Podcast appearances and mentions of Kristine Kathryn Rusch

This episode features "The Last Season of Your Life" by Christopher Barzak (©2026 by Christopher Barzak) read by Stefan Rudnicki, and "The Test of Time" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (©2026 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch) read by Justine Eyre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you improve your self-editing process? How can you find and work with professional editors and beta readers? How do you know when editing is done and the book is finished? With Joanna Penn In the intro, Poetry craft and business [The Indy Author Podcast]; A Mouthful of Air; How to get your book featured in local media without a publicist [Written Word Media]; thoughts on faith and code; Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy; Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Joanna Penn is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, short stories and travel memoir under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. Overview of the editing process Self-editing How to find and work with a professional editor. My list is at www.TheCreativePenn.com/editors Beta readers, specialist readers, and sensitivity readers When is the book finished? These chapters are excerpted from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn, available direct or on all the usual stores. Overview of the editing process “Books aren't written. They're rewritten.” —Michael Crichton Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a classic of English literature. I studied it at school and the scene at Stonehenge still haunts me. Hardy's Jude the Obscure influenced my decision to go to university in Oxford, a city Hardy called Christminster. His novels are still held in great esteem, which is why it's so wonderful to see his hand-edited pages in the British Library in London, displayed in the Treasures collection. You can visit them in person or view them online. Thomas Hardy's edited manuscript of ‘Tess of the D'Urbevilles, one of England's greatest writers While his handwriting is a scrawl, it's evident from the pages just how much editing Hardy did on this version of the manuscript. There are lines struck through, whole paragraphs crossed out, arrows moving sections around, words and sentences rewritten, and comments in the margins. Even the title is changed from A Daughter of the D'Urbervilles to Tess of the D'Urbervilles as we know it today. Those edited pages gave me hope when I saw them for the first time as a new fiction author. Not that I thought I could write a classic of English literature, but that I could learn to edit my way to a better story. There are several stages in the editing process, which I'll outline here and then expand on in subsequent chapters. As you progress in your craft, you won't need every stage every time, so assess with each book what kind of editing you need along the way. Self-editing The self-editing stage is your chance to improve your manuscript before anyone else sees it. For some authors, this stage might mean rewriting the entire draft. For others, it involves restructuring, adding or deleting scenes, doing line edits, and more. Developmental or structural edit An editor reads your manuscript and gives feedback on specific aspects, character, plot, story structure, and anything else pertinent to improving the novel. It is sometimes described as a manuscript critique. You will receive a report, usually ten to fifteen pages, with notes on your novel, which you can then use in another round of self-editing. While this is not always necessary, it can be a valuable step and something I appreciated particularly for my first novel when I had so much to learn. Copyediting and line editing This is the classic ‘red pen' edit where you can expect comments and changes all over your manuscript. This edit focuses on anything that enhances the writing quality, including word choice and phrasing issues, as well as grammar, and more. Some editors split this edit into two, and there are differences between what this edit is called between countries. For some editors, a copyedit includes only attention to grammar and correctness, while a line edit focuses on improving and elevating sentences. Be clear about your expectations and that of your editor upfront. You will usually receive an MS Word document with Track Changes on as well as a style guide or style sheet and other notes, which you can then use to make revisions during another self-edit. This is the most expensive part of the process, as editors usually charge per 1,000 words based on the type of edit you want. If you need to cut your story down by 20K, then do it before you send your manuscript for a line edit! Beta readers, specialist readers, and/or sensitivity readers Some authors use different types of readers as part of their editing process. Beta readers are often part of the author's community and are certainly fans of the genre. They read to help the author pick up any issues pre-publication. Specialist readers are those with knowledge about a topic included in the story. For example, a vulcanologist read specific chapters of Risen Gods to check that the details about volcanic eruptions were correct. Sensitivity readers check for stereotypes, biases, problematic language, and other diversity issues. You will usually receive comments or an email with page numbers or chapter numbers, or sometimes an MS Word document with Track Changes, which you then use to make revisions. Many readers provide services for the love of helping their favorite author with a novel and a mention in the acknowledgments, but there are some paid services for specialist and sensitivity readers. Proofreading Proofreading is the final check of the manuscript pre-publication for any typos or issues that might have been introduced in the editorial process. For print books, this can include a review of the print proof with formatting. You should only fix the last tiny changes at this point. Don't make any major changes this close to publication or you may introduce entirely new errors. Do you need an editor if you intend to get an agent and a traditional publisher? You will go through an editorial process with your agent and publisher. But if you want the best chance of getting to that stage in the first place, it might also be worth working with an editor before you submit your manuscript to an agent. Look for an editor who will help you with your query letter and synopsis as part of their edit. Self-editing I love this part of the process! My self-edit is where I wrangle the chaos of the first draft into something worth reading. I have my block of marble and now I can shape it into my sculpture. The mindset shift from writer to editor, from author to reader In the idea, planning, discovery, and first-draft writing phase, it's all about you, the writer. You turn the ideas in your head into words that you understand, characters that come alive for you, and a plot that you're engaged with. In that first rush of creativity, you can banish critical voice and ignore any nagging doubts. But now you need to switch heads. That's how I prefer to think about it, but you might consider it as changing hats or changing jobs. Anything to help you move from the creative, anything goes, first-draft writer to the more critical editor. There is one overriding consideration in this shift. As Jeffery Deaver says, “The reader is god.” With the editing process, you need to turn your story from something you understand into something a reader will enjoy. Writing is telepathy. It connects minds across time and space. You are reading these words and the meaning flows from my brain into your brain — but only if I craft the book well enough. The same is true of your novel. Yes, of course, you want to double down on your creative choices and make sure you achieve everything you want to with your story. But you also need to keep the reader in mind as you edit because the book is ultimately for them. Will your story have the desired effect on the reader? What might help improve their experience? How can you make sure that they are not bored or confused or jolted out of the story? What will make them read on and, at the end, close the novel with a sigh of satisfaction? My self-editing process At the end of the first draft, I print out my manuscript with two pages to each A4 page, so it looks more like a book. I put it in a folder and leave it to rest. You need fresh eyes for your edit and this ‘resting' gives you some emotional distance. In On Writing, Stephen King suggests leaving a manuscript to rest for at least six weeks. While that is a great idea if you have the time, most authors work to deadline, whether externally set or their own timetable. Many authors — including me — are also impatient! I love this first self-edit, and as I'm still crafting the story as a discovery writer, I usually rest the manuscript for a week or two. I schedule blocks of time for editing in my Google calendar and (when not in pandemic times) I go to a café when it opens first thing in the morning. I put on my BOSE noise-cancelling headphones and edit by hand with a black ballpoint pen from page one to the end. I usually manage ten to twenty pages per editing session of a couple of hours each, but it will depend on the amount of restructuring I need to do. I scribble notes in the margins, draw arrows to move paragraphs around, write extra material on the back of pages, or add where I need to write more later. I change words, rewrite and delete lines, and pick up any issues around lack of sensory detail, character problems, and more. You can see an example of a page below: Some pages end up a mass of black; others are relatively clean. But in this first hand edit, no page goes untouched as I hone my manuscript into something closer to my creative goal. You can edit on a computer or a tablet, or whatever else works for you, but at least change the font or the spacing, or something to make it a different experience to reading the first draft. Most writers have a tendency to either overwrite or underwrite, and so will either need to cut words or add words at this stage. I'm in the latter camp so I usually have to add scenes or deepen characters or theme at this point. Once I have hand-edited the whole manuscript end-to-end, I make the changes in my Scrivener project. I change the color of the flags along the way and, as ever, I back up the session. I also use ProWritingAid at the sentence level to fix up things I missed, because we all miss things! When all the changes have been made, I print the complete manuscript again, and read end-to-end and edit as before. This time, it's usually a lot cleaner and there may only be a few things to fix in each chapter. Once I'm finished, I'll update the Scrivener project once more and then decide whether it needs a third pass. Mostly, two full end-to-end hand edits are enough for me these days, but sometimes I'll do a third or go through specific chapters one more time. This messy editing process is fun for me and it's hugely satisfying to see my story come to life. What to focus on in the self-edit Some authors will go through the manuscript multiple times, focusing on different elements with each pass using the aspects covered in Part 3 and Part 4. For example, they'll do an edit based on character and dialogue, followed by another pass for plot, then theme, and so on. Personally, I try to keep the reader in mind and focus on the story as a coherent whole. That's just how my mind works. I jump from fixing a plot issue to deepening a character to adding foreshadowing and so on as I read and edit. I'm confident that my editor will find a lot of the smaller things that I might miss, so I concentrate on trying to achieve my creative vision with the story. You will find your own way of figuring out your process. It's much better to jump in and have a go at editing rather than trying to work out the best way before you have something to work through. Lost the plot? Try reverse outlining If you're a discovery writer like me and you're struggling with the edit and you feel you have lost the plot (which definitely happens sometimes!) then consider a reverse outline as part of your editorial process. Go through the manuscript and write a few lines per scene. Include character, plot points, conflict, setting, open questions and hooks, and any other notes. This will help you step back and hopefully see the entire story from a high level. Then you can dive back into rewriting each chapter. Read the book out loud or use a text-to-speech reader to do it for you Many authors read their book aloud end-to-end, which is a helpful step once you've been through any major rewrites. There are also plenty of text-to-speech tools that can help, for example, Natural Reader or Speechify, and some are built into devices or applications. MS Word includes a Read Aloud tool in the Review tab. This will also help you edit for audio as you'll hear issues you can't see on the page. Editing for audio Audiobooks are a huge growth market and many readers will listen to your book rather than read it, so it's a good idea to consider editing with audio in mind at this stage. Here are some tips. Watch out for repeated sounds. The editorial process will usually catch repeated written words, but similar sounding words can hit the same audio note in narration. You might not notice them in the text, as they are spelled differently. The words ‘you,' ‘blue,' ‘tattoo,' and ‘interview' all start and end with different letters. They look different on the page, but they strike the same audio note when read aloud. In the same way, repetition can work if you have a point to make, but sometimes it jars the listener if it is overused. A classic recommendation for writing dialogue is to use ‘said' with a character name rather than other words like ‘uttered' or ‘pronounced.' This is because ‘said' disappears for the reader on the written page. But with audio, the repetition of a word is highly noticeable, and repeated sounds can dominate a passage. Rewrite with synonyms for ‘said,' or use action to make it clear who the speaker is without resorting to dialogue tags, as described in chapter 3.5. Contractions — or the lack of them — can also become more obvious in audio. “I am not going to the park,” might be spoken as “I'm not going to the park.” When we type dialogue, it is often more formal than the way someone speaks, so check if you can contract it in your edit. Accents can be an issue with fiction narration. There are plenty of narrators who do a ‘straight read,' but if there are accents within dialogue, make it clear where the character comes from. Make sure the narrator knows about the accent choice upfront, otherwise you might not like it in the finished audio. Remember my friend whose novel had an Irish character narrated like a comedy leprechaun instead of the soft lilt she had in mind? Don't confuse the reader. If you have a lot of characters appearing in a chapter and no clear character tags, you might lose the listener in the detail. When reading on paper or a screen, your reader can quickly flick back and see that George was the butler and Angus was the dog, but that's harder to do when listening to an audiobook. Make sure it's clear who is who. You may have to remind listeners occasionally by adding character tags. For example, ‘Angus ran alongside the canal' could become ‘Angus, the golden cocker spaniel, ran alongside the canal.' For more on audiobooks, check out my book, Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting and Voice Technologies. How many drafts do you need? The word ‘draft' means different things to different authors. Some only apply this term to a complete rewrite end-to-end, while others will shift paragraphs around, change some lines, add a new scene, and call that a new draft. Nora Roberts said in a blog post on her writing craft, I work on a three-draft method. This works for me. It's not the right way/wrong way. There is no right or wrong for a process that works for any individual writer. Anyone who claims there is only one way, or that's the wrong way, is a stupid, arrogant bullshitter. That's my considered opinion. I love Nora's no-nonsense approach and she is right that there is no single correct process. You have to find your own. But beware of comparing what you call a draft to what another writer calls a draft. It may be something completely different. Use editing software Once I've finished my hand edits and updated the Scrivener project, I use ProWritingAid on the manuscript. It integrates with Scrivener, so I open my project and go through each chapter. ProWritingAid picks up passive voice, repetitive words, commas and typos, suggests rephrasing, and even picks up culturally problematic language. Yes, these are the type of things that an editor will pick up, but I want to hand over a manuscript that is as clean as possible so my editor can focus on other issues. I don't make all the suggested changes, but it certainly helps improve my writing, and I learn as I go through. You can even create your own style guide so you spell things the same way throughout. This is also a good chance to check typos according to the version of English you want to use (or any other language). I'm English and based in the UK, but when I published my first novel, I received complaints about typos from my readers, who were mainly in the USA. These were not typos, they were just British spelling! I decided to use US English in my books because US readers complain about UK spelling, but non-US readers will rarely complain about US spelling because they are used to it. You can set ProWritingAid to the type of English you want to use, and if you specify this later, your editor can pick up on word usage rather than typos, for example, using the term ‘flashlight' instead of ‘torch.' You can find ProWritingAid at: www.TheCreativePenn.com/prowritingaid You can find my tutorial on how to use ProWritingAid at: www.TheCreativePenn.com/prowritingaidtutorial When is your self-edit finished? You will be utterly sick of your manuscript by the end of the self-editing process. You have read your words so many times you can't see them clearly anymore. You are so over the whole thing that you want to forget the book altogether. If you don't feel this way, you probably haven't self-edited enough! When you really feel you can't do any more, it's time to work with a professional editor. If you are putting off the end of self-editing, then remember that nothing is ever perfect. You can edit forever if you keep obsessing over changes and going over and over the same material. If your self-edit goes on too long, consider whether perfectionism is holding you back. Set a completion date and hold yourself to it. How to find and work with a professional editor If you want your book to be the best it can be, then working with a professional editor is the next step. An editor's job is to take your manuscript and help you improve it through structural changes and story development, line edits, suggestions for new material or sentence refinement, and so much more. Different kinds of editors can help you in different ways from constructing the overarching story to eliminating the final typo. In my experience, good professional editors are well worth the investment as they help improve your book and your craft, especially in the initial stages of your writing journey. They have read so many early-stage manuscripts that they understand the most common problems and know how to help you fix them. Some experienced authors only use proofreaders for their novels, but personally, I still work with a professional editor on every book and I learn something every time. I am a super-fan of editors! How to find a professional editor Consolidation in the traditional publishing industry over the last decade has resulted in many more editors working as freelancers, so authors have a wealth of professionals available for hire in every genre. You can find lists of approved editors through author organizations. The Alliance of Independent Authors has a list of Partner Members, many of whom are editors. You can also use author marketplace Reedsy. Many editors use content marketing to find clients — for example, blogging about editing tips, writing books on editing, or appearing on podcasts. I have had lots of editors on The Creative Penn Podcast over the years, so you can listen and see if they resonate with you. Most authors credit their editors and proofreaders in the acknowledgments of their books, and many authors happily share recommendations on social media in various author communities. If you enjoy a certain novel, it might be worth reaching out to that editor, as you know they are a specialist in the genre. Check out my list of editors at: www.TheCreativePenn.com/editors How to assess whether an editor is right for you I frequently get emails from writers asking me to recommend an editor for their book. But finding an editor is like dating. You have to do it for yourself, and it's likely that you will try a few before you find your perfect match. You may also change editors over your writing life as your craft develops and your needs shift, and that's completely normal too. Make sure the editor has experience in and enjoys your genre. You don't want a literary historical fiction editor working on your YA paranormal romance or your hard sci-fi adventure. Ensure that the editor has testimonials from happy clients, and check directly with a named author if you have doubts. Some editors will offer a sample edit for one chapter. This helps both parties decide whether working together is appropriate. The editor can assess what level your manuscript is at, and you can decide whether their editorial style is right for you. How to work with an editor When you engage an editor, you will receive a contract with a timeline and a price for the work. You agree to deliver the manuscript on a particular date and will usually pay a deposit, especially if this is the first time you're working together. The editor agrees to deliver the edits back on a certain date and also to keep your manuscript in confidence. You can avoid issues later by communicating expectations up front, so if you have questions about the editing process, ask before you sign a contract. Many editors are booked months in advance, so once you know your schedule, contact them early and book a slot. Update them if your timings change. Most allow minor slippage, but since editors plan their work around contractual dates, it's important to be timely with delivery. As a discovery writer, I only book my editor when I am sure of my dates. Submit your manuscript and, once the edit is complete, you will receive whatever has been agreed. That might be a structural report, line edit, or proofread manuscript, along with a style sheet. It's usually in the form of an MS Word document by email. Some editors may offer a call to discuss, but I have never spoken to an editor as part of my process. It has never been necessary. It's all about the words on the page. If you want a call and it is not specified, then include it in the contract up front along with anything else you're concerned about. I consider my editors to be an important part of my team. They help me turn my manuscripts into books that readers love, and I rely on them as part of my business. This is a two-way relationship, and you need to behave as professionally as the editor should. If you find an editor you love working with, pay them quickly and respect their time, and you will hopefully have a long-term business relationship that benefits you both. How does it feel to go through an edit? It's probably going to hurt, especially in the beginning, when your craft is in its early stages. You need fresh eyes on your work, especially at the beginning of your author career. You need feedback to improve. When I received notes back on my structural edit for my first novel, I didn't open the email for ten days. I was so scared of what it would say because my novel meant so much to me, and yet I knew it had problems. Of course it did, it was my first novel! So I let the email sit in my inbox until I was ready to face it, and like many things, the fear was worse than the actual event. Even many years and many books later, I still don't open emails from my editor until I am mentally ready to face criticism. Because that's what it feels like. It is not the editor's job to pat you on the back and say, ‘Well done, this is perfect.' Their job is to help you make it the best book it can be. They are experts and have honed their advice over many manuscripts, so they can spot an issue a mile off. When you receive that email from your editor, particularly if it's your first book, make sure you are well rested and in a positive frame of mind. Set aside a good amount of time and read through the comments and the manuscript as a whole. If you have an emotional reaction, do not email back immediately! Let the feedback sit with you for a few days, and you will find it easier to see what might need to change. Once you're ready, go through the manuscript and work through each change. Don't just click Accept All on the Track Changes version for a line edit. This takes time, but it's well worth it because you will learn with every step and you'll be able to spot your common issues in the future, and hopefully fix them next time. You also need to examine every suggestion to see if you want to make the change. Do you need to make every change that an editor suggests? No, you don't. You are the author, so your creative vision is the most important thing. But try to get some distance and assess whether the change truly serves the book, or if you're just having an emotional response. Remember what Jeffery Deaver said: “The reader is god.” Consider each editorial suggestion on its own merit. Does it help take the story in the direction you want it to? Will it improve the reader's experience? What if my editor wants me to change everything? Perhaps they are not the right editor for you. The editor should not fundamentally change your story or alter your creative vision. Their job is to help you shape your manuscript into a better version of itself, and retain your voice and ideas while at the same time improving it for the reader. This is a skillful balancing act, which is why experienced editors are so highly sought after. How long will the editing process take? This will depend on the type of writer you are in terms of the first draft. If you outline in great detail and spend time up front making the first draft the best it can be, then editing might take less time than for a discovery writer who only figures out the book after the first draft. The more books you've written, the more you understand how to shape a novel, the more you can write a clean draft, so editing speeds up. That doesn't mean it gets easier to write a book, but it does mean you know how to find and fix issues. It will also depend on the length of the book. A 50,000-word romance with one protagonist will be a faster edit than a 150,000-word sprawling fantasy with multiple point-of-view characters. It will also depend on your experience, so don't compare your editing time to someone who has written a lot of books. Give editing the time it needs. You want your book to be the best it can be. But also remember Parkinson's Law, which I discussed in chapter 4.7 on writing the first draft: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” This law also applies to editing. Set your deadline and schedule your editing time accordingly. Don't book a professional editor until you've been through at least your self-editing process, as it may take longer than you think. How much does an editor cost? This will depend on the type of edit, your genre and word count, how experienced you are as a writer, and how much experience the editor has. Editors usually quote a range on their website and you can also email and ask for a more detailed quote based on your manuscript length and sample. Every dollar I have spent on editing has been worth it as an investment in my writing craft and the quality of my finished novels. Although my requirements are different now, I continue to use editors and proofreaders for all my books. The more eyes on your novel before publication, the better it will be on launch. What if you have a tight budget? When I started out as a writer, I had a day job and I saved up for the editorial process. It was an investment in my craft and a possible future creative career. If you already have or intend to set up a business as a writer, then you can offset the cost of editors against any profits. But when you're starting out, you can't necessarily see that far ahead. If you're on a tight budget, then find or set up a writer's group with others in your genre and work through one another's manuscripts. You might also have other skills you can barter for editing services, but remember that bartering is subject to tax in many jurisdictions, so don't assume that it is ‘free.' What if my editor steals my ideas or my manuscript? This is a common concern of new writers who think that editors might run away with their book and make millions with their idea. But don't worry, editors are professionals. They work within a contractual framework that protects both parties. So make sure you are happy with the contract before you sign it. If you are really worried, you can register your copyright before you send the manuscript to anyone else. While it is not legally necessary to register copyright — it exists the moment the work is created — there are registration companies in every country that can provide peace of mind. Just search for ‘copyright registration' within your territory. Will I need different editors when I'm further along in my writing journey? Yes, as your craft and experience improves, you will likely work with different editors. You might also choose to use a new editor for a different genre, or work with recommended professionals to take your craft to the next level. Resources: • My list of recommended editors: www.TheCreativePenn.com/editors • Alliance of Independent Authors — www.TheCreativePenn.com/alliance • The following editing associations offer directories and job posting services: The Editorial Freelancers Association (US), the Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading (UK), the Institute for Professional Editors (Australia and New Zealand), and Editors Canada. Beta readers, specialist readers, and sensitivity readers Professional editors approach your manuscript with a critical eye based on their knowledge of language, story structure, and genre. But sometimes, it's a good idea to gain perspective from readers who are not experts on sentence structure or grammar, but comment on the story itself, and their experience of reading it as a whole. Beta readers Beta readers are a trusted group of people who evaluate your book from a reader's perspective before publication. The term comes from the software industry, where early versions are tested in beta before being released to the public. While there are some paid beta reader services, many authors find people from their existing readership, or from among genre fans in the writing community. Authors usually thank their beta readers in their acknowledgments. Specialist readers Specialist readers are experts on a particular topic who read with their expertise in mind. This might be a police officer who checks a crime novel, or a physicist who reads for a science-fiction author. Sensitivity readers Sensitivity readers check for cultural and diversity issues, lack of or clichéd representation, and insensitive, inauthentic, or uninformed language, characters, or situations. This type of feedback can help an author before publication, and can be particularly useful if you are tackling more controversial topics. It can also be valuable when reviewing older manuscripts if you want to republish a new edition, as gendered language has changed, as well as the need for representation, diversity, and inclusivity. While some criticize sensitivity reading as a step toward censorship, most authors want to make their books the best they can be, and ensure the reader experience is excellent, whatever the genre. Being a fiction writer is also about empathy — with our characters and with our readers — so improving our ability to write about diverse characters is important. However, authors cannot be experts on what it's like to experience every race or religion, every body type or disability or mental health issue, or understand every country or culture. Feedback from different kinds of readers can help us write better stories, and it is the author's choice whether to implement suggestions in the final manuscript. Do you need all of these types of readers? No. You don't need any of them, or you can choose to use some of them for different books, depending on the need. It's up to you (and your agent or publisher if you choose to go that route). At what stage in the editorial process should you use these types of readers? The book should be as close to the final version as possible. These people are reading with fresh eyes; if they read again later, they can never approach the story with such an open mind. Most authors will send the manuscript to a select group of readers after the main editorial revisions, but before the proofread. Some authors with more developed careers even use their team of beta readers instead of editors at different stages of the process. What should you provide to readers? Provide the manuscript in the format the reader prefers. This could be an MS Word document or PDF. Many established authors use Bookfunnel, which allows you to create a version that can be read on any reading device or phone. Specialist readers and sensitivity readers have their specific expertise, but for more general beta readers, you need to provide some direction as to what you expect. For example: Did you skip over anything? Did anything bore you? Was anything confusing? Did you have to reread any parts? What did you like? Was there anything you hated or objected to or had a problem with? How long should you give them to read? Allow at least two weeks for readers to assess and provide feedback. Be clear on the timeline when you send them the book.. Do you need to make all the changes they suggest? No, and if you try to, you will end up straying from your creative goal, messing up your author voice, and likely pleasing no one! Keep your number of early readers small and specific to what you want to achieve. Assess each comment and suggestion on its own merit and decide whether or not to make the change. Be confident in your creative vision and beware writing by committee, which becomes a problem if you ask too many people for feedback. Only you can decide what you want for your novel. Resources: • The Reedsy marketplace includes different kinds of editors, beta readers, and sensitivity readers — www.TheCreativePenn.com/reedsy • Directory of sensitivity readers — www.writingdiversely.com/directory • Editors of Color — editorsofcolor.com When is the book finished? “I have not yet found words to truly convey the intensity of this remembered rapture—that moment of exquisite joy when necessary words come together and the work is complete, finished, ready to be read.” —bell hooks,Remembered Rapture You can edit a book forever if you want to. Every time you read it, you will find things to change. Every time you hire another editor, they will find more. If you work with beta readers, they will also offer opinions. Your novel will never be finished — until you decide it is. Nothing is ever perfect. Even if you hire three separate editors and use multiple proofreaders, you will still find a typo or an error in the published novel. Pick up any bestselling book from a traditional publisher, and you will still find an issue somewhere. It happens to everyone. Look at any prize-winning or bestselling book on Amazon and check the reviews. The more popular the book, the more issues people will find with it. There will never be a novel that satisfies everyone, and that's fine. Of course, you must make sure your book is the best it can be, but set boundaries for yourself so you do eventually finish. Have you self-edited your manuscript? Have you worked with a professional editor, or at least worked through the manuscript with other writers to improve it? Have you used editing tools and/or a proofreader? Have you set a deadline to move into the publishing process so you are not editing forever? If you have been through this rigorous editorial process and you still feel the itch to edit again, be honest with yourself. Is another round of changes really going to make a substantial difference to this book? Would it be better to work on the next novel instead of constantly reworking this one? Are you struggling with fear of judgment, fear of failure, procrastination, or other mindset issues that you need to work on instead of editing? Check out my book The Successful Author Mindset if you think this might be the case. Strive for excellence, do your best, and then release your book out into the world. “Set a limit on revisions, set a limit on drafts, set a time limit… The book will never be perfect.” —Kristine Kathryn Rusch, The Pursuit of Perfection and How it Harms Writers These chapters are excerpted from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn, available direct or on all the usual stores. The post Editing a Novel: Self-Editing, And How To Work With A Professional Editor With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

The Blasters & Blades PodcastAfter nerding out over our Independence Day beverage selection, we talked about our caffeine addictions. Then we had a lot of fun today talking with the evil master minds behind The Hit World Universe. We talked about all things paranormal and fantastical for our designated time slot and I was left wanting more. Seriously, this was a fun interview, so check out this episode. Lend us your eyes and ears, you won't be sorry!! Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Author) (Grunt)We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling!Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's SponsorDiving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/Coffee Brand Coffee Affiliate Support the Show: https://coffeebrandcoffee.com/?ref=y4GWASiVorJZDbDiscount Code: PodcastGruntsCoupon Code Gets you 10% offFollow Larry Hoy on social mediaLarry's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01N8RLV9ILarry's Website: https://larryhoy.net/Larry's Twitter: https://x.com/larryhoyauthorLarry's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LarryHoyAuthor/Larry's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LarryLHoy/featuredFollow Marisa Wolf on social mediaMarisa's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marisa-Wolf/e/B077K8V2J5/Marisa's Website: www.marisawolf.comMarisa's Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/marisawolfauthor/Follow Matt Novotyn on social mediaMatt's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Matt-Novotny/author/B089DR63XCMatt's Website: https://mattnovotny.net/Matt's Facebook: www.facebook.com/MattNovotnyWritesFollow Melissa Olthoff on social mediaMelissa's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0887TC95HMelissa's Website: https://www.melissaolthoff.com/Melissa's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaolthoff4/Melissa's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@user7503205514907Follow William Alan Webb on social mediaWilliam's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/William-Alan-Webb/e/B01HU89EOW/ William's Website: www.thelastbrigade.com William's Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/keepyouupallnightbooks William's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WilliamAlanWebbFollow Baen Books on social mediaBaen's Website: https://www.baen.com/ Baen's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaenBooks Baen's Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/BaenBooks Baen's Podcast: https://www.baen.com/podcast #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #CoffeeBrandCoffee #JRHandley #NickGarber #MadamStabby #MarisaWolf #LarryHoy #MattNovotyn #MelissaOlthoff #WilliamAlanWebb #TheHitWorld #TheHitWorldUniverse #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #startrek #trekkie #firefly #serenity #browncoat #wheeloftime #wot #robertjordan #brandonsanderson #gameofthrones #got #grrm #georgerrmartin #ChroniclesofNarnia #CSLewis #LordOfTheRingsByJRRTolkien #JRRTolkien #Tolkien #LotR #Dakimakuras #Stegosaurus #Bourbon #GreenRiver #DARE #water #NewEngland #CrownReserve #BoozyCaffeinatedMilkshake #Mudslide #MochaSlide #DietPepsi #ChrisKennedyPublishing #HitWorldPress #SFC #strongfemalecharacter #Yeti #Bigfoot #Baen #BaenPublishing #BaenBooks

The Blasters & Blades PodcastToday we had a doozie of a food cast episode! We talked nerdy about space westerns, before transitioning over to talk about the speculative fiction that made us! Then we talked about Madam Chloe Garner, Queen of the Fantastical, First of Her Line, about her new series, The Carbon Chronicles. Well, we started with book one, The Flight of the Kingfisher! This was a fun interview, so go check out this episode. Lend us your eyes and ears, you won't be sorry!! Join us for a fun show! We're just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Author) (Grunt)Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt)Madam Stabby Stab (Uber Fan) (Horror Nerd)We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling!Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's SponsorDiving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/ Coffee Brand Coffee Affiliate Support the Show: https://coffeebrandcoffee.com/?ref=y4GWASiVorJZDb Discount Code: PodcastGrunts Coupon Code Gets you 10% offThe Flight of the Kingfisher Series by Chloe Garner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QCSQG76 Follow Chloe Garner on social mediaChloe's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Chloe-Garner/e/B00MD4GGLS/ Chloe's Website: https://blenderfiction.wordpress.com/ Chloe's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlenderFiction Chloe's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloe.garner.79 Chloe's Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/435117423514398 Chloe's Bookstore: https://blenderfiction.wordpress.com/verida-signed-copies #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #CoffeeBrandCoffee #ChloeGarner #CowboyBebop #Cowboys&Aliens #TheMandalorian #TheDarkTower #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #Supernatural #WynonnaEarp #Phoenix #Smaug #TheHobbit #JRRTolkien #SpyroTheDragon #Spyro #Skylanders

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith has published over two hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.   At the moment he produces novels in five major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy, and the highly acclaimed puzzle mystery series The Cold Poker Gang.   His monthly magazine called Smith's Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and each month has over 60,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.   During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.   He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.   Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as executive editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series. He is now also the editor of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine and Writers of the Future.   https://deanwesleysmit...   Workshops on Teachable…   https://wmg-publishing...   The WMG Writer Store   https://wmgwriterstore...   The WMG Publishing Main Store   https://wmgbooks.com/

This is a special repost of one of my Craftsman's Workshop Patreon streams, where I dive deep into a pivotal question: What makes a story truly life-giving?

Tim Powers was born in Buffalo, New York, on Leap Year Day in 1952, but has lived in southern California since 1959. He graduated from California State University at Fullerton with a BA in English in 1976; the same year saw the publication of his first two novels, The Skies Discrowned and Epitaph in Rust. Tim's subsequent novels are The Drawing of the Dark, The Anubis Gates (winner of the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award and the Prix Apollo), Dinner at Deviant's Palace (winner of the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award), On Stranger Tides (the novel the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, was based on) The Stress of Her Regard, Last Call (winner of the World Fantasy Award), Expiration Date, Earthquake Weather, Declare (winner of the World Fantasy Award) and Three Days to Never. His most recent book is Hide Me Among the Graves. The Manchester Guardian called Powers “the best fantasy writer to appear in decades.” Tim has taught at the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop at Michigan State University six times and currently teaches the annual Writers of the Future workshop. He has been involved with the Contest since its early years, serving as one of the instructors (along with Algis Budrys and Orson Scott Card) at the very first official WotF workshop in Sag Harbor. He was formally inducted as a judge in 1993. Powers lives with his wife, Serena, in San Bernardino, California. “I think I've been a judge for most of the quarters in the past two decades. This means that several times a year I get a stack of manuscript photocopies via next-day mail, and take a day off from my own writing to read them all and evaluate them; this is no chore, since Dave Wolverton or K.D. Wentworth has already culled them from the total volume of submissions, and invariably there is at least one story that I'm grateful to have a chance to read. I send my verdicts in, and usually I hang on to a couple of the photocopies, just because I want to have the chance to read them again before the actual anthology is published. The stories at this point have no provenance beyond their titles—I don't know the genders or ages or addresses of the writers; and not all of them turn out to live in North America, by any means. The only thing I can be fairly sure of is that I have not read anything by any of these writers before. (Over the years, I have read a lot of subsequent books from many of them, with their names right there on the spines and their photos on the dust jacket flap—though since I'm not a very up-to-date reader, I generally don't get around to reading them until they've been nominated for Hugos or Nebulas or World Fantasy Awards.)” — Tim Powers Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith published over two hundred novels and over seven hundred books in fifty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories. He has over thirty million copies of his books in printAt the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the cold case mystery series, Cold Poker Gang series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy. During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for “I think this Contest has done more to help new writers achieve their dreams than anything that has come before. I know it gave me a huge push. It's wonderful to return to be a part of it again as a judge.” —Dean Wesley Smith Find out more at: deanwesleysmith.com

The Blasters & Blades Podcast Just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Author) (Grunt) Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt) Madam Stabby Stab (Uber Fan) (Horror Nerd) We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling! Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our Website: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's Sponsor Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/ Coffee Brand Coffee Affiliate Support the Show: https://coffeebrandcoffee.com/?ref=y4GWASiVorJZDb Discount Code: PodcastGrunts Coupon Code Gets you 10% off Gundam Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam Follow H.P. Holo on social media HP's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/H-P-Holo/e/B01LXXUT6C/ HP's Website: https://holowriting.com/ HP's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holowriting/ HP's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hpholo/ HP's Twitter: https://twitter.com/holowriting HP's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/holowriting HP's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/22b9Vlq! HP's BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/h-p-holo HP's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/edieskyeauthor Follow James JE Pitman on social media James' LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/j.e.pittman James' Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/j.e.-pittman/author/B0BRRWBW9F James' Website: https://www.halfacrepond.com/ James' Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jepittmanwrites James' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.e.pittman/ Follow JC Chambers III on social media JC's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08G3WRDCV JC's Website: https://jcthethird.com/ JC's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jcchambersiii JC's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjcthethird/ JC's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@j.c.chambersiii8249/featured JC's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jcthethird JC's Discord: https://discord.com/invite/FWxY6Q4 Follow Nathan Pedde on social media Nathan's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nathan-Pedde/author/B0792DCRCR Nathan's Website: https://napedde.wordpress.com/ Nathan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAPedde Nathan's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nathanpeddeauthor #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #HPHolo #JamesJEPittman #JEPittman #JCChambersIII #LenBerry #NathanPedde #ReneGarza #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #Gundam #Canada #ZechsMerquise #WhiteMask #The8thMSTeam #DirtyDozen #StargateSG1 #Railgun #Steampunk #AngelWing #EndlessWaltz #Anime #Robotech #GiantRobot #DragonBallZ #GameOfThrones #HeroTeamUp #SuperMegaMove #SuperHero #Yokohama #Kaiju #GundamWings #Luchador #RockemSockemRobots #Lasers #PowerRangers #IronBloodedOrphans #Maces #Comics #KingAurthur #Manga #PacificRim #Saturn #GundamDoubleO #Transformers --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blasters-and-blades/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blasters-and-blades/support

Mark interviews Tao Wong about his writing, LitRPG, entrepreneurship, and the Toronto Indie Author Conference that is coming in May 2024. Prior to the interview, Mark forgoes the usual brief personal update, or comments, and skips right to this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by the Toronto Indie Author Conference.   The Toronto Indie Author Conference is a two-day event tailored exclusively for Canadian independent authors. Do you dream of transforming your passion for writing into a thriving author business? Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Canadian indie publishing's first author business conference. www.torontoindieauthorcon.com In their interview, Mark and Tao talk about: How Tao has always been writing and telling stories, and how luck played a bit part in it Starting off writing LitRPG when he was living in the Yukon when it was night/dark all the time Writing a few novels and stories for fun, but then discovering Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog about the business of publishing and how authors were beginning to leverage digital publishing to do it themselves Learning about indie publishing industry, but not being in a place where he thought he would pursue traditional publishing Beginning to put his LitRPG titles up on Amazon in 2017 at a time when it was just starting to become hot (He caught the 2nd wave of Western LitRPG authors) Not having to do any marketing in those early days because he was still working a full-time job running a business, but still bringing in a hearty income from his self-published books Tao's experience doing marketing in selling board games online Flipping between the two hats he wears. 1) The writer hat of getting the book done and 2) the marketer hat of having to sell the things that are written Realizing he was a "scenic route" author, according to Becca Syme's author structure talks and courses Getting to a point where he started to hire staff to help him with some of the tasks Being burnt out from the constant churn in hiring and training staff and them leaving within about two years Joking that being an indy author is the "easy mode" of being an entrepreneur because the cost and minimum setup is a lot less than what he had to do for his business before Laughing at the cost of a $200 cover design bill because not that long ago, he had a single bill from Canada Post that was over $100,000 Working with about 5 active co-authors but realizing that he didn't want to be a publisher Starting the Toronto Indie Author Conference initially out of spite and to bring something useful to Canadian authors who might not be able to afford to travel so far to several US based conferences The importance of not having only 6-figure authors doing the presentations at the Toronto Indie Author Conference Some of the speakers who will be at the Toronto Indie Author Confernce and the various topics they'll be covering The significant amount of time and energy Tao had to invest into this conference The Kobo sponsorship of an accessibility fund for the conference where they'll be giving out 10 to 15 pre-paid seats A discount code STARK10 that members can use to get $10 off their ticket registration for the conference And more . . . After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of those people who see gaps and step up to make a difference. It's a common theme from the past several interview episodes. He also reflects on just how easy it can be for authors as entrepreneurs when you factor in just how little an author has to invest when it comes to money, to get started, particularly in a world that has so many great free resources. Links of Interest: Tao Wong's Author Website Tao Wong's Publisher Website Toronto Indie Author Conference Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency StoryGarden Summit (Virtual) - March 2024 ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard   Tao Wong is a full-time author in the scifi and fantasy genres, writing predominantly in the LitRPG and xianxia sub-genres. A multiple times international Amazon bestseller, he is best known for the System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li universes, with over 40 full-length novels and numerous shorter works published. Tao was a finalist for the Kindle Storyteller UK Award in 2021.   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith has published over two hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres. At the moment he produces novels in five major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy, and the highly acclaimed puzzle mystery series The Cold Poker Gang. His monthly magazine called Smith's Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and each month has over 60,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month. During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown. Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as executive editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series. He is now also the editor of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine and Writers of the Future.

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith has published over two hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres. At the moment he produces novels in five major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy, and the highly acclaimed puzzle mystery series The Cold Poker Gang. His monthly magazine called Smith's Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and each month has over 60,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month. During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown. Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as executive editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series. He is now also the editor of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine and Writers of the Future.

The Blasters & Blades Podcast Just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: Doc Cisca (Uber Book Fan) (Army Medic) JR Handley (Author) (Grunt) Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt) Madam Stabby Stab (Uber Fan) (Horror Nerd) We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling! Support the Show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Our LinkTree: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Today's Sponsor Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/   Coffee Brand Coffee Affiliate Support the Show: https://coffeebrandcoffee.com/?ref=y4GWASiVorJZDb Discount Code: PodcastGrunts Coupon Code Gets you 10% off     Follow Darrin Drader on social media Darrin's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Darrin-L.-Drader/author/B0064RGAWK Darrin's Website: https://darrindrader.com/ Darrin's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darrin.drader Darrin's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Singularity1973/featured Cybernation Uncensored Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/cybernationuncensored CyberNation Uncensored YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CybernationUncensored/videos   Follow Jana S Brown on social media Jana's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jana-S.-Brown/author/B015VJV7JW Jana's Website: www.opalkingdompress.com Jana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/janastocks Jana's Facebook: www.facebook.com/janasbrownwrites Jana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janasbrownwrites/   Follow Jena Rey on social media Jena's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jena-Rey/author/B08XSCHXYX Jena's Website: www.opalkingdompress.com Jena's Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenarey   Follow Matthew W. Quinn on social media Matthew's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00A8ZZZZW Matthew's Substack: https://matthewwquin.substack.com/ Matthew's Twitter:  http://twitter.com/MatthewWQuinn Matthew's Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Matthew-W-Quinn-Author-101643744708360 Matthew's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mquinn1984/featured Myopia Movies Podcast: https://myopia.podbean.com/ Death of the Triton: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2875198/1/The-Death-of-the-Triton   Reference Book The Last Hunter Series by Terry Mixon & JN Chaney: https://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Hunter-11-book-series/dp/B09NGY98C5 #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #DarrinDrader #JanaSBrown #JenaRey #MatthewWQuinn #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #startrek #trekkie #firefly #serenity #browncoat #wheeloftime #wot #robertjordan #brandonsanderson #gameofthrones #got #grrm #georgerrmartin #ChroniclesofNarnia #CSLewis #BattlestarGalactica #BSG #NewCaprica #Starbuck #Cylon #Cylons # ZakAdama #GenreFluid #NerdCookiesYouTubeChannel #NerdCookiesYT #NerdCookies #reboot #frakk #StargateUniverse #StargateSGU #TheLastHunterbyTerryMixonandJNChaney #TheLastHunterSeriesbyTerryMixonandJNChaney #Frak #FrakPack #Frazzeta #CapStarbuck #HotDog #Caprica #FinalFive #ThePegasus #HodorManuver #UnderSiege #ColeProtocol #BoKatan #TheMandolorian --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blasters-and-blades/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blasters-and-blades/support

Today we discuss The New Rebellion. Kueller and Brakiss are out to destroy the Skywalker twins and have a deadly scheme that starts with bombing the Senate Hall. Luke, Leia, and Han all set off to try to stop their reign of destruction.

The Blasters & Blades Podcast Just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: Doc Cisca (Uber Book Fan) (Army Medic) JR Handley (Author) (Grunt) Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt) We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling! Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our Website: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades Our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blastersandbladespodcast Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BlastersandBladesPodcast Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/SF_Fantasy_Show Reign of Discordia Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/owenkcstephens/reign-of-discordia-2nd-edition-0 Today's Sponsor Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/ Follow Darrin Drader on social media Darrin's Website: https://darrindrader.com/ Darrin's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Darrin-Drader-269839809788260/ Darrin's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuba8Q68xx_pv1ByqsR8lHA Darrin's Discord: https://discord.gg/bPbPbNembj Darrin's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/2d20falloutpacnw #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #darrindrader #religionquestion #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #startrek #trekkie #firefly #serenity #browncoat #lordoftherings #lotr #jrrtolkien #tolkien #wheeloftime #wot #robertjordan #brandonsanderson #gameofthrones #got #grrm #georgerrmartin --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades/support

The Blasters & Blades Podcast Just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: Doc Cisca (Uber Book Fan) (Army Medic) JR Handley (Author) (Grunt) Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt) We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling! Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our Website: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades Our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blastersandbladespodcast Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BlastersandBladesPodcast Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/SF_Fantasy_Show Today's Sponsor Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Wreck-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B00EFQV202/ Follow Isabelle Hardesty on social media Isabelle's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Isabelle-Hardesty/e/B0149MFU6S/ Isabelle's Website: https://isabellehardesty.com/ Isabelle's Twitter: https://twitter.com/IsabelleHWrites Isabelle's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsabelleHardestyWriter/ Isabelle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamisabellehardesty/ Isabelle's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWdZNJvsi-AVnLMjKILXZNw #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #isabellehardesty #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #startrek #trekkie #firefly #serenity #browncoat #lordoftherings #lotr #jrrtolkien #tolkien #wheeloftime #wot #robertjordan #brandonsanderson #gameofthrones #got #grrm #georgerrmartin --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/blasters-and-blades/support

Chatting With Sherri welcomes back prolific and award-winning author; Dean Wesley Smith! As a published Finalist at the inaugural Writers of the Future ceremonies in 1985, Dean Wesley Smith was the first person ever to receive a WotF Award, accepting his framed certificate from judges Dr. Gregory Benford, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg and Algis Budrys. Smith has published nearly 200 novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.  He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller and romance, as well as books for television, movies, games and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghostwriter or under house names. With his wife (and fellow WotF judge) Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he wrote The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. Smith has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. Smith is an avid poker player and a former golf pro. With Rusch, he was also co-founder and publisher of Pulphouse Publishing (which earned them a World Fantasy Award), before editing for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy. His monthly magazine, Smith's Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and has not missed an issue yet, with over 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for the books I wanted to read. I stuck to my list as best I could, however, like the outlines for my own books, the path was not followed. I hope everyone met much of their goals in 2020 despite the zombie apocalypse and I hope we all find greener pastures in 2021. Onwards! Books I finished in 2020: · Starsight by Brandon Sanderson · Fall of Hades by Richard Paul Evans · Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. · Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. · Death Without Company by Craig Johnson · #1 in Customer Service The Complete Adventures of Tom Stranger by Larry Correia · Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. · The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien Books I finished that were not on my list: · Nameless Series by Dean Koontz 1-6) · The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis · Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1-6) · Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury · The Science of Sci-Fi by Erin MacDonald · Power Moves by Adam Grant · Save the Cat by Blake Snyder · Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody · The Sandman audio drama by Neil Gaiman Books NOT finished in 2020: · Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. · Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia · The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz. · The Night Window by Dean Koontz. Books not on my list that I did not finish: · The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg · 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami · The Grand Biocentric Design by Peter Ganim --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alex-g-zarate/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alex-g-zarate/support

In this week's episode, Dan and Sacha discuss their methods of organizing time off and getting ahead while running a full-time independent business.   AUDIENCE QUESTION OF THE WEEK   As an indie author, how do you plan for time off and rest?   Why not answer in our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nextlevelauthors/   or join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nextlevelauthors   NEXT LEVEL AUTHORS: LEVEL UP CHALLENGE: What will you commit to doing by the end of January?   THREE WINNERS * 1 x 30 min coaching call with Dan * 1 x 30 min consulting call with Sacha * Runner up: Signed copy of The Anatomy of Prose   DAN AND SACHA'S LEVEL UP CHALLENGE * By the end of January Dan will: give himself the headspace to create his marketing/branding/social media plan * By the end of January Sacha will: have a plan for the freebie marketing funnel for both her fiction and nonfiction   Join us on https://www.facebook.com/groups/nextlevelauthors/ to get involved   WEEKLY TASK   * Sacha is going to fill her creative well * Dan is going to hit his project deadline on Friday   Find out more about Dan and Sacha   Great Writers Share Podcast: https://pod.link/1473869415 The Rebel Author Podcast: https://pod.link/rebelauthor   BUY The Anatomy of Prose: https://books2read.com/anatomyofprose   BUY Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn   LINKS FROM THE SHOW:   My Octopus Teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0LTDhqe5A “It Ends With Us” Coleen Hoover: https://books2read.com/u/4DgJBg Dan's Boot Camp: www.danielwillcocks.com/bootcamp Joanna Penn's “Business for Authors”: https://www.amazon.com/Business-Authors-Author-Entrepreneur-Writers/dp/150107833X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+penn+business+for+authors&qid=1607252159&sr=8-1 Jane Friedman's “The Business of Being a Writer”: https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chicago-Writing-Editing-Publishing/dp/022639316X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16PKM1C00SNF0&dchild=1&keywords=jane+friedman+the+business+of+being+a+writer&qid=1607252198&sprefix=friedman+business+of+%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1 Christine Kathrin Rush's “On Business”: https://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Business-Writers-Guide-Guides-ebook/dp/B089XYV9Q5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Kristine+Kathryn+Rusch+business&qid=1607252235&sr=8-1

James C. Glass, the 1991 Grand prize winning author (WOTF 7) has written 10 novels and 4 compilations, primarily hard science fiction. His first love was writing which transitioned to education for a career with twin Masters in Astronomy and Physics and then a PhD in Physics. After a long successful career, kids grown up, he transitioned back to writing in 1987 when he published his first story. He entered WOTF initially in 1987 after being introduced to the Contest by Algis Budrys, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Dean Wesley Smith. www.author-jamesglass.com

James C. Glass, the 1991 Grand prize winning author (WOTF 7) has written 10 novels and 4 compilations, primarily hard science fiction. His first love was writing which transitioned to education for a career with twin Masters in Astronomy and Physics and then a PhD in Physics. After a long successful career, kids grown up, he transitioned back to writing in 1987 when he published his first story. He entered WOTF initially in 1987 after being introduced to the Contest by Algis Budrys, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Dean Wesley Smith. www.author-jamesglass.com

We all have mental blocks, what are some that are holding you back from your upcoming projects and why are they having that effect? This week we have lots of great tips to share with you! Bryan’s Free 5-Day Amazon Ad Profit Challenge starts July 13th so make sure to check it out and H. Claire Taylor just released her last Jessica Christ book! This week’s Super Charger Story Course Winner is Kenesha W. Thank you to our featured Patrons - Sell More Books With Less Social Media, Nightblade, and Leaving Eva. The Top Tips of the week include what getting reviews on your book can do for you, why authors are upset with Lulu, and why a book launch includes marathons, sprints, and pounces. The 5 News stories that matter most to indies this week include who has managed to become the fifth largest bookstore chain in the US, why Walmart pulled Kobo reader displays from it’s stores, how Ingram is keeping up with the surge of print-on-demand books, what advice Kristine Kathryn Rusch has for traditional authors, and how to keep up with everything you need to do as an author. Question of the Week: What mental blocks do you think are holding you back from your upcoming projects and why do you think they're having that affect?

In this episode, I discuss: 1:12 Announcements: About 175 people signed up for the Writing in Hard Times course! Huge thank you to those who enrolled! 2:36 Win for the Week: I picked up a lifetime subscription to the WMG Workshops with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. It's normally $3000 but I got it for $1500 due to a flash sale. It hurt my wallet for sure, but it will help take my career to the next level. 4:20 Lesson Learned This Week: How to value a piece of intellectual property (i.e. a copyright for one of my books). 5:57 Topic(s) of the Week: Resilience and how authors can learn it. What does it take to be resilient? I share a personal story about something that happened to me a long, long time ago that set the course of most of my life. And it taught me resilience. Grab my NEW course for writers, Writing in Hard Times: http://www.authorlevelup.com/hardtimes Future Workshop by Dean Wesley Smith: https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/courses/434005 You can listen to past episodes of the show at http://www.michaellaronn.com/podcast Listen to my other podcast, Writing Tip of the Day: http://www.authorlevelup.com Learn more about me and my books at www.michaellaronn.com My YouTube Channel for Writers: http://www.youtube.com/authorlevelup Also, join my (Fiction) Fan Club to get 3 free novels, early launch pricing, and notifications whenever I release a new book: www.michaellaronn.com/fanclub If you like the show, don't forget to rate and leave a review!

Jeff updates everyone on his publishing activities for Keeping Kyle which releases on Tuesday. The guys also have some recommended listening and reading, including Joanna Penn's appearance on the Choose FI podcast, as well as a recent episode of The Misfits Guide to Writing Indie Romance, a blog post from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and a video from Chris Fox. Complete shownotes for episode 38 are at BigGayAuthorPodcast.com.

I’m struggling a bit this week with the book I’m currently working on. It’s getting there, but working on my first series of books has proved to be challenging. Also thinking this week about a couple of useful articles I came across - one a marketing success story and the other some issues with author mindset, especially concerning the traditional publishing model.Click here to read that Boobub blog postAnd here’s Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s postFind out more about me and get a free book at alissagrosso.comAwkward Author has a Facebook pageIntro music in this video by the greatest boyfriend in the world, Ron Gross of Zega-Zadda

Should you consider self-publishing in Germany? As Amazon opens its ads dashboard in the UK and Germany, and a number of the authors on the ALLi Indie Author Translation Rights project turn their attention there, Orna and Joanna consider the options for Indie authors around the world who’d like to reach the 29.1 million ebook readers in Germany, in English or in translation. Joanna reports from Frankfurt Book Fair and Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith’s Business Masterclass in Vegas, and Orna will have news from ALLi's indie author rights translation program. Our advanced salon is brought to you by specialist sponsor IngramSpark. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. For more information about Joanna, visit her website: http://thecreativepenn.com Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com

In this episode, Mark shares 15 different quotes and ideas that inspired him during the Fall 2019 WMG Publishing Business Master Class workshop led by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith in Las Vegas. Mark shares a very brief personal update, explaining that this episode was recorded in a less-than-ideal acoustic environment, his hotel room in Vegas. Mark also shares a word from this episode's sponsor... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. One of the over-arcing themes from the five day workshop event s was Diversification and the idea that "It's better to make a little bit of money from a lot of sources than to make a lot of money from one or two places." The 15 quotes come from: Kristine Kathryn Rusch Dean Wesley Smith Kevin J. Anderson Joanna Penn Loren Coleman Andrea Pearson Marie Whittaker Deidre J. Manna-Bratten Chuck Heinzelman Links of Interest: Episode 6 - 3 Things That Are Wrong with Indie Publishing Episode 44 - How To Deal with a Fire-Hose of Information Episode 77 - A Gut-Check on the State of Publishing with Kristine Kathryn Rusch NaNoWriMo StoryBundle Saving the World StoryBundle NaNo Writing Tools StoryBundle WMG Publishing Business Masterclass BundleRabbit Findaway Voices Patreon for Stark Reflections   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Do you or someone you know suffer from chronic illness? Has it impacted your ability to write those stories craving to burst from you? Kristine Kathryn Rusch comes on the show to share her own personal story and a wealth of tips, tools, and tactics how you can chase your writing your dreams. Please leave a 5-star rating & review if you haven't already. It helps the show be found by others.   Check out all my fiction (well, most of it) and sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about new stuff coming out.   Check out everything I've created thus far over on my website!   Are you a writer? Join us on Facebook.   Support the show to help it grow.   Are you an author, trying to figure out how to sell more books? "Novel Idea to Podcast: How to Sell More Books Through Podcasting" can show you the way! Published wherever you get your ebooks.   Are you looking for psychological thrillers with female lead characters or a suspenseful story about a serial killer? Pick up my newest novel, "RIP," today!   Pick up my horror anthology, "12 Deaths of Christmas."   Want a crypto-thriller? Why not pick up "Chasing the Demon" today? In paperback and ebook on Amazon.   Links: Webpage: http://www.paulsating.com/horrible-writing Twitter: @writinghorrible Instagram: @horriblewriting Email: horriblewritingpodcast@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/paulsating   Keep being epic!

In this episode Mark chats with New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch about writing with chronic health issues, contract negotiations with publishers, mistakes that authors are making, and so much more. Prior to the interview, Mark does a little house-keeping regarding winners of Danny Bell's first novel from Episode 70, reads new comments, thanks Patrons who support the show, and talks about being in New York this week for Book Expo America. Mark also shares a recent presentation that Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Kobo, presented to the BISG (Book Industry Study Group) in late April. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   In their conversation Kris and Mark talk about: Kris's recent move and the discoveries made in relation to a book she recently released called WRITING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS How Kris's entire life has revolved around exercise and writing and that likely made a positive difference for her despite huge health challenges that she faced, and potentially is what might have kept her alive The realization that Kris made only recently that she had never learned how to rest The way she utilizes running and walking to benefit her writing How Kris's training in radio automatically activates her "critical voice" The rotating playlists Kris uses when running (often ones that have to have a really good beat) The move from 5000 square feet (with offices across the house from one another) to 1600 square feet (and a shared office) and how Kris and her husband Dean manage their own unique writing spaces The value for writers in understanding the way that different editors approach a piece of writing Breaking down the myth that there's a single book (or story) out there that everyone will love What "reader cookies" are and how they can play upon an editor's personal preferences A look at "anti-reader cookies" - element or content in a story that an editor hates or will refuse to read How Ray Bradbury practiced writing a short story a day The concept of "writing into the dark" when creating your first draft and how that plays into the fact we have been consuming stories since we were pre-verbal How, with so many tasks, deadlines and balls in the air, Kris decides what writing project to work on next The importance of growing as a writer by writing about things that stretch or challenge her How Kris's book DEALBREAKERS helped Mark negotiate a much better contract with his publisher The choice of "walking" which writers always have when being presented with a publishing contract The three big things that Kris sees that indie authors are not doing correctly: Following Trends, Burning Out and Neglecting their Personal Lives/Families/Health, Following the Scams (that promise seemingly impossible results) The free content that Kris shares (both fiction and non-fiction) on her website on a regular basis, and the origin for both The value of networking and personal connections made during in-person workshops (both the craft workshops as well as the business workshops) The "no politics" and "no religion" rules that Kris and Dean operate within for their workshops (which allows writers to bond regardless of their political or religious biases   After the interview, Mark reflects upon one of the things Kris said regarding taking a workshop when it's in town as opposed to removing yourself from your regular schedule/life, and why the travel/removal of one's self from day to day life for such a learning/bonding experience can be valuable.   Links of Interest Kristine Kathryn Rusch Business Musings Blog Posts Book: Writing with Chronic Illness WMG Publishing WMG Writing and Publishing Workshops Findaway Voices Stark Reflections Survey   Kristine Kathryn Rusch is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Kris writes in almost every genre and her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in more than twenty best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. Kris also has an extensive history in publishing and editing, having been the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as well as co-publishing the original Puuse Magazine with her husband, Dean Wesley Smith. The two now run WMG Publishing, which publish a revised version of Pulphouse, the Fiction River anthology series and many other projects, along with running publishing workshops both online and in person.

Special Announcement! The first short story I sold professionally is now out in the Fiction River: Spies! Anthology, released by WMG Publishing. Go check it out! Buy it here: https://books2read.com/FR-spies/ If you like my podcast and stories, sign up here to become a member/patron on my site: https://www.michaelkingswood.com/membership/supporting-patronage/ Visit My Website - http://michaelkingswood.com Sign up for my newsletter - http://www.michaelkingswood.com/newsletter-signup/ Visit me on Steemit - https://steemit.com/@michaelkingswood Or just leave me a tip at https://paypal.me/SSNStorytelling Or send some crypto: BTC: 3QQ7EhBDMwdG8YypHJjErwpW6hbP4mC14W LTC: LNG2qRCJHJSybidtNw3os1tayfXjLU8b4g ZEC: t1Nmjz8P2sPcmBpKmUviaTcxekTW9m7Aj2D ETH: 0x5842c89FD421c4B92bf826bf7bA5214841B0f660 XRP: rfV3AuwQNfywJzGoQr7Gm2dQWhscx3RM7k ARK: AenZnRqaFz3kx7HenVhur6SyCtH6FFk2TN ZEN: znWrk5CV7kn8J2KRWd9qZ8UPQTfDG32d1R4

“A Musical on a Submarine” Norm and author Kristine Kathryn Rusch discuss her story from way back in 2008 for Drabblecast #53. This is the “Director’s Cut – Sing.” We also dive into a discussion about unsung women in Science Fiction, like Leigh Bracket and James Tipree Jr. Why use a pen name after all? […] The post Drabblecast Director’s Cut – Sing appeared first on The Drabblecast.

We've got options! For TV shows! Well we don't but Annalee Newitz, Mira Grant and Kristine Kathryn Rusch do! Plus our feelings on Zeroes.

Andrea and Nolan discuss interviews with the Passive Guy, Mark Leslie LeFebvre, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson, Dean Wesley Smith, and Damon Courtney on topics such as writing prolifically, staying focused on your career, bookfunnel tips, the passive voice.....

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Her 30+ years of writing, editing, and publishing have garnered multiple awards and accolades. Today, Ryan and Kristine explore what it takes to have a long and satisfying professional writing career. In a day when writers are looking for shortcuts, get-rich-quick schemes, and fame and glory from their books, Kristine has a better, tried and true way, of finding a successful and satisfying writing life. Take notes because Kristine has much to say on the subject. You can find Kristine at: https://kriswrites.com/  

Branding helps readers find your books and enables you to build a long-term career as a writer – but many authors get branding all wrong. In today's show, Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains what branding really is and how to build your author brand in the most sustainable way. In the intro, I talk about watching […] The post Branding For Authors With Kristine Kathryn Rusch first appeared on The Creative Penn.

This episode is a solo one where Mark shares the 5 Ways mentioned in the title, and then goes on to reflect how the chat with T S Paul in the previous episode, combined with the concept of FREE helped inspire a new project that he is launching in April. The Terrible Tongue Twister in this episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Click here to learn more about Findaway Voices. The tongue twister this week is introduced by a terrible spoof that Mark does of the Dire Straits song "Twisted by the Pool" modified to "Twisting by the Fool."   FIVE WAYS TO USE FREE TO BUILD YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM 1) To Get People Hooked on a Series Mark quotes from studies done at Kobo on how the first book in a series set to free can result in new readers and boosted sales for an author. 2) To Get People to Sign up to Your Author Newsletter Authors such as Mark Dawson and Nick Stephenson have not only perfected this craft, but they have also shared great free information on how to do this and also offer courses that include in-depth training. 3) To Get Readers / Reviews Free giveaways are something used in order to get reviews of a person's book. There's a great article at Written Word Media on how to get book reviews on Amazon 4) To Get Feedback / Engage with Readers Sometimes selling isn't the main goal. Sometimes a writer is looking to get feedback or merely have someone read their work. Platforms like Blogger or Wordpress, where authors can post their work and let people read it for free fit here. Also, places like Wattpad Mark share his own experience of using Wattpad to share the first draft of a novel, and how that led to a very positive experience. 5) Limited Time offers of FREE to drive returning traffic Mark talks about how author Kristine Kathryn Rusch offers a weekly Free Fiction Mondays, as well as an interesting story of how she, unknowingly, made life easier for a reader fan. He talks about M L Buchman and his monthly free "Ides of Matt" offering. And then he mentions how T S Paul (from Episode 13) uses a 24 hour monthly free short story offering.   Mark then shares how the concept of free, inspired by the three authors mentioned immediately above, combined with the element of making something a habit with regularly returning visitors and some of his own previous experiments and successes, led to the creation of new project he is launching in April.   Mark shares how his involvement in a weekly blogging meme called Half-Nekkid Thursdays led to the creation of an HNT Darth Tater SPUD WARS storyline that he rolled out over a few months and which drew a strong following and actively engaged audience. He then shares how he adapted two short stories into a story that was rolled out in real time over 9 months via a blog from the main character's point of view. That also attracted readers from around the world as well as highly engaged reader interaction. Entitled, I, DEATH, the blog was then re-adapted into a novel that was published in 2014.   That all led to Mark's desire to want to do something like that again, and shares how he had been listening to Mark Dawson's Self-Publishing Formula Podcast where James interviewed Cecelia Mecca about engaging with your readers using Facebook Live. This is something Mark had been playing with for the past year or so and enjoyed the process as well as the engagement and feedback from it. So he adapted the three elements, all related to previous success: 1) Offering reading for free 2) Engaging with readers 3) Facebook Live videos Into FREE FRIDAY FRIGHTS #freefridayfrights which he'll be starting next Friday - Friday April 6, 2018 and rolling out weekly via www.markleslie.ca/freefridayfrights a free piece of writing (alternating between fiction and non-fiction) that will be available for 24 hours. But also, on that Friday, since different readers consume differently, he'll do a Facebook Live video of either a reading of the fiction then talking about it and answering questions, OR talking about the non-fiction article answering questions.   Mark thanks listeners and reminds them of three ways to support the show: 1) Via Patreon (with bonus content available) 2) By Leaving a review of the show on the podcatcher of your choice 3) By sharing the podcast with a friend who would benefit from it    

Echoes. For every action we take, there are multiple possibilities. And for each of those possibilities, a new universe is born, with each decision branching off into infinite parallel worlds, each of them subtly different from all of the rest. Captain Janeway and the crew of Voyager come across one world where the barriers between these universes are coming down: every two and a half hours, a door is opened between all realities, and every person is shifted to the next reality. And in one of these realities, a horrific holocaust repeats itself as every shift spells the deaths of billions. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther are joined by The Edge's Brandon-Shea Mutala to discuss Echoes by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. We talk about the plot of the novel, the unique perspective of the story's events, the dreaded Voyager reset button, Tuvok's role in the story, the crews' doppelgangers, and wrap up with our final thoughts and ratings. In our news segment, we discuss Bruce's new comic acquisition and talk about the newly-released Star Trek: The Book of Lists. News What Bruce is Reading (00:03:03) Star Trek: The Book of Lists (00:06:45) Feature: Echoes Voyager #15 (00:09:48) First Reading (00:12:57) The Plot (00:15:51) Different Perspectives (00:28:52) Reset Button (00:38:38) The Characters (00:46:15) Is That Work or Tuvok? (00:50:47) Ratings (00:52:35) Final Thoughts (00:56:08) Hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson Guest Brandon-Shea Mutala Production Matthew Rushing (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager) Ken Tripp (Associate Producer) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Associate Producer) Bruce Gibson (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate Producer)

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling writer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, blogs on the publishing industry every Thursday at her website kriswrites.com. She writes science fiction, mystery, fantasy, mystery, and romance as Rusch, noir mystery as Kris Nelscott, and fractured fairy tale romances as Kristine Grayson. Her novel, A Dangerous Road written as Kris Nelscott, is in development as a feature film. She also runs several companies, including a publishing company. She works and occasionally sleeps, surrounded by the obligatory writer's cats, in Oregon.  CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): kriswrites.com  Twitter handle(s): @kristinerusch  Facebook: kristinekathrynruschwriter  Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Kristine-Kathryn-Rusch/e/B000AP60YK/

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Under her real name (Rusch), she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy (including the Fey series, the Retrieval Artist series and the Diving series), award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. Publications from The Chicago Tribune to Booklist have included her Kris Nelscott mystery novels in their top-ten-best mystery novels of the year. The Nelscott books have received nominations for almost every award in the mystery field, including the best novel Edgar Award, and the Shamus Award. She also writes goofy romance and light mystery novels as award-winner Kristine Grayson. Find more about her and her books at www.kriswrites.com.You can connect with Laura at www.laurapowers.net, on Facebook @thatlaurapowers, on twitter @thatlaurapowers, and on instagram at laurapowers44.

In a slight twist to the normal format for the podcast, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who is interested in getting involved in podcasting interviews Mark Lefebvre, Joanna Penn and J, Daniel Sawyer about podcasting for authors. Some of the questions that Kris asks in the discussion, are: --> How did you get started in podcasting? -->What schedule(s) do the podcasts come out on? Monthly, Weekly, Daily. --> Has podcasting interfered with writing or has it augmented it? In the course of the discussion, Kris, Mark, Joanna and Dan talk about: --> How podcasting allows them to network, learn, and connect with others --> How the podcast needs to become a "habit" for listeners. Joanna, for example, shares stats about how moving to a weekly format increased her listener engagement --> the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value when you add a transcrpt of the show on your website --> How Joanna almost gave up podcasting a couple of years ago because of the time it took away from her writing and how having a monetization strategy helped with that --> Authors like Scott Sigler and Terry Fallis who used podcasting to build their audiences and kick-off their writing careers --> Time management challenges, tools used and how the use of "batching" (pre-recording a number of episodes in a single sitting) has benefited Joanna Penn and J. Daniel Sawyer --> The value of adding a personal side to a podcast, and the way that has benefited The Creative Penn podcast --> Bundlerabbit- a service that allows people to curate their own bundles --> The use of ad space swapping with other podcasts in order to expand one's audience --> Podcast distribution options --> The importance of listening to a podcast before pitching yourself to them as a potential guest In the wrap-up, Mark talks about the importance of constantly learning.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an industry veteran who teaches and mentors writers directly and on her amazing blog "The Business Rusch" But even after all those decades of experience, she still has an open mind and is willing to learn, because the publishing industry is constantly changing and evolving.   Links to other interviews with the same guests: Episode 16 - Joanna Penn Episode 29 - Kristine Kathryn Rusch Episode 54 - The Uncollected Anthology (with Kris) Episode 56 - J. Daniel Sawyer   Other Links of Interest: Joanna Penn's HOW TO PODCAST The Creative Penn Podcast J. Daniel Sawyer's Full Suite of Audio/Podcasts BundleRabbit

Hey there Word Nerds! Thanks for joining me for this episode of DIY MFA Radio. You’re gonna love today’s guest. Today I’m speaking with one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction: Dean Wesley Smith. A USA Today bestselling author, Dean has published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds upon hundreds of short stories across many genres. In total, he has over seventeen million copies of his books in print.His monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and has not missed an issue yet. With over 60,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month, this magazine goes to show that consistency is king when it comes to modern publishing, especially indie publishing. In this episode Dean and I discuss: How to get out of your own way and get writing. Killing the sacred cows of publishing Giving your creative voice permission to play and putting the critical voice away. Running a small publishing company. Training yourself to shift gears from creative work to business work. Plus, Dean’s #1 tip for writers. More about Dean: Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres. He has over seventeen million of his books in print.At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy. His monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and has not missed an issue yet, with over 60,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown. Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as executive editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series. To learn more about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, check out his website. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/113

In this episode we discuss Space Opera and all the endless tangents. This is a LONG conversation (we almost split it in two, but we’re trying to catch up episodes to our current reading topic). We talk about losing our solid footing on genre definitions, defining the term “worldbuilding”, when re-reading books from your youth goes horribly wrong, wondering just what is up with those TV and movie tie-ins, misogyny infecting Sci-Fi classics (Oh, hello there Sad Puppies), the delight of scientists reading Sci-Fi, and so much more. Your Hosts This Episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Amanda Wanner Space Opera We Read (or kinda): Recommended Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (lukewarm recommendation by a reader who is deeply ambivalent about anything speculative, Sci-Fi, or Fantasy in nature) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (not spectacular but a slow-burn, exploratory read) Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (difficult to like narrator warning) Ancillary Mercy (and the entire Ancillary Justice series) (HIGHLY recommended series) Accessing the Future: A Disability-Themed Anthology of Speculative Fiction edited by Kathryn Allan Lightless by C.A. Higgins Read Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian Space Opera edited by Brian W. Aldiss (Features stories from 1900 (!) - 1972. Most are from the 1950s) More Adventures on Other Planets edited by Donald A. Wollheim Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis (Not so much Space Opera and not enough girl mechanic) The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera 2015 edited by David Afsharirad Did Not Finish Armada by Ernest Cline (read this Wikipedia article about a video game urban legend instead) Red Rising by Pierce Brown Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks (would try another one by this author) The Star Dancers by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens  A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (so long - for 900+ pages, would prefer to try the better known A Fire Upon the Deep, which was recommended by another group member) The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (recommended to us - ran out of time this month; try it as an audiobook?) Koko the Mighty by Kieran Shea (really enjoyed Koko Takes a Holiday) Other titles and media mentioned Mass Effect video games are totally Space Opera, especially if you read all the internal game encyclopedia entries like Matthew. The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (not exactly Space Opera but totally recommended) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein - Military Sci-Fi or Space Opera?? Space Opera by Jack Vance - An opera troupe in Space Red Spider White Web by Misha Nogha The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Have you not read this yet? It’s short - go read it!) District 9 movie Firefly TV series & Serenity movie & the Firefly comics (pretty much all recommended highly) Please skip Sassinak and read Elizabeth Moon’s excellent connected series set in the world of Paksenarrion (Fantasy not Sci-Fi), or at least read the three books of The Deed of Paksenarrion. All those zillion Pern books (Science Fantasy series) by Anne McCaffrey Dune by Frank Herbert (hefty but worth a read - recommended) The Martian by Andy Weir (about space but not Space Opera and definitely recommended) Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Vol. 1 (comic book series) (recommended even if you don't care about Transformers. Really! ) Ascension (Tangled Axon, #1) by Jacqueline Koyanagi (Meghan mis-spoke and called this book “Ascendent”) After Man by Dougal Dixon (so cool!) Octavia’s Brood edited by Walidah Imarisha, and Adrienne Maree Brown Samuel Delaney  - We discuss Dhalgren which is not space focused, but Delaney has a few space books to try. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, and Jay Kristoff (YA Space Opera - read before the month, recommended) A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix (read after the episode, recommended) Links etc. OK Go Upside Down & Inside Out (music video shot in zero gravity) The review of Ancillary Justice Anna tried to read without being spoiled for the book The Wikipedia article on Space Opera bring up many aspects of the definition we discussed and is worth a skim, at least. Scientists read sci-fi and have opinions about it Read some stuff (here, here, and here are a few to start with) about Sad Puppies if you care about issues of diversity in publishing, book awards, and media more generally. Check it out: Afro futurism Book Riot sympathises with Sci-Fi fans Xenoanthropology Questions What (the heck) is space opera? (We thought we knew! We were so naive.) What is Worldbuilding? Any suggestions of your favourite instances of worldbuilding? Is bug punk real? Who else wants a “Ten Rules to Break When Dating a Space Pirate” from Sarah MacLean? Are Star Trek tie-in novels Space Opera? What’s the relationship between Space Opera/space-based Sci-Fi and the history of Colonialism? Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts for all the Space Opera people in our club read (or tried to read), and follow us on Twitter!

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews 6 of the 7 writers who make up the core writers of the Uncollected Anthology project:  Phaedra Weldon, Leslie Clare Walker, Annie Reed, Leah Cutter, Dayle A. Dermatis and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (Absent from the interview, but a core member is Michele Lang) The Uncollected Anthology of Urban Fantasy, is an ongoing project where, every three months, the authors pick a theme and write a short story for that theme. But instead of bundling the stories together, they each sell their own stories. So you can buy any one of them, or all of them. No fuss, no muss. But the tales are packaged using templates that bring them together thematically, and the authors have found the anthology as helpful for new readers to discover these books. In the interview, Mark and the writers discuss: How they get together annually for a meeting and have planned the themes out until May 2018 How the idea was born out of the Fiction River anthology workshops that Kris runs with her husband Dean. Dayle looked around the room at the talented authors and knew there were enough who wrote urban fantasy to put something like this together The process which includes deadlines for when the stories, the blurbs, the covers are all due each quarter The cross-promotional aspect of marketing each “issue” or theme of this ongoing series that includes the website and links embedded within each author's books How, even though they are calling them “short stories” some of the stories go as long as 20,000 words or novella length The way Allyson Longueira of WMG Publishing designed the cover template for the group for them to have a consistent brand, look and feel (such as the consistent color that each of the themes employ) The inherent trust each writer has to have, above the existing contract which includes terms such as the fact that each author owns all the copyright on each of their respective stories The common request from readers about how they might be able to get all the stories together How every Feb the theme is urban fantasy romance How Leah doesn't enjoy writing romance and yet, facing the challenge of that theme wrote a story that she loves the most – “The Midnight Gardener” How the themes help the writers explore different concepts and stories they never knew they had in them The brilliantly organic meeting that was the genesis of this collective, and the importance of community and an in person presence at writer events. How Kris is sometimes known by the nickname “Tom Hanks” derived from the movie “Big” because of the storm of ideas that she has Emails, yearly meeting and a closed yahoo group they use to communicate and share files A discussion of some of the challenges that have faced the group Some of the guest authors which include Dean Wesley Smith, Anthea Sharp, Rebecca Senese, Ron Cillins May's “out of the woods” theme . . . . The Fiction River workshops, how they originated based upon what used to be called the Dennis Little workshops at conventions The Importance of being with other writers, the support they offer one another, the pep-talks, the understanding . . . . After the interview, Mark talks about the importance of what can happen when writers come together to share, to communicate and to network.   Links of Interest Uncollected Anthology Main Website Uncollected Anthology Books at Kobo Click here to subscribe to the Uncollected Anthology Newsletter

USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her works include: The Fey series: With a sweeping scope reminiscent of George R.R. Martin's Westeros and  intricate characters like those in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Fey series takes fantasy in a whole new direction. When the most powerful ruling family in the world attempts to conquer a tiny, seemingly helpless island kingdom, they meet forces they never knew existed. In a fight spread over generations, this saga of hope and magic proves that the greatest power of all comes from love; The Retrieval Artist series – a series of 15 books, consisting of seven standalone novels and the Anniversary Day Saga, an epic, eight-book story of conspiracy, revenge and shadowy justice. Miles Flint, no stranger to tough cases, walks a razor edge as he and others struggle to save the Moon from total destruction. Where will you be when the bombs go off? And the Diving series: a space opera set in a vividly imagined far-future universe, featuring a strong, capable female heronie, blending fast-paced action with an exploration of the nature of friendship and the ethics of scientific discoveries. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. Rusch publishes mystery novels under the pseudonym Kris Nelscott. Publications from The Chicago Tribune to Booklist have included her Nelscott mystery novels in their top-ten-best mystery novels of the year. The Nelscott books have received nominations for almost every award in the mystery field, including the best novel Edgar Award, and the Shamus Award. Her Nelscott mystery novels include the Smokey Dalton series: Memphis, 1968. Black P.I., white client. And Martin Luther King's on the way… Memphis P.I. SMOKEY DALTON is hired by a wealthy woman from Chicago to find out why her mother left him $10,00 in her will. Toss in the fact that 1968 Memphis is a racial powderkeg set to go off, with an on-going Sanitation Workers' Strike and the impending arrival of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. contributing to the mix. Now add in that Smokey's developing a strong, and apparently mutual attraction to his white client, and you've got one hell of a read that offers an unflinching look at a pivotal moment in American history. He's an appealing private eye, a loner with a strong set of ethics, burning with anger at the injustices he sees everyday, but careful to distance himself from the struggle for equality swirling all around him, or any personal involvement. He doesn't even commit himself to his profession –he prefers to call himself an “odd-jobs man.” But the distance Smokey tries to keep is rapidly shrinking, even as his attraction grows, and it soon becomes obvious that somehow, somewhere, his client's life and his are inextricably linked. Rusch writes goofy romance novels as award-winner Kristine Grayson, romantic suspense as Kristine Dexter, futuristic science fiction as Kris DeLake, and has sold a number of short stories. She also edits. Beginning with work at the innovative publishing company, Pulphouse, followed by her award-winning tenure at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, she took fifteen years off before returning to editing with the original anthology series Fiction River, published by WMG Publishing. She acts as series editor with her husband, writer Dean Wesley Smith, and edits at least two anthologies in the series per year on her own.

This week we are joined by multiple award winning writer and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch who discusses her long and diverse career in science fiction, as a writer,  as editor at Pulphouse then at F&SF, and her more recent experiences as a writer working in both mainstream and independent publishing. We also discuss her 'Retrieval Artist' saga, including the eight novel 'Anniversary Day' series. We spend most time, though, discussing Kris's work editing a new anthology of science fiction by women, Women of Futures Past, which will be published by Baen Books in 2016, and her new Women in Science Fiction website. As always, we'd like to thank Kris for making the time to talk to us, and hope you enjoy the episode!

Mark Lefebvre, Kobo Writing Life Director, in conversation with Dean Wesley Smith, a USA Today Bestselling author of books in multiple genres including Science-Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers and Westerns. Currently producing novels in four different series, Smith is also the co-publisher of WMG Publishing along with his partner Kristine Kathryn Rusch and runs a series of workshops designed to help writers become smarter not only about the craft but also about the business of publishing. During their conversation, Dean and Mark talk about: ·         The fact that Dean wasn't born into writing, actually loathed it when he was in college (He has a Masters in Architecture) ·         The various careers and roles that Smith played during his life, including his past as a Pro Golfer and hot dog skier ·         How his goal of being a Golf Course Architect led to writing via an English course that he had to take. ·         The English Professor who told Smith that his writing was too commercial ·         The writing class that forced Smith to submit a poem to a college poetry market (at which he won second place and $300) – at the time, he had to go see the professor to ask about it because he had no idea what it meant ·         After this experience, Smith tried his hand at fiction, wrote a 1000 word short story and mailed it off to a market right away. Then he wrote a second story and mailed that off right away. Both stories sold immediately. ·         How, after these first three successes, Smith started listening to people's advice (AKA myths) about writing, and re-wrote his stories to dead, and for the next 7 years never sold a single thing ·         It wasn't until 1982 that Smith ran across Robert Heinlein's Business Rules of Writing, followed the advice, started selling again and has never looked back  (http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-business-rules/)  The RULES  o   1 – You Must Write  o   2 – You Must Finish What You Start  o   3 – You Must Refrain From Rewriting Except to Editorial Order  o   4 – You Must Put It on The Market  o   5 – You Must Keep It on The Market Until Sold ·         Dean's books:  Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing and Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. ·         The magazine that Dean and Kristine Kathryn Rusch ran for 9 years, called Pulphouse. ·         The Starfleet Corps of Engineers Series that Dean kicked off in the Star Trek Universe – a series about the people who follow up after Captain Kirk, cleaning up his messes (which was originally meant to be an eBook back in 2000 and knocked John Grisham off the eBook bestseller list when it was released) ·         The challenge of writing within an existing restrictive universe, such as Star Trek, such as the reader having to hear Shatner's voice when writing the character Captain Kirk. ·         Smith's lesson for writers creating character voice by paying really close attention to the differences in voice you can easily see created for the Star Trek characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy ·         Regency Romance as one of the only genres that Smith really can't write in ·         How Westerns, (the old West) and Science-Fiction are two of Smith's go-two genres for writing. ·         The FICTION RIVER anthology series that Smith edits with Kristine Kathryn Rusch and how this river of fiction brings in new talent along with some major names from the genre.  (For example, the latest FICTION RIVER property, Pulse Pounders, edited by Kevin J. Anderson, included a previously unpublished sci-fi story by Frank Herbert) ·         The Oregon Coast workshops where the FICTION RIVER anthologies are derived that include a board of 6 Editors critiquing the stories live on stage and how that helps inform writers that what one editor rejects another editor might have bought ·         How the workshops that Dean and Kris started originated as the “Denise Little” short story workshops; because of the similarity to the way that editor/agent Denise Little liked to teach these principles ·         A bit about Smith's Monthly Magazine, which has both a paper and an eBook edition ·         How Smith sees the approximate 80,000 words that he writes each month as still “not enough” ·         Smith's ongoing Blog in which he shares daily insights: Writing in Public ·         How the teaching that Smith does is part of his desire to try to give back or pay forward to the industry in the way that the industry and writers before Smith have given so much to him ·         One of the biggest myths from indie publishing, regarding indie writers not being able to get their indie published books into bookstores and the “fairy dust” that has long been spread regarding that ·         How Smith isn't anti-traditional but is 100% pro smart-writer   Other Links Dean Wesley Smith's Books at Kobo WMG Publishing Workshops WMG Publishing Lectures Fiction River Anthologies (website) Fiction River Anthologies (Kobo)        

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Kristine Kathryn Rusch, an award-winning writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and romance, at Superstars Writing Seminars. Apart from her decades of writing and editing experience which includes being published in 14 different countries in 13 languages, Rusch co-runs a publishing business (WMG Publishing) with her partner Dean Wesley Smith and provides authors invaluable insights about writing and publishing through her popular blog series: The Business Rusch. During the conversation, Mark and Kris talk about: ·         Her recent book, Discoverability and how it was derived from about 6 months' worth of blog posts outlining a bit about the history of publishing and how it relates to where we are today ·         A disclaimer that, unless you've already published about 10 books, you aren't likely to be able to use the advice from this book ·         The Business Rusch, the blog in which Rusch provides valuable insights that many smart writers ensure they read every week ·         Rusch has been a professional writer since she was sixteen years old and wrote an article for the local newspaper (insert appropriate and in-appropriate age jokes and laughing here) ·         How Rusch and author Kevin J. Anderson met while in college as like-minded writers with similar goals and how that social group expanded into relationships they've both had with writer friends ever since ·         How much Rusch gives back to the writing community and why she feels it's important to pay it forward to other writers the way that she was provided help, insights and support from writers who took the time to help her ·         The selfish reason why Rusch gives back – because she's an avid reader and wants more great books to read ·         The biggest pitfall that writers fall into – that they don't know enough about the business of writing ·         The reason why Rusch stopped editing full-time – how living in that critical space can affect your writing style and writing brain ·         The concept of “reader cookies” – a term that Rusch learned from editor Gardner Dozois – as well as “anti-cookies” and how that can affect an editor ·         Rusch's love of “secret identity” stories ·         The various different pseudonyms that Rusch has written under in various styles and genres, including Kristine Grayson, Kris Nelscott, and Kristine Dexter. ·         How Rusch puts up a free short story on her blog every Monday that people can check out with no strings attached. ·         Rusch's statement of advice to beginning writers        Mark then talks a bit more about the books for writers that Rusch has written and shares a personal experience about how reading the book Deal Breakers helped him in a very significant way when he was negotating a contract for one of his most recent books, Tomes of Terror.   LINKS Rusch's book: Discoverability Rusch's book: Deal Breakers: Contract Terms Writers Should Avoid The Business Rusch    

Our first podcast for February is “The Last Surviving Gondola Widow” written by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and read by Kate Baker. Subscribe to our podcast. This podcast was sponsored by the Clarion Writer’ Workshop.

Bestselling Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is the guest in episode 28 of The Author Biz podcast.   Think for a minute about the book you're reading right now. How did you find it? If it's an author you've read before, how did you originally discover her work? The current word for how our work is found by […] The post TAB028: Discoverability, with Kristine Kathryn Rusch appeared first on .

The Robots return to talking about business. This time we're laying the foundation for a series of episodes on business. The start of that is to know what it means to be a career writer. In this case, as in many others to come, inspiration is drawn and quotes are made from the business writing blog of Kristine Kathryn Rusch. You can read the specific post linked below. Do yourself a huge favor and go start reading. http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles http://kriswrites.com/2013/08/28/the-business-rusch-a-career-versus-publication Paul was just on Mythwits. Go check him out. http://mythwits.com Also mentioned was The Copyright Handbook by Nolo Press. A must have reference. href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005QEQDYC

Mark Lefebvre, KWL Director, interviews Melissa Yuan-Innes, author of the hot-selling Hope Sze Medical Mystery series about...     Melissa's role as an emergency physician and the role this plays in helping develop her fiction and the character of Hope Sze Melissa's latest book, TERMINALLY ILL which is coming out February 1, 2014 (and is available for pre-order) How the beloved yet frustrating city of Montreal is a prominent feature in her fiction How Melissa manages to find time to write on top of her demanding day job (10 to 14 hour shifts) and her family life. Melissa's “secret weapon” otherwise known as her husband The many pseudonyms Melissa uses for the different style of fiction that she writes (sci-fi/fantasy and non-fiction medical humour fiction) under Melissa Yuan-Innes, medical thrillers and mysteries written under Melissa Yi, medical romance written under Melissa Yin, children's books under Melissa Yuan and the reasons behind that (and how it has changed since Melissa first started) The unpredictability and wonderful escape factor as something that drew Melissa to science fiction Melissa won second place in the Writers of the Future when she was in medical school The importance and value of professional workshops, including the long term friendships that were forged at Writers of the Future, and the reason why Melissa has returned to Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch's professional workshops for over a decade Some early mistakes that Melissa made when she first started writing and sending submissions to editors (and great tips she learned from Kristine at the pro workshops) Some of the similarities and differences in the electronic age of writing and submitting and writing and publishing Melissa's amazing experience winning Kobo Writing Life's Win your Cover contest (featuring the talented and dedicated cover designer Scarlett Rugers Melissa's traditionally published short story “Burning Beauty” which appears in the anthology Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound, and how writing short fiction can be a refreshing change from writing novel length works, and still be a way of getting a lot of your material in front of a diverse and broad reading audience The CBC commissioned story written under Melissa Yi - No Air Melissa's yoga mystery story being published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and how Dean Wesley Smith calls being published in a market like that being one of the best advertising tools for a writer Melissa's dark humour December 2013 release:  The Italian School for Assassins and the role that humour and dark humour plays in her life and in her writing. Melissa's advice to writers regarding persistence and humour   Mark Lefebvre then talks about the difference between trying to find time to write and making time to write, outlining a few strategies that authors who work day jobs sometimes employ when carving out time in their busy schedules to make time for writing.    

My feet are scraped and bleeding, my slippers shredded and almost useless. The dress hangs in tatters around me. No longer white, it still bears the pearls along the bodice, and I hope I can keep them close and sell them in whatever town I find myself in. Provided I find a town. Provided I ever leave these woods. I have traveled for two days, surviving on puddle water and berries, hoping that the sounds I hear behind me aren't my father, Roland, and the dogs. Narrated by Susan Hanfield.

Narrated by Sarah Tolbert (via Drabblecast).

Today the Drabblecast brings you “Sing” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. It's a story about aliens, music, and strange frequencies!     Story Excerpt: Child, you sing all the time- when you're walking, when you're eating, even when you're laughing.  You people make the most beautiful music in the entire galaxy… Enjoy! Drabblecast #53 – Sing