William Sanders: At It…Again
It’s amazing really. This man has no off button. None, not even a pause button. Instead of doing, as Joe Sherry has intelligently pointed out, what he should have done, he has done the opposite and probably should earn the award for most angry, foul-mouthed, horrendously pathetic and cranky editor to ever grace the publishing industry. In Joe Sherry’s words: Not to get too deep into the initial issue, as this has all been covered before, but what bothered me most about this whole situation was not necessarily the opening statement (bad as it came across), but rather in how Sanders responded to the criticism…it appears that Sanders was so angry that anyone would possibly be offended by something he said and no longer wish to be associated with his magazine that he accused those writers of having their panties in a wad (more or less) and of being cowards, among other less complimentary things. This is what bothered me the most. Well, this is what bothered me the most as well. You see, I saw the comments in the original rejection letter and thought, “Well, I understand what he means, but these are stupid words.” And then I read Sanders’s responses and started to get the impression that these weren’t simply stupid things said by people that don’t always think through things all the way–I’m guilty of this at times. I saw his anger, his hatred, and his violent words towards the people who disagreed with him and thought his comments were offensive. He never once made an honest apology, but continued shoving his foot into his mouth in a display of close-minded anger, the kind of anger we’d expect of the extreme religious right who still think the Earth is only a few thousand years old and refuse to accept that science has made the world a better place.Now comes word that Helix is closing its doors. It seems true that Helix has had plans to close for a while, and I’m willing to accept this as truth as one of the contributors of Helix, quoted in Joe Sherry’s article, has stated that it is true. But, considering the controversy over this whole thing, are we at all surprised by this? Let’s just say that Helix wasn’t planning to close their doors before the incident, do any of us honestly think that Helix would last much longer anyway? Some places have already withdrawn their support by removing *links* to Helix and the blogosphere has turned William Sanders’s name into an alternative to searching for the anti-christ. Authors have been requesting that their work be removed from Helix’s archives. Many were denied (and still are being denied, with Sanders’s grumpy, and very “professional” comments attached). In all honesty, the market has become so tainted by Sanders’s inability to save face for even a moment, or at least shut his mouth and stop fuming like delinquent teenager.And now we’re left with these comments about those of us who spoke out about him: At this point the Blogtrotters and other hostile entities will be leaping grasshopperlikeabout, emitting shrill piping sounds of joy, clapping their tiny hands, bursting into “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead,” and other childish expressions of triumph. One hopes that they do not injure themselves patting themselves on the back.…The point is, all this was decided long before the Blogtrotters went into their latest shit-flinging frenzy. So as much as it no doubt pleases them to believe that they were responsible for taking down the Great Monster, they should rather offer thanks to the freeloaders who, simply by sitting on their rumps and doing nothing to support the magazine, did more to terminate Helix than all the silly whining bastards put together.Of course they won’t believe this; they will choose to believe what they want to believe, just as they always do. If there is one thing the Blogtrotters and the Silly Righteous Girls have demonstrated throughout this affair, it is their total imperviousness to reality. Yeah, and if that wasn’t enough you can see his continued spewing of hatred here, in which he’s apparently interviewed about his comments and tries desperately to make himself sound like a rational human being who never did anything wrong. I read about three or four questions worth and realized this is the same garbage he’s been spewing the whole time since the beginning of this fiasco, with the same style of language, the same unapologetic attitude, and the same anger and bigotry that got him flamed by bloggers in the first place.So a word to William Sanders: Grow up. If you ever work in this business again, pray you get hired by someone that doesn’t know what kind of person you are, because you’ve yet to learn what it means to be an adult. No human being should be as angry as you. Maybe some therapy in your near future would help you deal with whatever deep-seeded psychological damage has turned you into this grumpy person. And with that, I think I’m done with this whole thing. We’ll see if he can get his foot any deeper down his throat in the next few months or years.
Creative Burst!
So I hit that wall we call writer’s block. Yeah, it happens. Especially when you’re killing yourself over a ridiculous deadline you’ve got no one to blame for but yourself. But the other night I went mad and wrote 34 pages of Troglodyte Rose! How insane is that? That means draft 1 is pretty much finished, and just needs to be typed up. I can’t wait!
Jane Austen Rejected and What It Says About the Industry
This is a bit old, but it really caught my attention. Apparently this guy (David Lassman) decided to see if some of the big publishers would recognize Jane Austen’s writing if it was submitted to them, and if they’d accept it. What surprises me isn’t that Austen was rejected–I sort of expected that considering her style is a big antiquated–but that most of the publishers didn’t even recognize the writing, including one publisher who has been printing Austen’s works in new editions and the like. I was also surprised that this guy wasn’t brought up on charges of plagiarism, but that’s not really what matters.It’s scary in a lot of ways. These are publishers bringing us new authors, supposedly representing the great literature of today, yet they didn’t notice Jane Austen or even have a little suspicion about it? Perhaps most of them didn’t read it, and, in fact, one of the publishers admitted that they probably hadn’t read it before rejecting it out of hand. But for those that did read it, how could they say the writing was good and reject it and not be aware that it isn’t original writing?And what does this say about the industry? It likely suggests that publishers are so swamped with garbage that they’ve gotten to a point where they can’t give manuscripts the attention they deserve anymore, especially good ones. It confirms my suspicions that one might actually need an agent in this business to get anywhere with some of these publishing houses, because if they aren’t reading manuscripts that might be the only way to get out of the slush. But some of these publishers have rules regarding unsolicited submissions, so are they overloaded with solicited submissions then? Or have they become bored with the writing of today and perhaps take two seconds to look at the cover letter before simply rejecting something?What do you think about this?
Heinlein Used Form Letters?
Over at io9 they have an article about Heinlein’s use of form letters for correspondence. Say what? I’ve heard of form letters for publishers and editors, but for correspondence? Did the guy really get that much fan mail? That’s just amazing! I hope I get that much fan mail some day! Anywho! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Hot Damn!
I’ve just got the most delicious and fiery cocktail recipe through my inbox from Juno Books, to celebrate Carole Nelson Douglas’ new novel, BRIMSTONE KISS.Ingredients follow: Brimstone Kiss CocktailInvented in Brimstone Kiss by Carole Nelson Douglas “Sounds like something you’d sip on all night long and I’d knock backin couple slugs.”- Rick Blaine/Humphrey Bogart CinSim in Brimstone Kiss 2 shots Inferno Pepper Pot vodka1 shot DeKuyper “Hot Damn!” Hot Cinnamon Schnapps2 shots Alize Red Passionjalapeno pepper slice (optional)2 ounces Champagne (for second version) Version 1: Pour all the ingredients into a martini shaker with ice. Shakegently. Pour into a martini glass garnished with the jalapeño pepperslice. A hell of a drink! Sure to knock your socks off. Version 2: For the classier birds amongst us: Pour all the ingredients into a tall footed glass filled with ice. Stir well. Top off with two ounces of your favorite Champagne. A perfect frothy but potent brunch libation that might lead to pleasantdamnation. If you like the sound, try this cocktail invented for BRIMSTONE KISS’s precursor, DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES, or consider buying the books both cocktails come from. The Albino Vampire Cocktail is purely delish! Thanks to editor Paula Guran of Juno Books for letting us post this here.
Trick or Treat?
Samhain Publishing, who have an extensive catalogue of SF/F novels, have recently switched to just doing romance and erotica.This is a real blow to the small press genre writer, although I do not blame Samhain. I’m wondering if it’s a sign of things to come. My friend, author Mike Amos, has a couple of novels with them, but now he’s going to have to look for a new publisher for his spec fic work. Does this mean SF/F just isn’t lucrative anymore? I look at a lot of listings for literary agents here in the UK and over the pond in the US, and most state ‘no SF/F’. But why? Surely SF/F is still popular, otherwise Harry Potter would never have exploded as it did. Maybe it’s just oversaturation. Looking online, there are a whole host of SF/F/H small presses. Then again, they’re not all the same and they work with different niches. Subterranean Press (one of my favourites) are very different to PS Publishing (another of my favourites), and both are different again to Prime Books and Razorblade Press. I myself publish, edit and write SF/F/H as well as literary works, and actually the SF/F/H stuff pays better at the short story level. Most literary magazines do not offer pro rates of pay, whilst F&SF, Analog, Brutarian, Jim Baen’s Universe and co, all do. Maybe it’s not oversaturation of the spec fic market, but oversaturation of all markets. Lulu.com and LSI, whilst excellent for levelling the field, enable anyone with a PC to publish. I have to stress that I love the opportunities POD offers, but how many books can people read/afford/write? If there are 300 titles on the same subject, with the same plots and similar characters, isn’t that overkill? And does the modern reader even have time for novels anymore? Many people I know will only read a couple of books a year, and those are both bestsellers. That’s a sad state of affairs, and one that probably doesn’t apply to readers here, but is it representative? If you’re reading this blog, you probably read lots, and possibly write too. We’re probably unrepresentative. Then again, so many people think they can write these days, maybe we’re not. I’m a member of a few online workshops and I see lots of substandard or mediocre prose. Maybe that’s the real reason the small presses are tightening their catalogues. Maybe I’ve just become pickier about writing because of the amount I’ve read, and so now I think average prose is terrible and good prose is mediocre. Maybe the publishers have picked up on that too and have had to select only the best and most striking of writers. Maybe they also have to redefine, refine and narrow their niches to make sure they can cement their marketshare. Maybe only time will tell . . .