DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

I've posted a couple of new markets on my Foreign Market List recently, one in Ecuador (a new country for the FML) and just today, one in Mexico (currently the only active market on the FML in that country). So if you're a short story writer looking to be published in other countries and languages, check out the FML.

Unless you're a professional speculative fiction writer, you are likely unaware of the scandal that erupted recently around Canadian small press publisher, ChiZine Publications. If you'd like to fully understand the abuse that interns, staff, and CZP authors have had to endure over a number of years, you can read all the nauseating details here on the Writers Beware blog. It's a disturbing read.

The relevant point for my post here is the "mass exodus from CZP, with authors requesting rights reversions for their books..."

That exodus and the requests for reversion of rights (meaning the rights to publish the book are returned to the author from the publisher) means that a large number of CZP authors now have orphaned titles: their books don't have a publisher. This includes titles that were published in the past as well as books still to be published.

I'm a former CZP author myself (Chimerascope) and am sickened by all of this. I wanted to find a way to help these authors. I can do nothing about the yet-to-be published titles, but I had an idea to help authors who had books in the CZP backlist (previously published).

I reached out to Jason Chen, who runs StoryBundle and who I've had the pleasure to deal with multiple times in recent years, to ask him if he'd be willing to run an ebook bundle in support of ChiZine authors who've had their CZP titles orphaned. As I expected, Jason replied that he would be glad to.

The bundle would feature previously published titles from CZP authors. All monies from this project will go to the authors. Nothing will go to ChiZine.

I will curate the bundle and donate my curator fee to the author payment pool. I've been in or curated about eight bundles in the past and can attest that a StoryBundle is a great project for an author to participate in. Hopefully, if there is enough interest by authors and the first bundle sells well, we could do multiple bundles.

How you can help:

• Spread the word: I've contacted many of the CZP authors but not all of them, as I only have contact info for a handful. It would be great if you could point any CZP authors you know to this post. Any interested author can contact me directly here. 

• Promotion: Once the bundle comes out, I'll post about it here. Please help me promote the bundle to your family and friends, and on social media. No idea on timing, as authors first need to revert rights and create their own ebook editions as they will not legally be able to use the CZP ebook editions.

Thanks for listening and anything you can do to boost the signal on this.

On Sunday November 3 at 4pm EDT, I'll be teaching the third and final instalment in my series of three online workshops on how to market and sell short fiction, based on my PLAYING THE SHORT GAME writer's guide.

A wealth of courses and books exist to teach you how to write stories. But what happens when you’ve finished writing? Do you know how to sell what you’ve written? Do you know what happens after you sell a story and how to handle all the steps?

These workshops are offered via SFWA President Cat Rambo's "Rambo Academy." The first workshop focused on how to get your first story sale, including understanding rights and licensing, how to decide where to submit (and where not to), finding markets, how to submit (and what not to do), and more. The second workshop took a writer from when they learn an editor wants to buy their story to after it's published and the reviews start coming, including a discussion of short fiction contracts.

This third and final workshop focuses on the phase in a short story writer’s career when they’ve established themselves and have built up a backlist of published short fiction. It explains the many ways a successful short fiction writer can leverage their own inventory of published stories, as well as other aspects of an established short fiction writer’s life.

Topics include:

• Leveraging your backlist
• Selling reprints
• Selling in foreign languages
• Selling audio rights
• Publishing a collection
• The indie option for short fiction
• Discoverability tools and promotion for established writers
• Career progression in short fiction

Registration information on workshop #3 as well as full details on the workshop series can be found here on Cat's blog.

Okay, that should be "five for five" but I couldn't resist a Buffy reference. My SF story "Jigsaw" will appear in issue #5 of Black Infinity, alongside a bunch of legendary names like Philip K. Dick, William Hope Hodgson, Andre Norton, and Jack Williamson.

That would be enough of a thrill, but I've now had a story in the first five issues of this magazine, which is quite cool. And the issue features another incredible retro cover, shown at the right. #5 will be out in October and available then on Amazon.

"Jigsaw" first appeared in the anthology, Odyssey: Tales from the Wonder Zone, edited by the wonderful Julie Czerneda and featuring stories all of which were based on the current Grade 7-8 science curriculum in Ontario.

Each writer for the antho was assigned a topic from that curriculum. Mine was plate tectonics, which I turned into a giant jigsaw puzzle problem on an alien planet.

I hope you'll check out Black Infinity #5 when it comes out next month.

This Sunday, Sept 22 at 4pm EDT, I'll be teaching the second in my series of three online workshops on how to market and sell short fiction, based on my PLAYING THE SHORT GAME writer's guide.

A wealth of courses and books exist to teach you how to write stories. But what happens when you’ve finished writing? Do you know how to sell what you’ve written? Do you know what happens after you sell a story and how to handle all the steps?

These workshops are offered via SFWA President Cat Rambo's "Rambo Academy." The first workshop focused on how to get your first story sale, including understanding rights and licensing, how to decide where to submit (and where not to), finding markets, how to submit (and what not to do), and more.

This second workshop takes a writer from when they learn an editor wants to buy their story to after it's published and the reviews start coming. Trust me, it's worth it for the discussion of contracts alone.

Topics include:

• Understanding how editors and slush piles work
• Why editors choose or reject stories
• What to look (and look out) for in short fiction contracts, and how to ask for changes
• How to work with an editor during the editing process for your story
• How to handle rejections and reviews
• How much promotion is reasonable when you sell a story
• Cool things that might happen: Awards, best of anthologies,…and even movies

Registration information on workshop #1 as well as full details on the workshop series can be found here on Cat's blog.

Over the next three months, I'll be teaching a series of three online workshops on how to market and sell short fiction, based on my PLAYING THE SHORT GAME writer's guide.

These workshops are offered via SFWA President Cat Rambo's "Rambo Academy." The first workshop is this Sunday, August 25 at 4pm EDT and will focus on how to get your first story sale:

A wealth of courses and books exist to teach you how to write stories. But what happens when you’ve finished writing? Do you know how to sell what you’ve written?

Based on the popular writer’s guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, this workshop will give you critical advice on how to sell your short stories to professional markets and to build a career as a short fiction writer. Topics covered include:

• Rights and licensing for short fiction
• A strategy for selecting your target markets
• Finding short fiction markets
• Selecting the right market
• Submitting short fiction to a market
• What not to do when submitting
• What to do after submitting

Registration information on workshop #1 as well as full details on the workshop series can be found here on Cat's blog.