It’s the start of the year and a good time to take inventory.
Publishing: Since this time last year, I’ve been printed in three anthologies and sold two additional stories that will be published early this year. See my Amazon Author Page for updates.
I also provided blurbs to a few other authors after reading proof copies of their novels.
Submitting: I made twice as many submissions in 2012 as I did in 2011. I expect that trend to continue.
With the two rejections I got today (Thanks for the opportunity, Harper-Voyager. Perhaps next time.) I’ve gotten four rejections in January.
That leaves six short stories currently under consideration. Two of those, according to Duotrope.com, aren’t likely to see responses since they’ve exceeded their expected response times by several months and the publishers have not replied to anyone. I’ll likely have to send them out again.
Podcasting: With my partner Rhonda R. Carpenter’s blessing, I stepped away from Podioracket.com‘s daily activities to focus more on writing. The podcast has expanded to include articles on independent authors outside Podiobooks.com and is progressing well. I recorded an interview late last year that I expect to air early in the year, and will continue to record specials.
My Parsec Finalist podcast novel Fractured Horizon has received more than 300,000 downloads from Podiobooks.com and iTunes listeners, and I continue to receive donations and fan mail. I appreciate the ongoing interest.
Upcoming Events 2013: I received the wonderful news that my vampire SF story, Better for Burning, received acceptance for the much anticipated BLOOD TYPE anthology edited by Robert S. Wilson. I’ll let you know once that becomes available. I’m expecting to get edits soon.
My private project with Emerian Rich is progressing rapidly now, and I expect we’ll have something to share shortly. Our daring escapade is a fun riff between the two of us, and the experiment will entertain you as much as it has us–if you’re into that sort of thing. We’re certainly branching out! (Sorry to be a tease. Announcements coming soon!)
My two novels are tied down to delivery schedules.
Classes, Courses, Retreats, Crit Groups, and Cons: I will attend Rainforest Writers at the end of February, and should be able to get in a good chunk of writing. Who knows, maybe a third book will be born! I hope so, since I have ideas raging to be written.
This year I joined two critique groups, both of which I’m grateful for. The Cascade Writers group generated a critique group that meets in Bellevue. After running into the kind and dignified Mark Andrew Edwards at both Rainforest and Cascade Writers, I was invited to join the Cloudcity Wordslingers.
In 2012 I attended Rainforest Writers, Cascade Writers, and was a guest panelist at Baycon. Classes included a one-day Hugo House course on plotting and a one-day Clarion West class on using senses in writing. I expect to keep up a similar schedule in 2013.
I attended four author’s readings at the University Bookstore or the SFWA sponsored readings in Redmond, which I enjoyed very much. Hopefully I’ll find time to attend more later this year.
Opportunities:
Writers, you may be interested to know about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The submission period just opened for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It is open to all novels that are unpublished or self-published. They continue accepting submissions until January 27th, or when they reach a cap of 10,000 entries. There are many genres. Check out the links for more information.
In previous articles (as well as this one) I’ve mentioned the useful site Duotrope.com for finding market listings and response times. Unfortunately, Duotrope now requires a membership fee. I know alternatives are in the works, but can’t yet make a recommendation. I’m paying on a monthly basis, but will see whether the site is significantly more useful than the free alternatives as each month passes.
I’ve created a list of upcoming submission dates, including the ones I’ve been invited to submit to (which is also a nice change). At some point I’ll offer a copy of my spreadsheet, if anyone is interested in similarly tracking their works against possible markets.
