In Sputnik’s Orbit

Back in December, when I got the call that I had won the Writers of the Future contest, my first thought was not “oh good, new friends.” I actually didn’t know about the writers workshop–the week in LA learning and laughing and navigating the crazy streets of Hollywood with the rest of the year’s winning authors and illustrators, all of whom turned out to be just lovely people. Well shucks. That turned out to be the best part, as Megan O’keefe says “the kindness and enthusiasm of not only the instructors, past winners, and organizers, but of my fellow winners and participates.” On that last night in April, as we stood out in the parking lot watching the lunar eclipse (no, really), none of us wanted to say our goodbyes.

Well on May 13th, we’ll be together again for a Reddit AMA. We’ll be answering questions about us, our stories, the workshop, the pro-rated acceleration of planets in time-displaced gravitational wells–you name it.  It’s a giant Q&A in the form of an AMA (ask me anything) on the Reddit fantasy forum. Drop by to ask us anything you like. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll make something up!

The AMA will be posted here on May 13th: http://www.reddit.com/r/fantasy/

Those participating include:

Megan E. O’Keefe (Writer Winner) : Website | Twitter | Facebook

Randy Henderson (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter

Anaea Lay (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter 

Bernardo Mota (Illustrator Winner): Website | Facebook

Shauna O’Meara (Writer Winner): Website

Trevor Smith (Illustrator Winner): Website | Twitter | Facebook

Terry Madden (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter | Facebook

C. Stuart Hardwick (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter | Facebook

Cassandre Bolan (Illustrator Winner): Website | Twitter | Facebook

Liz Colter (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter

Oleg Kazantsev (Writer Winner): Facebook

Sarah Webb (Illustrator Winner): Tumblr | Portfolio | Facebook

Michael Talbot (Illustrator Winner): Facebook | YouTube

Paul Eckheart (Writer Winner): Website | Twitter | Facebook

Leena Likitalo (Writer Winner): Website 

Kirbi Fagan (Illustrator Winner): Website | Facebook

Vincent Coviello (Illustrator Winner): Tumblr

I really hope you’ll stop by, and then let me know what you think.

Thanks to technology, more people read today than at any point in history, and from a wider selection of materials. But while it’s become vastly easier to produce and distribute the written word, the challenge of writing well has hardly eased at all. The result is that it’s harder than ever for talented voices to be heard, with fewer returns for the years-long investments in skill and craft any author must make in order to create a worthy product.

So what can be done? How can you help your favorite authors be heard? The answer is actually quite simple, and modest efforts can have a real impact, especially for new authors just taking the stage.

Here’s how you can help your favorite authors:

• Buy their books—in any form—whether through the affiliate link on their web page or through your local bookstore after asking them to stock the books. That’s not the important thing. The important thing is that you…
• Read their books. Read them and sing their praises to everyone you know who might be interested.
  Review their books. You don’t have to be a journalist to review books these days. Visit online outlets for your fav (mine are listed on my site under “find My Work”). Leave good reviews–but honest ones with credible ratings. Stay upbeat and polite and write simply and from the heart.
• Give their books as gifts – to friends who will love them and tell more friends about them.
• Find your fav on the Internet, and subscribe by email, RSS feed, or Twitter to his or her blog or news feed (You can find me at http://cStuartHardwick.com (Just sayin’). Help publicize events, appearances, and news to your friends and contacts.
• Visit your fav’s author pages, “Like” them, and share with others who might be interested (My Amazon page is http://amazon.com/author/cstuarthardwick).
• Get their books on your book club’s reading list; start a book club if you don’t have one.
• Ask your local library to carry their latest books–or donate yours when you’re done with it. The best advertisement for any writers work is his book sitting on a shelf waiting to be read.
• Spread the word on social media. Maybe you’re not a “big name” in the bloggosphere. Doesn’t matter. This is grass roots, and every potential ready matters. Go on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest and similar social media sites, and post links to your fav’s books. Share links posted by others.
• Do you Pinterest? From a page with your author’s book cover or other interesting content, “Pin it” and include a comment about why you love it. The power of the Pin. Do you Stumbleupon? Again, from a page with something awesome about your fav, stumble it. Use any other social media you like in the same way.
• Are you a blogger? Invite your fav to guest post! They can whip up a custom confection for your site, or you can interview them. Do a cover reveal for them. Excerpt a chapter. Anything to stir interest–even a little.

These all my seem like little things, but to an author just building a platform, they really can add up. Then again, this may seem like work. Well, don’t let it be. Just do what you are comfortable with and happy to do. And remember, every time you help your fav get the word out, you are helping raise a voice you admire above the cacophony that is the modern marketplace of ideas–even if just a little.

What am I leaving out? Share your experiences and ideas–I’d love to hear them!

Analog editor Trevor Quachri is a hoopy frood. He really knows where his towel’s at. I heap this praise on a man I’ve never met and on whom I’ve been waiting for five months to hear back on a story submission because in his editorial in the March edition, he proposes a zeroth law of editorship. Never mind what the laws are, I’m just chuffed he went all-in and used zero-based indexing.

Well okay, the laws are pretty good too. They are:

• First: An editor must select the best material available.
• Second: An editor must improve the selected material.
• Third: An editor must, encourage authors who aren’t currently providing material usable to the market.
• Zeroth: An editor must provide a public face for the market and communicate its tone

It’s interesting that he calls these laws instead of roles or responsibilities or duties. I think this choice tells us something about how he sees himself in relation to a magazine and tradition that stretches back for most of us were born. I think he might have called them commandments, but didn’t want the Cecil B Dem ille overtones.

Anyway, I’m sure when he got through the first three, a forth occurred that seemed more fundamental than the others, and he sorted it in in-situ to avoid redrafting the piece. Or maybe he thought “zeroth” conveyed and amplified the thought in a pleasingly useful way. Or maybe he’s a C++ guy from way back, and that’s just the way his noggin rolls.

Doesn’t matter. It worked, and it’s a wonderful example of how the details of writing and shape and hone the message.

P.S. Thanks, Brad for the comp copy. I can’t wait to dig into your story.

I’m not a fan of blog posts that begin by apologizing for how busy the author has been and how chagrined he or she feels at the great insult of not having posted more frequently. Like even the most popular of blogs has an audience waiting with baited breath for the next instalment.

Except, I’m way overdue with this post, and this sort of chagrin is exactly what the post is about.

If you’ve been in orbit here for any time, you cannot fail to know that I just got back from Hollywood and the 2013 Writers of the Future seminar. There, I got personal instruction on the business of writing from seasoned pros like Tim Powers, Dave Wolverton, Kevin J Anderson, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Orson Scott Card, Mike Resnick, and on and on and on…

But that’s not the best part.

I also got instruction and experience on self-promotion and interviewing. I had fun. I met June Scobee Rodgers and visited the Challenger Learning Center. I had a kerfuffle with SpongeBob Square Pants. I ate dinner with Kerry O’Quinn, who gave the world Starlog and Fangoria, who’s social circles over the years have stretched from Alan Greenspan to Isaac Asimov. I put on a tux and spoke before a few thousand people. I got a laugh. I got a trophy. I got to see my work in print–hot off the presses.

I watched a total lunar eclipse, on my birthday.

But that’s not the best part.

I brought home a treasure chest of new friendships: current and former writer and illustrator winners and even a few of their family and friends. People who, diverse though they are, all have one thing in common. They are pulling for me, and I for them. And that’s something, I think, none of us expected.

And now I must get back to writing. I wouldn’t want to let my friends down.

My acceptance is at 1hr, 33 minutes, 51 seconds. If you have the time, grab some popcorn and watch the whole thing, including Astronaut Leland Melvin’s amazing story, some wonderful performances, and the acceptance remarks of my very good friends, the WotF class of 2013.

Well, I’m off to Hollywood. I’ve been in California before. Once to dip my foot in the cold pacific. Once to chase a starving coyote through death valley. This time I’ll be wearing a tux and eating cheeseburgers with the guy who wrote one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But not at the same time.

Should be fun.

On Sunday, April 13th, at 6:30 PM pacific time, I’ll be at the Wilshire Ebell Theater accepting my award. They put on a hell of a show, and it’s shorter than the Oscars, so mark your calendar and watch it live at: www.WritersoftheFuture.com