bullying is not okay. Period.

2. Freedom of religion does not give you the right to physically or verbally assault people.

3. If your sincerely-held religious beliefs require you to bully children, then your beliefs are fucked up.”
― Jim C. Hines

tags: abuse-of-religion, bullying, legislation, outrage, schools

304 likes

“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.

[Blog post, March 12, 2012]”
― Jim C. Hines

tags: freedom-of-speech, stupidity

277 likes

“Your religious beliefs are your business. They are not and should not be the basis for law. If you use them as justification to discriminate against others, don’t be upset when others decide you’re an asshole."

[Blog post of July 26, 2011]”
― Jim C. Hines

tags: belief, discrimination, law, religion

126 likes

See all Jim C. Hines's quotes »

Polls

December 2012 Fantasy Theme: New Releases

Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells

22 votes 30.1%

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

22 votes 30.1%

Railsea by China Miéville

15 votes 20.5%

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

9 votes 12.3%

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

5 votes 6.8%

73 total votes

2 comments

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Jim’s Quotes

“There was magic, and there was magic. Thanks to Gutenberg, I could no longer pull wands, potions, and light sabers out of books, but when it came to research, give me a well-stocked library and I was a goddamned Merlin.”
― Jim C. Hines, Unbound

8 likes

“Look at the shiny magic thing trying to kill us, isn’t it awesome?”
― Jim C. Hines, Codex Born

14 likes