S.E.’s Comments (group member since Nov 01, 2012)

S.E.’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

Gary wrote: "Hi, here's a link to my book covers. i'm a fan of sword and sorcery, ERB, sword and planet and other related genres. This part of the field has a rich history of strong art and I'd like to continue..."

Gary, thanks for joining and sharing your art. I hope a connection is made.

Welcome Bill (and many others who haven't introduced themselves). Browse the folders and feel welcome to extend any discussion.

The good folks at Facebook Grimdark Fiction Readers & Writers Group just posted a neat link to the Submission Grinder website

The grinder is a submission tracker and market database for writers of fiction (non-fiction and poetry coming soon!). Use our extensive and powerful search engine to find a home for your work. With new features being added periodically we hope to provide a permanent and stable home for your submission tracking.

OPEN CALL: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & PULP MARKETS

Facebook group that lists current opportunities.

Author Shane Porteous shared on Fantasy Facebook-Heoroic Fantasy Group
the following call for submissions. More weird fiction than Sword & Sorcery, but then Lovecraft and Howard are not that far removed.

Horrified Press
https://horrifiedpress.wordpress.com/...

Short Stories – 3,000 – 5,000 words

H. P. Lovecraft never stuck to any serious continuity with his Mythos. It has always been simply accepted that the return of Cthulhu and the other Elder Gods was an inevitability.
Why don’t they return? What happens that stops them?
This is a focused idea that leaves lots of room to the imagination.

Did we stop them? Did some one else stop them? Were the stars never right? They decided not come? Did Cthulhu over sleep? It’s all up to you! So get your writing caps on and let those eldritch juices flow!

We’re open to all styles of writing. Be it Pulp, Noir, Literary, SF, Gothic or what ever you feel appropriate.

Just finished Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology. There are 14 tales, one by Charles R. Saunders who also penned the intro. Not all the stories are groundbreaking, but the book as a whole is. I enjoyed enough of the group to rate it highly, though I was influenced by the trailblazing nature of the collection.

I was most impressed with the Imaro tale, but Griots is a worthy, admirable book. New to Sword & Soul? I suggest starting with Imaro, then try this one out.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mary wrote: "If you expect fantasy goblins in Worm, I must warn you that the names are very nominal. The Witches vs. the Demons -- there's nothing witchy or demonic about either side."

Good point Mary. Broadening the theme of the leading Poll votes would enable other fantasy-goblin books too. Unless votes change a lot, I'm leaning toward encouraging an "Orcs vs Goblin" groupread, with a few default books to target for each.

Regarding the current Poll: With "Sword and Orcs" and The Worm Ouroboros leading (as of Feb 5) that features "Goblins"...we may be able to turn this into an Orcs vs. Goblin theme. Thoughts?

Vote: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/8...

Another timely Blackgate article on Anthologies. Group member Fletcher writes his feelings on L. Sprague de Camp's Swords and Sorcery:

http://www.blackgate.com/2015/01/27/s...

In a different thread, member Nik posted a new Germany based market with a cool name: PULPCORE:

http://www.pulpcore.de/

I follow Cynthia Ward on Facebook; she is a speculative fiction writer (with contribution in Marion Zimmer Breadley's "Sword & Sorceress anthologies") who has had a passion for keeping track of sci-fi / fantasy markets for decades (I first discovered her via her Market Maven lists in "Speculations").

She just posted this link, re: 2 new anthologies from Broken Eye Books (not Sword & Sorcery per se, but weird fiction):

"The first is alternate history steampunk ghost stories and the second is transhumanist near-future science fiction tales of the Cthulhu Mythos."

http://brokeneyebooks.com/2015/01/ann...

Blackgate has a timely post on Karl Edward Wagner's EChoes of Valor series:
http://www.blackgate.com/2015/01/18/v...

The second two looked very interesting, and somehow I found myself ordering all 3 from Amazon. Anyone read these? If so, what is Nictzin Dyalhis's style like?

This list is continually updated: IMDB Sword & Sorcery movies listed by release. List is broad (not just old school S&S, but anything close with swords & magic).

2015 look promising, at least for the start of productions for two biggies including Legend of Conan and the live action Fire and Ice reboot. They may not make it to market until 2016.

http://screenrant.com/legend-conan-sc...
http://screenrant.com/fire-and-ice-mo...

Warhammer Black Library looks for authors :
http://www.blacklibrary.com/Getting-S...

Quote:

First of all, we are only looking for short stories featuring the Deathwatch, set in the current Warhammer 40,000 era. You can interpret that in any way you like, as long as the Imperium’s finest xenos hunters are showcased in a manner that fits with the existing background published by Games Workshop.

Secondly, we only need a single paragraph which summarises your idea for a full short story, followed by a sample of your best writing from that story. The sample should be no more than 500 words (and we will be checking!) but should be of sufficiently high quality to engage/excite our editors who will be reading each and every submission.

Finally, you should make your submission by email only, to blacklibrarysubmissions@gwplc.com – please attach your submission as a Microsoft Word document (not Works, not OpenOffice, not RTF or any other weird and wacky file formats) and also copy your single paragraph summary into the covering email. Failure to follow those basic requests will result in your submission being rejected. We cannot confirm receipt of any submission, and we cannot respond to requests for additional information or updates on the process.

The email address will be open from midnight GMT on Monday 8th December to midnight GMT on Monday 26th January. Any submissions that arrive outside of those dates will be automatically rejected by the system.

Greg wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Ahem! I've been a..."

Greg, the other Paizo folks listed above had short stories listed on the Web Fiction, but I am glad you chimed in. I am not an active RPG player so I get things confused at time, but I recall from our conversations now that you wrote content (scenarios?) for Neverwinter Nights 2 and Heroquest. Are those Paizo based? In any event, I love the diversity of authors and readers here.

The Open Call for scenario writing looks interesting. It seems that should be shared outside the Anthology thread too. That may go well in our Networking section. I just made a new folder for writing opportunities, please repost there: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This area is for calls-for-papers, submission opportunities, etc.

Joseph wrote: "If anyone's still looking for something (or many somethings) to add to their anthology shelf, it looks like back issues of most or all of Black Gate's 15 issue run are available: http://www.blackg..."

To add on the fragmented conversation on free online "anthology-like" collections:
Paizo Online Web Fiction - Short Stories
http://paizo.com/pathfinder/tales/serial

Looks like Paizo has a decent library, which has contributions from group members Howard Andrew Jones , Richard Lee Byers, Bill Ward...and more (please chime in if I missed some).

Sarah wrote: "That list shows the usual confusion about the difference between anthologies (must have works by multiple authors) and collections (all the works must be by the same author or team). Alas, there ar..."

Sarah, the bookshelf tags are not perfect, but there are tags/folders for both Collections and Anthologies. I think any member can Edit these and change the categories, so everyone should please feel welcome to tidy up any errors.

LINKS
Bookshelf-Anthologies

Bookshelf-Collections

Greg wrote: "It's only when I bought 4 bookcases at a post-C..."

And how many bookcases does a bookworm need, if a bookworm could case books?

Peter wrote: "Seth, how long is the process with ACX from start to the final project? Did you negotiate a flat rate or a percentage for the audio books? I've been curious about it as another medium to add into t..."

I am new at this, but will pass some tidbits. There are a few phases, each may have its own timing. The total process seems to span from a few days to a few months.

Phase (0): Set up an account. ACX is very USA focused, so you'll need to set up some tax information and have it confirmed to ensure you can get paid later. They have a tool that confirms with the IRS some information; this process should only take a few minutes. In some cases, it takes days.

Phase (1) Auditions: the author uploads a sample and tags it with some desired voice traits (i.e. English accent, gender = male, age = mature, tone =creepy). Once posted, any voice professional could, in theory, audition by posting a sample mp3 for the author to give feedback to. If you like the voice, then you can proceed immediately with a proposal.

Reality check: Voice professions do not seem to be browsing for auditions continuously--you'll have to hunt one down probably. Instead of waiting for one to stumble across your audition, you can speed the process by seeking out a professional and asking them to audition. It is relatively easy to search candidates by cost/tags...so then you just have to listen until you find a good match. I targeted a select few with personal messages explaining why I thought their specific samples were a good match, and received auditions within a week.

Cost: Royalty share (no cost up front...author and narrator split profits 50%/50% forever), or Price per Finished Hour (can range from $50 to $1000 PFH). How long in duration would your book be (to help you estimate cost)? The ACX site offers a conversion of Words-to-Min. I think every 9,000 words is 1hr on average. Keep in mind, it will take several hours of real time for each hour produced, so a voice professional could easily spend 40+hrs producing a novel.

Phase (2) Negotiations: If the author likes an audition, s/he offers a proposal which includes payment terms and timing. The timing is set up in two parts: the first 15min of sound, and the entire book. These are negotiable depending on the voice professional and author's schedule, but eventually must be set in stone. For me, negotiations consumed only a few days as well.

Phase (3) Production: The fun begins. Be ready to read your book line-by-line as you listen to the mp3's.

Well, that's where I am now. I'll reconnect when I actually finish one of these. Both of my projects are due by early March. If you have tons of money, you can spring for whatever you want. If your budget is limited, you'll have to spend more time looking for a quality voice in your range...and also propose very flexible timing. There are many good narrators willing to do a royalty share.