WFC, DAW, credit...

Last week DAW Books added me to their freelance pool.

(Yes, you're quite right, there are millions of exclamation points ellided there.)

I have an editor credit on Amazon.  David Tallerman cowrote a YA novel with Michael Wills, which I copyedited -- and Mike kindly listed me in the credits.  No one's done that before to my knowledge.

Frankly, I'm gobsmacked!

DAW, Dave, and Mike are some of my most favorite gentlebeings in the universe right now.  8)

Another January death--STOP IT!!!

One of my editors died today (from Making Light and BoingBoing, respectively).

Astronomicon 12

Except I never edited with David Hartwell, at least not directly.  He was unfailing kind to me.  David knew I was part of NYRSF staff and was very enthusiastic about my work there -- so yes, in a way he was "my" editor.

Coolness, NYCC, publishing numbers: also cake.

Jim Hines on Cool Kids in sf/f.  Fascinating.

Kameron Hurley gives us the Cold Publishing Equations: Books Sold + Marketability + Love.  This is important, new writers!  READ HER EQUATIONS.  They will help you.

Really, grasshopper, I joke not.

And yes, this includes anyone who feels that self-publishing makes it All Different.  It really does not, not if you didn't do all the things professionally and did not happen to know how to do them either.  This is no judgment:  everyone learns.

The 2015 Hugos: diversity and Alfies.

The 2015 Hugo winners list at Locus, including the Campbell for Best New Writer.

Who is my AR author, Wes Chu.  :D

Well done, Wes!!  The Appliances triumph in their bid for world domination.  Their Robot Overlords will succeed.

SkyNet.  What more is there?

Ah... Moving on to Chuck Wendig's Hugo Recap post.  Man, I wanna buy some of Noah Ward's work too.  That dude sure won a LOT of Hugos (Chuck is so right, HIS WORK IS BRILL).

Ahem.

Editing, CE job, Adam and my authors...

Can you teach editing?

Amy Einsohn thinks you can -- check out her PDF, Are Editors Born or Made?

I'd agree.  The people I meet who think they can edit and who prove amenable to being trained... are the ones who I think can learn not only how to edit, but how to become freelance editors.  Not everyone can do both.

Here's the shorter report Amy did for Science Editor in 2004, which includes the initial pages of her longer essay.

The Subversive Copy Editor (Carol Saller) interviewed Amy Einsohn in November 2011.

From Carol's blog I found Zombies and bogeymen, aka the zombie rules in grammar.

Penguicon in review.

So... many days have passed since Penguicon 2015.  Many many.

(Okay, WEEKS, but I had foolishly thought I wouldn't be doing another con until October back then.)

Penguicon was a frickin' excellent con -- wicked brilliant!  I wish you had all been there.

Here's some of the pretty pictures, which I am very grateful to fellow attendees for providing.  [I am rubbish at these things.]

Someone thought my little mini-flyer for UnlockedCon combined with the P-con"Sherlocked!" BoF was worth taking a pic of...

@ninja_CE Have you seen the official Penguicon photos yet? https://t.co/AnOD7zawOr

— Penguicon (@Penguicon) May 15, 2015

Tweets, Tor, Puppies, writing.

Fascinating article by @Suw about @torbooks' recent Social Media difficulties: http://t.co/fgL8BWCeE6

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 10, 2015

My thoughts on the Tor mess, a.k.a. Theo Beale jerks people around again. http://t.co/t0jZ13r3KD

— Jim C. Hines (@jimchines) June 11, 2015

Eric Flint on the Sad Puppies' latest [June 2015].

Jim Hines:  Bigots, Bullies, and Enablers.  (FYI:  regarding tags, I also count bullies as predators.)

A few words from our sponsor--

The Internet.

Well, what did you THINK would sponsor an editor anyway?

Cat waxing for fun and profit and... urm.

This is actually to balance out Tuesday's sad news.  We lost Tanith Lee -- see Tor.com, help them keep hanging their poor overus'd site, why don't you.

She died this weekend.  I'll write more about her in the future.  Not today.  Already wrote up a short piece for NYRSF... a love letter to one of my very favorite authors.  Goodbye, Tan.  I wish I'd told you how much you meant to me and how you helped shape my life, mind, heart, soul.

But I didn't.  8(

The Hugos and Worldcon 2015: ongoing.

It is ongoing.  The Saga Continues, forsooth!

I will buy a supporting membership to WorldCon for ten people who cannot afford it. Here's why. http://t.co/QR1M07YDs3
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) April 11, 2015

Mary's blog that week, Talk with me about being a fan of science fiction and fantasy -- is about the Hugo awards, Worldcon voting, sf fandom, assumptions and backstory...

I was offline much of that week, so I missed this membership gifting.

I have read about the 2015 Worldcon/Hugo kerfluffle, as many have been calling it.  John O'Neill over at Black Gate called it The 2015 Hugo Train Wreck.

Thanks to my best friend Bea for sharing about the Black Gate post.

We lost Terry Pratchett today.

The last Tweet may make you laugh -- that's why it's at the end -- because you may have been weeping ever since you found out.  Like me.

How to be a writer, by Terry Pratchett: pic.twitter.com/vqc3wzwiRo
— The Beer Nut (@thebeernut) March 12, 2015

Jim Hines made a storify of Terry's final Tweets here.  If you read any of Terry's books, these three will make you weep.

Jo Walton's anecdote about Terry Pratchett refusing a Hugo nomination is, well, both very Terry and very teary. http://t.co/6geWR1rGrn
— Ferrett Steinmetz (@ferretthimself) March 12, 2015

Je Suis Charlie.

Charlie Hegbo: Je Suis Charlie.  France Will Shine Again at Technocrunch.

L’arc de Triomphe tonight http://t.co/AttvOYS99L #JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/lOGgjyn1us
— Amanda Wills (@AmandaWills) January 9, 2015

Hachette, publishing, Yog's Law.

Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute at the NYT.

It's good, and it's bad. "If anyone thinks this is over, they are deluding themselves. Amazon covets market share the way Napoleon coveted territory."

Yeah... that.

Step off the plane to learn Hachette and Amazon have reached a deal. A relief, sure...but I still hope you buy books from your fav indie.
— Barry Goldblatt (@barrygoldblatt) November 13, 2014

Artemis Rising: submit through Dec. 20th!

The submissions address is submit@escapepod.org; we're taking Artemis Rising submissions through December 20 because we hate our producer.
— Escape Pod (@escapepodcast) November 11, 2014

When I first asked for help...

... these are some of the people who first helped me spread the word about my crowdfund.

Copyeditor extraordinaire, @ninja_CE needs your help to get to @loncon3 : https://t.co/4DAsYMHL8Q
— Lee Harris (@LeeAHarris) July 6, 2014

This is my blog post explaining what's been making it so hard for me to start my crowdfund, and why I want to go to London.

Worldcon and Hugos 2014.

Are you going to London for Worldcon 2014?

The hotel listing for Loncon3 is displayed below.

@rnalexander @DrPlokta Hope this helps! pic.twitter.com/3znhH3GVF4
— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) January 2, 2014

Hugo nominations open in just a few hours! Do you have your PINs at the ready? #hugoawards #loncon3 http://t.co/j0ZYj9WDBt
— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) January 7, 2014

And I gotta admit... I've been looking forward to nominating Sherlock season 3 for the 2014 Hugos.  (When you see this season, you'll understand.)  All the eps and the mini-ep too.  8D

ConFusion this weekend!

Legendary ConFusion, in fact.

It'll be awesome.  Come see!

Ping John or me if you're looking for the wake party for Electric Velocipede.

By ping, if you have my mobile number, text me.  If you lack it, shoot me an email before FRIDAY 17-Jan-2014.  (No, sorry, not posting it here, thanks.)

Or Tweet; apparently I am Google's only Anne Zanoni on Twitter.  Who knew?

I don't use mobile Twitter, so I won't be on Twitter all weekend.  Do not try Tweeting me about the party or the con if you expect a timely response.


I think I am the main ringleader.  8)  So to speak.

Paying it forward: Links and tips.

Five Overlooked SF/F/H Books of 2013  (Must point out that I copyedited the first book in the B and N list. And it's a wonderfully fun book.)

Waterstones offers Twauthors – The best authors on Twitter


Over on Goodreads, Steven Saus tells us The Write Agenda Can Teach You How To Avoid Untrustworthy People... Like Themselves. If you read nothing else, go read that. It will help you with contracts, with understanding the behavior of the anonymous troll -- and the vanity press publishers -- and the many MANY scammers out there preying on the new authors and future authors.

Writer Beware is a major example of paying it forward.


A Few Things a Writer Should Probably Do at Least Once from Doctor Doyle.  Since I'm in SCA, I can tell you that yes, these would indeed help you.  Have I done them all?  No.

As a copy editor, guns and other weapons are something I tend to research a LOT.

Shh: a simple tip for talking about race.

Bonus:  Until this paragraph, this entire post was an example of paragraphing style.  [Which Nero Wolfe will tell you all about in Plot It Yourself; you should read that.]  I tend to do mine a certain way, and I vary it deliberately while writing to make it easier on readers.  And just for variety's sake too.