WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

Quality is more objective. Then define it. Objectively, without being circular or otherwise self-referential. If you have a better objective definition than "conformance to requirements", I would be glad to hear it. But other than that one, I haven't heard a definition in ten years that d...

Some of you are going to argue with me. You're going to tell me how awful the writing is. You're going to tell me about the choppy chapters. You're going to point out the logical and historical inconsistencies. You're going to tell me about the cliched characters. It's interesting to me that you me...

I can't comment specifically on The Da Vinci Code , as it's one of the books I deliberately haven't read, so as to avoid having to argue with people who like it ( Twilight is in the same category). Hah! See, I read books like The Da Vinci Code and Twilight specifically to enhance my ability to argu...

Stephen Ramey, one of the editors for the Triangulation: Last Contact anthology, has been posting teasers on his blog: http://stephenvramey.wordpress.com/ . He posted a teaser for my story "A Claw from the Western Paradise" yesterday. Looks like it's shaping up to be a neat collection of s...

Thanks, Fearless Leader!

Congrats, Annie! Joni said in an email to me that yes, they have to be qualifying markets, which makes sense since anybody with a wad of cash can start a new market and pay pro rates. Also, similar to SFWA qualification, you must get paid a minimum of $50 per sale and a total amount of at least $250...

Congrats Martin! And a belated congratulations to Grayson, too!

Kyle's right -- it's not a qualifying sale yet, but if they stick around long enough and jump through all the hoops, the stories they published in their first year will be retconned into qualifying sales.

Thanks for the review, Aaron! It wasn't modesty so much as forgetfulness -- had a crazy couple of weeks at work, and wasn't keeping up my usual levels of shameless self-promotion.

There was a thought-provoking article in a recent Newsweek magazine pointing out that it's very common (though not scientifically certain) that for many major quakes on one corner of the Pacific tectonic plate, there soon follows another mirror image quake on the opposite corner. In the last year, ...

Oh man, I've fallen behind on my congratulationses! Would you people stop being so awesome please?

Thanks, everybody. I'm still a bit giddy about the whole thing, to be honest.

i was wondering if it would be easier to publish a book that's been reviewed by some people and if so, where do you have people review your prospective book? In short, I don't think so. An editor or agent would only care if your book was reviewed by a well-known professional reviewer, and a person ...

Something over on http://clarkesworldmagazine.com looks oddly familiar...

Oh, yeah -- that's 'cuz I wrote it!

WFABZDNLDBT, To be more specific, the first round of results usually takes ~3 months, and then the finalists wait another couple weeks after that before the winners are announced. So for the 4th Quarter in 2010 (submissions received July 1-Sept 31), the honorable mentions, semi-finalists, and finali...

It's like, "Hmmmm, shall we honor this highly literary, richly-etched, multi-layered novel, or just toss some props in the direction of a writer who pens novels about an alternate-reality WWII fought with dragons?" I'm guessing you're referring to Naomi Novik here, which is an odd choice,...

My understanding is that it's acceptable to submit prior to your #4 pub date, even if you know you're going to pro out before the quarter closes. So if I pro-out on April 19th, I can still be eligible for Q3 so long as I submit on, say, April 3rd, but not if I submit on April 30th. Don't worry, folk...

Thanks, everyone!

Jordan -- those are the guidelines I'm working with. I have two SFWA-qualifying sales already published, and I have signed contracts for another two, one of which will be out in April and the other of which I don't know an estimated pub date for yet.

My ticket has been punched! I don't know all the deets yet, but I've now signed contracts for the stories that will disqualify me from the contest. Looks like Q2 will likely be my last submission to WotF. Something of a bittersweet victory, one might say.

Brad R. Torgersen wrote:The key is, you keep coming back no matter how many times it happens.

Isn't that one definition of insanity? Performing the same action over and over again and expecting different results?

Welcome, Rubeline! As someone who publishes under a pen name of sorts (my legal name first and middle, sans the surname), my experience is that it does generate a certain amount of confusion with editors and such. So unless you feel strongly about it, I'd suggest publishing under your real name, esp...

Not to turn this into an SG thread, but I was actually rather enjoying SG:U for most of the season... and then came that episode where they killed off two female supporting characters in one blow, and I was like "OMFG! They turned my favorite supporting character into a Woman in the Refrigerato...

someone can truly be born with a tallent for ideas, Indeed. Idea-generation is something that my hindbrain does pretty much all the time -- I think as a result of spending lots of conscious attention on reading and writing -- and the hard part is figuring out how to turn the idea-soup provided by m...

Most people trained in the sciences can't write fiction very well. I think it would be more accurate to say that most people trained in the sciences don't have the time or inclination to learn how to write well. I started an SF book club at my university because a friend of mine is the program coor...

Thanks, guys!

Now I get to exchange my "I'll never be good enough to sell professionally" neurosis to an "I'll never write something that good again" neurosis.

The January issue of Asimov's is out (at least to subscribers -- I think it hits newsstands next week) with my story "Ashes on the Water" in it!

*bounce bounce bounce*

The part that really boggles the mind is sharing magazine space with writers like Kris Rusch and Elizabeth Bear.