Hint Fiction

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Publishers Weekly Presents The Who's Who Of Self-Publishing

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So apparently Publishers Weekly -- who I used to have quite a bit of respect for -- has decided to "embrace the self-publishing phenomenon" and create a "quarterly supplement announcing self-published titles and reviewing those we believe are most deserving of a critical assessment." But wait -- there's more!

This whole shebang costs you only $149! (You could buy a new Kindle for less than that.) Of course, some of the e-books submitted will be reviewed. It's not like you're paying to have your stuff reviewed. PW would never lower themselves to that, would they?

We briefly considered charging for reviews, but in the end preferred to maintain our right to review what we deemed worthy. The processing fee that guarantees a listing and the chance to be reviewed accomplishes what we want: to inform the trade of what is happening in self-publishing and to present a PW selection of what has the most merit.

Ah, yes, well it's good to see that they haven't decided to sell out completely. After all, they are professional. Then again, this entire "supplement" is nothing more than a way to make self-published authors pay for ad space. And you know what that eerie voice in Kevin Costner's corn field says: "If you build it, they will come." (Yes, yes, the actual quote is "he will come," but you get the idea.)

And, sadly, I guarantee self-published authors will come in droves with their wallets open.

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In other news, I've added a new widget to the sidebar of upcoming appearances for the Hint Fiction anthology's release. The Vroman's and McNally Jackson events I've mentioned already, but there will also be an event at the Big Blue Marble Bookstore in Philadelphia on Friday, November 19. I have also been asked to speak at the Morgantown Poets gathering on Thursday, December 16; this is in Morgantown, West Virgina for anyone close by. And there will most likely be something around my area on Monday, November 1st, but nothing has been decided yet. Once I get a full list of anthology contributors attending each event, I'll make an official announcement.

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The Los Angeles Review's fiction editor Stefanie Freele asked me to do a blog post for their website. I wrote a little something called "Our Best Work" and you can read it here.

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You're probably wondering why I'm blogging when I said I wouldn't be for awhile. Well, that Publishers Weekly thing really ticked me off for starters. Work on the Y.A. book is coming along nicely, and I'm on the downswing, really getting momentum, so it would make sense that I would have to put off writing for a few days. This Wednesday I'll be headed to Las Vegas; my brother-in-law is getting married so my wife and I will be there for a few days to attend, and I'm not about to take my laptop along with the intention of continuing to work on the book. I mean, I could take my laptop, but we all know I wouldn't get any writing done.

So ... yeah, that's about it. Hope everyone's doing well. I must now go rewatch The Hangover in anticipation for this week. I wonder if they have some kind of bus tour dedicated to the movie. It wouldn't surprise me if they did.

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Hinting At Gotham Writers' Workshop

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On the heels of yesterday's exciting Hint Fiction news -- you know, the special Wigleaf issue which if you haven't checked it out yet I strongly encourage you to do so -- there is even more exciting news: Hint Fiction has been picked by the Gotham Writers' Workshop as their writing contest this fall. Prizes include:

  • 10-week writing workshop
  • $100
  • One-year subscription to The Writer
  • Publication of your winning entry in Gotham's Winter 2011 course catalog
  • Bragging rights

Details here.

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Hint Fiction + Wigleaf = Awesomeness

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There's a special mini issue of Hint Fiction live now at Wigleaf. It contains 10 original stories by 10 contributors of the anthology. I'd list their names here but figure there's no point because of course you're going to visit the site and read their stories. They are, as I say in my introduction, a literary appetizer of sorts. My deepest thanks to Scott Garson and all the anthology contributors who sent stories in for consideration. It was a thrill and honor to work with Scott on this project, and I'm very proud and excited about the finished project. Hopefully you enjoy it.

The Who, What, Where, When, How, And Why Of Google

First, some Hint Fiction news:

  1. My panel "Hint Fiction: Stories That Prove Less Is More" has been accepted by the AWP committee for next year, which means I'll definitely be in D.C. and hope to see everyone there. Participants on the panel include contributors Michael Martone, Ann Harleman, Randall Brown, and Daniel A. Olivas.
  2. Also, I got the official word that the anthology will in fact be available as an e-book.

Now, to set the record straight, I love Google. It's probably one of the greatest things in the world. I don't even know why other search engines try when Google has the market cornered. I mean, the friggin' word had become a verb. Nobody Yahoos or Bings something; no, they Google it. Anyway, the auto suggestion is great, too. It gives one an idea of what a lot of other people are searching. I think in a thousand years, when civilization has crumbled and those digging through the mess want to learn about our culture, all they'll need to look at are some screen shots of Google's auto suggestion. Like Hint Fiction, for example:

Pretty neat, huh? And of course that auto suggestion will change as time goes on. But right now, July 31, 2010, that's what is there.

Now with Google's auto suggestion in mind, I thought I'd try to go through the six basic questions of who, what, where, when, how, why and see what Google comes up with. I'm sure this has been done before (I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy Chen did something like this at HTMLGIANT), but I haven't seen it yet, so I figured what the hey (my favorites, without a doubt, are the second suggestion for where and the third and tenth suggestions for why). Enjoy.