I had a lovely time at Confluence this year. I've mentioned before that it's a small convention--but it's one I feel very at home in.

The first time I went to Confluence, I went because Ann Cecil asked. I met her for the first time at the Worldcon in Philadelphia; she was in charge of the 'book club' style discussions, and I'd signed up for one (for Probability Moon, by Nancy Kress). I really liked that book, but I thought it had a few weaknesses, and -- I know this will come as a surprise to you all, especially as it's an opinion about reading material -- I was blunt in my particular way about both things.

For some reason, this didn't scare Ann off, and instead she said, "I think you would be so good at my convention--would you come if I asked?"
( Things I want to say about Ann Cecil )

maiac wrote:

This sounds exactly like the kind that I need these days. Too many scriptwriters think that they have to do unpleasant and unfair things to their characters to make the story "dramatic".

And I started to answer this in the comment thread and then realized that I had enough to say that it might (might!) go long.
( Characters )

About the writing meme that's going around:

Chapter one of Skirmish: Douglas Adams
Chapter two of Skirmish: Stephen King
Chapter three of Skrimish: H.P. Lovecraft.
Chapter four of Skirmish: Raymond Chandler

All four chapters: Douglas Adams (the chapters run about 10k words each)

Chapter one of Cast in Ruin: Ray Bradbury
Chapter two of Cast in Ruin: Johathan Swift (sic)
Chapter three of Cast in Ruin: Douglas Adams
Chapter four of Cast in Ruin: Dan Brown

All four chapters: Ray Bradbury (the chapters run around 5k words each)

… but smaller sample sizes (a few paragraphs) tend to all be Dan Brown, with one Stephen King.

I answered this in the comments to the last post, but decided to break it out and expand on it.

radiosilents said:
Hm. I haven't read any of the responses to this post, but I must say, I am looking right at a copy of Rusch's Diving into the Wreck and feel that whoever thought that it looked like it was self-published must be on crack. Seriously.

Full disclosure is that I work for the parent company of Pyr, Prometheus Books, but even if I didn't I'd wonder what the heck those people were talking about. All the Pyr books look fantastic, if you ask me. *shrugs*

Well... I'm not about to tell solid, regular customers that they are on crack. And crack or no, four people have asked about that book in the last 2 weeks.

I'm not, in fact, going to tell them anything beyond: No, it's definitely not self-published.

But I am -- as I did -- going to ask why they thought it was, why they asked; I want a reason for their reaction because I want to understand it. To me the cover is clearly professionally designed. The art is professional; the type and its layout is professional.

But having said that? I can't get past the fact that four of our customers, at least 3 of whom regularly buy hardcovers or trade paperbacks, asked. The fact that it's clearly not a self-published novel to you, Pyr, or me doesn't change that fact.

And the fact that those people are asking at all is significant; the fact that it was more than one person is significant. The fact that people who will never ask might make the same assumption for the same reasons is life in retail.

Let me be even clearer:

I admire PYR and its publication choices greatly. I think some of the best, if not the best, SF being published in North America is being published by PYR books. I am not in any way saying the books look or are unprofessional to me.

I'm saying that the cover-stock, which is in some ways more durable than other finishes (barbarienne covers the production differences in actual stock in her LJ), is causing consumer confusion in my experience.

If a certain typeface or a certain motif is considered inappropriate because it looks unprofessional, no professional artist/designer would use them. If, for any number of reasons, the conveyance of what is otherwise excellent work is becoming equated with lack of professionalism, then I think that's a factor in making a production decision that should be considered with the same awareness as all of the other elements involved.

And I'm willing to admit that this could be a brief blip that has occurred in my bookstore, and nowhere else in the world. But obviously I don't believe that it's that isolated or I wouldn't have written the previous post.

I've resisted comment on the question of vanity presses this weekend, and broke my embargo only recently, on Jackie Kessler's informative and humorous post. I don't actually say much about the current situation because it's been said very well by so many people now I can't begin to link them all.

But... (you knew there was a 'but', right?) one of the things I keep seeing on-line, and perhaps I fail to understand what I'm reading clearly, is the open declaration of the Fall of the Evil Empire of Gatekeepers -- publishers and agents -- combined with a declaration of democracy, of readers deciding what is, and is not, to sell.

I'm not a publisher; I've never worked for a publisher. I have friends who have worked in various editorial positions. All of my interactions with the industry known as publishing have come through the bookstores I've worked in since I was sixteen years of age. I've worked in chains, and in independents, and anything I understand about the industry and its workings comes both from that, and my experience as the third side of the triangle -- as an author.

But I felt, in the end, that I had to comment, and I've cut and pasted my post from the above-linked blog beneath the cut, and then added more (I would have added more on her blog, but it was already way, way, too long).
( Read more... )

I'm in the store, where we're having a signing for a YA authorial debut.

But the thing that caught my eye was: Child of Fire by Harry Connolly.

And yes, burger_eater, I did, in fact, say: OMG, Burger Eater's book is here!

And in other news, the "last chapter" of Cast in Chaos, after two chapters, really is the one I'm writing now. Honest.

I'll be heading to Montreal for the 2009 Worldcon, Anticipation. My schedule is as follows:


When: Thu 14:00
Location:  P-518A
Title:  One Genre or Many?
Session ID:  557
All Participants:  Farah Mendlesohn, Michelle M. Sagara, Pat Rothfuss,
Gary K. Wolfe, Ellen Klages
Moderator:  Gary K. Wolfe
Description:  Lots of people assert that SF and fantasy are really
part of one overarching field called the fantastic; but in this case,
why are critics of both developing different languages to describe
them?


When: Fri 11:00
Location:  P-516AB
Title:  Second Time Around
Session ID:  759
All Participants:  Alexander Jablokov, Michelle M. Sagara, Nick
DiChario, Robert Silverberg
Moderator:  Robert Silverberg
Description:  Some writers go on hiatus for years; others find the
vagaries of publishing take them out厃et the urge to write lures them
back. Is it a matter of unfinished business, or is writing an
addiction?


When: Fri 12:00
Location:  P-510C
Title:  Manga for Kids
Session ID:  291
All Participants:  Madeline Ashby, Michelle M. Sagara, Jus de Pomme
Moderator:  Madeline Ashby
Description:  We'll discuss Japanese comic books most kids 12 & under
will enjoy.


When: Sun 10:00
Location:  Other
Title:  Michelle Sagara Signing
Session ID:  1476
All Participants:  Michelle M. Sagara
Description:  Michelle Sagara Signing
Duration:  0:30 hrs:min


When: Mon 12:30
Location:  P-512AE
Title:  Author Reading
Session ID:  247
All Participants:  Kari Sperring, Michelle M. Sagara, Pat Rothfuss
Description:  Patrick Rothfuss; Kari Sperring;  Michelle Sagara.
Duration:  1:00 hrs:min
Language:  English
Track: Reading

I hope to see some of you there!

Someone on the publisher-side of the industry has started a blog about the workings of the industry itself. It's relatively new, and it is, imho, absolutely critical information for people who want to make a living in this business if they want to understand some of how it works. It's here. In particular, I loved his explanation of sell-through, what it means, and why high sell-through is not necessarily a good thing.

Also, a couple of comments about yesterday's post have cropped up on LJ; I've added them to the original post, because they're both very good, and I thought I'd also mention them here in case people haven't seen them. jmeadows has posted an eloquent, and less personally focused response than minehere. matociquala, whose name I just mistyped five times, has posted her personal take on both issues here, and it is pure Bear :).

I really like Confluence, and my husband and I will be heading there this coming weekend, the 24th-26th of July.

My programming schedule for the weekend is:

Friday 5pm Oak   
Why are there so many Twits on Twitter?   
John Scalzi, Laurie Mann, Michelle Sagara West,Sarah Zettel   

Saturday 12pm Salon A   
Folklore and the Roots of Fantasy   
Alan Irvine, Michelle Sagara West, Susan Dexter, Bill Mayhew

Saturday 1pm Oak   
Is Amazon "Kindling" a New Generation of Readers   
Thomas Seay, Gary Markette, Michelle Sagara West, Jean Goldstrom

Saturday 2:00 PM   
Autographing   
Michelle Sagara West

Saturday 4pm Jr Ste   
Kaffee Klatsch   
Sarah Zettel, Michelle Sagara West     
              
Saturday 5:30 pm Willow   
Reading   
Michelle Sagara West   

And I hope to see some of you there!

Edited because I in theory know my own name

I work part-time at an SF/F specialty store. Once upon a time, in a world before children, I managed it, and I've been there in one capacity or another for a Very Long time.

I did something the other day which, on immediate reflection, surprised me. Three people came into the store; they were in their twenties, two men, and a woman (with very lovely red hair). The young woman asked me for recommendations--and this is the part of the job that I love, and have always loved, because I get to talk about books, and I can do that all day long. Seriously.

So the young woman was thinking about the various recommendations, and one of the young men came up to the counter to buy a book. It was a paperback (which will be relevant in a minute). He paid for the book, then turned to the young woman and said, "It's time to go."

She said, "But I haven't found anything yet."

And he said, "Well, how long does it take?"

So, I leaned over the counter, holding the book for which the customer had paid and I bonked him on the head with it. No, seriously. I bonked a total stranger who had never been in the store before on the head. With his book. Which he had just given me money for. And while I was doing this, I was saying, "Hey! You don't tell someone that they're coming to browse in a bookstore, but they have to leave just because you've found something to read!"

The young woman and the other young man broke out laughing, and the other young man said, "She doesn't even know you and she knows you deserve to be smacked upside the head!"

And then, of course, I realized that I had just hit a total stranger over the head. I think I managed to say "I have younger brothers, sorry >.>."

So... I was relating this with some chagrin to a customer of many years, and he was laughing at me, and at the idea that I was shocked that I had done this. I have never done it before. I mean, not if I don't actually know the customer.

When I pointed this out, he said, "Take a poll of all the people who actually know you and see if any of them are surprised."

So: It is poll time!

Michelle has hit a total stranger on the head with a book that he has just purchased. Not, of course, hard enough to cause any damage to anything other than dignity (hers and his).

[Poll #1425569]