Pressing Matters: Week of December 10-14, 2012

Editing

1. First-round rewrite requests for Grave by Joan Frances Turner have been sent to the author! Oh, what a heart-rending book.
2. Editrix Sarah is hard at work on The Daughter Star by Susan Jane Bigelow.
3. Reading and edits have begun on a new book by Matt Adams…

Production

1. Eleni Tsami is amazing and wonderful and capable of doing the most brilliant things with really complex technical specifications for cover artwork. You’ll see…
2. First batch of cover comps for The Dominion by Gayleen Froese have been sent out. A lot of travel guides referenced to create the visuals; man, those things are NOT well designed, for the most part.

Reviews, Promotions, and Buzz

1. Stevie Carroll, author of A Series of Ordinary Adventures, will be participating in this year’s Women & Words Hootenanny (isn’t that a great word?!) on Day Six, while Natania Barron (Pilgrim of the Sky) is on Day Nine. Check out the whole massive list of participating authors and get more information!
2. Speaking of Natania, if you’re in the Research Triangle, you should head to Chapel Hill Comics tomorrow (December 15) from 4-7pm. She’ll be signing copies of her GeekMom book – and I bet you could talk her into signing Pilgrim of the Sky, too, while you’re there.
3. ALSO speaking of Natania, there are some great new reviews of Pilgrim of the Sky out: one at Windowseat Reviews and one at My Gummi Life, plus one at Fangs for the Fantasy. It’s awesome when people fall in love with the nuance and complexity of the characters and cosmology.
4. Anne E. Johnson (Green Light Delivery) talks about science fiction as the great equalizer, and the problems of identity and prejudice.
5. Author M Fenn has another installment in her series on the real history behind her alt-history spy story, “So the Taino Call It,” in the upcoming Substitution Cipher anthology. You need to check this out!
6. Speaking of… Substitution Cipher is available on Tuesday! Mark your calendars!
7. David Colby is on tour to promote Debris Dreams! Check out some good guest posts, like this one on Star Trek.
8. Lots of Candlemark & Gleam authors are participating in the Long and Short Reviews Stuff Your Stocking Blogfest. Check it out starting on Monday for lots of fun holiday posts and chances to win books and more!

Sundries

1. Our newsletter signup form has been plagued by spam submissions. We’re going to cull the list before we send the December Newsletter, and hopefully we won’t axe any actual people, just spambots. However, we’ll let you know when the newsletter sends, so that if you don’t get it, you’ll know that your signup was accidentally purged. We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but these spambots are getting really terrifyingly good at evading blockers.
2. There are Conspiracy Swag Kits out there for Mr Blank. It is awesome.
3. This is a GREAT post for anyone currently writing and revising, about reasons you should not give up on your messy first draft. I completely agree; first drafts are supposed to be messy things. But you have to get through that first draft in order to get to the revising, the rewriting, the beta-rounds, the editing, and the more rewrites. It’s worth it in the end, trust me.
4. Amazing reading advertisements. I just had to share.
5. Editrix Sarah is now on Twitter! Be nice; she has a very pointy red pen and knows how to use it.