17 years ago
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Guardian Unlimited Books | Special Reports | Inside publishing
Who decides which books get published? Why do some authors earn millions and others peanuts? Link to Guardian Unlimited Books / Special Reports / Inside Publishing.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Making Light: Atlanta Nights and PublishAmerica
January 28, 2005
Atlanta Nights and PublishAmerica
The article prints an excerpt from the published novel, "Atlanta Nights," a collaberation of many top science fiction authors. Their purpose: to expose the unorthodox business dealings of Publish America. The authors never dreamed that their badly written novel would be received so well, as it is hilarious. I've ordered the book myself by clicking on the link provided in the article. Don't worry. The link to the bookseller is not Publish America's website but that of a respected on line book selling service.
Atlanta Nights and PublishAmerica
The article prints an excerpt from the published novel, "Atlanta Nights," a collaberation of many top science fiction authors. Their purpose: to expose the unorthodox business dealings of Publish America. The authors never dreamed that their badly written novel would be received so well, as it is hilarious. I've ordered the book myself by clicking on the link provided in the article. Don't worry. The link to the bookseller is not Publish America's website but that of a respected on line book selling service.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Writers Desktop Book Publishing and Book Marketing Reference Guide
A lot of interesting writing links.
Writer Beware--Index Page
Current Alerts
The great PublishAmerica hoax.
Authors published by Creative Arts Book Company, please see this alert.
Clients or former clients of Kelly O'Donnell Literary Agency, O'Donnell Literary Services, Writers Information USAgency, and/or Press-Tige Publishing, please see this alert.
Clients of Melanie Mills/M.W. Mills Literary Agent, please see this alert.
Clients or former clients of Helping Hand Literary Service, a.k.a. Janet Kay & Associates (George Harrison Titsworth, Janet Kay Titsworth), please see this alert.
Authors published by Oak Tree Press and clients or former clients of Johnson-Warren Literary Agency, please see this alert.
Authors published by American Book Publishing, please see this alert.
The great PublishAmerica hoax.
Authors published by Creative Arts Book Company, please see this alert.
Clients or former clients of Kelly O'Donnell Literary Agency, O'Donnell Literary Services, Writers Information USAgency, and/or Press-Tige Publishing, please see this alert.
Clients of Melanie Mills/M.W. Mills Literary Agent, please see this alert.
Clients or former clients of Helping Hand Literary Service, a.k.a. Janet Kay & Associates (George Harrison Titsworth, Janet Kay Titsworth), please see this alert.
Authors published by Oak Tree Press and clients or former clients of Johnson-Warren Literary Agency, please see this alert.
Authors published by American Book Publishing, please see this alert.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
USATODAY.com - Vampire author Rice gives lift to pastor's 'Descent'
Vampire author Rice gives lift to pastor's 'Descent'
By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
She is a best-selling author known for novels about vampires. He is a minister who says he has seen and talked with angels. Anne Rice and Howard Storm have never met, yet they are working together to promote Storm's book, My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life (Doubleday, $14.95).
Anne Rice sees nothing strange about her collaboration with Howard Storm: 'Vampires and angels are very similar,' she says.
Rice sees nothing strange about their collaboration. 'Vampires and angels are very similar,' she says. 'My discussion of vampires has always presented them as sort of the elegant inverse of angels.'
Rice says she, like Storm, was a 'fashionable atheist' for many years. She re-embraced her Roman Catholic faith in 1998. He got religion after excruciating stomach pain landed him in a Paris hospital for emergency surgery in 1985.
While in the hospital, Storm says, he had a near-death experience that didn't fit the stereotypical version — the one in which people experience a bright light and the presence of love. Instead, Storm says he was viciously attacked by creatures he sensed were once human. During those attacks, he says, he heard a voice telling him to pray. Storm knew no prayers but began murmuring lines from the 23rd Psalm, the Pledge of Allegiance and The Star-Spangled Banner. Then, he says, he was in the presence of Jesus and angels.
Through his ministry in Cincinnati, TV appearances and speaking engagements, Storm shares his experience with skeptics and believers. He also wrote a book. A British publisher printed a limited number of My Descent Into Death, not readily available in the USA. (Related excerpt: Read a preview of My Descent Into Death)
Rice read Descent, saw Storm on TV and, when he asked for help in finding an American publisher, she obliged — and even wrote the foreword for the new edition, now in bookstores. The process moved quickly, she says, "as though angels were kicking open doors. ... I'll do anything to help get his book to the public, because he has something important to give people."
And about those skeptics? Storm encounters his share. "I'm called 'new agey' by the Christians, and the non-Christians call me a Christian fanatic." He puts up with the abuse, he says, because "like the Blues Brothers, I feel like I'm on a mission from God."
Rice and Storm keep in touch by e-mail but have never spoken or met. But they will appear together on NBC's Today in New York on March 15.
"People say 'What are you doing with Anne Rice? She's a vampire person, and you're a Jesus guy,' " Storm says.
"I tell them Anne and I are on the same wavelength."
By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
She is a best-selling author known for novels about vampires. He is a minister who says he has seen and talked with angels. Anne Rice and Howard Storm have never met, yet they are working together to promote Storm's book, My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life (Doubleday, $14.95).
Anne Rice sees nothing strange about her collaboration with Howard Storm: 'Vampires and angels are very similar,' she says.
Rice sees nothing strange about their collaboration. 'Vampires and angels are very similar,' she says. 'My discussion of vampires has always presented them as sort of the elegant inverse of angels.'
Rice says she, like Storm, was a 'fashionable atheist' for many years. She re-embraced her Roman Catholic faith in 1998. He got religion after excruciating stomach pain landed him in a Paris hospital for emergency surgery in 1985.
While in the hospital, Storm says, he had a near-death experience that didn't fit the stereotypical version — the one in which people experience a bright light and the presence of love. Instead, Storm says he was viciously attacked by creatures he sensed were once human. During those attacks, he says, he heard a voice telling him to pray. Storm knew no prayers but began murmuring lines from the 23rd Psalm, the Pledge of Allegiance and The Star-Spangled Banner. Then, he says, he was in the presence of Jesus and angels.
Through his ministry in Cincinnati, TV appearances and speaking engagements, Storm shares his experience with skeptics and believers. He also wrote a book. A British publisher printed a limited number of My Descent Into Death, not readily available in the USA. (Related excerpt: Read a preview of My Descent Into Death)
Rice read Descent, saw Storm on TV and, when he asked for help in finding an American publisher, she obliged — and even wrote the foreword for the new edition, now in bookstores. The process moved quickly, she says, "as though angels were kicking open doors. ... I'll do anything to help get his book to the public, because he has something important to give people."
And about those skeptics? Storm encounters his share. "I'm called 'new agey' by the Christians, and the non-Christians call me a Christian fanatic." He puts up with the abuse, he says, because "like the Blues Brothers, I feel like I'm on a mission from God."
Rice and Storm keep in touch by e-mail but have never spoken or met. But they will appear together on NBC's Today in New York on March 15.
"People say 'What are you doing with Anne Rice? She's a vampire person, and you're a Jesus guy,' " Storm says.
"I tell them Anne and I are on the same wavelength."
WHC 2005 Dark Fiction Contest
WHC 2005 Dark Fiction Contest
Please note: You must be a registered member of WHC 2005 to participate in this contest.
Cemetery Dance Publications and Flesh and Blood Press are proud to sponsor the 2005 Word Horror Convention Dark Fiction Contest. This contest is open to all contributing and supporting members of the 2005 World Horror Convention. Stories may contain elements of science fiction or fantasy, but must contain a strong element of the dark or horrific.
First place winner will be also be published in a future issue of either Cemetery Dance or Flesh & Blood, to be determined by the editors of those magazines. Winners will be announced and payment/prize winnings will be handed out during the World Horror Convention weekend.
WHC2005 members may submit one story in the following category:
Short Fiction: Stories up to 7500 words.
o First Prize: $500 and 3 contributor copies
o Second Prize: $350
o Third Prize: $150
Judges:
Richard Chizmar, Senior Editor and Publisher of Cemetery Dance Publications, and Jack Fisher, Editor-in-chief and Publisher of Flesh & Blood Magazine.
Rules:
All stories must be original works of fiction, not submitted to any other contest or publication. Only one entry per person will be accepted and it must be the creation of that person in whose name it is submitted. Should work be discovered as a copy or contain plagiarized material, applicant/writer and his work will be disqualified.
Stories that have been published previously are not eligible. Reprints (regardless of how obscure the source), stories published in electronic markets or on the web in any form, fan fiction, or stories based on gaming systems are not eligible.
One entry per person.
Decision of the judges is final.
The author’s name should not appear beyond the cover sheet. The story title should appear on all pages of the manuscript. The contest is run on a blind review and judges do not see the entrant's name until winners are chosen.
A cover page must be attached to the story, including the story name, the name and address of the author, telephone number, approximate word count and e-mail address if applicable. Do not put your name on manuscript pages. Include your Membership ID number or Paypal confirmation number on the cover page.
All entries must be typed and double-spaced on one side of 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
Manuscripts will not be returned.
Professional writers (those who make at least half of their income writing fiction) and teachers of creative writing at the college level are not eligible to enter. World Horror Convention Committee members (as listed on the WHC2005.org website), and employees of Cemetery Dance Publications are not eligible to enter.
The Sponsors will retain the non-exclusive right to publish the winning entry in either Cemetery Dance magazine or Flesh & Blood magazine.
Winners will be announced during the World Horror Convention’s Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, April 7, 2005.
The Sponsors are not responsible for late, stolen, incomplete, illegible or misdirected mail or submissions.
Any entry that does not conform to these rules will not be entered into the contest.
How to submit:
Stories will be accepted by regular mail only. Send one copy, with the envelope clearly marked as WHC Contest Entry, to both:
Cemetery Dance
Richard Chizmar
P.O. Box 623
Forest Hill, MD 21050
USA
Flesh & Blood Press
Jack Fisher
121 Joseph Street
Bayville, NJ 08721
USA
Deadline: Entries must be received by March 21, 2005.
Questions? Contact the WHC at Committee@whc2005.org.
Please note: You must be a registered member of WHC 2005 to participate in this contest.
Cemetery Dance Publications and Flesh and Blood Press are proud to sponsor the 2005 Word Horror Convention Dark Fiction Contest. This contest is open to all contributing and supporting members of the 2005 World Horror Convention. Stories may contain elements of science fiction or fantasy, but must contain a strong element of the dark or horrific.
First place winner will be also be published in a future issue of either Cemetery Dance or Flesh & Blood, to be determined by the editors of those magazines. Winners will be announced and payment/prize winnings will be handed out during the World Horror Convention weekend.
WHC2005 members may submit one story in the following category:
Short Fiction: Stories up to 7500 words.
o First Prize: $500 and 3 contributor copies
o Second Prize: $350
o Third Prize: $150
Judges:
Richard Chizmar, Senior Editor and Publisher of Cemetery Dance Publications, and Jack Fisher, Editor-in-chief and Publisher of Flesh & Blood Magazine.
Rules:
All stories must be original works of fiction, not submitted to any other contest or publication. Only one entry per person will be accepted and it must be the creation of that person in whose name it is submitted. Should work be discovered as a copy or contain plagiarized material, applicant/writer and his work will be disqualified.
Stories that have been published previously are not eligible. Reprints (regardless of how obscure the source), stories published in electronic markets or on the web in any form, fan fiction, or stories based on gaming systems are not eligible.
One entry per person.
Decision of the judges is final.
The author’s name should not appear beyond the cover sheet. The story title should appear on all pages of the manuscript. The contest is run on a blind review and judges do not see the entrant's name until winners are chosen.
A cover page must be attached to the story, including the story name, the name and address of the author, telephone number, approximate word count and e-mail address if applicable. Do not put your name on manuscript pages. Include your Membership ID number or Paypal confirmation number on the cover page.
All entries must be typed and double-spaced on one side of 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
Manuscripts will not be returned.
Professional writers (those who make at least half of their income writing fiction) and teachers of creative writing at the college level are not eligible to enter. World Horror Convention Committee members (as listed on the WHC2005.org website), and employees of Cemetery Dance Publications are not eligible to enter.
The Sponsors will retain the non-exclusive right to publish the winning entry in either Cemetery Dance magazine or Flesh & Blood magazine.
Winners will be announced during the World Horror Convention’s Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, April 7, 2005.
The Sponsors are not responsible for late, stolen, incomplete, illegible or misdirected mail or submissions.
Any entry that does not conform to these rules will not be entered into the contest.
How to submit:
Stories will be accepted by regular mail only. Send one copy, with the envelope clearly marked as WHC Contest Entry, to both:
Cemetery Dance
Richard Chizmar
P.O. Box 623
Forest Hill, MD 21050
USA
Flesh & Blood Press
Jack Fisher
121 Joseph Street
Bayville, NJ 08721
USA
Deadline: Entries must be received by March 21, 2005.
Questions? Contact the WHC at Committee@whc2005.org.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Mystery Writers
Mystery Writers' Resources
Agents | Copyrights& Legal | Organizations | Resources | Publishers
E-Publishers | Review Sites for Mysteries
Forensics | Law | Guns | Poisons | Police | Mafia | Misc. Security
Agents | Copyrights& Legal | Organizations | Resources | Publishers
E-Publishers | Review Sites for Mysteries
Forensics | Law | Guns | Poisons | Police | Mafia | Misc. Security
Maud Newton: Blog
Hans Christian Andersen: storyteller, hypochondriac, bad houseguest
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth. The writer of 'The Little Mermaid' has inspired countless writers, including A.S. Byatt, who says Andersen 'turned her into a writer.'
Now the Age has published an article about the man behind the stories:
A hypochondriac and super-sensitive, he was so terrified of being buried alive that on his travels through Europe, he slept with a note -- 'I only seem dead' -- by his side. He was snobbish, insecure and self-obsessed, never able to judge his impression on others.
When his fame was at its height, he turned up, unannounced, at the home of the Brothers Grimm -- and was met by Jakob with blank incomprehension. Invited for a holiday with Charles Dickens, previously one of his admirers, he so outstayed his welcome that Dickens put up a note which remarked unkindly that 'Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks -- which seemed to the family AGES!' Dickens never communicated with him again.
Posted by Maud at Mon, AM
________
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth. The writer of 'The Little Mermaid' has inspired countless writers, including A.S. Byatt, who says Andersen 'turned her into a writer.'
Now the Age has published an article about the man behind the stories:
A hypochondriac and super-sensitive, he was so terrified of being buried alive that on his travels through Europe, he slept with a note -- 'I only seem dead' -- by his side. He was snobbish, insecure and self-obsessed, never able to judge his impression on others.
When his fame was at its height, he turned up, unannounced, at the home of the Brothers Grimm -- and was met by Jakob with blank incomprehension. Invited for a holiday with Charles Dickens, previously one of his admirers, he so outstayed his welcome that Dickens put up a note which remarked unkindly that 'Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks -- which seemed to the family AGES!' Dickens never communicated with him again.
Posted by Maud at Mon, AM
________
Friday, February 18, 2005
Guardian Unlimited Books | Special Reports | Read 'em and weep
A very entertaining article about what it is like to be a judge in a writing contest. The above link will take you to the article posted at Guardian Books.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
CNN.com - Woman, 79, charged with attacking police with cane - Feb 16, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Posted: 7:58 AM EST (1258 GMT)
SOUTH BEND, Indiana (AP) -- A 79-year-old woman has been charged with using her wooden cane to strike police officers who arrived at her home to check on her welfare.
St. Joseph County prosecutors said the officers came to investigate a possible domestic abuse charge against Betty Chambers' live-in caretaker, Thomas Holleman, 57.
As the officers tried to handcuff Holleman, Chambers allegedly struck Officer Lonny Foresman over the head with her cane, prosecutors said.
Foresman suffered a mild concussion while Sgt. John Pavlekovich suffered a separated shoulder and hand injury, said Jaimee Thirion, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph County police.
Prosecutors charged Chambers and Holleman on Tuesday with resisting law enforcement and battery.
"This is a serious concern because police are there to protect all of us," said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak.
A phone number listed under Chambers' name at her address had been disconnected.
SOUTH BEND, Indiana (AP) -- A 79-year-old woman has been charged with using her wooden cane to strike police officers who arrived at her home to check on her welfare.
St. Joseph County prosecutors said the officers came to investigate a possible domestic abuse charge against Betty Chambers' live-in caretaker, Thomas Holleman, 57.
As the officers tried to handcuff Holleman, Chambers allegedly struck Officer Lonny Foresman over the head with her cane, prosecutors said.
Foresman suffered a mild concussion while Sgt. John Pavlekovich suffered a separated shoulder and hand injury, said Jaimee Thirion, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph County police.
Prosecutors charged Chambers and Holleman on Tuesday with resisting law enforcement and battery.
"This is a serious concern because police are there to protect all of us," said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak.
A phone number listed under Chambers' name at her address had been disconnected.
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