Duotrope meets Submitomancy meets the Submissions Grinder

Alrighty, for all of you waiting for a system to essentially fill the void Duotrope left, I know of two.  One is still in the works, and one made its début in beta-mode this week. First we have Submitomancy, and it’s an interesting option.  It will charge fees like Duotrope, but unlike Duotrope will have

Duotrope and Alternatives

By now, if you’re at all involved in the short story community, you’ve heard that Duotrope is going paid. That’s fantastic.  Nothing wrong with someone who provides a service getting paid for said service.  Everyone’s got mouths to feed and bills to pay, and no one should be expected to provide a service at a

WotF: Anonymity and the Number Eight

Note: Even if you’ve been entering a long time, I highly suggest you read this post.  You might be damaging your anonymity without realizing it. For those of you who don’t know, the Writers of the Future contest is open to amateurs looking to become professionals.  It’s designed to give them a leg-up in the

Dragons, Anyone?: Lectures from Brandon Sanderson

Ok, this post has little to do with dragons.  But, I am here to introduce you to “Write About Dragons”–a blog dedicated to posting videos of Brandon Sanderson’s Introduction to Writing Sci-Fi and Fantasy class at BYU (its main focus is novel writing, but shorts do come up.  Eric James Stone is a guest in

Short Fiction Sale: Mirror Shards Vol. 2

I am happy to announce that my story, Rats Will Run, will appear in Mirror Shards Vol. 2, an augmented-reality themed anthology edited by Thomas K. Carpenter. This is my first short fiction sale, hopefully just the first of many.  And remember that 100 rejections I was “aiming” for?  Well, I hit 94. The deadline for Mirror

Looking for a Free Webinar?

Best-selling author Tracy Hickman is offering a free online webinar focusing on how to get read (rather than published) on Friday the 13th and Friday the 27th of April.  Each class is open to the fist twenty people who sign up, so if you’re interested, act fast!  Here’s the link: http://www.instantpresenter.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EA55D7898147 I’m signed up for

Anybody Follow Football? An Ethics Post

Anybody follow football? If you do, you’ve probably heard of the Saints’ ‘bounty’ scandal.  Hell, if you don’t follow football I’m sure you’ve heard of it. This is a great example of ethics at work.  And of what is moral vs. ethical vs. legal.  Most people would say it’s immoral to hit someone, though they’d

Moral, Ethical, Legal: What’s the difference?

Disclaimer: all examples that follow apply to the United States.  Different countries have different standards and legalities. I recently realized that I started my series on business ethics in the wrong place.  It doesn’t help to throw a list of ethics violations at you before defining ethics in general. Don’t close that internet window!  You

The Business Ethics of Writing and Publishing: Shilling

There are all sorts of articles available on how to publish (traditional and self), on why or why not to go a certain route, how to present yourself, how to produce a good product, how to get the attention of agents, publishers, reviewers, readers, etc. But you know what I’ve never seen?  An article about

Why Copyright Extends Long after You are Gone

I’m referring everyone I can to these two blog posts, because if you own intellectual property it’s important to know your rights. First, Copyright is People, a guest post by Michael Capobianco for Writer Beware™ blogs: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/10/guest-blog-post-copyright-is-people.html Next is a post by Neil Gaiman, Important. And Pass It on…: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html In the second post there