Internet rendering Best Novel Hugo pointless?
David Bilek
internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
on this year's best novel shortlist are:
Gaiman
Stross
Scalzi
Doctorow
Stephenson
What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
with devoted fan bases on the internet. You could quite possibly
predict this shortlist without even reading the novels in question. In
fact, this guy did so:
http://pyropyga.livejournal.com/225953.html
My own guess is that Gaiman, Stross, and Scalzi, at least, are going
to make the short list virtually every year from now on that they
release a new SF novel, regardless of the merits of said novel. And
whether you love those authors or dislike them, I can't help but feel
that makes a joke out of the Hugo award. Or more of a joke if you
already felt that way.
-David
rexg...@yahoo.co.uk
I really am shocked Zoe's Tale made the list, its a very weak
retelling of an earlier book with a a different character providing
the POV. Its not awful but to be considered one of the 5 best
novels.....
Regards
Rex
htn963
> After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
> internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
> rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
> on this year's best novel shortlist are:
>
> Gaiman
> Stross
> Scalzi
> Doctorow
> Stephenson
>
> What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
> with devoted fan bases on the internet.
I personally don't pay much attention and couldn't care less about the
"internet presence" of authors, but the Hugo has always been more of a
popularity contest than a merit contest, so this theory does have, er,
merit.
--
Ht
Jack Tingle
> What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
> with devoted fan bases on the internet. You could quite possibly
> predict this shortlist without even reading the novels in question. In
> fact, this guy did so:
>
> http://pyropyga.livejournal.com/225953.html
>
> My own guess is that Gaiman, Stross, and Scalzi, at least, are going
> to make the short list virtually every year from now on that they
> release a new SF novel, regardless of the merits of said novel. And
> whether you love those authors or dislike them, I can't help but feel
> that makes a joke out of the Hugo award. Or more of a joke if you
> already felt that way.
Um, only if every other sf author is:
a) Not paying attention,
2) Not interested in nominations,
tertius) Not particularly interesting, and/or
last) Stupid.
You can expect to see authors who want to be nominated next year making
their blogs/websites more, More, MORE! with extra added additives.
Not to pick on Sea Wasp, but I know Scalzi's pets names, what sunset
looks like from his window, who his wife and daughter are, and what kind
of soda/burger he likes. I know none of those about Sea Wasp. When their
names show up on the long list, which one am I likely to remember and
pick for the short list? My guess is Sea Wasp will have a blog one of
these days to pimp his work, just like the authors mentioned above do.
And so will every other author who wants to win awards.
What part about the efficacy of advertising surprised you?
Curiously,
Jack Tingle
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Not to pick on Sea Wasp, but I know Scalzi's pets names, what sunset
> looks like from his window, who his wife and daughter are, and what kind
> of soda/burger he likes. I know none of those about Sea Wasp.
Because you don't read my posts? Aside from the sunset (I can't see
sunset from my window) and pets (didn't have any until a few weeks ago)
I've mentioned all of those here. (Plus my sons, as I have three kids
right now, so I wouldn't mention JUST my wife and daughter).
For the record, my wife is Kathleen, my children in order of appearance
are Christopher, Gabriel, and Victoria, I rarely drink soda but if I do
it's Stewart's Ginger Beer, and a properly made burger is VERY rare,
char-broiled, and has pickles, onions, and ketchup on it. Possibly, if
available, it will also have Inner Beauty sauce as well.
When their
> names show up on the long list, which one am I likely to remember and
> pick for the short list? My guess is Sea Wasp will have a blog one of
> these days to pimp his work,
You mean, aside from my LiveJournal, which is in my .sig, and has been
active for YEARS now?
Plus of course my Beta-Reading list which is accessible by anyone who
asks and will comment.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com
Mike Schilling
> I rarely drink
> soda but if I do it's Stewart's Ginger Beer,
Ever try Reed's Extra Ginger Brew? It's about the only soda I drink.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
IIRC, it's TOO gingery. Stewarts, for me, hits the perfect balance
point between the "we're just sugar water" of the standard commercial
gingerales (Canada Dry) and the "Sugar? SUGAR is for the WEAK! BURN you
worthless tastebuds!" of the extreme Jamaican ginger beers.
W. Citoan
Their Cherry Ginger Brew is my favorite.
Others must like their drinks as well as the store continues to stock
them, but anytime I offer one to anyone, they aren't well recieved - too
strong for most people.
- W. Citoan
--
Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth
living is whether you have had enough of it.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Jack Tingle
A Live Journal is a pale shadow on Scalzi, Doctrow, and Stross's
footprint. You may need to do better than that. The fact that the only
clue you publish is in your sig, which not only do I not pay much
attention to, but which Thunderbird grays out, means you're probably not
effectively advertising. At least, I never noticed it.
As I say, I didn't want to pick on you, but in some respects you're an
even better example than I thought. Your advertising is there, you just
need to ramp it up to compete with the leaders. Assuming you want to, of
course.
Good Luck,
Jack Tingle
Tina Hall
> Jack Tingle <wjti...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Not to pick on Sea Wasp, but I know Scalzi's pets names, what
>> sunset looks like from his window, who his wife and daughter
>> are, and what kind of soda/burger he likes. I know none of those
>> about Sea Wasp.
> I assume this is because of lack of interest, rather than missing
> the link to his LiveJournal in his sig.
If you can. I tried to look at something in his lifejournal thing
once and didn't get to see anything. (IIRC something wanted me to
register first.)
Besides that, what has knowing all that to do with anything? I at
least wouldn't want to know anything about an author, and very much
dislike even pictures of them in a book, never mind info that can,
at best, not give me a negative impression which I would then have
to suppress to not dislike the books.
--
"They didn't want him as court jester. Perhaps you would just
keep him, and I'll get a room in the city."
-- Sil about Karja, Magic Earth 7/6
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Andrew Plotkin
>
> My own guess is that Gaiman, Stross, and Scalzi, at least, are going
> to make the short list virtually every year from now on that they
> release a new SF novel, regardless of the merits of said novel. And
> whether you love those authors or dislike them, I can't help but feel
> that makes a joke out of the Hugo award.
Anyone who was around thirty years ago want to comment on whether the
Hugos were influenced by authors' participation in cons, zines, etc?
(And the WELL twenty years ago, ...)
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
htn963
If he does, I would like him much less. It's better just to be
genuine and do what you like to do at your own pace, than to go out of
your way and whore.
--
Ht
David Librik
>A Live Journal is a pale shadow on Scalzi, Doctrow, and Stross's
>footprint. You may need to do better than that. The fact that the only
>clue you publish is in your sig, which not only do I not pay much
>attention to, but which Thunderbird grays out, means you're probably not
>effectively advertising. At least, I never noticed it.
John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, and Charles Stross are bad examples if
you want writers stirring up hype by starting blogs, because all
three were quite active on the Web and/or the Net before essaying
major works of SF. You can't emulate them simply by setting up your
own web site to push your books, no matter how much you chat with
fans.
There are certainly SF writers who've gone the route of LiveJournal
and blogs to interact with readers, but they don't seem to have
leaped to fame that way. (Well, there's always Elizabeth Bear, but
that's not quite the sort of fame she had in mind...)
- David Librik
lib...@panix.com
David Librik
>I really am shocked Zoe's Tale made the list, its a very weak
>retelling of an earlier book with a a different character providing
>the POV. Its not awful but to be considered one of the 5 best
>novels.....
"Minor book from author of popular major works" is a long-time pattern
of the Hugo nominations. Same thing that got everyone buying those
dire Asimov and Clarke novels in the '80s!
Scalzi didn't win for any of the trilogy starting with Old Man's War
(which book is fantastically popular, web site or no), so I expect to
see his name keep popping up over and over until he wins Best Novel
for something.
- David Librik
lib...@panix.com
Raymond Speer
I want to second what Rex wrote about ZOE'S TALE.
Jee-sus Ker-ist, is not self plagarism coming a bit early to Mr. Scalzi?
Why rewrite an earlier novel just so it has a new first-person
perspective?
peachy ashie passion
Meanwhile, the only web presence of Scalzi I'm aware of IS his LJ,
and that only because of Racefail... so it's not all THAT prominent.
--
It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction ~Picasso
Evelyn Leeper
> Mike Schilling wrote:
>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>>> I rarely drink
>>> soda but if I do it's Stewart's Ginger Beer,
>>
>> Ever try Reed's Extra Ginger Brew? It's about the only soda I drink.
>>
>
> IIRC, it's TOO gingery. Stewarts, for me, hits the perfect balance
> point between the "we're just sugar water" of the standard commercial
> gingerales (Canada Dry) and the "Sugar? SUGAR is for the WEAK! BURN you
> worthless tastebuds!" of the extreme Jamaican ginger beers.
>
Mark wants to know which extreme Jamaican ginger beers you are referring
to and where he can purchase them.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
One can pay back the loan of gold, but one
dies forever in debt to those who are kind.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
I see Charlie on Livejournal. You saying he has other blogs?
>
> As I say, I didn't want to pick on you, but in some respects you're an
> even better example than I thought. Your advertising is there, you just
> need to ramp it up to compete with the leaders. Assuming you want to, of
> course.
Not if I actually want to get writing done. Charlie and -- I presume --
Scalzi and Doctorow make their living from writing stuff. They could
spend three hours a day doing nothing but writing blogs, and THEN spend
five hours a day writing, and still not be spending any more time on
their career than any regular working guy. Me, I get 5 hours a week to
write. If I'm lucky. 10, if I've got a contract for what I'm working on.
It appears that they put a lot of effort into their online writing; my
online stuff is pretty much throwaway, update my friends, pontificate on
something for a moment, takes no real time or attention. No one would
CARE to read me doing that every day like Scalzi or Stross, even if I
could manage their approach.
Charlie Stross
as <lib...@panix.com> declared:
> John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, and Charles Stross are bad examples if
> you want writers stirring up hype by starting blogs, because all
> three were quite active on the Web and/or the Net before essaying
> major works of SF.
Speaking for myself:
* First SF convention: 1984
* First short fiction sale: 1986 (in Interzone)
* First public website: 1994
* First (fiction) book sale: 2000
* Started blogging: May 2001
* Started second, pseudonymous (now friends-locked) blog on
Livejournal: 2002
-- Charlie
Charlie Stross
> Meanwhile, the only web presence of Scalzi I'm aware of IS his LJ,
> and that only because of Racefail... so it's not all THAT prominent.
You haven't been looking very hard, then.
(Hint: try scalzi.com.)
-- Charlie
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>> Mike Schilling wrote:
>>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>>>> I rarely drink
>>>> soda but if I do it's Stewart's Ginger Beer,
>>>
>>> Ever try Reed's Extra Ginger Brew? It's about the only soda I drink.
>>>
>>
>> IIRC, it's TOO gingery. Stewarts, for me, hits the perfect balance
>> point between the "we're just sugar water" of the standard commercial
>> gingerales (Canada Dry) and the "Sugar? SUGAR is for the WEAK! BURN
>> you worthless tastebuds!" of the extreme Jamaican ginger beers.
>>
>
> Mark wants to know which extreme Jamaican ginger beers you are referring
> to and where he can purchase them.
>
I generally have run across them in our local co-op and in specialty
stores; wherever I go I tend to try any new ginger brews I haven't seen
before.
Tim McCaffrey
>
>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>> Mike Schilling wrote:
>>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>>>> I rarely drink
>>>> soda but if I do it's Stewart's Ginger Beer,
>>>
>>> Ever try Reed's Extra Ginger Brew? It's about the only soda I drink.
>>>
>>
>> IIRC, it's TOO gingery. Stewarts, for me, hits the perfect balance
>> point between the "we're just sugar water" of the standard commercial
>> gingerales (Canada Dry) and the "Sugar? SUGAR is for the WEAK! BURN you
>> worthless tastebuds!" of the extreme Jamaican ginger beers.
>>
>
>Mark wants to know which extreme Jamaican ginger beers you are referring
>to and where he can purchase them.
>
(you can order over the Web, IIRC).
- Tim
Michael Stemper
>After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
>internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
>rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless.
>Gaiman
>Stross
>Scalzi
>Doctorow
>Stephenson
>
>What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
>with devoted fan bases on the internet.
Which one are you excluding? Stephenson?
>My own guess is that Gaiman, Stross, and Scalzi, at least, are going
>to make the short list virtually every year from now on that they
>release a new SF novel, regardless of the merits of said novel.
Kind of like Bujold does?
> And
>whether you love those authors or dislike them, I can't help but feel
>that makes a joke out of the Hugo award. Or more of a joke if you
>already felt that way.
I'll admit to not being extremely knowledgable about the histories of
fandom, WorldCons, Hugos, and so on. How ever, I'm going to go out on
a limb and guess that various other trends over the history of those
institutions have led people in the past to say "<X> is going to make
the Hugo meaningless." Probably on cycles of about every eight to ten
years, I'd guess.
"End of Usenet predicted, film at eleven."
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Reunite Gondwanaland!
David Bilek
mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>In article <v19ds4d8042vjp5o0...@4ax.com>, David Bilek <david...@att.net> writes:
>>After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
>>internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
>>rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless.
>
>>Gaiman
>>Stross
>>Scalzi
>>Doctorow
>>Stephenson
>>
>>What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
>>with devoted fan bases on the internet.
>
>Which one are you excluding? Stephenson?
Yeah. The others all have devoted web followings.
>
>>My own guess is that Gaiman, Stross, and Scalzi, at least, are going
>>to make the short list virtually every year from now on that they
>>release a new SF novel, regardless of the merits of said novel.
>
>Kind of like Bujold does?
>
Bujold's last 4 books have failed to garner a nomination, no?
>> And
>>whether you love those authors or dislike them, I can't help but feel
>>that makes a joke out of the Hugo award. Or more of a joke if you
>>already felt that way.
>
>I'll admit to not being extremely knowledgable about the histories of
>fandom, WorldCons, Hugos, and so on. How ever, I'm going to go out on
>a limb and guess that various other trends over the history of those
>institutions have led people in the past to say "<X> is going to make
>the Hugo meaningless." Probably on cycles of about every eight to ten
>years, I'd guess.
>
>"End of Usenet predicted, film at eleven."
Except that Usenet really is dying this time.
-David
David Bilek
wrote:
>After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
>internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
>rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
>on this year's best novel shortlist are:
(snip my post)
Scalzi has replied to me on his blog in a lengthy essay. (Ok, he
wrote on this topic. But obviously I am influential enough that he
had me, personally, in mind).
Scalzi wrote on his blog:
"But at the end of the day, it’s that book that has to perform; it has
to be good enough relative to everything else that voter reads — and
one suspects that Hugo voters, as a class, are heavy readers of the
genre — to recommend itself for the ballot. Internet fame, publisher
marketing, author popularity, etc may still have some effect, of
course. But not nearly as much as the book itself. Suggesting
otherwise is to suggest the Hugo voters are easily mislead by
inessential trivia. Which, while possible, doesn’t sound much like
the people I know who nominate and vote for the Hugos."
To which I say: HAHAHAHAHAHA hah.
Hugo voters clearly vote on whatever basis they feel like voting.
HOMINIDS did not win the Best Novel Hugo at Torcon 3 in Toronto
because hometown hero Robert Sawyer wrote the best novel of the year.
No one can seriously argue otherwise.
My own feeling is that basically whatever John Scalzi writes will make
it on the ballot from now on so long as it is mostly spelled correctly
and has the words in mostly the order he intended. And this isn't a
criticism of John Scalzi: I own all of his work in hardcover,
including THE SAGAN DIARIES and the edition of AGENT TO THE STARS with
the Penny Arcade cover illustration. I like his writing, I'm just
being realistic as to his chances of making the Hugo Shortlist with
his books.
Yes, if he wrote like whats-his-name the Baen guy with the mail order
Russian brides and time traveling engineer he probably wouldn't get
nominated. But anything with a modicum of competence will be.
-David
Joseph Nebus
>There are certainly SF writers who've gone the route of LiveJournal
>and blogs to interact with readers, but they don't seem to have
>leaped to fame that way. (Well, there's always Elizabeth Bear, but
>that's not quite the sort of fame she had in mind...)
Hey, look, as long as it doesn't attract ninjas.
I have bought more Charles Stross books than Ryk Spoor books,
but in that case it doesn't reflect their abilities to leverage their
marketing synergies in a Web 2.0 networking ISO-9000 six-sigma mindshare
and more that I've encountered in bookstores more of Stross's books than
I have of Spoor's, and the surrounding materials (including Internet
discussions) lead me to suspect I'd probably enjoy Stross's books more.
There's not much that either author could do, other than holding the
chain buyers at Barnes and Noble hostage, which would affect my choices
significantly.
(Although I notice that in my reading pile as it currently
exists and is probably adequate to keep me reading to the next library
book sale a month from now ... uh ... there's no works of fiction on
it. I'm a bad science fiction reader.)
--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Bilek
>On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:53:53 -0700, David Bilek <david...@att.net>
>wrote:
>
>>After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
>>internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
>>rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
>>on this year's best novel shortlist are:
>
>
>(snip my post)
>
>Scalzi has replied to me on his blog in a lengthy essay. (Ok, he
>wrote on this topic. But obviously I am influential enough that he
>had me, personally, in mind).
>
(snippage)
Reason #1 why usenet is better than blogs for actual discussion. On
usenet an author can't tell you to shut up or get banned about
evidence that works sometimes win for reasons other than innate
quality.
I'd bring up Judy Lynn del Rey or Pratchett's latest or whatever but
John's head might explode.
-David
Jon Schild
Because he wanted to. And a great many people think it is very good. If
you don't, then don't read it. Simple.
--
Wanted dead and/or alive: Shroedinger's cat.
David Goldfarb
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>Jack Tingle wrote:
>> A Live Journal is a pale shadow on Scalzi, Doctrow, and Stross's
>> footprint.
>
> I see Charlie on Livejournal. You saying he has other blogs?
antipope.org. I don't read it regularly myself, but that's where
he does the real bloggy stuff.
--
David Goldfarb |"Feeling smug about one's opinions is the very
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | lifeblood of the Net."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Dawn Friedman
Jon Schild
The phrase "no one can seriously argue otherwise" is an indication that
you somehow feel that your likes and dislikes are universal. They
aren't. I am not from Toronto, and have never even been there, but I
liked Hominids and its sequels a lot.
By the way, your original premise is an abuse of statistics. To get
anything meaningful, assuming there is anything meaningful to be gotten,
you would need to find out how many sf authors have an internet
presence, and how many do not, and then correlate the awards won by the
haves against the have-nots. Looking at the result to prove the cause
gets you stupid statements like "All serial killers drank milk when they
were young, so drinking milk is what produces serial killers."
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> David Librik <lib...@panix.com> writes:
>
>> There are certainly SF writers who've gone the route of LiveJournal
>> and blogs to interact with readers, but they don't seem to have
>> leaped to fame that way. (Well, there's always Elizabeth Bear, but
>> that's not quite the sort of fame she had in mind...)
>
> Hey, look, as long as it doesn't attract ninjas.
>
> I have bought more Charles Stross books than Ryk Spoor books,
> but in that case it doesn't reflect their abilities to leverage their
> marketing synergies in a Web 2.0 networking ISO-9000 six-sigma mindshare
> and more that I've encountered in bookstores more of Stross's books than
> I have of Spoor's,
Rather inevitably, as I have only three out. My next one is due out in
Spring 2010, titled "Grand Central Arena".
Ursa
86.server.rpi.edu:
> I have bought more Charles Stross books than Ryk Spoor books,
> but in that case it doesn't reflect their abilities to leverage their
> marketing synergies in a Web 2.0 networking ISO-9000 six-sigma mindshare
> and more that I've encountered in bookstores more of Stross's books than
> I have of Spoor's, and the surrounding materials (including Internet
> discussions) lead me to suspect I'd probably enjoy Stross's books more.
> There's not much that either author could do, other than
KNEEL BEFORE
...oh alright then, I'll wait until my General has finished it, then we
shall see.
Although I did love _The Atrocity Archives_.
Yours defying-the-Eschaton-ly,
Ursa
peachy ashie passion
Well, the point is, that's great if I went looking for a web presence
for him. Why would I?
I have never gone looking for any of the authors I like. And
frankly, I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Scalzi before Racefail.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
Still a year away? Publishing does grind exceeding slow...
Are you getting hardback this time?
Cheers - Jaimie
--
"And I hope my Sam's behaved hisself and given satisfaction?"
"Perfect satisfaction, Mr. Gamgee," said Frodo.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
Goldfarb) wrote:
>In article <gq83rr$2rf$1...@news.motzarella.org>,
>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>Jack Tingle wrote:
>>> A Live Journal is a pale shadow on Scalzi, Doctrow, and Stross's
>>> footprint.
>>
>> I see Charlie on Livejournal. You saying he has other blogs?
>
>antipope.org. I don't read it regularly myself, but that's where
>he does the real bloggy stuff.
And he's been posting from there since before he was a published
author (I think), I recognised it from 90's posts to
alt.sysadmin.recovery.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic in
Quake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work."
-- Chris Hacking, asr
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:48:08 -0400, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
> <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>
>> Joseph Nebus wrote:
>>> David Librik <lib...@panix.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> There are certainly SF writers who've gone the route of LiveJournal
>>>> and blogs to interact with readers, but they don't seem to have
>>>> leaped to fame that way. (Well, there's always Elizabeth Bear, but
>>>> that's not quite the sort of fame she had in mind...)
>>> Hey, look, as long as it doesn't attract ninjas.
>>>
>>> I have bought more Charles Stross books than Ryk Spoor books,
>>> but in that case it doesn't reflect their abilities to leverage their
>>> marketing synergies in a Web 2.0 networking ISO-9000 six-sigma mindshare
>>> and more that I've encountered in bookstores more of Stross's books than
>>> I have of Spoor's,
>> Rather inevitably, as I have only three out. My next one is due out in
>> Spring 2010, titled "Grand Central Arena".
>
> Still a year away? Publishing does grind exceeding slow...
The problem is partially that the parent company changed the timing
limits so that they have to schedule farther ahead, and thus the
schedule was already filled through this year.
>
> Are you getting hardback this time?
All indications would be "yes".
Jaimie Vandenbergh
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:48:08 -0400, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
>> <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Rather inevitably, as I have only three out. My next one is due out in
>>> Spring 2010, titled "Grand Central Arena".
>>
>> Still a year away? Publishing does grind exceeding slow...
>
> The problem is partially that the parent company changed the timing
>limits so that they have to schedule farther ahead, and thus the
>schedule was already filled through this year.
Rassen frassen calendar monkeys with restricted annual marketing
dollars mutter.
>> Are you getting hardback this time?
>
> All indications would be "yes".
W00t! Good job, sir. Hope that forecast comes out correct.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Power corrupts, but we need the electricity."
Quadibloc
> Raymond Speer wrote:
> > I want to second what Rex wrote about ZOE'S TALE.
>
> > Jee-sus Ker-ist, is not self plagarism coming a bit early to Mr. Scalzi?
> > Why rewrite an earlier novel just so it has a new first-person
> > perspective?
>
> Because he wanted to. And a great many people think it is very good. If
> you don't, then don't read it. Simple.
After all, that worked quite well for Anne McCaffrey, who presented a
second trilogy showing what her first trilogy looked like from Harper
Hall...
John Savard
netcat
David DeLaney
>There's not much that either author could do, other than holding the
>chain buyers at Barnes and Noble hostage,
subscirbe
> (Although I notice that in my reading pile as it currently
>exists and is probably adequate to keep me reading to the next library
>book sale a month from now ... uh ... there's no works of fiction on
>it. I'm a bad science fiction reader.)
Dave "my reading piles are alphabetized, and have at least a couple years'
worth of material in them. A library book sale would probably be a Dangerous
Place for me; I know McKay's Used Books is" DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
David DeLaney
>> Are you getting hardback this time?
>
> All indications would be "yes".
GAAAAAAH. (No offense meant, as that, as I understand it, will get you a
bit more money, but it means I get to wait ANOTHER year for the paperback.)
Dave "pet peeves" DeLaney
Jaimie Vandenbergh
DeLaney) wrote:
>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>> Are you getting hardback this time?
>>
>> All indications would be "yes".
>
>GAAAAAAH. (No offense meant, as that, as I understand it, will get you a
>bit more money, but it means I get to wait ANOTHER year for the paperback.)
You don't do ebooks, I guess? Ryk's other publications have all been
available as downloadables straight away, I think.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
Once I drove so fast that my friend, who was pregnant, started having
Lorentz contractions.
"Ahah," you might ask, "but how far apart were they?" - Adam Fineman, rgrn
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>> Are you getting hardback this time?
>> All indications would be "yes".
>
> GAAAAAAH. (No offense meant, as that, as I understand it, will get you a
> bit more money, but it means I get to wait ANOTHER year for the paperback.)
>
For values of "Bit" which may be "double or more depending on sales", yes.
You can always buy the E-book which is even lighter than the paperback!
David DeLaney
>d...@gatekeeper.vic.com (David DeLaney) wrote:
>>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>>> Are you getting hardback this time?
>>>
>>> All indications would be "yes".
>>
>>GAAAAAAH. (No offense meant, as that, as I understand it, will get you a
>>bit more money, but it means I get to wait ANOTHER year for the paperback.)
>
>You don't do ebooks, I guess? Ryk's other publications have all been
>available as downloadables straight away, I think.
Not as such, no. I have a folder full of Project Gutenberg and various .pdfs,
but have actually read through rather few of them. "Reading a book" and
"sitting in front of a computer" are different things for me...
Dave
Joseph Nebus
>Joseph Nebus <nebusj-@-rpi-.edu> wrote:
>> (Although I notice that in my reading pile as it currently
>>exists and is probably adequate to keep me reading to the next library
>>book sale a month from now ... uh ... there's no works of fiction on
>>it. I'm a bad science fiction reader.)
>Dave "my reading piles are alphabetized, and have at least a couple years'
> worth of material in them. A library book sale would probably be a Dangerous
> Place for me; I know McKay's Used Books is" DeLaney
Upon checking my records I find that I was mistaken; my reading
pile does include Philip Roth's _The Great American Novel_, which is
clearly a work of fiction. It could even be called science fiction
under the comically self-aggrandizing notions that it depicts a kind of
alternate history in baseball, although from what I understand (without
having yet read it) it does seem to be more of a secret history, which
is a different sort of thing. I apologize for any inconvenience this
error has produced.
--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean O'Hara
declared:
> After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
> internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
> rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
> on this year's best novel shortlist are:
>
> Stross
> Scalzi
> Doctorow
> Stephenson
>
> What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
> with devoted fan bases on the internet.
Does this mean no more Connie Willis nominations? Because I can get
behind that.
--
Sean O'Hara <http://www.diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com>
New audio book: As Long as You Wish by John O'Keefe
<http://librivox.org/short-science-fiction-collection-010/>
netcat
says...
> In the Year of the Earth Ox, the Great and Powerful David Bilek
> declared:
> > After thinking about the Best Novel list, it occurs to me that the
> > internet (more specifically, the world wide web) appears to me to be
> > rendering the Best Novel Hugo increasingly meaningless. The authors
> > on this year's best novel shortlist are:
> >
> > Gaiman
> > Stross
> > Scalzi
> > Doctorow
> > Stephenson
> >
> > What do at least 4 of those 5 authors have in common? Heavy presence
> > with devoted fan bases on the internet.
>
> Does this mean no more Connie Willis nominations? Because I can get
> behind that.
She hasn't been nominated for a Novel Hugo in the last 7 years. One
would think you'd already had your satisfaction.
rgds,
netcat
Sean O'Hara
declared:
>>>
>> Scalzi has replied to me on his blog in a lengthy essay. (Ok, he
>> wrote on this topic. But obviously I am influential enough that he
>> had me, personally, in mind).
>>
>
> (snippage)
>
> Reason #1 why usenet is better than blogs for actual discussion. On
> usenet an author can't tell you to shut up or get banned about
> evidence that works sometimes win for reasons other than innate
> quality.
>
Are you sure Scalzi isn't paying you to troll Usenet to increase
pageviews on his site and improve the odds of him winning a Hugo?
Karen Lofstrom
> Mark wants to know which extreme Jamaican ginger beers you are referring
> to and where he can purchase them.
Or, you can make your own ginger beer and get it JUST the way you want it.
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm
I do it every now and then. However, it's not really a DIET drink ...
--
Karen Lofstrom lofs...@lava.net
----------------------------------------------------------
Maybe in your linear fascist patriarchal "correct" spelling
scheme, it is, but some of us like to thonk outside the bqx
a little. -- Ray Radlein
Karen Lofstrom
Raymond Speer wrote:
> Jee-sus Ker-ist, is not self plagarism coming a bit early to Mr. Scalzi?
> Why rewrite an earlier novel just so it has a new first-person
> perspective?
Because from a different perspective, you see a great many NEW things.
Myself, I think it was a tour-de-force: keeping a book interesting even
though you knew what was going to happen. Also, a guy managing to sound
like a girl, which is dang hard.
--
Karen Lofstrom lofs...@lava.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Look! Leo's mutating into a fire truck!
David Bilek
>In article <27358-49C...@storefull-3251.bay.webtv.net>,
>Raymond Speer wrote:
>
>> Jee-sus Ker-ist, is not self plagarism coming a bit early to Mr. Scalzi?
>> Why rewrite an earlier novel just so it has a new first-person
>> perspective?
>
>Because from a different perspective, you see a great many NEW things.
>Myself, I think it was a tour-de-force: keeping a book interesting even
>though you knew what was going to happen. Also, a guy managing to sound
>like a girl, which is dang hard.
I'm sort of in the middle. I don't think there is anything inherently
wrong with this sort of book but neither did I think ZOES TALE was
particularly noteworthy. It was not bad. But "not bad" and "Best
Novel Hugo Award" shouldn't go together.
But as I said after being challenged by Andrew Plotkin as to what I
considered the daring, noteworthy novels of last year; the whole year
can be fairly summarized as not bad. There were a lot of decent books
but not many truly excellent ones.
-David
rexg...@yahoo.co.uk
> lofst...@lava.net (Karen Lofstrom) wrote:
> >In article <27358-49C74A14-2...@storefull-3251.bay.webtv.net>,
In fairness to Mr Scalzi, I bought this in hardback on a "on sight"
basis without doing any due diligence. Consequently I felt a little
disappointed with the book, not being a new chapter in the story. I
think I have posted earlier that the narrative structure of Old Mans
War makes it a terrific read and that the subsequent sequels ( for me)
grew less enjoyable as the flaws in the Scalziverse proved harder and
harder to paste over.
A lot of people had workmanlike books out this year, I just finished
the Prefect by Alastair Reynolds, which was fine but lacked any real
sense of tension to me, because it was set in the past of the
Revelation Space Universe.
If I had to pick my best book The Dragons of Babel would get my vote.
Though I i have not read the Gaiman or Doctorow yet.
Its a little like the Oscars, sometimes you stop winning because you
have won enough and sometimes you win because you were so due and
sometimes you are Peter O'Toole
Rex
rochrist
> In article <27358-49C...@storefull-3251.bay.webtv.net>,
> Raymond Speer wrote:
>
>> Jee-sus Ker-ist, is not self plagarism coming a bit early to Mr. Scalzi?
>> Why rewrite an earlier novel just so it has a new first-person
>> perspective?
>
> Because from a different perspective, you see a great many NEW things.
> Myself, I think it was a tour-de-force: keeping a book interesting even
> though you knew what was going to happen. Also, a guy managing to sound
> like a girl, which is dang hard.
>
It also covers the portion of the story that occurred off screen in the
earlier book.