Nice!

Melinda Snodgrass has nice things to say about A MAGIC OF NIGHTFALL. Melinda's a good friend, but I know from working with her in WILD CARDS that she won't hesitate to say when she thinks things don't work in a piece of fiction. I'm glad she enjoyed A MAGIC OF TWILIGHT and hope she enjoys NIGHTFALL just as much.

A MAGIC OF NIGHTFALL's mass market paperback release is coming up quickly: March 3! So those of you who've been holding off, warm up your credit cards. It's nearly time.

First Novel Survey

Friend and fellow DAW author Jim Hines (who is jimhines here on LJ) is doing a "First Novel Survey". I'll just let him explain it:

We talk a lot about how to sell that first novel, but it’s hard sometimes to draw any real conclusions on the best way to break in when all we’ve got is a lot of anecdotal data. Everyone’s path is different. The experience of someone who broke in twenty years ago might not match the realities of publishing today. For that matter, the experience of someone who broke in today might not match the realities of someone else who broke in today.

So, taking a page from Tobias Buckell and his first novel advance survey, I’ve put together a survey about selling that first novel. I would love it if anyone who has sold at least one novel (any genre, so long as it’s fiction) to a professional publisher (for at least a $2000 advance1) could take a few minutes to click the survey link and answer about a dozen questions. If you don’t have exact numbers, please give your best estimate.

So, if you fit the criterion, go HERE and take the survey. Since I teach creative writing (and novel) at a local university, I'm selfishly interested in the results of this survey -- it'll make great fodder for class discussion!