Publishing – Page 17 – Sharon Lee, Writer

The hurrier I go…

. . .the behinder I get.

Yeah.

So! Book the Next has shrunk again, as last night I Officially Removed that questionable 5,652 words, and placed it in a file named “Five of 5.”

This brings the word count for Book the Next right down to 32,777. As a colleague said, “It would be so much easier, if writing a novel were only about stringing words together until you have enough.”

So, that.

One more question from the Roll Call: Will there be a Jethri and Tan Sim story?

…one assumes that this is not a request for slash, but for a novel, and the answer is — Don’t know. It’s not on the current list, but we’re pretty sure to have another list, sometime in future. What we chose to write about is predicated on a number of factors, the most important of which is — What do we feel like writing? As people frequently mention, it takes us a long time to write a book — far too long, in fact, to live with characters we dislike or a story we didn’t really want to write.

Several people in a number of venues have asked where they can find more of Tolly Jones. This is pursuant to yesterday’s posting of “Wise Child” (which is here, if you missed it). Tolly, of course, makes an appearance in Dragon in Exile, and is also present in Alliance of Equals and! Book the Next.

There is some curiosity about Where Disian Came From. First I heard of her was in Book the Next, when Tolly casually said something, and I was like, “Wait, what?”

Folks also want to know the “rest” of Disian’s story — which, she having arrived fully formed, so to speak, I happen to know! Sorta. What I don’t know yet is where that story belongs. And, no (to forestall a frequent variation on a theme) I won’t just tell you. Just telling you is not a story, but it very well may ruin the story, in that, having just told you, I’ll be bored, and won’t write it.

Writers are twisty wights, no getting around it.

Steve and I have had a go at putting together a blog tour for Alliance, and our first stop was at YA Authors You Never Heard Of.

He’d asked Disian, once, how moving through Jump looked to her. And she’d waxed rhapsodic enough that he’d decided right then and there that a man might have no better use of his time than to seek out the Uncle and offer to do whatever it took, so long as he ended up downloaded as the main brain of a spaceship.

Alliance of Equals eARC

The electronic advance reading copy (aka, the one with the (most) mistakes in it) of Alliance of Equals, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the 19th novel-length adventure in the Liaden Universe®!

. . .is now available for sale via download.

Here’s your link

I trust you all know what to do.

On a related note, I’ve got a side bet going with Belle, who doesn’t think we can sell more than 500 copies of the ARC. O, cat of little faith. Sprite, on the other paw, thinks we can earn out the advance on eARC sales. Of course, Sprite’s still a little unclear on the whole Base Ten thing…

Conflict of Honors re-read

So, we heard from Boskone that the NESFA* Book Club is currently reading Conflict of Honors and will be discussing it at the con (time and day will be listed in the final schedule posts). They ask that we be present at the end of the discussion in order to answer questions.

Now, it’s been a long time since I read Conflict of Honors (as opposed to, say, reading galleys of Conflict of Honors, which is a whole ‘nother process), and while I sort of have it as a gestalt in my head, at this distance I’m certainly not clear on the simple basics of How The Story Goes. Obviously, then, I need to reread.

I began this project yesterday afternoon, and because I’m a slow reader, I made it all the way to Shipyear 65/Tripday 130/Fouth Shift/18.00 Hours, in which Pilot Dyson wakes Priscilla up.

Narratively speaking, things are going well, so far. Not so well for Priscilla, of course, and I wish I could have another go at Dagmar, who’s a little too…too. On the other hand, there’s this —

Conflict of Honors was published when I was 36. I stand before you today, 63. Palindromes aside, it’s worth noting that Conflict was the second novel we finished**, and it was originally thought to be a short story***, to give us a better handle on Val Con’s brother Shan. We wrote it while Agent of Change was under submission at Del Rey, and submitted it while Agent was under submission at Del Rey — in September 1986. It was accepted for publication in September 1987.

Agent of Change was published in February 1988; Conflict of Honors was published in June 1988, to hold the pocket left empty by the non-delivery of a contracted book by another author. Because it was not published for Itself Alone, it kind of got short shrift, though Romantic Times picked it up and gave it a glowing review, SFR/RSF being thin on the ground at the time. So thin, in fact, that we hadn’t yet invented the names Science Fiction Romance or Romantic Science Fiction, and were still formulating what “this” was, why it appealed, and why we wanted more, please.

Agent, Conflict and Carpe Diem (published in November 1989), were all paperback originals. Paperback originals were not. . .considered to be Timeless Classics. They were considered to be cheap entertainment, to be read once, or maybe twice, and then given — or thrown — away. The original Liaden “trilogy” has been republished now three times since the 1980s, and are, as I type this, available in print, as ebooks, and as audiobooks.

That’s an astonishing amount of staying power, and I sometimes wish that we could have known, ‘way back that the books would survive to be studied or scrutinized by readers 30 years down the timeline with values and experiences of which we wot not — though what we might have done differently, I can’t say.

In other news, it snowed yesterday — not much, but still, it snowed. The plowman arrived this morning — early as we count the day, damn’ near lunch-time as the plowguy figures. Now that breakfast is done, and this blog post about ready to go up, I’ll be donning coat and gloves and boots and widening the path from the driveway around the house to the generator, and digging our mailbox out of the pile of snow the across-the-street neighbor thoughtfully placed over it, to keep it from drying out.

After that, I believe I may make another pot of coffee and settle in to read.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday which, among other things, means no mail, no bills, no checks. Baji-naji, I suppose, or at least good enough for rock and roll.

MLK Day also means that schools are closed, and Pickleball is nudged up and shortened from 9am-noon to 8am-10am. I am actually considering getting up in time to attend Pickleball tomorrow, assuming that I can keep dodging Steve’s cold, so that I can try out my brand! new! paddle.

What’re y’all doing that’s fun or exciting?

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*The New England Science Fiction Association, which sponsors Boskone.

**Actually, it is the third novel we completed. We lately uncovered a draft of a Kinzel novel that was never published; the original lost at the publisher, and very likely a good thing.

***And is, in fact, a very short novel by today’s standards. The Card says it was submitted at 82,000 words; the electronic copy from Baen says 86,345 — but the front matter is included in that count.

How to win at Patreon

So, some background on this. Earlier in the year, after having resisted suggestions that we do so for Some Time, Steve and I set up a Patreon account, and waited to see What Would Happen. We were astonished and pleased at the willingness of people to sign up as Patrons of Liad, but we were surprised by another thing that went along with our account and our patrons.

Though the level of support was gratifying to us, personally, what we hadn’t understood was that we — Lee and Miller — were among the higher-“paid” creators using Patreon. We’re certainly not in the same league as Jeph Jacques or Amanda Palmer, but, apparently, for writers — and especially for writers who aren’t giving our supporters any special goodies, except for the Warm, Fuzzy Feeling of helping us keep on keeping on — we’re doing pretty well, certainly far better than the hundreds (this is not hyperbole) of folks who have set up as writers at Patreon and have 0 supporters and $0 pledged.

Because we had basically come out of nowhere and had such a wonderful level of support, we were interviewed by John Mierau on behalf of Patreon, which was lovely, and! we began to get email from new and aspiring writers, who wanted to know how we/they can use Patreon to launch/bolster their careers and/or how they can grow their audience.

Now, the short answer to those questions is: Beats the heck outta me.

I can — and have — told people How We Did It: here and here. But the Sad Truth is? Steve and I have been doing this writing thing seriously for more than 45 years*.

Which means: (1) our goals and needs are different from the goals and needs of someone at the beginning of their career, (2) the wisdoms we gained when we were young writers — were all gathered BtI — Before the Internet. Most of the strategies for getting published then, don’t work now**, (3) we already have an audience.

Of those three points, the third one is probably the most telling.

We, for instance, never saw Patreon as a way to find and/or grow our reader base. Growth is good, and, according to my in-box, we’ve actually picked up some new readers from the Patreon page — but that’s more on the order of an Unintended Consequence. We saw Patreon as giving our readers — some of whom have been with us for twenty-five years — a convenient way to support us, if they so desired.

All that said, here’s this fellow here, who has a lot of Definite Ideas about how to succeed as a creator on Patreon. Many of these ideas sound worthy, with one small caveat, which is this:

Succeeding as a creator on Patreon does not necessarily equate with succeeding at your art.

One danger I see of Patreon is that — in an effort to connect with an audience, and increase pledges — some creators promise crazy levels of special goodies, putting themselves in the position of having to use time set aside to create to make patron goodies. That strategy may grow your audience, but it’s not necessarily growing your art.

I do have some hopes that Patreon will eventually come to foster a cross-pollination process among its creators (something along the lines of “If you liked Lee-and-Miller, then you might like New Writer X”) — that would be one way, perhaps, that newer creators could benefit from the audiences of more established creators.

But, no, sorry; I have no strategies for using Patreon to launch a new writing career. I think that the best way to launch a new writing career is to write, and publish*** — lather, rinse, repeat, even though it’s going to take a Really Long Time, and you may have to work a day-job while you’re simultaneously nourishing and practicing your art, and even then you may be poor — and build your audience that way.

But, then, I would.

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*Counting from Steve’s first paid publication in 1969. If we count from my first publication, in 1978, that’s only 35 years, or still longer than some (not all) of the people writing to us on these matters have been alive.

**One telling example: Back when we were submitting Agent of Change, a lone — or in our case, a pair — of writers could, all by themselves, armed only with two large manila envelopes, and enough postage to carry their clean manuscript There and Back Again, submit to any publishing house on earth. You did not need an agent to submit (most agents wouldn’t talk to you unless you had a work under consideration). Now, I think only Baen and DAW still take over the transom submissions.

***By which I don’t mean “self-publish the first thing you finish,” but rather “place your best writing in a venue that has professional standards, (an) editor(s), and will, preferably, pay you for your work.”

PSA: The next Theo novel

Theo Waitley has a lot of fans, and they write to us from time to time, politely pointing out that it’s been, like, forever (or 2012, whichever comes first) since the latest installment of her story, and they wonder when the next Theo book will finally gladden their lives.

Sadly, because of how we write (organically, say some; chaotically, say others), we have not been able to answer this seemingly simple question.

Until now!

Now, we can say, with authority, that Theo will play a large part in The Gathering Edge, the 20th novel in the Liaden Universe®. We’ve known this for a number of months, and I apologize for not saying so sooner, but, um, I’d forgotten it was an issue until, providentially, someone wrote to me, wondering when we were going to get around to continuing Theo’s story, and I realized that this was a topic Of Interest to Many.

So, yes — The Gathering Edge. Theo. Also the Uncle, Miri and Val Con, and — oh, a number of folks, some of whom you won’t meet until Alliance of Equals, which is kind of the bad news here.

See, Alliance of Equals is the 19th novel in the Liaden Universe®, and it’s not a Theo novel. It’s a Shan novel, sort of — possibly a Padi novel more than a Shan, but in that range. It, too, features the Uncle, and those folks you haven’t met yet, and it?

Is scheduled to be published on July 5, 2016.

We’re writing The Gathering Edge now — in fact, we just cracked 50,000 words (or passed the Theoretical Halfway Point, which sounds a little more encouraging, though its unlikely to be True) of the first-draft-and-a-half yesterday. The final manuscript is due on Madame the Editor’s desk in mid-February, 2016.

So, while there’s a Theo novel on the road to publication — yay! — you’ve gotta use binoculars to see it.

I am not going to predict when Edge will be published. Every time I produce my best guess for a date, Madame surprises me, so we’ll just say — publication is expected after July 2016.

Here ends the PSA.

For the FB peeps, a rare photo of Scrabble, who, unfortunately, had her forcefield engaged:

Don’t be afraid; it’s only Johnny Dhu

I shall sum up.

1. Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 3 (in paper) is temporarily out of stock. There are still books in the distribution stream, though Amazon is presently only offering it for sale through third-party vendors, and Baen has said that they will be reprinting. In the meantime, if you need a book now, remember those third party vendors — especially Uncle Hugo’s, where there are still at least a dozen signed copies available. Here’s your link.

2. On Monday, we put out a call for help in spreading the word regarding our effort to increase the monthly pledge level at our Patreon account to $2,000, so that we can get a generator in here before winter falls on our heads. At this moment, we have $2,004.50 in monthly pledges. You guys. . .You’re just awesome.

3. Pursuant to #2, above, we yesterday had Mike the Master Electrician in to scope out the place and make recommendations for generators. This is going to be complicated, involving site prep, a visit from Central Maine Power, from the propane company, and Mike himself. Still, barring a stupidly early winter, we ought to be able to get this thing done in good time.

4. We are into Week Two of the Do It Like a Delm Challenge — you may view the current entries here. Remember! Each week’s winner will be awarded a coupon good for a free Baen ebook of their choice. Plus, yanno, we’d really like to see what y’all are up to. Here are the contest rules.

5. Trying to get your friends and acquaintances “hooked” on the Liaden Universe®? Of course, you are! Remember that Agent of Change (the Very First Liaden book ever written) and Fledging (the book that starts the Theo arc) are free! from Amazon and from the Baen Free Library.

6. Belle and Trooper have been helping me write:

Today’s blog title brought to you by Gaelic Storm, “Beggerman.” Here’s your link.

Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen

So! The pictures are rolling in for the Do It Like A Delm Challenge. You can see the first gold contestants at this link.

Wanna play? Here’s the link to the rules. Steve and I look forward to your entry — and remember! Every week, one lucky entrant will win a coupon from Baen, for a free ebook of the winner’s choice.

* * *

For those who haven’t seen it, Judith Tarr did a guest post on Charlie Stross’ blog regarding the [insert tongue in cheek] lack of women writers in the genre of science fiction [remove tongue from cheek, save for later use]. Here’s the link.

Now, honestly, when I saw the topic, I thought something along the lines of Oh, please, there cannot be a single person connected to the internets who doesn’t now know that women write SF. Why are we having this discussion, again? But, you know what? The commenters pretty much prove that this is a discussion we still need to have. My favorite comments are the ones stating that the female experience, while interesting, really has nothing to do with them* (because they know no women?); and the ones that state categorically that any book with a woman’s name on the cover is, ipso facto, a feminist rant, and therefore of no interest to the reader.

So now my question is — How do you inhabit a universe wherein there are No Women Writing Science Fiction? Do you never visit a bookstore? Do you instruct your bookseller to put a monthly bundle of books together for you that only have masculine names on the cover — and no initials, either! Sneaky things, initials; you never know who’s behind lurking behind initials.

I can’t even.

Mind you, this is not my fight — I’m invisible to the no-women side, and to the all-men-all-the-time side, because I have a male co-author (worse! I have a husband co-author, of many, many years standing.). The worst hassle I’ve gotten was the guy who thought it was “nice” that my husband let me put my name on his books. Steve’s worst, I think, was the guy who chastised him for not asserting his rights as The Man in the partnership and allowing his wife to drip Romance all over what ought to be SciFi books.

But, still, I wonder, how the hell you find, and continue to live in, this particular cocoon. Women have been writing science fiction since before there was science fiction. And it seems the more that proposition is put forward, the more — rather than the less — resistance it generates.

I used to be a fan of the internet; I used to think the internet would foster understanding between diverse peoples and viewpoints.

Yeah. . .too naive to live.

Today’s blog post comes to you from Woody Guthrie by way of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, “Pretty Boy Floyd.” Here’s your link.

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*Mind you, I read SF books from the male viewpoint for years, and years, and years, and years. I credit this circumstance with teaching me how to write believable alien characters. So, yanno, it can be a good thing to read about an experience that’s different from your own.

More on the Grand Experiment

So, yesterday, I submitted the epub edition of Writing Neep to Smashwords, as planned. Probably predictably Smashwords fussed that the cover was too small, so I had to upload a bigger image. Then it told me the book was published, but I couldn’t find it in my dashboard, so this morning, I re-re-uploaded the book, and it is now showing on the dashboard, as published and pending review.

So, yay, right?

Wrong.

Yesterday, a friend reminded me that Smashwords, in addition to all of the rest of its annoyances, large and small, requires that Certain Particular Holy Words be placed on the copyright page, something like “This is a Certified Smashwords Edition,” or…something. Which brands the book as coming from the Smashwords Distribution Empire, and bully for them, but which also means that No Standard Copyright Page will satisfy them. You cannot put the Holy Words on a page of their own, they must be in a particular place on the copyright page, and the words must be exact.

I had of course forgotten this, but what it means is that the book will not pass Real Human Vetting.

I am therefore calling it quits with Smashwords’ storefront and distribution empire. The books that are on Smashwords will stay there, but I will not be adding new books. I’m sorry about that, because I, like some of you, like to have alternatives to pubbing to Kindle and Nook; OTOH, Smashwords and I simply can’t reach an accommodation.

(Yes, I’m aware that millions of people every day pub to Smashwords and adore it. I am not one of those people, and since I don’t use Word, Smashwords’ decision to base their entire conversion process on a bloated, buggy word processor works very much against me.)

So, that.

Last night, Steve and I watched “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” and had a good time with it. This morning, we’re doing catch-up with a variety of tasks, including getting Chapter Fourteen of Shan and Priscilla Ride Again ready to upload tomorrow, and doing some side-laundry. I need to get with Sprite a little later and give her mane a trim under her chin where it wisps up into her mouth and gets made into little, soggy corkscrews of fur.

Also, the ribs still giving me back-chat, as they are, some careful stretching, and some time out in the comfy chair with The Golden Hawk, which I started yesterday. My goodness, it does get on its bike and ride, doesn’t it? And, despite a few eye-rollers like the first mate wondering, given the notoriety of their ship and captain, how the crew can expect to land at Xtown to satisfy their “manly needs,” it’s really very readable. Mr. Yerby knew how to write sentences, so he did.

Monday sadly requires phone calls, and I’ve got to get to the bottom of this desk, which has become chaotic again, mostly with Mundane Matters. I wonder if there’s room in this house for a House Desk, so I can dedicate my desk to writing. Too much to ask? Yeah, probably so.

So! Off to do battle with the to-do list. I hope everyone has a restful Sunday afternoon.

Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite reposing among her trophies

Dragon on the wing

This just in from Neilson Bookscan, for the week of June 10, 2015:

Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller hit the #9 slot for overall sales of science fiction books during the week of May 31, and! it was the #3 bestselling science fiction hardcover for the period, as well.

Baen’s intrepid publicist lets us know that Dragon sold 100 more copies than Trade Secret during its first week released in the wild.

Thank you all!

Revealed! Pub date for Alliance of Equals

Only moments ago, we received the following, direct from the pen of Madame the Editor:

While I am still savoring the manuscript—we have penciled in a date of July 2016 for publication of ALLIANCE, with the mass market pb of DRAGON IN EXILE for June. The month is still somewhat fluid, but Summer Season 2016 is definite for both.