Author Archives: Colette Black

Superstars Week, Day 4: Q&A with the Superstars, Part 1

Colette Black Craft & Skills Guest Posts Publishing Superstars Writing Seminars The Writing Life 2 Comments

Now for our last two days of Superstars Week: Q&A with Kevin J. Anderson and David Farland, two of the panelists participating in Superstars Seminar. The other regular participants are: Eric Flint, Rebecca Moesta, and Brandon Sanderson. For more info on the seminar, go to www.superstarswritingseminar.com.

Though they need no introduction, it felt like a requirement, so:

Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is the author of more than one hundred novels, 47 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller lists. He has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, and New York Times Notable Book. By any measure, he is one of the most popular writers currently working in the science fiction genre.

David Farland

David Farland is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author who has penned nearly fifty science fiction and fantasy novels for both adults and children. Along the way, he has also worked as the head judge for one of the world’s largest writing contests, as a creative writing instructor, as a videogame designer, as a screenwriter, and as a movie producer.

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Q: Who thought of the Superstars Seminar and why did you think it was a good idea?

Kevin J. Anderson: Rebecca and I had Dave, Brandon, and Eric come to stay at our house for a few days so we could have a “bestseller summit” — with the intention of benefiting *ourselves*.  We were all bestselling, well-established authors, and there just aren’t workshops to give practical, no-nonsense advice to Pros.  We learned a lot from one another in those few intensive days, and we realized that we had a lot of good information to share with other serious writers, who weren’t getting it anywhere else.  The first seminar, in Pasadena, we had two TV producers who wanted to come and sit in-Steven L Sears and Marc Scott Zicree-and they ended up being guest speakers.  The second year, in Salt Lake City, we had Sherrilyn Kenyon as our official guest speaker, but Tracy Hickman and Howard Tayler also came to attend, and they spoke as well.  For the next seminar, we have Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, but we’ll probably have some other surprise guests, as well.

David Farland: This was Kevin Anderson’s idea.  Some of us professional writers had gathered to talk about the state of the industry.  Brandon and I were both giving advice–me through my Daily Kick and Brandon through his podcasts, and Kevin suggested that we create a writing workshop taught only by NYT bestsellers.  I’d never seen one like this in our field, but it certainly made good sense, especially when one hears that wanky advice often given out by new authors who, while they may mean well, just aren’t very well informed.

Kevin and I have been friends since at least 1990, and we often talk–either through email or in person.  I’d discovered Eric Flint through writers of the Future and helped him get published.  I’ve always loved Eric and respected his work.  And then I was Brandon’s writing instructor at BYU.  I later took him out on his first book-signing tours and helped him get his career started.  So we’re not just writers, but also we’re all friends.  Each of the authors brings his or her own experience and strengths to the table.

Q: How long do you intend to keep doing it?

Dave: Oh, I’ll die in 15 years or so.  I think I’ll retire shortly thereafter.

Kevin: It’s very time consuming and a lot of work, but we get plenty of rewards.  It all depends on whether we have enough attendees!

Q: What has been your most rewarding or favorite moment from the seminars so far? (We had to specify that they couldn’t use Tracy Hickman’s story during the 2011 seminar.)

Kevin: (Note that the Tracy Hickman story was not planned; he just asked if he could have the microphone for a few minutes.)  It’s very rewarding to see how many people from the first two Superstars have signed up again for later seminars — so, either it isn’t sinking in the first time around, or they feel it’s valuable.  I love watching the discussion groups on Facebook and keeping in contact with some of our attendees, to watch how their careers are taking off (much faster than mine ever did!)

Dave: That’s a hard one.  For me, the greatest reward is to meet the people at the seminar.  I’ve very much enjoyed getting to know several people from the workshop, though I hesitate to try to name them all, for fear that someone will be left out.  You see, as a writer, we don’t get to have much in the way of a social life.  So I really take delight in getting to meet you new authors.

Q: If a student is to take away only one piece of information from this seminar, what do you hope it will be?

Kevin: That being a professional writer is an actual job-a business-and you need to treat it as such. You can’t just be flaky and “artistic” and miss your deadlines.

Dave: Ah, for each one of you, it will be different.  One of you might need to learn to make writing a habit.  So that’s what I want you to take away.  One of you might need to learn how to run an auction.  If so, I want you to walk away with that.  One of you might just need to learn how to hope in the face of discouragement–and so you must gain that.

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Join us tomorrow for the rest of our question and answer session.

Publishing Options-As I See It

Colette Black Publishing 4 Comments

I used to see getting published as something similar to a game of roulette. If I learned to write well and finished a short story or novel, I’d place a token on the table. With each rejection, I had to remove my token and place it on a different number. Of course, as I put more tokens on the table, my chances of winning went up. It would take a long time and a lot of tokens before the odds would be worth measuring, let alone in my favor.

Having recently published a short story in an anthology, the odds should be going up, right? I’m not so sure. And here’s the rub: New York is still the respected place to publish, and they’re still the people with the money and the resources…when they choose to spend them on their authors. So here are the options, as I see it, with their pros and cons:

The increasingly difficult option of getting an agent and publishing with a big New York publishing house doesn’t appeal as much as it once did, but they still have their plusses. They don’t seem to have more promotional power in the e-world as anybody else, not in terms of e-world shelf space, but they have more money for promotion. The likelihood they’ll put out that money for a new author? Slim to none. So what’s the point of going there? Some of the brick and mortars are still the place people go to find books, word spreads from there, and sells go up. They’re also one of the best places for book-signings and personal promotions. Only NY is truly effective in that field. But the big wigs are all about business. The author’s share of profits is low-understandable when you consider all the costs they cover, but still low. There has been talk of interesting accounting practices among the NY groups; I don’t know if it’s true, but it makes one wary. And their distributing efficacy is starting to waver.

So, let’s go through small publishers, right? Maybe. My anthology is through a small publisher, it’s available in hardcopy and through Amazon, but it’s not being distributed in bookstores. At least, not last time I checked. I’m still waiting to see how this model plays out. One very important point to note, some small publishers are giving a much larger portion of their sales to their authors. The downturn in sales numbers may very well be offset by that percentage of writer profit. But there are a million small publishers, and while most of them are good, some exist to rip you off, and others are incompetent. Makes me think of trying to find my way through a swamp.

So, let’s all self-publish. The author makes all the profit, has complete control over his/her property, and doesn’t have to worry about bossy people. Sounds great, right? Not so much. If you self-publish, the stigma still exists that your book must be crap. For a reason. Have you looked at the mountain of self-published works out there? Much of it wouldn’t make it past the slush-pile warehouse let alone into the possible considerations pile. How does anyone sift through all of that to find your gem of a story…or is it? A writer’s group is great, but without professional critique, acceptance, and editing, how do you really know if your story is truly good enough? It’s like throwing your time, money, and reputation at a wall so you can see if it sticks. Unfortunately, if it falls flat enough times, you’d better find another name.

So, is the conclusion to give up hope? Absolutely not. I think we’ve entered a wonderful new era where any model can work if we’re aware of the pitfalls.

New York can do a lot for a beginning author, but you’d better read the fine print, have your wits about you, and be prepared in case they stick you on the back burner and you’ve got to super-manage your own publicity. They have a lot of power; they can hurt you, or make you a star. You have to be prepared for the gamble.

Small publishers give you the critique and the gatekeeper, but find one with a good track record or at least a business model you believe in. That will take research, and you’ll still have to manage most of your own publicity. They don’t have tremendous distribution power or the funds to do a lot of publicizing, but a good independent company will back you up and give you the personal help you need to kick off your career.

And self-publishing can work, but you’ve got to make a reputation for yourself. From the very beginning you’ve got to be the promotion guru. If you have the guts to throw yourself out there, garner publicity, and spend a lot of time on the publishing process, go for it. One thing, though…make absolutely sure that what you’re selling is of comparable quality with your New York competition. Not in your opinion, but in MULTIPLE, reliable peoples’ opinions.

So pick your venue, keep writing, and do your best to succeed. The chips will fall where they may.

Gini Koch Contest Winner…

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Congratulations! All three judges agreed–or at least barked.  Anne is the pick-the-name-out-of-an-empty-tissue-box winner! Please email me at colette at fictorians dot com so I can get your address information and send your free wall calendar and a copy of “Alien Proliferation.” Contact me asap to receive your prizes.

Goals Part 3: Evaluating

Colette Black The Writing Life 4 Comments

I’ve always been big on goals. But evaluating them can get discouraging, especially as I rarely accomplish my goals. One of my kids asked me once, “Why set goals if you’re not going to accomplish them anyway?” I responded, “So I accomplish something.” There is more to life than destinations. There’s the journey.   Setting goals gives us direction.

Each year, as I evaluate my goals, it’s more than a checklist. It’s a compass reading. How much of my plan did I implement? What can I change so I can do the things required to reach my goal? Why and when did I lose sight of the plan? How can I approach the goal in a better way? How can I enlist support from friends/family? How should I change the goal so I can be more successful next year? If I achieved my goal, what else would I like to work on? This kind of self-evaluation corresponds with our writing goals as well as our personal ones.

We should never set goals for things outside of our control, like landing an agent or publisher, but there is so much within our grasp. When we evaluate our productivity goals– how much time was spent writing, the number of pages, chapters, or stories finished–we have an opportunity to see what worked and what didn’t. We can look at our habits and writing patterns and decide how best to get our BICFOK (Butt in Chair, Fingers on Keyboard) at our optimum writing times. We can evaluate what got in the way, why, and how to change it.

As for that agent/publisher, we can set goals to meet people, to submit our work, and to do anything and everything we are capable of making happen in order to encourage their acceptance of our work. In the end, though, it’s their decision.

Now, I’m coming to the end of the most unproductive month I’ve ever had. There are a few reasons for that: started planning for the holidays later than I should have, overextended myself to family and friends, didn’t take the time to write during the days like I usually would, and spent too much time in the evenings watching TV because I was too tired. In evaluating the way my goal progress tanked, I can make some decisions. I’ll set a date to start the holiday shopping, I’ll set time parameters for holiday projects instead of committing myself to unreasonable time-consuming activities, I’ll reduce the shows I follow and schedule when I’ll watch them instead of staying up late or letting it eat into my writing time.

Will I slip-up or forget some of these goals through the course of the year? Sure. Looking over them on a regular basis will help, but I’ve never yet achieved even half the goals I set for myself. But I usually get a few. There’s no reason to give up on goal-setting just because we fall short. The purpose is to give direction, not perfection.

So, good luck on setting your goals. Remember to keep them specific, attainable, and limit your focus to a few of the things most important to you. And if you don’t reach them all, that’s what assessment is all about; we always have the opportunity to keep trying.  As writers, that should be a concept with which we’re painfully familiar. Happy Writing in 2012!