Residence Archive
Even though I work in the publishing industry, it didn’t afford me a lot of shortcuts in getting my first book published. In fact, Vanguard Prime: Goldrush was sent to Penguin through their slush pile. The slush pile is where many unsolicited manuscripts go to die; if you don’t have an agent to submit your book to publishers, you’re going to end up on the slush pile. So what does it take to navigate those tricky waters?
Last week I sat down with book editor Sam to ask her five questions about her job and the publishing industry as a whole. This week we continue our exploration of the book world by posing five questions to another industry professional.
In last week’s Residence post, I linked to a variety of websites for writers and said that there would no doubt be many more that would occur to me after I hit ‘Post’. And that’s exactly what happened.
If you’re reading this, then you already know what an incredible resource Inside a Dog is for anyone with a love of reading and writing. Given how obsessive us word nerds can be, however, there’s no doubt a few book-centric bookmarks that already sit alongside Inside a Dog in your Favourites folder. But in case you needed just a few more, I thought I’d take the time to point out some corners of the web worth visiting.
I’ve mentioned this before on my blog, but Vanguard Prime: Goldrush isn’t the first book I’ve written. It’s just the first one I’ve had published. The first book was a Young Adult fantasy story with steampunk elements and a lot of inspiration from video games. And it was terrible.
This week, I thought it'd be good to offer you all an insight into the publishing industry through the eyes of someone who works in it.
There seems to be a sentiment amongst authors that fanfiction is a bad thing. Oh sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but for every author who’s cool with people writing fanfic based on their books, there’s another author who’s loudly and passionately opposed. So why are so many authors down on it?
Hi everyone. My name’s Steven Lochran and I’m the author of the Vanguard Prime series. I’m also very excited to be Inside a Dog’s resident author/blogger for November.
I know the release date for 'Haze' is still a long way off (June next year), so - for those of you who have read 'Shadows' and are looking forward to the next instalment in the Rephaim series - I thought I'd use this last post to reveal the stunning cover concept for 'Haze' by the wonderful WH Chong.
This is the cover for Australia and New Zealand (it may have some minor tweaks between now and when it goes to print, but nothing major).
And here's the synopsis and a teeny teaser extract from 'Haze' (from the Text Publishing catalogue, out soon):
In the world of genres and sub-genres, there’s increasing debate among readers (and writers) about how to classify/describe certain types of books.
Take paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Is there a difference between the two?
My novel, 'Shadows' is generally referred to as paranormal romance (even though the relationship between Gaby and Rafa is far from what you'd call a traditional romance). But blogger Noelle over at Young Adult Anonymous, wrote a great review in which she believed 'Shadows' was better described as urban fantasy.
Noelle quoted author Jeannie Holmes’ theory on how to differentiate between paranormal romance and urban fantasy:
“The two share 90% of their genre DNA. However, the main differences are this: urban fantasy focuses on an issue outside of a romantic relationship between two characters. Paranormal romance focuses on a romantic relationship between two characters and how outside forces affect that relationship. The best litmus test to determine if a story is urban fantasy or paranormal romance is to ask the following question: 'If the romance between Character A and Character B were removed, would the plot still stand as a viable storyline?' If the answer is 'yes,' chances are good it's urban fantasy. If the answer is 'no,' it's most likely paranormal romance.” (From Wikipedia)
So, I thought it might be interesting to to apply this theory to some of the YA paranormal titles I've read in the last couple of years:
