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| Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 |
lemuriapress
|
7:50p |
Recovering from Origins I'm back in Seattle after Origins, a week-long game festival in Columbus, Ohio that represents the mid-way point of what I lovingly refer to as "convention season," which is another way of saying "the summer". By the time a dripping wet fall rears its sad face for the onset of Seattle's sunless, surreal autumnwinterspring, I always look back and wonder "where the hell did summer go? How did I miss the 4th of July? Where was I during the entire month of August? In the sweltering, sweaty American Midwest is where, and Origins is just the tip of the iceburg this year. Coming up in rapid succession I've got a brief trip with the family and ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bbcaddict to Whistler, a trip to Denver for my first ever World Con (I'm on some panels!), then off to Gen Con Indy (the mothership of gaming cons) and THEN I'm going to Gen Con UK to be a featured guest. That's all by the end of next month, so while I get a nice little break here I feel like I've been through the ringer with only more ahead. Don't get me wrong. I'm looking forward to all of that (especially the UK part!), but it is grueling. I love Origins because it is not as frantic as Gen Con and I get a chance to actually _talk_ to some of the folks in the fairly tightly knit professional game publisher community. Green Ronin's art director and co-owner Hal Mangold is always good for some fun chats, and this year Ed Greenwood proved a true delight on numerous occasions. Thanks for picking up several volumes of Planet Stories, Ed, and for being such a crazy, perverted lunatic. I also had a chance to reconnect (even if briefly) with my old RPGA buddies Rick Brill and Joe Cirillo and company. I really miss gaming with those guys. So Origins is great for catching up with old friends. Unfortunately, one reason it is so easy to do so is that business at Origins is really slow, and from our perspective it's been getting slower year by year. I hear that some gaming companies did well at the show, particularly family style board game companies like Loony Labs and "built for Origins" quirky boardgame companies like Rio Grande. For us, the financial picture at the show is getting worse and worse, even while the retail and direct sales business for Paizo is getting better and better. It's gotten to a point that all of the "big" gaming companies (Wizards of the Coast, Wiz Kids, Upper Deck, Fantasy Flight) have already given up on the show, and suddenly we're one of the "big guys" still there. It costs a huge ton of money to get the booth and product to the show, not to mention to staff the show with six full-time employees (covering their meals and hotel and flights, of course) for a whole week (during which almost none of those employees' duties back at the office get done), and the sales just art not there, and have not really been there for the last five or so years. I can see why a lot of these other companies no longer attend the show, and despite my personal fondness for the convention (and the fact that I've attended 14 of the last 15 years) as a business matter I find it very difficult to justify as an expense. To add insult to injury, daily sales at Paizo.com (travel, food, freight budget = 0) exceeded direct sales at the convention on both Saturday and Sunday. The world changes beneath our feet. I managed to polish off two novels on the trip, Robert E. Howard's SWORD WOMAN and the Centaur Time-Lost Series edition of Arthur D. Howden Smith's GREY MAIDEN. Sadly, this edition lacks at least five of the stories in a 1929 hardcover edition, which I have subsequently ordered. Still listening to Megadeth. Still wish I had more time to read. Current Music: Megadeth: Liar |
cranky_editors
[ rae_is ]
|
8:04p |
Taking the Edge off the Cranky
Dear Writer,
To say that I am intimidated to be editing your work does not even begin to sum up the situation. You are a Very High Profile writer, and I am a twenty-something kid, and yours is the first book I have been primary editor on--which you know. You are also famous and a big enough deal that you could get away with being an absolute terror.
All of this makes it all the more gratifying that you are kind, respectful, wonderfully easy to work with, terrifically responsive to feedback, mindful of deadlines, and generally a pleasure to work with. Thank you for making this editor a little less cranky.
You're pretty awesome.
Love,
Me |
| Friday, July 4th, 2008 |
cranky_editors
[ khaybee ]
|
1:52p |
I was reading a history when I came across this:
The Wesleyan Missionary in 1838, at Mangungu, was under John Hobbs with his wife and daughter, Emma
May I say this is ever so wrong! I mean, his wife and daughter? |
| Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 |
onyxhawke
|
8:26p |
Head count Who's going to Worldcon? I'll be there the whole time, as i probably mentioned. And is anyone local? If so can you recommend a local restaurant or two that is/are close enough to walk to? Current Mood:  curious |
annamaryse
|
5:19p |
Writer's Block: Getting Closer Than Perhaps Expected
I've been in a situation where I was majorly head over heels over someone who wanted me to think of them as 'just a close friend' - who thought there was something terribly wrong with the fact that I was so infatuated. That's the worst position to be in on the entire planet. "You're a really good friend but I don't have those kind of feelings for you." When that shit happens you pretty well have to end the friendship, you can't just hang out. |
cranky_editors
[ debgeisler ]
|
7:06p |
It could be the Titanic...or the Lollipop... Today's email brought me a query for admission to our graduate program, including a request for information about financial aid: I'm interested in participating in a graduate assistance ship. |
cranky_editors
[ morganlafey28 ]
|
2:06p |
M.A. Thesis Dear friends, I have finished writing my thesis and need someone experienced to proofread it for me.
Thank you. |
| Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 |
jennafern
|
8:02p |
I can dance! But I write better...I hope Yeah baby, SYTYCD is on tonight! Makes for a happy Jenn.
It almost got me last week, again, with the Bleeding Love routine. It was very well done and I really felt her pain. She was great. I’m sure this week will be the week that gets me. My emotions have been bubbling up to the surface again and something’s going to make me crack. In a good way, of course.
I met a friend of mine this past weekend. I hadn’t seen him since Xmas. He said I looked happy. Compared to the basket case I was most of last year, it’s good to know I’m not Grouchy McGrouch anymore. I had a blast hanging out, but it was much too short. So, hopefully my trip to visit him in California will give us more time to hang.
I sent out a partial for an agent to review. I should hear back in a month or so. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Since there hasn’t been anything to watch on TV, and Spike TV moved freaking Voyager to 1am (bastards!), I really really have nothing to watch anymore.
This should be a sign that I should get back to writing and try to finish Lucky #3. However, a friend of mine has a project he’s working on and invited me to participate. I think it’ll be a good idea to get away from Lucky and do something new. Then, if and when Lucky 1 and 2 get picked up, I can finish #3. Good plan, I think.
After this side project, I need to flesh out my other story idea. I’m going to purposefully make it a romance. I’m going to try to follow the “formula” of typical romance books. We’ll see how I do.
I’m not the type to follow the pack. Nor do I conform easily. It might seem like that on the outside because I’m easy going and laid back, but that doesn’t mean I’m not screaming “wrong!” in my head. I won’t force my writing to do anything it doesn’t want to do. However, I’m looking forward to the challenge. |
cranky_editors
[ lunalelle ]
|
5:58p |
I'll admit that I was nervous about the prospect of finally editing other people's manuscripts. However, the more I'm exposed to other editors' abilities, the more I realize I have nothing to worry about.
Dear book content editor,
I'm the copyeditor for your author's manuscript. But I'm also a book content editor like yourself. I read the same Editor's Guide that you did. I know we follow the CMS and use the M-W dictionary. I haven't even left the preface, and I've seen egregious errors regarding commas in a series and unaccepted hyphenated spellings.
Yes, this is my job. But it's supposed to be yours, too.
No love,
Andi |
cranky_editors
[ garyomaha ]
|
2:09p |
Quick! Get rid of it!
A major retailer here in Omaha (no names, but it's the largest independent furniture store in the U.S. and owned by Warren Buffett) just sent me an email regarding their latest sale. The headline:
WE GOT IT! More than 1,000 games in stock!
**sigh** |
cranky_editors
[ scarlettina ]
|
11:08a |
Vent: Disorganized thinkers
I'm updating existing documentation for the Web site I work on. It was created by my predecessor who was considered All Things Great and Good when it comes to the site. But every time I open up one of his procedural documents to update it, my eyes begin to bleed. There's no organization, no structure, just a core brain dump, a stream-of-consciousness mishmash that, while it's got a friendly tone, offers no coherent way in which to locate specific pieces of information or procedures. It's taken me hours to update other documents. The one I've just opened is the longest of the bunch, and I'm beginning to think that having my fingernails pulled out would be preferable to organizing this great, jumbled heap.
In I dive. Give me strength. |
alg
|
11:35a |
This morning a friend of mine sent me this Washington Post book review. Am I alone in finding it ridiculously cruel and completely unneccessary? For the record, I know plenty of people who use the word "indeed" in casual conversation. In other news, I hit the Warped Tour yesterday with my friend Annie, and I took some pictures of people. The fashion was amazing. We left early ( before the shenanigans) because we're old and fragile and couldn't take the sun. Despite hourly applications of SPF 50, both she and I were left with sunburns. :( :( :( SADFACE. I did get to see Cobra Starship, though, which is worth all manner of pain and strife! Fangs up! And in other other news, my laptop has died, and I'm at the end of my patience with this freaking nonsense. This is the second Gateway in two years that's died (the first one broke right after the warranty expired; this one had only the smallest warranty because I was totally busted when I bought it, and it was refurbished anyway). Seriously: NO. PATIENCE. I am considering going back to the evil Apple corporation. How do you guys feel about the Macbook? One of my friends knows a reseller who will get me one, with two years of Applecare, for $300 less than mac.com's price. Good deal, or should I be wary of going back to OSX? Current Music: fall out boy - xo |
| Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 |
vyrdolak1998
|
10:46p |
Oh, and by the way... To all my friends up North: Happy Canada Day! |
thebadgirl2007
|
4:12p |
This is the year of graduations.
First, my oldest daughter graduated from college. Then my youngest graduated fron high school. Pretty soon they'll all be gone.
|
onyxhawke
|
4:08p |
Pass it on... While I avoid politics on LJ and in Fandom like the plague they are, I rarely turn down modest publicity. If you're feeling the need to give to a cause, and have a novel that might need some work. Go here and bid on a critique. It should be obvious, but I will state it anyways. I do not receive any of this money, nor do I run a critique service for fees. Current Music: Girls, Girls, Girls - Jay-Z |
cranky_editors
[ ebayer ]
|
10:32a |
Editing Jobs You have all been so helpful to me! I'm very grateful for your kindness, humor/humour, and professionalism, as I plow/plough my way through the probationary period of this new job as an editor of scholarly works. If anyone is looking for editorial work, here are some employment links: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/jobs/http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/http://www.mediajobmarket.com/jobs/index.jspIn addition, University of Arizona Press advertises freelance opportunities: http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/freelance.phpI also recommend http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/default.asp -- This is a site where one may register and bid on contract jobs in the technology industry. I wrote a press release and got paid the amount of my winning bid, $250. It's a legitimate pay site. (I get no money for promoting this site.) Before I got this job, I saw an ad on Craigslist.org and applied with IUniverse.com (a vanity press) in Nebraska, but they told me they were moving to Bloomington, Indiana. I wasn't ready to go there, but now that I know how cheap the houses are there, maybe I should have followed up with them. I do know they have expanded quite a bit, adding some 140 jobs, since they acquired AuthorHouse. There's been both good and bad press about IUniverse (Google it). If anyone has done freelance work for this company, I'm interested to hear about your experience. I have reservations about working for a vanity press, but I have seen some good books published by IUniverse and have read that some authors are happy with their deal, some aren't. Your mileage may vary, etc. Thanks to all! I appreciate you. |
cranky_editors
[ ianrandalstrock ]
|
1:50p |
And yet, they're paying for a Google ad to get people to the site Discovered (to my dismay) on http://www.donkyballs.com/index.html, which is apparently just a page for an Amazon.com associate to drive sales traffic to Amazon: Allways dreamd about taking a hole library in your bag? NOW YOU CAN!!! That's simply cut-and-pasted. Incredible. |
bccreations
|
8:38a |
Updates So now that I have podcasting equipment, I recorded a brief introduction to my website. I also updated the front page news to make it a little more interesting. While it may not be promoting my work directly, it's more what I envision doing with my stuff once I have cover art and BCC to post. Take a look if you like, Joseph L. Selby DOT COM!. Current Mood:  tiredCurrent Music: O Canada |
| Monday, June 30th, 2008 |
onyxhawke
|
9:56p |
Worldcon Well, I've got my preliminary schedule for Worldcon. It looks like I'll be on three panels. Wednesday, and Friday look to be fairly clear for meetings. Anyone wishing to pitch to me, or just pick my brain quietly should probably pick a time from mid day on on Wednesday, or anytime from mid morning on Friday. If you want to schedule a time you can: Message me through LJ with your contact info. Send me an email through the webform on my website. Instant message me via one of the options in my profile. Or go all old fashioned and call me. If you're going with two or three writer friends I'm willing to talk to a couple people at once. You can also just try and wander into me at one of the room parties at the main hotel where I'll be staying. Current Mood:  amusedCurrent Music: Made You Look - Nas |
alg
|
7:42p |
|
alg
|
4:36p |
We must reinvent love... Well, livejournal, my insane project has been given a two week extension. Which is good, because there's still 2/3 of it left to do! I spent this last week on my couch instead of working. You know what? My ceiling is not that interesting. Who knew? Today I went out for lunch with sucktastic, and then to Target, where I bought a bathing suit. This is my first bathing suit since 1997. Seriously, can you believe that? It's cute, right? It makes me look all curvaceous! (I also bought an orange toilet seat cover. Not because I was in dire need of a toilet seat cover, but because it is irresistably orange.) (I also, this morning, did that meme about what's in my handbag. What's in your handbag?) Here's the problem: While at Target I went through the book section and could not find one single book to read. Not one. What the hell is going on? Usually summertime is a wellspring of crazy beach books and sometimes even some really good psychological thrillers. This summer there's practically nothing. Recently I read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott . It's extremely dark, about a girl who is kept a captive by a crazy guy. She is sent to find him another girl to keep captive, to replace her, because she's too old. Like I said: dark. It is not my favorite thing she's ever written, even though I dig the darkness, because it feels unfinished to me. But if there were more added to it, it would become a completely different book, so I understand why she stopped where she did. I just found it frustrating. Recommended, though, for adults and precocious teenagers. I mean, if they watch Criminal Minds (and if I were 15, I would be all about that show; heck, I'm 27 and I'm all about that show!)... But my favorite Elizabeth Scott book by far is Stealing Heaven. Ignore the cover--it has nothing to do with the book. The book is about a girl whose mother is a con, and she's a con, and they're in a beach town running cons and stealing things, and it is Elizabeth's best book by far. The characterization and the plot both come together perfectly. Two thumbs up, read it twice, and would recommend for anyone above the age of, like, maybe 10. Okay, a precocious 10. There's a sweet romance in it that maybe a 10 year old would find yucky. Or would pretend to find yucky while secretly finding it adorable. I think it depends on the 10 year old. While on my way home from New York City, I read a bunch of books because my flight was all misbehaving. One of the books was Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard. It was decent, but not worth $7.99. I mean, it read kind of like the old Harlequins she used to write, which is not a bad thing at all, but there was ultimately no meat to it, and I really could have just reread a Mackenzie book, you know? Or Shades of Twilight. Damn, I love that book. It is possibly my favorite Linda Howard novel, running neck and neck with the best time travel romance ever written: Son of the MorningNow there is a book worth its $7.99. Current Music: panic at the disco - mad as rabbits |
cranky_editors
[ mendax ]
|
3:18p |
None, singular vs. plural The recent post by ebayer reminded me of this clip from the British quiz show QI, in which host Stephen Fry addresses this very question. As usual, poor, hapless Alan Davies good-naturedly bears the brunt of Fry's intellect. Thought it was something my fellow Crankies would enjoy! (Not meant as a rebuttal to the Chicago-fortified consensus on the previous post. Just for giggles and because I want to spread the QI love.) |
cranky_editors
[ betnoir ]
|
12:53p |
Beware... the auto-replace.They've apparently since corrected it, but oh my stars and garters... Current Mood:  cranky |
cranky_editors
[ ebayer ]
|
12:04p |
Which is correct?
Author: He was the subject of biographical studies, none of which was recognized as definitive or standard.
Editor (me): He was the subject of biographical studies, none of which were recognized as definitive or standard.
To me, none is used in a plural sense, because it refers to studies. What do you think?
("None of" always throws me for a loop. I'm using Chicago style, if that matters.)
Thank you, in advance!
EDIT: Thank you for all of the answers! I really appreciate it. I'm going to use "were" and use the Chicago reference for backup. |
annamaryse
|
11:49a |
Writer's Block: Awesome Openers
"It was a dark and stormy night...."Just because.... it was. |
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