Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 106

Smart Things

Kris Rusch on professional courtesy.

Kristin Nelson on the iPad and it's coming impact on books and book contracts.

Lilith Saintcrow on righting when you don'wanna!

Fun and funny for word nerds: HapiSofi at Absolute Write on hiring an independent copyeditor—via Teresa Nielsen Hayden Making Light .

Seanan McGuire on what authors do and don't control and in terms of the latest Amazon mess.

Newbie Question #10

10. How do I go about getting an agent? Where do I look for one?

The first piece of advice I want to give is this: finish your book first!

Now, assuming you've followed the above, finding an agent is an arduous process, but the single most important thing you're going to do as a writer (besides write the best book possible.) There are a few things you can be doing while you're writing your book, and they are --

1) read books you like and keep notes of any names listed in the acknowledgements;

2)...

Newbie Question #9

10. How do I go about getting an agent? Where do I look for one?

The first piece of advice I want to give is this: finish your book first!

Now, assuming you've followed the above, finding an agent is an arduous process, but the single most important thing you're going to do as a writer (besides write the best book possible.) There are a few things you can be doing while you're writing your book, and they are --

1) read books you like and keep notes of any names listed in the acknowledgements;

2)...

More on the Amazon-MacMillan kerfuffle

So, no imagined dialog this time (sorry, I have other work to do). But for those of you interested in the latest in the Amazon-MacMillan skirmish, I give you the following:

Charles Stross with his break-down of what Amazon and MacMillan were trying to accomplish, respectively. I tend to lean in Charles's direction on this one, but opinions clearly vary if you check out the comments.

Tobian Bucklell's many thoughts on what is happening, and why he will no longer be selling his books on Amazon. H...

More from the e-book trenches

(Note: The following is a cross-post from my LJ, and expresses my opinions. It is not meant to reflect the opinions of the Wyrdsmiths in any way. I post it here primarily for it's informative content re. Amazon's action on Friday.)

From the "This Just In" Dept.:

According to Jim Hines, among others including John Scalzi, Jay Lake and....well, I'm sure you can Google it all yourself), the entirety of MacMillan publishing's books (including SF/F imprint Tor) was pulled from Amazon on Friday. The,...

Friday Cat Blogging

Why yes, I do have my own blanket, why do you ask?



Radiator cats=happy cats.



Did you want something? I'm happy here but, for you, anything!



Yes, I do need a whole radiator to myself! I am that fat.

Smart Things

Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan saying interesting things about process. SRB's side of the conversation could practically be me.

Kris Rusch saying smart things about coping with feelings of professional jealousy, both your own, and that directed at you.

Kevin J Anderson talks about his experience reading slush.

Deanna Hoak talks about healthy eating and the home alone desk job.

Interesting news from the world of the Kindle, new 70% percent royalty rate epub.

Newbie Question #9

9. How do you decide on a title for your book?

Titles are funny things. My first agent told me, "Don't get attached to the title you picked." My first agent had a famous client who recognized that he just wasn't any good at titles and sent each of his novels in to his publisher named "n1", "n2," etc. ("n" being "novel.")

Yet, with three notable exceptions, I've always ended up with the title I picked.

Again, I'm mostly working off anecdotal information, but my sense is that first novels often ...

Newbie Question #8

8. How do you decide how long a book should be?

I stop when I get to the end of the story.

But I suspect this is actually a question about industry standards, so here's what they are, according to the Nebula Awards:

Novel: a work of 40,000 words or more*
Novella: a work of at least 17,500 words but under 40,000 words
Novelette: a work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words
Short story: a work of under 7,500 words

I should note that for anyone other than the Nebula judges 40,000 words is act...

Newbie Question #7

7. How do you set up your books? Do you outline them first or do you have an idea and just go with it?

That question has changed for me as my career has advanced, and, in some rare cases, on a book by book basis. So my initial answer is, "Yes. Both. All. None."

Before I go into an explanation of that, I will tell you that I'm a big fan of "pre-thinking," however you might choose to do that. It's my anecdotal experience that successful writers "pre-think" on some level. For some, this means a d...