Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

The publishing news of the week–maybe of the year–is the collapse of Borders, the USA’s second largest bookstore chain.

New language in the termination provision of the Harper’s boilerplate gives them the right to cancel a contract if “Author’s conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals, or if Author commits a crime or any other act that will tend to bring Author into serious contempt, and such behavior would materially damage the Work’s reputation or sales.”

I don’t often write posts like this, because it’s really like shooting fish in a barrel. And there are so many red flags here that savvy writers may wonder why I bother. But there are a lot of new writers searching for agents, many of whom are probably new to Writer Beware, and may not yet be clear on what to watch out for.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t self-publish if you want to (though I would urge you to do so on the basis of knowledge rather than hype), or that self-publishers can’t become successful (clearly, they can–something that has always been true, for every possible value of success). I’m just saying that it’s risky to assume that others’ success stories will apply to you.

Even as picture books based on folk and fairy tales are on the wane, the world of children’s books is seeing a rise in fairy tale retellings for middle grade and young adult readers. In fact, this corner of the fantasy market seems to be experiencing a golden age, to the delight of die-hard fairy tale fans like me.

Longtime SFWA member Cynthia Felice was appointed to the position of ombudsman by John Scalzi, president of SFWA, on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010.

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

One of many reasons I enjoy Twitter is that it’s relatively free of the spam that clogs other modes of online discourse. Oh, there’s the occasional author Twitspam (writers: Twitspamming is not, I repeat, N…

Resources, Industry News, and Member News for Edward M. Lerner, Sara Megibow, Margaret Stohl, Kami Garcia, Ellen Datlow, David Brin, and Lou Antonelli!

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

An article from Courthouse News Service (a nationwide newsletter for lawyers focusing on civil litigation) caught my eye this morning:
A retired lawyer claims he wrote a book investigating the death of Prin…

by A.C. Crispin Introduction Agents–When Do You Need One? Getting Started–Compiling a List, Researching Agent Listings, and Following Submission Guidelines How to Recognize Real Agents Writing the Synopsis Writing the Query Letter Sending Out Your Query Letters Playing the Waiting Game Make Sure Your Manuscript Lives Up to Your Query The Psychology of Querying Introduction […]