OzWriting Plus

December's links

2011-12-13T08:54:00.000+11:00

December's helpful links for literary types!

I've scoured the net over the last few weeks for links to great tips and advice...
Here's what I've come across!

Writer Unboxed has a great interview with bestselling author Barry Eisler regarding critical aspects of digital publishing. Eisler has been very vocal for a long time regarding digital- and self-publishing. He has some great advice, and I'd recommend following his blog and website for the ongoing discussion on these matters.

Recently, big publishers (Penguin) and bookstore chains (Dymocks) have been introducing vanity publishing disguised as ePublishing/POD services. Penguin have introduced Book Country and Dymocks have just released D Publishing services. David H. Burton blogged about Book Country HERE, as did J.A. Konrath HERE. The Australian Literature Review commented on Dymocks' D Publishing offer HERE.
All I can say is for writers to be very wary of contracts that aren't perfectly clear and 'author-driven'.

Stephen Hockensmith wrote a short piece about ePublishing HERE.

Digital Book World shows us a leaked Hachette document that attempts to counter many of the self-publishing viewpoints HERE.

All I can say is do your research, read Konrath's and Eisler's blogs and make up your own mind in regard to self-publishing. If you are going ahead, for God's sake pay for proofreading and cover-art!

GNB

EDIT: Also, The Australian Literature Review is running a NOVEL MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM next year. Check it out.

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror – Volume 2

2011-11-21T18:15:00.001+11:00

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror– Volume 2

The second in an ongoing annual series collecting the best fantasy and horrorstories from the Antipodes, edited by Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene.

The deadline for submissions is 20 January 2012.

Eligibility Guidelines

* Stories should have a listed author who is a citizen, residentor otherwise be recognised as having significant ties to Australia and/or NewZealand.
* Stories must have been published between 1 January and 31December 2011.
* Stories must be received by the editors by 20 January 2012.
* Stories should be no longer than 8,500 words in length.
* The editors will accept photocopies of eligible stories, and,in rare circumstances, electronic copies. If you have any queries pleasecontact the relevant editor via the email address provided.
* Stories should be available in electronic format to be selectedfor inclusion.
* Decisions made by editors are final and no correspondence shallbe entered into.

Please note that while the editors do read widely, they are relying on writersto assist them by sending copies of their stories. This is the best way toensure that stories do not get overlooked.

Expected Publication Date June/July 2012.

FANTASY SUBMISSIONS

Liz Grzyb, Fantasy Editor
Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror
PO Box 29
Greenwood WA 6924
Australia

HORROR SUBMISSIONS

Talie Helene, Horror Editor
Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror
PO Box 2553
Ringwood North VIC 3134
Australia

Gender bias in literature...

2011-10-14T12:25:00.001+11:00

Miles Franklin

There is a wonderful discussion going on over at the blog of female crime/thriller author Tara Moss. It covers many views on the gender bias that is inculcated throughout the literary world, and has been for many, many centuries (dare I mention Miles Franklin, George Eliot and Andre Norton?).

http://blog.taramoss.com/index.php?itemid=648

It's interesting to see Age columnist Cameron Woodhead taking the antagonistic approach to, in my opinion, something that is both blatantly obvious and ongoing.

Andre (Alice) Norton

Women writers have been discriminated against in regard to gender for a long time, resulting in many taking on a male pseudonym as the only way to gain publication and recognition in a male-dominated industry.

George Eliot

Worth a look, and make sure you read the comment thread under the original post...

Worst Mistakes Ever

2011-09-17T15:51:00.002+10:00

Here's a link to Writer's Relief blog, with a post on 'The Number One Worst Mistake A Writer Can Make When Submitting'.

Writer's Relief

Interesting Links from the Interwebz!

2011-09-10T14:20:00.001+10:00

I'm going to share a few interesting articles and essays from around the web, seeing as I'm too busy as director or the Australian Shadows Awards AND as vice president of the Australian Horror Writers Association to be able to do much with the four blogs I run at the moment.
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For starters, I'd suggest checking out the links from STERLING EDITING. There are some great ones... (in fact, I'd suggest looking over the entire site).
An unpublished manuscript competition is announced at WRITING AUSTRALIA. Prize money is involved!
The Australian Horror Writers Association is currently seeking submissions for the Australian Shadows Awards, for work published in the 2011 calendar year: details HERE.
Author and software genius Simon Haynes has a multitude of articles and FREE software for writers and book fiends HERE.
There are two opportunities for writers of longer works that are unrepresented by agents to submit to larger publishers: Allen & Unwin have their Friday Pitch details HERE, while Pan McMillan Australia have Manuscript Monday details HERE.
Twelfth Planet Press are open for submission of novels in January, looking for Sci-Fi, fantasy, horror and crime. Details HERE.
Kill Your Darlings is open for submission this month. Kill Your Darlings publishes fiction, feature articles and investigative journalism, essays and other creative non-fiction. Reviews of contemporary books, theatre, music and film are also welcomed. Details HERE.
And finally, The Age newspaper have opened up this year's short story competition, for entries under 3000 words. Details HERE.

More links shall be forthcoming, as I find them.
Geoff

Great Writing Tips (free PDF)

2011-08-16T12:01:00.000+10:00

One of my friends on Facebook shared this link to a great writing-tip PDF page.
It's full of succinct and relevant advice.
I highly recommend printing this out and having it on display somewhere around your workstation.

http://administration.berkeley.edu/commguide/50_tipsPoynter.pdf

Enjoy!
If you want it in a more fleshed-out form, try keeping an eye on the website or check out the book

.

PoD publishers... the new paradigm...

2011-08-04T11:20:00.000+10:00

NOTE: This is an opinion piece. Names have been left out to protect the (allegedly) guilty.

In the last few years, an amazing number of Print-on-Demand (PoD) small-presses have sprung up in the publishing world.

Some of these presses are run by very professional people who have an amazing level of talent when it comes to editing, layout and cover design. Some have a great deal of talent when it comes to sourcing other professionals with an amazing level of talent in editing, layout and cover design.
These presses run a very tight ship, they put out high quality perfect-bound paperbacks, eBooks and, sometimes, hardcovers. I have many of these books in my collection, and they are quality books, written by quality authors and edited by quality editors.
These presses pay their authors, give advances (admittedly, not as high as the bigger publishers, but still advances), and pay royalties for all sales. Sometimes, they put out 'for the love' anthologies (not very often), or publish free pdf downloads of selected short stories to get their name (and their authors' names) out there. There is nothing wrong with this. It's great exposure for all involved.
I have the highest respect for these people and the publishing houses they run. This new paradigm of PoD is giving authors a chance to get their names out there.
The publishing world is changing, and this is one of the biggest changes.

And then you have the other PoD presses. The ones that are run by authors who believe that they have an amazing level of talent when it comes to editing, layout and cover design. It's a shame they don't.
They're not editors, they're not cover artists and they're not layout artists. They're nothing but authors that have received too many rejections (that they feel aren't warranted) and have decided to self-publish. At the same time, they decided they'd do more than just self-publish: they decided they'd put out a submission call for other authors.
They put out 'for the love' anthologies all the time (and sometimes novels, if authors submit them); they don't pay authors, they don't give advances or even contributors' copies. Not often, anyway. The only ones who make money from their books are themselves.
The authors who trustingly submit to them, hoping for some exposure and to see their name in print, and the authors' families and friends, are the only real customers. These anthologies and novels are as close to vanity-publications as you can get without being vanity publications.
I don't think they do it with any real desire to deceive anyone. I don't think they realise that the books they release are sub-standard. Here is the problem. They really think they are putting out quality stuff.

I don't understand why they don't give royalties, nor why they don't give contributors' copies.
I do think they don't sell many books at all; only to the authors themselves, and the friends and families of the authors. If they did pay royalties, it wouldn't be much, but it'd be something.
Something is better than nothing. Something is something.

Sometimes, these presses move into the realm of more professional releases, and they start paying. More often than not, they don't. They keep on releasing 'for the love' anthologies until they run out of authors who want to submit.
Sadly, that never happens...

So, all you budding writers out there... have faith in your work, have faith in its strength and have faith in its ability to sell (yes, sell) to someone who values it enough to at least pay you for it.
Your time is valuable, and if you don't value it enough to want something in return, then who will?

A great post on self-publishing...

2011-07-29T11:30:00.000+10:00

Jess Hartley guest-posted this wonderful article on self-publishing at Monica Valentinelli's website. It's well-written and full of truth.

Check it out HERE!

Self-publishing is a fairly old concept that has undergone a massive change recently, with the new technology available for aurthors to get their writing out there, either in hard-copy through a PoD publisher, or in eBook format.
Remember, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
This article outlines the circumstances where self-publishing is either a good idea or a bad one.

International writers, editors and publishers...

2011-07-23T18:23:00.000+10:00

So far, this blog is themed towards Australian literature industry professionals, but any international people out there, please feel free to comment on the pages and blog-posts in regard to any questions, suggestions or information you may have. All input (local, national and global) is very welcome...
Publishers, writers, editors, booksellers or any other industry professionals (or amateurs), please post any helpful hints you want to share...
Please, pick your brains...

Editing Standards and IPEd...

2011-07-23T16:58:00.001+10:00

The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) announced their first SURVEY OF EDITORS earlier this year.
The survey is now closed (as of 20th July), but the survey results will be made available on the IPEd website, discussed at the 5th IPEd national editors conference in Sydney in September 2011, and sent to state societies of editors committees for distribution to members.
Surveys such as this can be expected to add to the current Australian Standards for Editing Practice as outlined by IPEd.
The Australian Standards for Editing Practice cover the knowledge and skills expected of experienced editors. They confirm the central role, and value, of the editor in any publishing project.
To have some idea of the current standards expected of professional editors here in Australia, check out the pdf document here:
http://iped-editors.org/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Standards_Website.pdf
(PDF- 326 kb)

Work-in-Progress

2011-06-30T13:24:00.003+10:00

I've started work on this blog/website. It's designed to give information and access to resources to the emerging Aussie writers out there, although a lot of the info will be helpful for international writers as well.
I'm slowly building up the info under each tab, as I research and find more to put there.
Bear with me, and soon enough this will be well under way... should be some solid information here within two weeks