Jim C. Hines's Blog, page 124

A Peek at Draft One of Codex Born

[image error]Three days until Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. I thought today I’d share the first page or two of the very first draft of the book from January of 2012. There are no spoilers here, because things changed an awful lot between this and the final version. I’ve got nine different drafts of this sucker, though not all of them are complete and some required more major revisions than others.

Originally, I intended to tell this story from Lena’s point of view. To my tremendous frustration, it wasn’t working. There are elements of these opening pages I really like, and Lena absolutely deserves her own books, but as I progressed, it simply didn’t feel right. The tone, the voice … so eventually I flipped back to Isaac’s PoV, but inserted snippets of flashback and backstory from Lena’s at the start of each chapter.

Also, my first drafts tend to be very rough indeed, so please be gentle.

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The forests in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula felt more like home than anywhere or anyone else in the world. I stopped running and rested a hand against a hemlock tree with a trunk as thick as a truck tire. My fingers sank into the irregular grooves and folds of the bark, then into the wood beneath.

For several pounding heartbeats, I stood motionless, sharing the tree’s strength. More than a hundred years old, the age and power of the tree made me feel like a child, even as that same power flowed into me. I closed my eyes, absorbing the warmth of the sun on the uppermost needles, drinking the moisture from deep in the earth.

Pressing my other hand into the wood, I hauled myself up, climbing like a spider past the old, naked branches that stabbed out like the broken spokes of an old-time wagon wheel. Halfway up the tree, I braced my feet on the branches, pulled one hand free, and searched the ground below for any sign of my quarry.

My phone buzzed. I tapped the earpiece nested in my right ear. “Hello, Isaac.”

“Any luck?”

“Not yet.” Movement on the ground made me tense, but it was only a deer. An older buck, at least eight points from the look of him. “Have the police shared anything?”

“Only that a man’s body was found in the park. Nothing about how he was killed.”

Nothing about the parallel slashes through the throat, or the lingering miasma that made my stomach rebel.

“Where are you?”

I smiled at the concern in his voice. “Red Bay Forest, about five miles west of the mine.”

The deer’s tail flicked up, flashing white. I held my breath, listening to the wind playing through the branches, the creak of old trees. The deer bounded away, hooves drumming the earth.

“Gotta go, lover.” I hung up the phone and eased my hand out of the wood. Wind raced past my face, making me grin despite the darkness of my mission. I hit the ground hard enough to leave deep footprints in the soft dirt. The impact would have shattered the knees and ankles of an ordinary human being.

I rested my right hand on the hilt of a wooden bokken that was tucked through my belt on the right side. The curved sword was made of unpolished oak from my own tree. Its twin waited on my other hip.

A gunshot cracked through the woods. Overhead, an owl burst from the branches, wings pounding as it fled. I slid the bokken free and turned toward the source of the sound.

A second shot followed. Whoever it was, they were close.

The bokken responded like my own muscles, tightening at its core while the edge shifted, growing into a blade as sharp and strong as steel. I wove between the trees, branches bowing aside like wisps of fog.

I tasted the blood before I spied the body. The blood leaked into the earth, flowing over the intertwined roots of the trees. I risked calling out, “Who’s there?”

I followed the warmth of the blood until I spied a man curled into a ball by a cluster of birch trees. Streaks of red marred the white bark. A hunting rifle lay in the dirt, the stock splintered as though it were rotten.

I drew my second bokken and turned in a slow circle, searching both the ground and the branches overhead. “Are you all right?”

He didn’t answer. I stopped moving and imagined my toes curling into the dirt, connecting to the trees around me. There was something . . . a presence to the north, moving away at inhuman speed.

I jabbed one of my weapons into the dirt and knelt to touch the man’s shoulder. “Don’t move. Whoever did this, I think they’re gone.”

I moved closer, trying to see the extent of his injuries. He wore an old flannel shirt and cutoff jeans. His feet were bare. One leg had been slashed across the thigh, and blood trickled slowly from the wound.

My jaw tightened. The breathing I had heard wasn’t coming from the man, but from a young wolf pressed against his body. I set down my second bokken and reached carefully beneath the man’s stubbled jaw to check for a pulse. The bones of the neck ground together beneath the skin.

The wolf snarled and snapped at my hand. Had I been human, the sharp teeth would have torn right through the flesh, but being a dryad had its advantages. I jammed my other thumb into the back of the wolf’s jaw until it let go, then flexed my fingers. I’d be bruised, but I’d had far worse. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The wolf ignored me, burrowing its head into the man’s chest and whimpering softly. I studied the body more closely. His pockets held extra bullets for his rifle, a Swiss Army pocketknife, and a half-empty pack of gum. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, well-muscled, with heavily calloused hands and feet. His eyes were open. Thick blue-gray irises circled small pupils that stared into the distance.

I looked back at the wolf, whose eyes matched those of the man. My heart sank. “You’re not a pet, are you?”

I grabbed my phone and dialed Isaac again. “Any idea what could take out a werewolf?”

“Hypothetically, any number of things. The dominant species in the U. P. is vulnerable to silver, so anyone with—” I could see him in my mind, the pained look on his face as he realized why I was asking. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” The young wolf burrowed his nose under the man’s arm and whimpered again. I lowered my voice. “He’s cut up pretty good, but it looks like he died from a blow to the neck. It’s broken.”

“Are you safe? I can—”

“Whatever did this ran off.” I moved away and picked up the remains of the rifle. Bits of rotted wood fell away. What remained of the stock crumbled like Styrofoam at my touch. “I know upper Michigan has werewolves and a handful of vampires. What else could kill a werewolf and rot wood?”

“Rot wood?” His voice sharpened. “Nothing that I know of, but I’ll check the Porter archives. Be careful.”

“Define ‘careful.’” I retrieved my bokken, thrusting them back through my belt on either hip. I could probably track whatever had done this, but it had a head start and appeared to be a heck of a lot faster. And what was to stop it from circling back to finish off the kid? “How do I get in touch with the werewolf equivalent of foster care?”

“I’ll make some calls, but if they were passing for human here in town, it means they’ve left the pack, either voluntarily or involuntarily.”

“Call me if you find something.” I hung up and crouched by the wolf and his . . . father? Uncle? “I’m not going to hurt you, but I can’t leave you out here on your own.”

The wolf nuzzled up against the man and whined, a quiet, pleading sound that made me want to weep. I bent down, planning to scoop him into my arms, but the instant my hand slipped between him and the body, he snarled and tried to bite me again.

I reacted automatically, yanking my hand back and grabbing the skin behind his neck. He stopped struggling at once. “All right,” I said, sitting cross-legged in the dirt behind him. I relaxed my hand and began to comb my fingers through the thick fur. “We’ll wait until you’re ready.”

Pics from the Land of the Libriomancer

With five days left until Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out, this is the time when I’m supposed to be doing frantic self-promotion. The trick is to do it without looking like I’m self-promoting. Which is harder than it sounds. So I asked for advice on Twitter.

Kate K. F. suggested pictures of Michigan looking pretty, which sounded like a good way to go. Especially if those pictures tied into the Magic ex Libris series, which is primarily set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula   (Spoiler: Not all of the pics connect to the series…)

Larger versions of the pics are posted on Flickr, for anyone who’s interested.

Luna Moth. Because they’re cool-looking, and they hang out up north. Also, I believe there’s a reference to Smudge the fire-spider trying to eat one at some point. (If that reference isn’t in the books, it’s only because it got edited out in revisions. Which just means I’ll have to put it back in a future book!)

The Mackinac Bridge. Isaac hates driving over this thing. He’s uncomfortable with heights, and the center lanes are metal grating instead of pavement, meaning the air comes up through the center, and the feel of the tires on the road is very different. When I was driving home last week, it kept feeling like the car was trying to pull off to one side or the other.

Also, there used to be a colony of lake trolls living at the base of the bridge, but the Porters relocated them back in 1971.

Random Lake Shot. This was taken while wandering along the beach at my in-laws’ camp in the northern part of the U.P. Their camp was some of the inspiration for the hunting camp Isaac and Lena go to in Libriomancer.

Mining tires. This should give you a sense of the scale of the hauler trucks running around your average mine. When I was working in Nevada at one of the gold mines, I heard stories of folks who backed over cars in one of those things and never even felt it.

We haven’t yet seen the titular mine of Isaac’s home town, but it does get a mention in Codex Born.

Oh, and I don’t know what these tires cost nowadays, but when I took this pic about 8 years ago, each one had a five-figure price tag.

Random rooftop. The U.P. gets a lot of snow. As a result, you get a fair number of homes with metal strips along the edges to protect against ice dams. Other houses, like Isaac’s, just go for full metal roofs. I took this picture from the passenger seat of the car, which is why it’s a little blurry.

I haven’t yet decided whether a future Magic ex Libris book will be set in a true Yooper winter…

Sunset. Because it’s pretty, that’s why!

Fort Michilimackinac. This fort is built at the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge. This is a reconstruction, as most of the fort was burned to the ground by the British in the late 1700s when they moved over to Fort Mackinac. But the magic left there by French traders more than three hundred years ago still lingers…

The fort gets a shout-out in Codex Born, and depending on what happens in the revision, it may play a larger role in Unbound. Or it might not. I’m only on the second draft, after all.

Geese. Because geese! (Another pic from my in-laws’ camp.)

One Week to Codex Born, and an Announcement

Exactly seven days from now, I’ll be at Schuler Books in Lansing, celebrating the release of Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. And also the mass market paperback of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].

Normally, this would be a good time to do some sort of contest, and maybe give away the one copy of Codex Born I managed to snag at ALA this year. The problem is that as soon as I got home, my wife snatched it away from me. After grumbling at me for costing her a few nights’ sleep (and telling me it was even better than the first one – yay!), she passed it along to her mother. While we were up north. Which means, as far as I know, the book may still be at the tip of the Upper Peninsula.

But have no fear! I have alternate plans for free bookses next week.

To be honest, things have been so busy lately that I haven’t had time for my full pre-book freak-out ritual, which is probably a good thing…

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In the meantime, how about an alternate announcement? Coinciding with my Guest of Honor gig at Windycon this November, ISFiC Press will be releasing The Goblin Master’s Grimoire, a hardcover collection of my short fiction.

More details as they appear. I’m particularly geeked about the cover art concept we talked about, but we’ll have to wait and see what actually happens there.

In the meantime though, I’ll be doing a weary-but-excited happy dance

UK Cover and Libriomancer Winners

In the UK, Amazon has posted the Del Rey UK cover art for Codex Born, which comes out over there in November of this year. It doesn’t have Lena Greenwood, which is disappointing, but I love the artwork.

Author Steven Schend offered the following caption over on Facebook:

“I’m Isaac Vanio. I’m here to kick ass and read books…and I’ve finished all my books.”

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Thanks to the several hundred people who entered the Libriomancer giveaway from last week! The Random Number Generator of Randomness has spoken, placing its blessing upon:

Nathan McB (U.K. Edition)
Rustifer (U.S. Edition)

To those who didn’t win, fear not! With the new book only eight days away, plans are already underway to give away more free stuff…

Home Again, Home Again

One of the obnoxious things about vacation is that the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care. Email, bills, day-job, it all keeps piling up. It’s quite rude. I’m thinking maybe the world needs to try to coordinate a little better.

Anyway, I’m back from the U.P. It was fun, relaxing, and far too short.

One of the first emails I got was confirmation that I could announce the sale of my story “Chupacabra’s Song” to Kaleidoscope, a YA anthology edited by Julia Rios and Alisa Krasnostein. This is the story I asked for help with a little while back, about Nicola Pallas (from the Libriomancer books) as a teenager, and her first encounter with chupacabras. My thanks to everyone who read the story and offered their thoughts about my portrayal of Nicola’s autism.

I also read Lisa Shearin’s forthcoming book The Grendel Affair [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which was tremendous fun, and started in on Beth Bernobich’s forthcoming book Allegiance [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which is drawing me in nicely. (Related: The first book in Bernobich’s series, Passion Play, is currently on sale for $2.99.)

I got just under 10,000 words written on Unbound, which is less than I had hoped, but I’m not going to complain. I also spent a fair amount of time doing research reading, and that counts too, right?

I took a picture of the Milky Way. Due to the light distortion in the lower left, I have now declared war against the full moon. I’m still quite happy with the picture, though. I think I may have also gotten a shot of a meteor. Or maybe a satellite. I’m not sure how to tell. The verdict is satellite.

We also took a boat tour of Pictured Rocks and climbed Sugarloaf Mountain. (I’m not so sure about calling it a “mountain,” but I guess for Michigan it qualifies.)

I’ve got a few more pictures posted at Flickr.

And now is the time when Jim tries to catch up on everything from the past week. Whee…

Giving Away a Pair of Libriomancers

Both DAW and Del Rey UK sent me author copies of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] this week, which is a wonderful thing. Except now I find myself with more books taking up space. I figure the best thing to do is get rid of a couple, and I was hoping y’all could help me out with that!

I’ll be heading off for vacation next week, but when I get back, I’ll give away one each of the UK edition (trade paperback) and the DAW mass market release. Crocheted Smudge will be keeping guard over the books in the meantime.

If you’re interested, leave a comment telling me where you’d go on vacation if you could go absolutely anywhere, real or imagined. Narnia, Neverland, North Dakota, it doesn’t matter.

When I get home, I’ll pick two commenters at random and mail each of them an autographed copy of the book.

Anyone can enter. One entry per person, etc, etc. I’ll grab comments off of the blog, LJ, Goodreads, and the rest of the places this thing is mirrored.

Three weeks and counting until Book Day! #SFWApro

PC Monsters of Genre: Collect Them All!

A week or two back, someone started a Twitter account called SFWA Fascists, dedicated to attacking the “screeching feminist witches” who are destroying the natural order — not to mention RUINING science fiction and fantasy — in the name of their twisted PC ideology.

The account itself is mostly spittle and flailing, but the creators also posted a list of the PC Monsters of SFWA (which they then renamed PC C**ts of SFWA, because I guess Monsters was too classy). These are the people deemed to be “immoral, vicious, manipulative snakes.”

DL Thurston has a copy of the list here.

Interestingly enough, people on the SFWA Fascist Enemies List reported suddenly gaining new followers, some as many as 50 to 100 in a few days.

Watching people use this list as a suggestion for “Who to follow on Twitter” made me happy. And because I was putting off working on the book one afternoon, I decided it would be fun to create PC Monster of Genre cards to go with it. (Note: All of these were made with the permission and blessing of the subjects.)

I started with myself, to celebrate my inclusion on the list. As of today, I’ve done cards for 7 of the 16 list members.

I’ve been asked about turning this into a Kickstarter to produce actual, printed cards, with the profits going to a good cause, one that would continue to DESTROY THE GENRE with all of that PC dogma of inclusiveness and treating people like human beings.

I love the idea, but I don’t know yet whether or not it will happen. For starters, I’m also writing two novels and potentially doing an additional project. I’d also need to figure out artwork rights, logistics, and so on. Right now, I’m doing this because it amuses me, and it lets me promote some authors I think deserve more attention.

For the future, we’ll see what happens. And in the meantime, I hope the cards bring a few laughs.

Review Copies and Other Codex Born Updates

There are 26 days until the official release of Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], not to mention the mass market paperback of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which means it’s time for me to start the Official Author Fidget-Dance of Anxiety!

The Cool Stuff Summary: Book-based magic, kick-ass dryad, flaming spider, wendigos, septuagenarian werewolves, a magical organization thought to have been wiped out more than five hundred years ago, and one random Spider-Man quote.

Review Copies: If you are a reviewer who hasn’t received a copy (and, you know, would like to have one), please contact my publicist at BerkleyNALpublicity -at- us.penguingroup.com. Please include your mailing address and where you do your book reviews. Unfortunately, due to the cost of books and shipping and such, reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and personal blogs without a good-sized readership don’t generally qualify.

Upcoming Events:

July 26 at 6 p.m. Reading and booksigning with Mary Robinette Kowal at Schuler Books, Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan. (This is part of the conference kickoff for the MSU Young Authors Conference, and they will have copies of Codex Born for sale.)
August 6 at 7 p.m. Booksigning at Schuler Books, Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan.
August 10 at 2 p.m. Booksigning at Kazoo Books, Parkview Location. Kalamazoo, Michigan.
August 15-18. Gencon. Indianapolis, Indiana. (I will have books for sale.)

Giveaways: I’m hoping to give away a few free books between now and August 6. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but I’ll let folks know as soon as I come up with a suitably entertaining way to do it.

Advance Reviews: Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times have both said nice things about the book. I hear rumors that Library Journal and Locus will both be reviewing it as well. But I think my favorite and most reassuring review so far comes from Kate over on Goodreads, who picked up a copy at ALA and says, “…this was an even stronger read than the first book.”

Also, Seanan McGuire read it and started sending me rude emails about having to wait for book three, so that’s a good thing, right?

Preview: The first chapter is available in both .pdf and .epub format.

State of the Author: Nervous, impatient, grateful, and excited. The Magic ex Libris series is the most ambitious story I’ve written so far. The first few reviews have helped me — somewhat — to get past the initial bout of imposter syndrome, and mostly now I’m just really looking forward to being able to finally share this one with everybody!

#SFWApro

Q&A with LaShawn M. Wanak

Guest post time!

Please welcome author LaShawn Wanak, one of the contributors to the What Fates Impose anthology/kickstarter, being edited by Nayad Monroe. The anthology’s subtitle is “Tales of Divination,” and I was particularly curious about LaShawn’s thoughts on divination/prophesy and how that intersects with her faith.

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1. What’s interesting to you about divination?

Growing up as a church girl, it’s been emphasized over and over to me that any type of divination was of the devil. Ouija boards, tarot cards, astrology, all of that was demonic and thus, I was to keep far away from those as possible. But I’m learning that Christianity itself has a fascinating history of divination.  King Saul visiting a fortune teller to talk to Samuel’s ghost.  Sailors caught in the storm casting lots to see who was responsible, and the lots pointed to Jonah. Jesus’s disciples cast lots to find out Judas’s replacement. I grew up in a church where people spoke in tongues and gave prophetic words. I never considered it weird. In fact, I go to a church now that doesn’t do any of those things, and I miss it. To me, it’s an important component of how God works today.

2. Have you ever had a reading (Tarot, palm, runes, or whatever)? If so, what did you think of the experience? Was it accurate, or at least useful?

A couple of years ago, I had my palm read at a Renaissance Faire. It was purely out of curiosity; I didn’t expect to learn anything useful. A lot of what the reader told me was general statements — you like to read, you have a kind and gentle spirit, you’ll will have moderate success in your job. It felt like more of a personality assessment than a fortune reading.

3. If you are against the idea of getting your fortune told, what are your reasons for that?

Trying to divine the future is a dangerous thing, especially if you don’t have the gift for it. Even in the church — no, especially in the church — it’s something to tread with care. When I was a kid, a minister who had a ‘prophetic word’ told my mother that when I marry, my husband would eventually become a deacon at whatever church we’re in. Well, I’m married, and my husband has absolutely zero interest in becoming a deacon. (No one asked me if I wanted to become a deacon, but for the record: no.) That’s just one of the tamer prophetic words I’ve received.

At the same time, though, I do believe in having the gift of foresight, which is very different from seeing the future. When I did research for my story in the What Fates Impose Anthology, I looked into fortune tellers, which is one of those taboo things at my church. I was surprised to see that many people who went to fortune tellers didn’t go to have their futures spelled out for them. Many just wanted advice, or they needed encouragement, or wanted to get a sense of themselves from an outsider’s point of view. Very similar to how prophetic ministry is used in most churches.

So I’m not against it. I’m just saying it needs to be done with care, because it can be easily, easily abused.

4. How did you get started on developing the idea for your story in What Fates Impose?

As Christians, man, do we love our personality tests. My friends pored over their Myers/Briggs results in the same way people pored over their horoscopes, which got me to thinking: how are the two related? What if you could predict the future using personality assessment? Then, last year, I took the StrengthFinders test, a Love Language quiz and a Spiritual Gifts questionnaire all in one month. All those questions I took gave me the idea for the format of the story, and it went on from there.

Also, some friends of mine just got the sweetest, the most adorable chocolate labrador ever. Once I saw Marti and her gorgeous golden eyes, I knew I had to have her in my story.

5. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Stretch yourself. Write about things you normally wouldn’t. When I was in college, I got an image in my head of walking down a hotel hallway and realizing that the patterns on the carpet were really the backs of playing cards. I tried to write a story around it, but it didn’t work out. I thought about changing the cards to tarot cards, but at the time, I wasn’t ready, because tarot cards = evil, etc, and so forth. When Nayad approached me about the anthology, that scene popped in my head. I decided I would use tarot cards. I did my research and talked to friends who showed me their decks. It demystified them enough that I was able to use them to flesh out my story better. I can now look at tarot decks and appreciate them for their beautiful art.  Which is more than I can say for the stack of Chick Tracts I have stashed in a locked box up in the furthest corner of my closet. Perhaps I’ll write a story about them…someday…when I’m sure they won’t give me horrible, apocalyptic nightmares…

6. Which subjects and themes do you write about often, and why?

Well, obviously, my faith plays a big role in the stories I write, but it’s not all happy yay-Jesus parables. Most of my stories deal with struggling with a lot of questions I have about my faith: is there a God, why do I believe there is a God, why doesn’t he make himself more visible…that sort of thing. Writing allows me to explore those questions. Sometimes, some pretty dark stuff come out, but I try to balance those out with stories that are more fun.

7. Where can people find other published work of yours?

You can find me in the anthology Dark Faith Invocations, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon. I also have stories at EscapePod, Ideomancer, StoneTelling, and Expanded Horizons. You can find links to these stories and more at my blog, The Café in the Woods.

8. What else would you like to tell people about any subject?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the What Fates Impose Kickstarter, which is happening right now. One of the rewards is a 4X6 card from me with your personality type of your choice (Myers/Briggs or StrengthFinders) and its description written in calligraphy.  Also check out Nayad Monroe’s blog, where she has more interviews of contributors to the What Fates Impose anthology, such as Alasdair Stuart, Ferret Steinmetz, and Wendy Wagner, among others.

Reporting Sexual Harassment in SF/F, 2013 Edition

I first put together this resource list in 2010. I intend to keep updating and reposting it every year until it’s no longer necessary.

If you’ve been sexually harassed, it’s your choice whether or not to report that harassment. It’s not an easy choice, and I obviously can’t guarantee the outcome. But I can tell you that if someone has harassed you, it’s 99% certain that they’ve done it to others. You’re not alone.

Please also see this post by Elise Matthesen about reporting sexual harassment. Of particular note is her explanation of the “formal” reporting process vs. informal or anonymous reports.

Reporting to Publishers:

As a general rule, if you’ve been sexually harassed by an editor or another employee of a publisher, complaints can be directed to the publisher’s H.R. department. Please note that reporting to H.R. will usually trigger a formal, legal response.

I’ve spoken to people at several publishers to get names and contact information for complaints, both formal and informal. I’ve put asterisks by the publishers where I spoke with someone directly.

Ace: See Penguin, below.
Apex Publications*: “Any harassment issues related to Apex Publications should be sent to Jason Sizemore.” jason -at- apexbookcompany.com.
Baen*: Toni Weisskopf, toni -at- baen.com. From Toni, “You would come to me with any complaint about the company.”
DAW*: Sheila Gilbert (sheila.gilbert -at- us.penguingroup.com) or Betsy Wollheim (betsy.wollheim -at- us.penguingroup.com).
Del Rey/Spectra*: HumanResources -at- randomhouse.com.
Edge*: Brian Hades (publisher -at- hadespublications.com).
Harper Collins: feedback2 -at- harpercollins.com.
Jo Fletcher Books*: Contact Jo Fletcher directly. jo.fletcher -at- jofletcherbooks.co.uk.
Orbit: Andrea Weinzimer, VP of Human Resources. andrea.weinzimer -at- hbgusa.com. Inappropriate conduct can also be brought up with the publisher, Tim Holman tim.holman -at- hbgusa.com.
Penguin: Contact page links to an e-mail submission form.
Random House: Contact page has some info.
Roc: See Penguin, above.
Solaris Books: Please use the Contact Page.
Tor*: Report the incident directly to Macmillan Human Resources, or to Beth Meacham, at bam -at- panix.com or in person. Reports can also be made online at http://speakup.macmillan.com (please note that the online form is not a “formal” report unless you follow up with HR).

Publishers – I would love to expand this list with better information. Please contact me .

Reporting to Conventions:

Often harassment doesn’t come from editors, but from authors, convention guests, or other fans. If this happens at a convention, you can contact convention security, ops, and/or the convention committee. Many (but not all) conventions include harassment policies in the program books and the websites.

A convention committee doesn’t have the same power as an employer. However, if harassment is reported at a convention, the individual may be confronted or asked to leave. In addition, reporting harassment by guests (authors, editors, etc.) is very helpful to the convention in deciding who not to invite back.

To any convention staff, I would encourage you to make sure you have a harassment policy in place, and equally importantly, that your volunteers are aware of that policy and willing to enforce it. Please see the “Other Resources” section below for starting points on developing such a policy, if you haven’t already done so.

Please see also John Scalzi’s Convention Harassment Policy Pledge, which has been c0-signed by more than 700 people who will not attend conventions that lack a posted and adequately publicized harassment policy.

Other:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA):

Per SFWA’s president Steven Gould, if you feel you are being harassed at a SFWA event or in SFWA online environs, please contact any SFWA board member, employee, or our ombudsman, Cynthia Felice, at ombudsman -at- sfwa.org. You don’t have to wait until after the fact to report it. (Though that is also your choice. There is no expiration date on harassment.)

SFWA’s 2011 statement on sexual harassment.

What to Expect:

Ideally, someone who was sexually harassed could report it and expect to be treated with respect. Their concerns would be taken seriously, and all possible steps would be taken to make sure the behavior did not happen again, and that the offender understood such behavior was unacceptable. Disciplinary action would be taken when appropriate.

This is not a perfect world. Employers are required to follow the laws and their own policies, which take time. Even a formal report may result in nothing more than a warning (particularly if this is the first report of harassment).

That said, when I originally posted about sexual harassment in fandom, everyone who responded expressed that such behavior was unacceptable. And there were a lot of responses, from fans, authors, editors, con staff, and agents. The growing conversation suggests that more and more of us are taking sexual harassment seriously and working to put an end to this behavior.

As a rape counselor, I saw how powerful and important it can be to break the silence around assault and harassment. However, it’s always your choice whether or not to report. Making that report will be stressful. It may also be empowering, but there are no guarantees. It may or may not have visible results.

First and foremost, please do whatever is necessary to take care of yourself.

Other Resources:

The Back Up Project See also http://backupproject.livejournal.com/
The Backup Ribbon Project
On Harassment Policies, via Cheryl Morgan. Discussion and examples of convention harassment policies.
Sample Conference Anti-harassment Policy, from the Geek Feminism Wiki. I particularly like that the policy includes internal guidelines for convention staff.
Convention Harassment Policies (from the Geek Feminism wiki)

Essays:

Bystander Intervention
Supporting Victims of Sexual Harassment
Crap People Say About Sexual Harassment
Accidents are Harder than you Think (Seanan McGuire talks about the clear line between harassment and “misunderstandings.”)
Maybe It’s Just Us (Cherie Priest on her experiences being harassed at conventions, and the way women warn one another about known creeps.)
? (Mary Robinette Kowal discusses some of the common fears that can pressure people into staying silent.)
But He Didn’t Know He Was Hijacking Your Ship (Maria Dahvana Headley talking about her experience with harassment and the all-too-common “But maybe it was an accident or a misunderstanding” excuse.)

Please contact me if you know of additional resources that should be included here.