A question of content

[msagara]

I went out for dinner with ksumnersmith last night and during the course of conversation, most of which involved a lot of structure neep (because I really, really, really enjoy writing process discussions, to the point of complete over-focus which would bore almost any other writer out of their mind), she mentioned that there is nothing of my written work available on-line. This has come up, for her, because when she talks about my work with other people, she has nothing to point them at.

This would be because I am a dinosaur.

She strongly suggested that I put up at least a few .pdfs of my shorter work someplace where readers could actually get to it, to get some idea of what my writing is like. But my short fiction isn't really like my novel-length fiction. I think. I'm possibly not the best judge of this.

Because MeishaMerlin closed its doors, the collection that would have been published by them is not going to be published by them. I haven't actually tried to sell the collection anywhere else; I sort of didn't try to sell the collection to MM, either (Steve asked).

So.

I'm asking for suggestions of possible short story downloads, because it seems reasonable to put a few of them up on the not-very-much-used website. It's also been suggested elsewhere that I put up a chapter or two of previous novels.

Comments

[themis.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I have not read many your short stories because I'm really lazy about tracking those things down if they're not in an anthology for one author. (So, uh, Patricia McKillip's Harrowing the Dragon and Forster's Collected Stories are about my limit.) But, I did track down "Warlord" because I have a crush on Avandar Avandar is an interesting and dynamic character. I think that would be a good story to put online because it ties in with the West books and fills in some gaps for readers of those novels, and the writing is not so terribly different.

Beyond that, I have no suggestions. Although, if you have two or three short stories that you really like, those would probably be a good idea.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I just added a Jani novella to my website for reading/download under a Creative Commons license. I'd like to think it will draw folks who were up to that point unfamiliar with my work to the books, but I posted it mainly because I wanted it to be read. It made its coin, and it's too long, I think, to try to shop around elsewhere. So posting it seemed a valid option, preferable to letting it moulder on my hard drive.

[your-icequeen.livejournal.com]

You could always post them as blogs on your myspace page until you figure out something better.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

If the stories are reprints of work you've sold before, maybe send them to Anthology Builder?

http://www.anthologybuilder.com/welcome.php

Fans of your novels would most likely be interested in adding some of your stories to a custom anthology.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Alex is out here on business and during one of our conversations this weekend he mentioned having his short fiction made available for purchase online (Sony? I think Fe said she was doing something like this as well).

I agree your short fiction isn't a whole lot like your novels, under any of your names. That said, you do have the bunch related to the West novels.

Maybe the strategy is to make available for free download a few non-WestWorld (hee!) stories, plus a chapter of every novel. Then bundle some of the WestWorld stories together for purchase. "Huntbrother" and "Black Ospreys" are both novella-length, so maybe each could be a for-pay download separate from the WestWorld bundle. I don't recall the length of "Memory of Stone."

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Alex is out here on business and during one of our conversations this weekend he mentioned having his short fiction made available for purchase online (Sony? I think Fe said she was doing something like this as well).

Sony approached Tekno books about this a while back, and asked for the contents of specific anthologies, so Tekno sent out requests for those particular stories. I think it was only four or five of mine, but those are available from Sony as well.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Well, there you are!

http://ebookstore.sony.com/author/713/96/71396.html

Shall I send a note to your webmaster to update your new and improved site to include links from your bibliography?

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Shall I send a note to your webmaster to update your new and improved site to include links from your bibliography?

...

Joey, I know you are laughing while you are typing all of this. But, yes, I will attempt to put up links. I have a few interview links I should put up there as well, but I spent most of the last two days trying to convert some of these files into a format I could actually edit.

Because I was perhaps slightly under-organized in choosing appropriate file formats when they were written and saved.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

I was not laughing! Maybe you need only one link at the bottom of the page and asterisk the stories in your list to that link.

I totally believe you should be paid for your work and feel there are folks who'd rather download a story rather than pony up for an anthology just for yours.

Me, well, I'll get the Tekno fantasy antho and take my chances with the non-Sagara, non-Huff, non-Patton, non-Hoffman, non-Potter, non-Leigh, or non-de Lint (did I get them all?) stories.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I too am quite lazy about short fiction, and I admit the only short fiction of yours I bothered to track down were the West short stories, and while the style is definitely different than the novels it's not as if they're not within shouting distance of each other, imho. For similar reasons, I would suggest "Huntbrother" since it's a good introduction in some ways, fills in some gaps, is long but not too long, etc. And I'd suggest the wordpress page, since it's so shiny.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

And I'd suggest the wordpress page, since it's so shiny.

I was thinking of using it because it's so empty. And also because arachnejericho put up some html that would make it possible for me to put the novels up by series, where I could also then link things like first chapters. When I can open the old, old, old file formats. Which was what I was working on yesterday and the day before =/.

[twiegand.livejournal.com]

I'm horrible at remembering the titles of stories but the one that I liked the best at the time, and its impact is still with me many years later is about the artisan creating her(or maybe his) work. The way you wrote that was simply wonderful. If you could tell me which anthology it came out in, I could reread it.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

is about the artisan creating her(or maybe his) work

That one is "The Memory of Stone", and it's in the DAW 30th anniversary fantasy anthology which I think is still in print (and which I thought you had, but I could be wrong).

[twiegand.livejournal.com]

Of course I have it. It was just a matter of which anthology I needed to find in that mess I call my library.

[ksumnersmith.livejournal.com]

I'd really like to read "The Nightingale" and "The Augustine Painters".

[trektone.livejournal.com]

I love both "Augustine" stories I'm aware of. LOVE them!

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Magic!

http://ebookstore.sony.com/author/713/96/71396.html

[crookedfeet.livejournal.com]

Er. Delurking to put in a word for the Black Ospreys story from Women of War.
And to tell you that while drinking in the bar at a WFC and talking to Bill Schaefer of Subterranean Press, I nearly tried to mention to him that a limited edition of the Allasakar stories , in one volume, would be the height of awesome. I wasn't quite drunk enough though.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

And to tell you that while drinking in the bar at a WFC and talking to Bill Schaefer of Subterranean Press, I nearly tried to mention to him that a limited edition of the Allasakar stories , in one volume, would be the height of awesome. I wasn't quite drunk enough though.

LOL! Be drunker next time :D.

Ummm, no, wait, that's probably not the entirely professional thing to say.

... but then again, it's me o.o

[crookedfeet.livejournal.com]

I will accept my mission with pride.

[stephanieburgis.livejournal.com]

It would be really great to have a sample chapter or two from each of your novels (or at least from the ones you're most interested in promoting right now). I'm an American living in England, where American and Canadian books are available on Amazon.co.uk, but not in the bookstores, which means I can't browse them in the shops to see if I'd be interested. That means I really, really rely on excerpts posted on author websites to choose new books to try, because money is tight enough that I don't want to spend it on a book I haven't gotten to sample yet. I also know a lot of other people in rural areas without great bookshops, or living in cities but with intense, time-consuming jobs, who are equally reliant on online buying for their new books...which again means they really need the option to check out the book online first, the same way they would in a bookstore.

[estara.livejournal.com]

One tip I can give there, if you ever get around to visiting London: go to Forbidden Planet on Tottenham Court Road. Their basement is full of 28 shelves of scifi and fantasy, British and US - you can browse for hours.

At least it used to be like that in 1997, when I last visited on my until then yearly London pilgrimages from Germany to buy US Comics and British scifi/fantasy.

The shop is still there, and they have a very good website, too.
http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/
It's the shop that Neil Gaiman worked in, I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if I had seen him at the time, but he wasn't famous then, of course, so the only memory of staff I have is the amazement when I walked out with 500 British Pound worth of books (yes, I did travel with an empty suitcase).

[stephanieburgis.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I would love to go there! I've been to the Forbidden Planet in Bristol, which is great - the nicest SF/fantasy bookstore I've been to in the UK - but I've heard the London branch is much, much bigger and more comprehensive. (I live in Yorkshire, and unfortunately, all the Forbidden Planets here focus only on comic books/TV tie-in action figures/etc., with no novels in stock...so I'm pretty limited to amazon.co.uk for the moment!)

[estara.livejournal.com]

^^ you ought to go to London at least once during your stay in the UK. When I was an au-pair in Bournemouth and later when I was a foreign language assistant in Cambridge, I took the yellow bus (around two hours travel) to drive in for the day and go back in the evening - it was fairly affordable.

Sometimes I even went to a matinee in the West End. That was easier when I did the three day trips from Germany though, those had hotels in London.

On the other hand: on the Forbidden Planet website the London one isn't mentioned at all, so maybe they closed it.

As I said, I haven't been there in 10 years, heh.

What about Lulu

[elrhiarhodan]

Have you given any thought to self-publishing through Lulu.com? You'll even be able to get your book on Amazon, and I think they will even help with Kindle publishing.

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

I've only read your Cast series, so I can't give you names of short stories I think you should put up on LJ. But I do think this is a great idea. Even better, putting up the first couple (or few!) chapters of some published work would be an excellent lure. (On an entirely selfish note, I've been eyeing your Sundered series but haven't bought any of them yet. But, boy, would some sample chapters force me to buy them now and find out what happens next...)

Publishing your work on-line

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Michelle have you ever considered Baen.com as a possibility? They have a range of books on line either through webscriptions or for free.It's a good website to get work of authors known.

Regards

J Rebello