Had a delightful time delivering “Story Lessons from the Hunger Games” at the annual conference for the Utah chapter of RWA up in Park City. Especially enjoyed delivering a sweet dream telegram involving waxed chests 🙂 Here’s the PDF as promised: Story Lessons from the Hunger Games RWA 2011
On Feb 1, 2008 my wonderful agent, Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates, informed me that the details are all finalized and I can shout it to the world.
Tor books (an imprint of St. Martins) has given me a very nice deal (as categorized on Publisher’s Marketplace) for a 3-book, traditional epic fantasy series. Each book is to be from 120-140k words. David Hartwell will be my editor (so stoked about that!). The three were sold based on my completed novel, SERVANT OF A DARK GOD, and the synopsis of the following two, CURSE OF A DARK GOD, and DARK GOD’S GLORY. The first should be out in the summer of 2009.
Folks, were are so close to having the cover work done for SERVANT and BAD PENNY. But it’s not done yet. So we’re slipping the delivery into November. CURSE will move back to early December. We lost two months with the issues we encountered with our original art projects. This time, though, we’re going to make it. And you will be pleased with the results.
The artists were the wild cards with my delivery schedule. Now that I’ve secured the artist for all three books I want to release this fall, I can finally give some target dates. Here’s the schedule:
I want to get GLORY out sooner, but it’s going to be a big book, and I’m not going to rush the editing phase. I don’t want to release shoddy work. Furthermore, it’s almost the size of two normal 100,000k novels. I hope to significantly accelerate the schedules for both AWFUL INTENT and GLORY, but we’ll have to see if I can make the necessary arrangements.
After GLORY, I will publish another Frank Shaw novel. And then I begin the LORD OF BONES epic fantasy series which is going to be structured differently that much of what’s out there. The concept excites me and allows me to take the story in all sorts of directions. It’s going to be a blast.
Can’t wait to get these books out there and let them find their audience. Thanks to all of you who have hung with me, sending me emails or posting comments of support. It’s much appreciated!
EDIT: I keep the release schedule up-to-date on the Calendar page.
I’ve been diligently moving forward with CURSE.
However, it’s not been in a straight line. While working on the ending last week, I realized that I no longer had the word limit constraints I had with Tor.
Of course, I knew that, but I hadn’t gone back to my previous draft that had been written to meet Tor’s limits and asked: should I put back in anything that I was forced to cut?
But while writing the ending last week I realized that in the last revision I had removed an awesome sequence that introduces the villain of the tale. I’d done it to save the word count. I’d written another entrance. It was good given the constraints, but it didn’t have the cool wattage that this one did.
Not even close.
I love great character entrances. Could I put it back it?
The answer was a resounding yes!
So this week was spent rewriting that entrance (and now it’s even better than it was) and fitting it into the story (and slid in so smoothly and made it so much better).
Folks, you will now get to see the naked orange-eyed priest of Mungo.
Where: Salt Lake City at CONduit
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008
Time: 2 PM – 4 PM
I had tons of great feedback from the last workshop. It seemed to be helpful to quite a few people. There are a number of other good workshops for writers going on before and after mine that you’ll want to look into as well.
For more information go to the CONduit website.
It’s widely known that total circulation (sales) numbers for the main science fiction and fantasy magazines have been dropping for years. For example, in 1983 Analog’s circulation was around 115,000. Asimov’s and Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, while not that high, were in the same general ball park. A lot has changed since then. Sales took a huge hit in the early 1990’s and continued to drop almost every year. However, last year something wonderful happened. Numbers went up.
Gardner Dozois, in his summation of the SFF industry for 2010, found in The Year’s Best Science Fiction Vol 28, from which 2010 and 2009 numbers were taken, mentions that the growth numbers for Asimov’s subscriptions were driven in large part by “digital copies sold for e-readers through devices such as the Kindle,” and that Analog’s increase in subscriptions was “also largely because of digital sales.”
We all know that ebook took off last year. It will be very interesting to see the increase in total circulation continues for these magazines in 2011. Here is the supporting data that was collected from the reports in The Year’s Best Science Fiction volumes 20 – 28. Total circulation is made up of subscriptions and newsstand sales. Sell-through is a measurement of the % of the copies displayed in newsstands (at Barnes & Noble etc.) which sold. I added the Realms of Fantasy figures just so we could see, with the magazine recently dying its third death, just how big it once was.
Of course, a fascinating question is: what are the chief factors that led to such a drastic decline in the first place? But I don’t know anyone who has been able to provide data to suggest what the chief cause(s) are. If anyone knows of one, please post in the comments.
Wikipedia: Analog Science Fiction and Fact,
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Thank you, John, for presenting your dynamic and enlightening, “Lessons On Story From The Hunger Games.” When I watched your presentation last winter at LTUE I had an “Ah ha” moment. Given the opportunity to pick and choose over the workshops at the URWA conference, I decided that your presentation was one of the most important I’ve ever seen. Sometimes people giving you bullet points about elements, conflict, beats and turning points isn’t as effective as demonstrating where, when and why the emotion hits you/sucks you into the story.
You are a fantastic and engaging speaker, and I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to come to our conference.
PS. Thanks you the Lesli thing, I wish I’d been there to see it. Note to self: Do not make declarations of love over the internet. Someone is always watching…
Lisa, you make me blush. So happy to hear you found it useful. I really had a good time 🙂
Okay, now, I’m really hoping SOMEBODY will take pity on me and clue me in on exactly what happened with the sweet dream telegram. I really think I deserve a few details! You know how to reach me….
Lesli introduced me. In her introduction she said that “this is the man I said I’d leave my husband for.” Then she read a bit of my bio, saying why: I’d been raised a florist and pugilist. Loving flowers and a good fight. Then she revealed she’d been a florist. But then she indicated how embarassed she was because she had no idea I’d bring my wife along to the conference.
Oh, Lesli, how little you knew at the time. . .
I started my presentation. At the part where I pointed out that the three romance covers were using the same dark-haired chest waxer, I deepened my voice and revealed that I was thinking about getting my own chest waxed. The audience laughed. Then I said, “Lesli Lytle.” There was a small uproar. “Lesli Lytle,”–still in the deep voice–“Are you here?”
Her friends all shouted. “Here, here!”
Lesli’s eyes went wide. Her face reddened.
I paused. “Lesli,” I asked, “you know what your name means in ancient Gaelic, don’t you?”
She shook her head.
“Oh, yeah,” I said meaningfully, fanning my face.
The audience laughed. Lesli at this point had very good blood flow to her face. I think she tried to duck under the table.
“Lesli,” I said. “I have it upon good authority that you perform”–I paused a beat for effect–“acts of waxing upon select men.”
The audience hooted. Lesli told me later that she was so embarassed at this point she lost her hearing.
“Is this true?” I asked.
She couldn’t speak. “Yes,” a woman said. “She does!”
But Lesli shook her head.
“Alas,” I said. “In such a way, over cheesy potatoes, are a man’s hopes dashed upon the rocks.” I made my voice throaty. “I hunger, Lesli,” I said. “I”–pause–“hunger.”
The audience hooted and roared.
“And that,” I said, “is your sweet dreams telegram, wishing you a happy Friday, with love, from Sherry Lewis Brown.”
The audience awwwed. Lesli was beet-red, shaking her head in that “oh, I’m going to get her” manner. And then I got on with the presentation.
Lesli was such a good sport. And it was perfect for the audience.
ROFL. Okay, not true. Sitting in my chair laughing — out loud. That’s too, too funny! Thanks for the laugh. I definitely needed one this morning!