Michael, Summer, and Michael talk about Orbit’s media kit to promote their Fall 2007 debut as a US imprint, which opens with a major lineup of new books, including new titles from Kevin J. Anderson, Iain M. Banks and more.
The discussion about pseudonyms continues, and Mike S. sheds his opinions and experiences with how publishers look at an author’s publishing histories and how psuedonyms may allow an alternative to being rejected, or to breaking into a completely different genre to help with marketing. Mike S. also gives us a history lesson on how returnable books have changed the ways authors are losing out on money that the publishers are eating on returns.
Interview: Michael, Summer, and Michael chat with John Klima, editor of the short story collection Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories, a bold play on storycrafting where he sent a list of Scripps Spelling Bee winning words to a select list of authors and asked them to write a story based on and inspired by the word they picked in addition to incorporating the word into the story.
John tells us how his previous editing experience, and his work as the managing editor for the zine “Electric Velocipede” helped him pull this together, and pick the talented lineup of writers who’ve contributed to this anthology.
Voicemail: Mike M. reads an email question from Mark asking why gel pens aren’t the greatest instrument to use for book signings, and Mike S. reiterates why gel pens are no where near being his preference for long signing sessions.
Listener Feedback: What books changed your life, and what books are your A+ books? Keep letting us know what your personal essential books are!
Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know!
Link: Electric Velocipede
Link: The Best of Electric Velocipede
Link: Black Gate: The End of Electric Velocipede
Link: Orbit Books
Promo: Fortress Draconis by Michael A. Stackpole
paul, delete the entry and try getting it again…i have had several ‘shorts’ which were only partial downloads.
comments on the nytimes article:If publishing were to take a more ‘scientific’ approach, i think the literary field would suffer from a lot of TV dinners and few real meals(like Hollywood tends to be). Maybe its better to have some bizarre practices then not have complelety random and happy accidents that pay-off to the reader.
Honestly; i wasnt thrilled with the interview or the book this week…maybe my tastes are more pedestarian, but the idea of reading through a creative writing exercise for a honors class doesnt seem so thrilling.
Brian – iTunes. Just like always.
Raul – Thanks for the tip
Dark Space is not Marianne De Pierres first novel, she also wrote a series of novels with a character called Parrish Plessis.
Hi there,
would just like to confirm Vanamonde’s commnet. I am not a first time author. The Parrish Plessis series (Nylon Angel, Code Noir, Crash Deluxe) are published by ROC in the US.
Interesting show. Thanks.
Marianne
What books changed my life?
That’s an easy one. The Doc Savage Series and The Tarzan Series.
OK, they are juvenile, formulaic and I took a lot of ribbing through the years for not only reading, but keeping those books. But those two series of books changed my life in two significant ways and are working on a third.
First off I was eleven years old and the Doc Savage books turned me from an occasional reader who could only manage to get through 2 or 3 books per year into an avid reader who has spent the last 38 years never being more than an arms reach away from a book.
Secondly, I met my best friend sorting through the Tarzan books in a used book store. We started arguing over who got to buy an old Ace Paperback Printing that cost 30 cents and who had to settle for the newer Ballentine Printing that cost 65 cents. We have been friends now for 35 years. We were best men at each other’s weddings. Our children all treat us like Uncles and each other like cousins. His oldest daughter told me that when she was filling out a job application last year she had listed my kids among her siblings without even thinking about it. She didn’t realize what she had done until her boss asked her what it was like to grow up with 6 younger brothers and sisters.
Finally, the change in process. My daughters are both readers. My 10 year old son wants nothing to do with books. He just isn’t interested. When school got out for the summer I gave him Tarzan the Ape Man book and told him he had to read it. Several time his mother had to turn off the TV and make him sit and read. Two days ago he gave it back and asked if I had another one. He is working his way through number two right now. He’s slow, but at least he is reading. When he gets tired of Tarzan I have over 90 Doc Savage books he can start working his way through.
On pseudonyms, some authors can jump genres without any problems like Dan Simmons or Clive Barker. Other authors are having a harder time like Robert McCammon, who almost quit writing because his publisher didn’t want to put out his historical novels because they didn’t think his fans would want them. Dummies! I agree that if you enjoy an author you will probably enjoy any genre they work in.
However, I knew someone who claimed to be a BIG FAN of William Gibson but when the author came out with Difference Machine the “fan” refused to read it since it wasn’t in the SciFi genre. So I guess you never can tell
Recommendations:
I can’t really think of anything that has changed my life after reading them. I can think of books that have sparked an interest in an author or subject.
I have books that I always recommend like Something Wicked This Way Comes, or The Hobbit(because it led into all the other Tolkien works).
One book I bought because I liked the cover was Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly. It had a wizard sitting at a kitchen table in his robes and staff, with chips and beer cans scattered at his feet. It was one of those “modern woman talked into going into alternative dimension to help save kingdom” books. I read it and was completely hooked, bought the other two in the trilogy(Walls of Air & Armies of Daylight). In researching this post I found that two stand alone novels were published ten years or so after the trilogy and now I’ll have to go find them. No kidding, this is a very good trilogy(I’m really not that into this kind of sword fantasy) and now I’m compelled to find my copies and reread them.