There has often been discussion about the fact that publishing is not a true meritocracy. Plenty of good manuscripts fail to land an agent or publishing deal. Some do get published but don’t find an audience. On the other hand, most of us can point to published books that are qualitatively bad. Especially works by […]
Articles on Agents and Publishing
Welcome! Here you'll find articles on the traditional route of publishing: querying and landing a literary agent, revising, editing, going on submission, and getting published. These also cover the state of the publishing industry and my guesses about its future.
The Best of Times and the Worst of Times in 2022
2022 was a strange year in many ways. As it wraps up, I wanted to look back at the things I wrote and edited, as well as some big-picture observations about the publishing industry. New Books in 2022 Somehow, through the quirks and long timetables that seem to pervade publishing, I ended up with three […]
The #SFFpit FAQ
If you’re here, you probably know that I host #SFFpit and you likely have a question. The odds are good that your question (or one like it) has already been asked and answered, so I’m writing this post to capture them all in one place. General Questions What is SFFpit? This is a Twitter pitching […]
Books, Writing, and Dragons
Today I have the joy, honor, and privilege of announcing a new book. It’ll be my eight book overall and my third book published in 2022, which is rather hard to believe. I know that makes me seem like an incredibly prolific writer. Man, do I wish that were the case. The real reason is […]
On Launching Nonfiction Books for Writers
In three weeks, Penguin Random House will publish the second nonfiction book for writers edited by yours truly. Putting the Fact in Fantasy is the fantasy side of my Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy blog series — and meant to be a companion to Putting the Science in Fiction, which was published in 2018. […]