Jim C. Hines's Blog, page 196

Friday Updates

Sunday (3/28) at 2:00, I'll be speaking at the Portage District Library.  There will be a public interview with John Wenger of Kazoo Books, some reading, some open Q&A, and some book selling/signing.  So a little bit of everything.  Stop by and say hi if you're in the neighborhood.

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The full results from my novel survey are now posted at my web site.  This write-up includes a link to the raw data (third paragraph), for those who wanted to check it out.  I'm delighted with the number of people ...

First Novel Survey Results

In February of 2010, I began collecting information from professionally published novelists.  My goal was to learn how writers broke in and made that first big novel deal, and to use actual data to confirm or bust some of the myths about making it as a novelist.

My thanks to everyone who participated, as well as the folks at Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Book View Cafe, SFWA, SF Novelists, Absolute Write, and everyone else who helped to spread the word.

The survey closed on March 15, 2010 with...

Test Post

Test Post — Please ignore.

Novel Survey Results, Part III

Part I of the novel survey results is posted here . Part II is here.

Last month I collected information from 246 professionally published novelists on how they made their first pro novel sale.  This was rough, Mythbusters-style science.  It's not a perfectly controlled study, but it provided much more data than I usually see when we talk about these things.

I'm wrapping up my results, and will be working on compiling everything into a single essay, to be posted on my web site along with the raw ...

Welcome and a Fundraising Question

I see some new readers out there, I'm guessing mostly as a result of the First Novel Survey.  Welcome, all!  The fridge is to your right; snacks are in the cupboard.  Make yourselves at home.  Please feel free to say hello and introduce yourselves, or to lurk if you prefer.  It's all good.

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I'm working on Part III of the novel survey results.  My friend Steve Saus has also been putting the data through some serious statistical software, and is coming up with some interesting results as well.  ...

BFA Award Longlist and Facebook Silliness

Why is it that the cheaper hotels like Holiday Inn here offer free in-room wireless, but the ones that cost more make you pay for it?

Well, I'm just glad this hotel has it.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have been poking around online last night to discover that The Mermaid's Madness [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] made the longlist for the British Fantasy Award.  It is, as the name implies, a long list, but I'm quite pleased to be on it.

So you want to know what my brain does on a six-hour drive?  ...

Novel Survey Results, Part II

Part I of the novel survey results is posted here .

For those of you just tuning in, last month I collected information from 246 professionally published novelists on how they made that first pro novel sale.  This is rough, Mythbusters-style science.  It's not a perfectly controlled study, but it provides a lot more data than I usually see when we talk about these things.

Today I'm looking at two more myths about the writing process:

The Overnight Success

You Have to Know Somebody

The Overnight...

Novel Survey Results, Part I

Last month, I began collecting information from professionally published novelists.  The goal of the survey was to learn how writers broke in, and to use actual data to confirm or bust some of the myths about making it as a novelist.

My thanks to everyone who participated, as well as the folks at Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Book View Cafe, SFWA, SF Novelists, Absolute Write, and everyone else who helped to spread the word.

The survey closed on March 15, 2010 with 247 responses.  There's a...

Cats vs. Dogs: The Results

Last week, I posted the ultimate test of which is better: cats or dogs.  I posed my cat Flit with a copy of Goblin Quest [Mysterious Galaxy | B&N | Amazon] and our new dog Casey with The Stepsister Scheme [Mysterious Galaxy | B&N | Amazon].

Well, the Bookscan results are in, and they're a bit of a surprise.  Sales of Goblin Quest were exactly the same as in the previous week.  The cuteness that is Flit made absolutely no difference!  I'm thinking perhaps an alternate picture might have...

Strong Women Characters

A number of people have linked to the article Why Strong Female Characters are Bad for Women.  I've read it several times, and while I agree with a lot of what's said, that title makes me cranky.

Strong female characters are not bad for women (or for men). Stereotypical, cardboard, badly done female characters, on the other hand? Not a good thing. Writers and filmmakers who have no clue how to create a strong female character? Also a bad thing.

A strong female character has to be a character.  ...