feitelberg

So I finally got a draft of the book cover for my novel. It was a mountain scene with the river snaking forward. This has nothing to do with my book so I've asking for a new cover citing four examples from the story.

So here's my question, should the cover image reflect the story in some way or am I smoking dope again?

Things have been busy here these last few months. The first book of my fantasy series were accepted by a publisher. I am signing the contract in a few weeks. Then they get the manuscript so that can suggest changes.

Frankly, I don't expect many. The manuscript was extensively edited and revised prior to my submitting it so the best version of the book I ever released.

In preparation for the book's publication and launch, I finally pulled together my web site. ...

I've been thinking how I might attract an audience for my fantasy novels. Conventional wisdom says blog. And build a website. And tweet. And post on forums. And and and...

Who has the time for all this? I have a 40-hour a week job. So my spare time should spent writing.

Besides will a web site really attract readers? Will tweeting?

I can see blog might help and might posting in forums but the latter activity is a major time sink and the former ...

Stories about people doing fantastic things are as old as mankind. Early myths of fantastic deeds come from ancient Egyptian, Babylonians, and Greeks. These stories weren't considered fiction as the time, but from the modern view, it is clear that they were.

More recently, speculative fiction, or what has come to be called speculative fiction, begins in earnest in the 19th century. Novels by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are prime examples. In many cases, in order for these stories ...

About six weeks ago I released my first novel, Aure the Topaz, book 1 of the Aglaril Cycle.

Since then I've gotten feedback from readers (friends of mine) who say this is a gaming novel. And while I understand that fantasy RPG players will probably pick up a few ideas on how to play and react to situations (GMs too, btw), I don't know that I would call it a gaming novel.

The argument for it being a gaming novel is that the characters have classes like in D&D. But ...

I was on Duotrope the other day looking for a market for one of my short stories and was completely frustrated and confused by all the categories for fantasy stories they list. But they aren't to blame. They are only a reflection of the markets they serve. But it makes me think, how many categories do we need?

They list the following (this is not a complete list)
contemporary, dark fantasy, gothic, heroic, light fantasy, urban, science, magic realism, and historical. They ...

Updated January 3rd, 2011 at 04:39 PM by feitelberg

Tags: categories, fantasy, fantasy categories

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fantasy

Well, I decided to rewrite the beginning of my novel and put it away for now.

I'm thinking that the second book is much better so if I can sell that one, maybe I'll have a chance to revise the first one.

We'll see. If not, I chalk it up to experience and move on. The lesson here is don't accept advice from 'experts' until they prove they know what they are talking about.

I recently self-published my first novel. Now that I have some distance with it I begin to see why I may have goofed.

For one, I start with a struggle between necromancers and Michaeline priests. This apparent has given some the wrong idea about the book.

I also weave a prophecy into the plot. It is a turn off for some.

The plot is also a simple one. Characters must protect precious gem. Gem is stolen. Thief gets away. Characters must recovery ...

Just a quick note for the readers here.

If you've read the chapters from my novel and want more, you order a copy of it from:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29970

Likewise, I move this blog back in May to http://aglaril.blogspot.com. Take a look. Thanks.

I've got a friend who thinking I can't (or shouldn't) mixing SF and Fantasy elements in the same story. I disagree. I would be interested in other opinions. But some background first.

I wrote a short story -- a SF story -- about how a scout ship discovered a world (primitive by the ship's standards) using armor,swords, horses -- the whole medieval bit.

This world is my fantasy world in which I've set many stories. The plan is to have characters from the world of the ...

My writing group dissolved after one session of critiques and I'm wondering why?

Is it they can't take the criticism? They are too busy to focus on their writing? They are looking for another kind of group?

I don't know but frankly if the answer is yes to any of those questions then they should give up now.

Still I am disappointed. I need a writing group for feedback and without one, I tend to drift about like flotsam in the ocean.

And ...

I recently had an interesting lesson on how much description is enough.

My writing group reviewed the first chapter of my novel. One of the reviewers suggested that I start with the dialog I had, skipping all the description I had written to set the scene.

I then posted the chapter in several places on the web and got the same reaction. Given this, I decided there was something to these comments so I revised the first three paragraphs and reposted the chapter.
...

As my work on my first novel draws to close, I've begun to look at the options for publication. One of the things I discovered was that even if I can sell the book to a publishing house, there's a good chance I'll still need to promote it myself because money is tight and, as I understand it, many houses aren't promoting first-time authors as much.

That said, it seems to me that I need to be novelist, marketing guru, artist, web designer, cinematographer, podcaster, blogger, and several ...

That's the question. I guess the answer is it depends. It depends on who is writing, whether readers can find it, does it have anything interesting to say.

I will be interested to see if this one works, if I get comments back, etc.

I ask only because I've been thinking to publish my first book as blog if it doesn't sell. I suppose that putting the horse behind the cart. I'll investigate that possibility if it comes to that.