Howard Andrew Jones's Blog, page 81

Opinions Wanted

I’m almost done moving into this new web theme. I’m fairly pleased with the decorating scheme of the new site, and the organization of the various pages. I’m always up for constructive feedback, though. Are there features you’d like to see on the site? Do you want better access to older articles, or the blog roll? Let me know.

Obviously this site is here in part to promote my writing, but I never want to sound like all I do is shrilly promote my work. I’d get pretty bored doing that, and I think that kind of thing is deadly dull to read. As a result,  in amongst news about what I’m working on and how it’s going, there will also be posts about ancient Arabia or other history topics, old adventure stories and writers, genre, pulp, sword-and-sorcery, the craft of writing, the publishing industry, and gaming. If my knee fully heals maybe I’ll finally get back to working toward my second degree black belt and start talking about karate.

But I’m throwing open the gates, and asking for your opinions. Are there topics you’d like me to cover that I’ve never addressed? Are there things you’d like to see more of? Questions you have about writing or publishing? Let me know!

I’m going to walk away from the computer now and get ready for Gen Con, where I’ll be all day Saturday. I hope I’ll see some of you there. While I’m away I won’t be able to read any responses, but I’ll look forward to doing so on my return.

 

Mindjammer

I wanted to give a shout out for the talented Sarah Newton, whose first novel, Mindjammer, has just been released. I stumbled on Sarah’s work as an RPG writer when she helped bring the Starblazer Adventures RPG to life and was blown away by the scope of her ideas and the easy and exciting way she articulated them. Here’s the official cover copy for her first novel:

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IT IS THE SECOND AGE OF SPACE… In the seventeenth millennium, the New Commonality of Humankind is expanding, using newly-discovered faster-than-light travel to rediscover lost worlds colonised in the distant past. It’s a time of turmoil, of clashing cultures, as civilisations shudder and collapse before the might of a benevolent empire ten millennia old.

In the Solenine Cluster, things are going from bad to worse, as hyper-advanced technologies destabilise a world in chaos. Thaddeus Clay and his SCI Force special ops team are on the trail of the Transmigration Heresy. What they find is something beyond even their imagining – something which could tear the whole Commonality apart…

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There’s a lot of buzz about the book already. The Mighty John O’Neill over at Black Gate posted a longer discussion about it just the other day. All you need to know is that Mindjammer is available now in Kindle format for $3.99 and in print for $15.95, both from Amazon.

Help Scott Lynch Help Steven Brust and Emma Bull

I just learned today that two industry treasures are involved in alarming medical procedures. Fortunately, another industry treasure is lending a hand.

The talented Scott Lynch is running a fund raiser right now for two industry veterans. Steven Brust is about to undergo surgery to implant a heart difibrilator on August 22nd, and Emma Bull underwent a thyroidectomy on August 8th.

I’d like to perpetuate the myth that all of us writers get a gold plated limo and a pirate chest of gold when we get our book deals, but the truth is that it’s not exactly an industry where most practitioners are rolling in cash. Scott is raising funds through a kickstarter project that features some pretty nifty prizes. I hope you’ll drop by his site and think seriously about lending a hand.

 

 

 

Bones of the Old Ones ARCs Are In!

The advanced reader copies of The Bones of the Old Ones are here!

And there was much rejoicing. My great feeling of satisfaction and contentment upon holding the actual ARC is here portrayed by this Captain Kirk Mego action figure.

Soon, very soon, the contest winner will be announced, and copies of the book will be heading out for review…

Meanwhile, I am still working the bugs out of this new web site setup. It’s getting better, but my posts are apt to be a little shorter for the next few days. Right now the thing that’s driving me nuts is that NONE of my italics seem to be working, so all book titles now appear as regular text. I’d also like all the font sizes in body text to be a little smaller. I have asked for help, so I hope to be able to make corrections soon.

Under Construction

This week I’m going to be experimenting with a new blog look, so some of my sidebars and links may or may not be working for a while. Hopefully I’ll have everything working properly over the course of the week. It’s high time I updated my links and blog roll in any case!

I hope you’ll be patient…

My Query Letter

So here’s the point where I’m supposed to sit back and provide great advice about how to write a query letter to get your book into the hands of an editor or agent so that you can fulfill your lifelong dream.

Unfortunately for you, I skipped that step. I can’t tell you how to draft a query letter. I can tell you how to best craft an elevator pitch, and I’m getting a fair idea about how to sell a synopsis, but query letters — it just didn’t work out that way for me.

It was my friend Scott Oden, already a writer with St. Martin’s Thomas Dunne Books imprint, who introduced me directly to his editor, and then the manuscript got sent in. So my contract wasn’t the result of query letter at all.

Before you gnash your teeth, tear out your hair and curse me for being one of those lucky men who just happened to grow up living next to somebody famous, or have an old family friend who was a publisher, the only reason I knew Scott is because I’d been part of this industry for a few decades. Scott and I happened to be friends because of our mutual love of historical fiction, and I happened to be a fan of his because our joint friend Morgan Holmes had passed me a copy of Scott’s book. I loved Scott’s Men of Bronze, and, learning that he was a big fan of Harold Lamb’s writing, I asked him to draft an introduction for one of Lamb’s historical collections (Swords from the Desert). We’ve been friends ever since.

So, yes, a friend opened the door, but I would never have known Scott if I hadn’t been working away on the Harold Lamb collections for Bison Books, or known sword-and-sorcery scholar Morgan Holmes. That’s one of the reasons why, whenever people for advice from me about publishing, I tell them to get active in the industry.

Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. There’s a great recent query letter example from up-and-comer Jay Kristoff. Those of you wanting to know how to write a query letter should go check it out, now, and then ready yourself for reading Jay’s book, Stormdancer, which has already gotten a starred review from both PW AND Kirkus. So, wow. Lucky, talented sod.