Market News for the week of October 6, 2014

 Word in Writing  Comments Off on Market News for the week of October 6, 2014
Oct 072014
 

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In the news

Last week, big news hit the romance publishing world. ‘Romantica’ publisher Ellora’s Cave is suing the Dear Author blog and Jane Litte, the blog writer. This has caused a large rebellion in the romance community. You can read about this:

And here’s a way to help Dear Author.

HarperCollins introduced a new e-commerce program where authors will recieve an extra 10% of royalties on products sold through the HarperCollins platform.

Egmont Publishing is selling its US division. Says CEO of Egmont Publishing International Rob McMenemy: “Egmont USA has built a Children’s Fiction and Young Adult Fiction list, and it has a strong plan for the future under the excellent leadership of MD and Publisher, Andrea Cascardi.”

Literary agents and agencies

Chuck Sambuchino, editor of the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents, has a very informative blog. For last week and this week so far, he’s included:

  • a spotlight on agent Lana Popovic of Chalberg & Sussman. She’s looking for fiction in a number of categories and genres. In YA/MG, she’s looking for contemporary/realistic, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, historical, horror and sci-fi. In adult fiction, she wants literary thrillers, science fiction, horror, romance, erotica, and women’s literary fiction. She’s also looking for certain adult non-fiction manuscripts. Her submission guidelines at Chalberg & Sussman.
  • New agent Patricia Nelson of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Adult genres she’s looking for are women’s fiction, literary fiction, and romance. In YA, she’s looking for contemporary/realistic, mystery/thriller, horror, magical realism, science fiction, and fantasy. She’s also looking for NA.

I recommend following Chuck Sambuchino’s blog for news and information about literary agents. He also spotlights stories of authors who have found their literary agents and how they did this.

More agent news:

Amy Boggs from the Donald Maass Literary Agency will be closed to queries for the month of October.

Leigh Feldman is leaving Writers House to set up her own shop, Leigh Feldman Literary, as of October 1. The new agency doesn’t seem to have its own website yet, but e-mail goes to LFLiterary.com.

Publishers

New publisher Crystal Lake Publishing has announced their very first open submission period. During this period, they are accepting pitches and synopses for manuscripts of dark writing, “be it horror, suspense thrillers, fantasy, action adventure, sci-fi (no space operas, please), supernatural, or noir. We’re interested in reading your novels, novellas, short story collections, non-fiction books linked to dark fiction topics, and poetry collections.” More information on their Submission Guidelines page.

Hachette UK has combined all their children’s publishing into one division called the Hachette Children’s Group.

Angry Robot Books has been bought by Etan Ilfeld and his company Watkins Media Ltd. Meet the new boss.

Anne Heltzel has taken on the role of acquiring editor for Amulet Books, the middle grade and teen imprint of Abrams. Please note that Amulet and Abrams do not accept unagented manuscripts or book proposals.

Magazines

Nightmare Magazine is open to submissions of all types of horror or dark fantasy.

Tor.com was closed to short fiction from August 1 to September 30. They should now be open to submissions, though they haven’t updated their submissions guidelines as of the morning of October 7.

Jason Sizemore, publisher of Apex Publications, has also taken on the job as Editor-in-Chief of Apex Magazine.

Untied Shoelaces of the Mind is closed to submissions until at least May 2015.

Tokyo Yakuza, a new shared-world market, is looking for short stories that fit their alternate history dystopian world.

Cicada (of the Cricket Magazine Group) is looking for submissions of YA fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, and art for an issue on the topic of Tricksters and Thieves. “We’re on the lookout for tales of pirates, con artists, and trickster gods; explorations of glamour, enchantment, sleight of hand, and other crafts of illusion; and investigations of the slipperiness of the authentic self in a world of performances.” Deadline: October 31, 2014.

Pulp Literature is temporarily open to submissions of novellas, short stories, poetry, comics, and illustrations. They’re looking for “thrilling, funny, or heart-rending work in any genre.” They will close again on November 1, 2014.

Anthologies

Lynn Jamneck  has issued a call for submissions of Lovecraftian fiction from women only for an anthology, Dreams from the Witch House, to be published by Dark Regions Press. This anthology is not yet (as of the morning of October 7, 2014) on the Dark Regions web page for submissions. Deadline: January 31, 2015.

The Roar 6 anthology is open to submissions of general audience (PG) furry stories on the theme ‘scoundrel’. Deadline: April 1, 2015.

The Temporally Out of Order anthology is looking for science fiction and fantasy stories where “some type of gadget or object has somehow gone temporally out of order”. Deadline: November 30, 2014.

Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany is an anthology of stories honoring Samuel R. ‘Chip’ Delaney. “We want to demonstrate to the world the power of his work through what we write, and thank him for the grace of his existence.” Deadline: December 1, 2014.

Rest In Peace

Eugie Foster, award winning science fiction author and editor, December 31, 1971 – September 27, 2014. Obituary on Locus Online.

Graham Joyce, award winning dark fantasy and horror author from the UK, October 22, 1954 – September 9, 2014. Obituary at Locus Online.

Kirby McCauley, US literary agent whose clients include Stephen King, George R.R. Martin and Robert Silverberg, September 11, 1941 – August 30, 2014. Tribute from GRRM.

 

I also highly recommend The Ansible, a monthly newsletter and website by David Langford, where he lists news in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres, as well as entertaining pieces on media surrounding the genres.

The Ansible

 Science Fiction, Word in Writing  Comments Off on The Ansible
Jan 072008
 

Wow. Two posts in less than a month! Could this be a new trend?

My absolute favourite SF news ‘zine is Dave Langford’s Ansible. I just received the January issue today, and had to share some bits of news:

It’s true. Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimers. However, he goes on to say, “I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as “I am not dead”. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this [is] maybe further off than you think — it’s too soon to tell.”

Robert Jordan may have felt he had 20 books left to write, but now that he’s passed away, his wife has managed to find a writer to end the series in one. Brandon Sanderson will write this novel, which Jordan called A Memory of Light.

I encourage everyone to check out the Ansible at news.ansible.co.uk. The current issue can be found here: news.ansible.co.uk/a246.html. Be sure to check out Conspiracy Corner (where Princess Di’s death is finally explained), Outraged Letters (where Brian Aldiss gets his feet examined), As We See Ourselves and As Others See Us (where science fiction fans and writers are discussed), and Thog’s Masterclass (where we see that *anyone* can get published). Enjoy!