We're in Collinsville, Illinois attending Archon 32. There are so many things to see and do at a science fiction convention. While I was sitting working on yesterday's blog, one of the actors from the play to be presented came by to round people to see the performance which was about to start. Since I love watching live performances, I headed in.
The play???? The Secret Life of Hugo Mitty. Based upon a short story written by James Thurber in 1939 this play went a different direction from the 1947 movie with Danny Kaye as Hugo. In the original Hugo Mitty was a proofreader for a magazine publishing firm. As Hugo does his mundane work, his mind creates a world where he is heroic, poised, self assured, and the master of his fate. Depending on the cover, he might be a western hero or a World War II fighter pilot. In the original story he has the opportunity to rescue the girl of his dreams and ends up living a much more vibrant life than before. This character made such a impact on the culture of the time that the name came to represent day dreamers.
The Trans-Iowa Canal Company Players here at Archon took this character and put a modern spin on it. Hugo Mitty worked in a large store modeled after the BnL store in the movie Wall-e. The actors do a great job moving Hugo from his real world job into his fantasy world as he goes through his day. The villain, the Joker comes from Batman lore. This version had so many references to other movies and science fiction stories that really added to the humor.
The cast had obviously put a lot of work into this production complete with sound effects.
What a fun way to spend some time!
Showing posts with label Archon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archon. Show all posts
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Monday, August 06, 2007
Archon -Promoting Your Book
People who are trying to make a living with their creative work are always going to have to find a way for people to find out about them. If you are writing books, people need to know the book exists . . . people outside your immediate circle of family and friends. For nature photographers, I've been told that you need to have many sources of revenue for your photography - prints, magazine sales, photography books, photo tours, teaching classes, etc. For anyone to want to go on a photography tour you might want to lead, they've got to know something about your skills and credentials as a photographer. I have long term goals of being a retreat speaker to encourage other Christian women. Getting my Christian books published is part of that goal. To be successful, they will need to be promoted. Even if your book comes out with a major publisher, it is still up to the author to promote their work. The publishing house may help you . . . and then again, maybe not. And, if your first book does not sell well, it may be impossible to get the next one published.
So when I saw the panel: "Promoting Your Book" I figured that some of this information presented for science fiction writers would carry over into the Christian writing I'm trying to do and with my photography.
Amazingly enough, having a web presence - a website and perhaps a blog was one of the first things mentioned. And not just any old webpage - you need to have a good web page with your own domain name. People who meet you at conventions and other events will want to go check out who you are. I'm finding that I want to change the photo on the front page of my website so that people who visit regularly have a reason to come back. I also try to have links to my newest work - so that repeat visitors can see new things. And your blog needs to be interesting. One piece of advice: Only write when you have something to say. Better to blog only occasionally but have it worthwhile. I disagree with that a little bit. I find that if I don't keep putting up new posts, my readership falls away. But . . . I have to find things people are interested in reading about. I check my Google Analytics regularly to see whether I am getting new readers and what kind of return visits I'm getting. One caution is real - you can spend all your time on your blog and not get your "real" work done - writing your books, processing your photos, and producing new work.
I learned a new phrase: ego surfing. It is simple: Google your own name. See who's talking about you or linking to you. Having Google Analytics set up for your website will also help see how people are finding you. Thanking people for mentioning you on their website or on a podcast or radio program also creates good will. Whether you call it ego surfing or research, it is important. You may also find copyright violations that way . . . unauthorized use of your work.
Haley Elizabeth Garwood set up a road trip for her aging mom and contacted libraries, bookstores to set up talks and book signings. In 5 1/2 weeks, she managed to do 55 presentations or events.
As always, thinking outside the box - one of the authors - I think it was Haley ghost wrote a book that is being marketed in the hair salon business all over the country! Another one had an opportunity to do a book signing in an antique store. One of the writers got her book included in a catalogue of swords!
And, of course, don't forget your local newspapers - they are eager for interesting stories about local people.
When you have a book coming out, get started on your promotional contacts about 3 months before it is scheduled to come out. If you are working with a big publisher, find out which publicist is assigned to your book. Make contact, show interest.
And you may have some fortuitous things happen. One cruise line wanted books as part of their turn down service. They bought books for every room on the ship! What great publicity was that!
Above all, be nice. Whether an author or a photographer, once you start competing - somebody is going to be a loser. When you are nice to the people that are coming up behind you, it helps promote your work. If you are ugly and mean spirited, it will have an impact on your book sales and your future as a writer.
So when I saw the panel: "Promoting Your Book" I figured that some of this information presented for science fiction writers would carry over into the Christian writing I'm trying to do and with my photography.
Amazingly enough, having a web presence - a website and perhaps a blog was one of the first things mentioned. And not just any old webpage - you need to have a good web page with your own domain name. People who meet you at conventions and other events will want to go check out who you are. I'm finding that I want to change the photo on the front page of my website so that people who visit regularly have a reason to come back. I also try to have links to my newest work - so that repeat visitors can see new things. And your blog needs to be interesting. One piece of advice: Only write when you have something to say. Better to blog only occasionally but have it worthwhile. I disagree with that a little bit. I find that if I don't keep putting up new posts, my readership falls away. But . . . I have to find things people are interested in reading about. I check my Google Analytics regularly to see whether I am getting new readers and what kind of return visits I'm getting. One caution is real - you can spend all your time on your blog and not get your "real" work done - writing your books, processing your photos, and producing new work.
I learned a new phrase: ego surfing. It is simple: Google your own name. See who's talking about you or linking to you. Having Google Analytics set up for your website will also help see how people are finding you. Thanking people for mentioning you on their website or on a podcast or radio program also creates good will. Whether you call it ego surfing or research, it is important. You may also find copyright violations that way . . . unauthorized use of your work.
Haley Elizabeth Garwood set up a road trip for her aging mom and contacted libraries, bookstores to set up talks and book signings. In 5 1/2 weeks, she managed to do 55 presentations or events.
As always, thinking outside the box - one of the authors - I think it was Haley ghost wrote a book that is being marketed in the hair salon business all over the country! Another one had an opportunity to do a book signing in an antique store. One of the writers got her book included in a catalogue of swords!
And, of course, don't forget your local newspapers - they are eager for interesting stories about local people.
When you have a book coming out, get started on your promotional contacts about 3 months before it is scheduled to come out. If you are working with a big publisher, find out which publicist is assigned to your book. Make contact, show interest.
And you may have some fortuitous things happen. One cruise line wanted books as part of their turn down service. They bought books for every room on the ship! What great publicity was that!
Above all, be nice. Whether an author or a photographer, once you start competing - somebody is going to be a loser. When you are nice to the people that are coming up behind you, it helps promote your work. If you are ugly and mean spirited, it will have an impact on your book sales and your future as a writer.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
From Archon . . . Blunders New Writers Make
When you go to a science fiction convention, it is amazing how many people want to be writers. Most of the attendees are readers, but a large number of them really want to create stories and books that other people will want to read. But out of all the people that want to be writers, only a small percentage will actually get their work published in a magazine or book. A few more will get their work into fanzines (but I don't know how many fanzines are still out there.)
I'm not trying to write science fiction, but I am trying to write Christian books and publish photographs and articles in nature magazines. So I thought this panel would probably have some information I would find useful.
First and foremost . . . Did you follow the submission guidelines? This is going to be true no matter what genre you are involved with. Photography magazines, stock photography agencies, book editors all have their own way of wanting material presented to them. If you have ignored the submission guidelines, that is a strike against you from the word go. For photography, file size, amount of post processing, image quality, subject, etc are going to be listed. And I discovered that I needed to recheck guidelines. The technology is changing fast. One magazine changed its guidelines in between submisions I made. I was lucky, the editor patiently pointed me in the direction of upgrading my software and workflow. Some of the Christian book publishers want to meet you at a Christian Writer's Conference. Science fiction book editors seem to prefer that you have an agent. And, of course, there is a standard manuscript format. Ignore that, and they probably won't even look at your work.
If you are going to get your work out there, it is going to be rejected. Each market will have a different time frame in which they get back to you. If you try to rush this, they'll just send your work back. Read the rejection letters. Some of them are going to be very impersonal and obviously mass produced. But some are going to be written personally to you. Take note o those personal rejections. Many times you can make small changes and resubmit. But if the editor has suggested specific changes - don't change everything else and leave what was recommended unchanged . . . Don't laugh . . . it happened.
While sometimes a change an editor wants may go against your creative muse, the editor has the final say. If you are a new writer, you won't have the clout to get away with not making the change. On the other hand, you also probably don't have the experience either. The editor KNOWS his readership - what they like and what they don't like. It is to your benefit to get your work out there rather than having it sit lonely on your computer or in your file drawer.
Another mistake was one that really struck home for me: Finish your work! One of the panelists said, "Perfect is the enemy of good enough." I certainly made that mistake with my first book. I had it written for 3 years before I put it out where editors could see it. And then I waited another year before actually getting it into editors hands. I have more books to write. It is more important to get them started, written, finished, and SUBMITTED. I'm fighting that with my photography as well. It is more important to get those images submitted than to fret that they are not "good enough" and leave them wasting away on the hard drives.
On the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website there is a lot of information for beginning writers. If you surf this website, there is much information that is available for anyone to read. One of the panelists mentioned The Saga of Myrtle the Manuscript. It takes awhile to read, but it certainly shows what can happen to a manuscript as it goes through the submission process. My own story - one of my first photographic submissions I sent with the DVD and the contact prints in a large brown envelope - no cardboard stiffener. When I got it back, I was appalled, with no reinforcement, the dvd case had bent up the contact prints. Now I got off on this trip without my cardboard inserts, so I did send a submission without as good a protection, but I did find a way to separate that hard DVD case from the prints.
Living with a writer all these years, I know how hard it is to receive rejection letters. But the panel ended by talking about how much people learn from what at first looks like a failure.
While there were other things worth mention- especially for fiction writers - like point of view, showing rather than telling, the importance of the opening sentence, etc, I'm going to end this blog here. Science fiction conventions often have panels like this. New writers are well advised to attend conferences like this to learn from other people's mistakes. Plus, experienced writers leave all psyched up to go out and write some more.
I'm not trying to write science fiction, but I am trying to write Christian books and publish photographs and articles in nature magazines. So I thought this panel would probably have some information I would find useful.
First and foremost . . . Did you follow the submission guidelines? This is going to be true no matter what genre you are involved with. Photography magazines, stock photography agencies, book editors all have their own way of wanting material presented to them. If you have ignored the submission guidelines, that is a strike against you from the word go. For photography, file size, amount of post processing, image quality, subject, etc are going to be listed. And I discovered that I needed to recheck guidelines. The technology is changing fast. One magazine changed its guidelines in between submisions I made. I was lucky, the editor patiently pointed me in the direction of upgrading my software and workflow. Some of the Christian book publishers want to meet you at a Christian Writer's Conference. Science fiction book editors seem to prefer that you have an agent. And, of course, there is a standard manuscript format. Ignore that, and they probably won't even look at your work.
If you are going to get your work out there, it is going to be rejected. Each market will have a different time frame in which they get back to you. If you try to rush this, they'll just send your work back. Read the rejection letters. Some of them are going to be very impersonal and obviously mass produced. But some are going to be written personally to you. Take note o those personal rejections. Many times you can make small changes and resubmit. But if the editor has suggested specific changes - don't change everything else and leave what was recommended unchanged . . . Don't laugh . . . it happened.
While sometimes a change an editor wants may go against your creative muse, the editor has the final say. If you are a new writer, you won't have the clout to get away with not making the change. On the other hand, you also probably don't have the experience either. The editor KNOWS his readership - what they like and what they don't like. It is to your benefit to get your work out there rather than having it sit lonely on your computer or in your file drawer.
Another mistake was one that really struck home for me: Finish your work! One of the panelists said, "Perfect is the enemy of good enough." I certainly made that mistake with my first book. I had it written for 3 years before I put it out where editors could see it. And then I waited another year before actually getting it into editors hands. I have more books to write. It is more important to get them started, written, finished, and SUBMITTED. I'm fighting that with my photography as well. It is more important to get those images submitted than to fret that they are not "good enough" and leave them wasting away on the hard drives.
On the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website there is a lot of information for beginning writers. If you surf this website, there is much information that is available for anyone to read. One of the panelists mentioned The Saga of Myrtle the Manuscript. It takes awhile to read, but it certainly shows what can happen to a manuscript as it goes through the submission process. My own story - one of my first photographic submissions I sent with the DVD and the contact prints in a large brown envelope - no cardboard stiffener. When I got it back, I was appalled, with no reinforcement, the dvd case had bent up the contact prints. Now I got off on this trip without my cardboard inserts, so I did send a submission without as good a protection, but I did find a way to separate that hard DVD case from the prints.
Living with a writer all these years, I know how hard it is to receive rejection letters. But the panel ended by talking about how much people learn from what at first looks like a failure.
While there were other things worth mention- especially for fiction writers - like point of view, showing rather than telling, the importance of the opening sentence, etc, I'm going to end this blog here. Science fiction conventions often have panels like this. New writers are well advised to attend conferences like this to learn from other people's mistakes. Plus, experienced writers leave all psyched up to go out and write some more.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Archon 31 - St. Louis
For a total change of pace from what I've been blogging, we're now at a science fiction convention. I've been trying to blog this kind of event as we attend them, so . . . .
While Archon 31 which is also this year's NASFIC (North American Science Fiction Convention) started yesterday, today was the first day I went over there. I have a photo submission due early next week that I must get out. So I spent yesterday at the RV working on it. While I continued working on that submission today, I did it at one of the tables at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois - a suburb of St. Louis.
As we drove up, I noted to myself: "yep, people in costumes and fanciful artistic SF t-shirts - yep we're at a con!" One of the first things I do at a con is to take the pocket program book and start marking it up. As I go through it, I mark panel titles that look interesting, I mark writers and panelists that I either know or whose books I read, and I check the Kaffeklatsch list. Now you may be thinking, "What in the world is a Kaffeklatsch?" (And one of the workers at the convention gave me a funny look when I asked where the sign-up was for the Kaffeklatsch's.) A Kaffeklatsch is time spent with an author around a table (coffee can be part of the picture) talking informally. You have an hour of time to get to know your favorite author with you and perhaps 6 or 7 other people. You can ask questions, you can listen, you can tell them what you like about their work. I signed up for one today - with Sheila Finch. We met her a number of years back at one of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Banquets. I have found her to be an interesting person - so I try to attend some of the her events at the cons I attend. I also picked up her new book The Guild of Xenolinguists.
Even though I did not attend many panels because I knew I needed to get my work done, I really enjoyed looking up from my computer and watching the people pass by. I called out to a few friends as they went by.
I did go to three panels today:
Is there room in an SF universe for God?
From the Other Side of the Text - editors and agents give insights into publishing
Steel Magic
I have been pleased to see that many of the science fiction cons now have a "religion" track - including worship services on Sunday morning. The panel, " Is there room in an SF universe for God?" was made up of a fairly typical cross section of Science Fiction people - from an atheist, a Catholic, a Christian Taoist (I think I got that one right), and anthropologist, and a couple of others that I think were Christian but I don't remember the details of their introductory statements. Sheila Finch was the moderator. Her first question was whether humans have an innate need for religion. That one sparked a great debate that covered all the bases. However, one thing that came up was the discovery Google "gene study transcendence" and you will find several links. The Brain Chemistry of the Buddha was the first one I opened. I need to study the article, but this is definitely what was mentioned on the panel.
The other two panels deserve their own blog. So. . . . I'll close for tonight.
While Archon 31 which is also this year's NASFIC (North American Science Fiction Convention) started yesterday, today was the first day I went over there. I have a photo submission due early next week that I must get out. So I spent yesterday at the RV working on it. While I continued working on that submission today, I did it at one of the tables at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois - a suburb of St. Louis.
As we drove up, I noted to myself: "yep, people in costumes and fanciful artistic SF t-shirts - yep we're at a con!" One of the first things I do at a con is to take the pocket program book and start marking it up. As I go through it, I mark panel titles that look interesting, I mark writers and panelists that I either know or whose books I read, and I check the Kaffeklatsch list. Now you may be thinking, "What in the world is a Kaffeklatsch?" (And one of the workers at the convention gave me a funny look when I asked where the sign-up was for the Kaffeklatsch's.) A Kaffeklatsch is time spent with an author around a table (coffee can be part of the picture) talking informally. You have an hour of time to get to know your favorite author with you and perhaps 6 or 7 other people. You can ask questions, you can listen, you can tell them what you like about their work. I signed up for one today - with Sheila Finch. We met her a number of years back at one of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Banquets. I have found her to be an interesting person - so I try to attend some of the her events at the cons I attend. I also picked up her new book The Guild of Xenolinguists.
Even though I did not attend many panels because I knew I needed to get my work done, I really enjoyed looking up from my computer and watching the people pass by. I called out to a few friends as they went by.
I did go to three panels today:
Is there room in an SF universe for God?
From the Other Side of the Text - editors and agents give insights into publishing
Steel Magic
I have been pleased to see that many of the science fiction cons now have a "religion" track - including worship services on Sunday morning. The panel, " Is there room in an SF universe for God?" was made up of a fairly typical cross section of Science Fiction people - from an atheist, a Catholic, a Christian Taoist (I think I got that one right), and anthropologist, and a couple of others that I think were Christian but I don't remember the details of their introductory statements. Sheila Finch was the moderator. Her first question was whether humans have an innate need for religion. That one sparked a great debate that covered all the bases. However, one thing that came up was the discovery Google "gene study transcendence" and you will find several links. The Brain Chemistry of the Buddha was the first one I opened. I need to study the article, but this is definitely what was mentioned on the panel.
The other two panels deserve their own blog. So. . . . I'll close for tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)