This blog first appeared at our own H.E. Roulo’s personal blog and is being reprinted here at reader request.

Writers looking to be published often ask how they can find markets for their short stories.

The very best site I’ve found for learning about anthologies and other publishing opportunities is duotrope.com. There, they let you search, sort, and track markets. Speculative fiction writers can also use ralan.com. Horror writers might find the Library of the Living Dead forum useful, especially Other Publishers if you’re looking for a mix of opportunities.

Usually writers looking to publish are in one of two situations. Either you have a story and don’t know what to do with it, or you’re looking for ideas of what to write that someone will want. Duotrope.com will help you in both cases.

If you have an existing story you’re trying to get published then do a search on duotrope.com. You put in the genre, length, and what kind of payment level you’re looking for (from non-paying, token, through professional rates) and it will find fits. Then click on each match and use the link to the actual website. Find the market’s Submissions page to make sure your piece is a good fit with that market. Always follow the submission guidelines. I don’t say this to make you freak out, and possibly drive you to not submit at all. That is not the solution. Just pay attention to what they want, and the closer you match their needs the more likely you are to be selected.

If you are looking for interesting markets to write stories for, then I suggest looking at the calendar of themed magazines and anthologies on duotrope.com. I subscribe to Duotrope’s weekly email that lists these by the date they close. That way, I can see what’s coming up that I might like to submit to. I’ve found that anthologies give you the best odds of being selected for publication. You know precisely what they’re looking for and need right now.

Duotrope is also the site I use to track all my submissions. Using the information provided by all the other authors tracking their submissions, Duotrope creates metrics on numbers of submissions, how long it’s taking to get replies back, and what percent of submissions are being accepted. It makes me feel more in control than just waiting forever and hoping they’re actually going to reply at some point. Duotrope tells me if my wait is unusually longer than what other authors are suffering.

This is how I learned about the Live and Let Undead anthology looking for stories about working zombies. I already had a short story about zombies working outside the protective dome on a poisonous planet, but it was too long to meet their guidelines. Once I cut down the word count to fit, I knew I had a good shot at being selected. Now my story “The Killer with Eyes of Ice” is one of 18 stories in the anthology that just came out on Amazon.com.

I’ll also be in a couple other anthologies coming out this Spring. In addition to what Duotrope tracks, I’ve created a spreadsheet listing all my works and all my dream markets.

Once you know other people in the field and start making a name, it is easier to be invited to write. And wouldn’t we all like to have the work come to us for a change?

Would you like more tips on publishing? Indie writing? Kindle Publishing? Let us know in the comments whether this is what you’d like to see from Podioracket.com.

Heather Roulo is the co-host of Podioracket.com and the author of the podcast novel Fractured Horizon. She has stories scheduled to appear in three anthologies in 2012. Visit www.fracturedhorizonnovel.com for more tips on publishing from H.E. Roulo.

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In Summary

Rathbone dropped technical tips, shared links to freeware that he’s used to publish, and shared his experiences.

Listen to the entire Fireside podcast at Fireside Writer’s Workshop but be warned, it’s 2.5 hours long. You can also visit Brian at his New Fantasy Fiction web page and while you’re there download The Dawning of Power Trilogy and The Balance of Power Trilogy.

Brian Rathbone has just released Regent! Regent, Book One of The Balance of Power Trilogy, is the much anticipated continuation of the World of Godsland fantasy series, which began with The Dawning of Power Trilogy. Buy Regent now from Amazon.

Brian’s Link List:

Twitter Anyone? Follow Brian: http://twitter.com/brianrathbone

His Website: http://brianrathbone.com/fantasy-fiction-regent.html

EPub Editor: http://code.google.com/p/sigil/

EPub Manager: http://calibre-ebook.com/

Auto Recorder and Editor: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (use BETA 1.3.12 or later)

Spoken Word Normalizer (sorta) Evens out voices at different volume levels
http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Transfer Files to Webservers: http://filezilla-project.org/

Can’t Afford Photoshop? Try gimp: http://www.gimp.org/

Record Skype Audio Calls: http://scribie.com/free-skype-recorder MP3 Converter

Run Report to see how well you target terms. Run one free report a day or $80.00 Month
http://www.seomoz.org/

Brian uses the free Rank Checker and SEO for Firefox add-ons. Track search rank, page rank, backlinks, etc from within Firefox. http://www.seobook.com/

Track usage of your website and blogs. More powerful and useful that you might imagine
http://www.google.com/analytics/

Shorten links for Twitter with the added benefit of tracking how many clicks the link gets
http://bit.ly/

Get his Ebooks on Amazon the first two free and the conclusion for only .99 cents.

Our Fireside Chat–about all things publishing related–continues as Brian Rathbone delivers the sixth part of the series.

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In the 6th part of the series Brian continues his discussion of editing, publishing, GoodReads, people to make contact with, and print on demand.

Get his Ebooks on Amazon the first two free and the conclusion for only .99 cents.

Ignore Nothing.

Brian covers a myriad of topics while opening the floor to questions from the audience. He covers E-Publishing for Kindle, Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Barnes and Noble as well as Smashwords. Then he moves on to Pub It, how Amazon works for authors, and how to price you book. Finally he talks about formatting, print runs, ebook compilers, ISBN numbers and his publishing house White Wolf Press. He even touches on speech recognition software. Buckle your seat belt and get ready for some great information.

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In the continuing open forum questions, Brian talks about ebook publishing with Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo and Smashwords.com. He touches on contract info all authors should know and why it is important to ignore nothing when marketing your books. Learn what royalty structures look like,  and how to price your books. Go deeper into Ebook Compilers. Here are a few of the links he shares: EPub Editor: http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ EPub Manager: http://calibre-ebook.com/ Transfer Files to Webservers: http://filezilla-project.org/.

Get his Ebooks on Amazon. The first two are free and the conclusion for only .99 cents. This price won’t last!

Open Forum Questions

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Brian Rathbone continues his fireside chat for authors.

In this episode:

• How to put your book up on Kindle.
• Your digital rights
• More about cover art-Photo shop and free software like photoshop.
• How to get stock photos you can use for a cover from deviantart.com, Istockphoto.com and others.
• Twitter to the rescue for your cover art.
• Podcasting equipment, the truth about equipment.
• Can’t Afford Photoshop? Try gimp: http://www.gimp.org/
• Twitter Anyone? Follow Brian: http://twitter.com/brianrathbone
• Track usage of your website and blogs. More powerful and useful that you might imagine http://www.google.com/analytics/
• And Brain tells everyone why he got involved with Podioracket.

Get his Ebooks on Amazon the first two free and the conclusion for only .99 cents. This price wont last!

Listen now to part two of Brian Rathbone’s Fireside Chat

download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

Part 2 Give it to them free and then they will buy it…

In this episode:

• More about engaging fans and building a lasting platform.
• Book scan = cash register sales of print books.
• How to use Google adwords. Cover art and how important it is to your success.
• Ratings from fans and what they mean to the author. 
• Why we should  connect with other authors as allies and not competition. 

We also heard just last night that Brain Rathbone’s new book is at the editor for the first round of editing. Can’t wait for Regent to hit the shelves!

Get his Ebooks on Amazon. The first are two free and the conclusion is only .99 cents.

Just because you don’t think it will work doesn’t mean it won’t

 Listen now

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We are so lucky to have this 7 part series to give to you this summer. It is filled with fabulous information and resources.

Brian Rathbone hosted a writer’s workshop at the Forest City, NC at the Fireside Books store in 2011 and spoke to a group of writers about the ins and outs of publishing.

Part one of our series gives you basic information on building a platform, using Podiobooks.com, and how giving it away can make you money. He addresses questions concerning publishers treatment of new authors. Brian’s experiences are first-hand: Where he started. What he was doing. How he was he doing it. And reflection on whether he was doing it well.

Resources shared in this episode

www.brianrathbone.com
www.firesidebooksandgifts.com
www.podiobooks.com

Get Brian Rathbone’s eBooks on Amazon. The first two are offered for free and the conclusion is available for $0.99.
  

Alex White, the author of the The Gearheart, shares a new guest blog post.

Guest blog post

The Gearbox: Overstatement

by Alex White on Apr.22, 2009, under The Gearbox

Hey, everybody! Welcome back to The Gearbox- the weekly writing column where I tell you how to write what I want to read. I realize that a lot of what I talk about is already covered in books like Between the Lines and Stephen King’s On Writing, but I don’t care! I’m covering it anyway!

This week: Overstatement!

Overstatement is probably the biggest killer amongst young and aspiring writers. At least, when I edit other people’s stories, overstatement is the thing that I gripe about the most. Writers should realize that you only have a few words to capture a reader’s attention, and overstating everything is like shoving a stick in the spokes of the reader. As readers, we want to get into a nice flow, where the information trickles off the page, straight into our brains. We don’t want some overblown double-explanation of every idea in the story. Words must be chosen like the cuts on a bonsai tree- too few and you have chaos; too many, and you have stripped your ideas bare.

There are many kinds of overstatement:

1) Adverbial/Adjective Overstatement

Adverbs and adjectives are nothing short of fallbacks. They’re modifiers for when a noun, verb or preposition doesn’t exist to cover the thing you’re writing about- and they’re important. As writers, they’re one of the greatest weapons we have in our arsenals, but frankly, they can be overkill. They’re powerful, and too many writers employ their use when a well-chosen word would have served better. Consider the following sentence:

“The angry man walked quickly from the room.”

Every single time you pull out an adverb or adjective, you should ask yourself, “Is there a word that I can use that connotes the meaning that I am about to apply with this adjective or adverb?” This is where thesauruses come in handy. I believe that there are no synonyms in the English language- only subtle and hidden shades of meaning. Pull out a thesaurus and find the right word. A much better sentence would have read:

“The man stormed from the room.”

There. It reads a little better now, right? I would wager that all of the meaning of the first sentence was captured in the second sentence, and it added a nice visual. Adverbs can be useful, but most of the time they’re just crap. Adjectives are a little better, but you have to start from the right noun before you begin modifying it.

2) Character Description Overstatement

Okay, this is a pet peeve of mine. It’s a special kind of overstatement, of which I am particularly guilty. Character description overstatement (or “CDO” to save me some typing) happens when you describe a character in specific terms of his or her appearance, even if those attributes are not plot relevant. CDO is typically worked in at the most awkward times, and it serves to destroy the pace of a book during the first few critical pages when the book is supposed to hook the reader. Here’s an example:

“Andy bent down to wash his face, and when he looked up, he found himself looking into his own hazel eyes in the bathroom mirror. He casually examined his wavy, neck-length, straw-blond hair and strong, Roman nose. Looking down, he could see the muscles on his torso. He didn’t think he was much to look at, but the ladies disagreed.”

That is terrible! This should only happen in a novelization of a Quantum Leap episode! So much of that doesn’t really need to be said, and if someone doesn’t like the way that character looks based upon your description, you might have lost a reader. Consider, instead, this substitute:

“Andy was graceful, with the form of a gymnast, and his smile made him irresistible to women.”

By speaking in abstractions, you allow the reader to unconsciously create the character that they would prefer to see in their version of the story. That heightens the reader’s involvement quite a bit.

It’s not too bad, though, if you use the character description as a chance to either lampoon or illuminate your character’s personality, for example: “His clothes were perfectly ironed,” or “her teeth, blackening from years of addiction to sweets.”

3) Dialogue Attribution Overstatement

The last type of overstatement that I want to talk about is dialog attribution overstatement. DAO happens when you place some sort of indicator in the dialog attribution about how a line is read, even though there is really only one way to read the line. For example- suppose that you have a tense scene in a psychological thriller wherein the killer has just been discovered and becomes hostile. Our heroine tosses dirt in his eyes and bolts into the woods. The next line of dialogue is:

“‘I’ll kill you for that, you little witch!’ he shouted, his voice full of rage.”

Don’t waste page by adding an adverb, or “his voice full of rage.” We know his voice is full of rage. He’s trying to kill someone, and they may have seriously injured him. He’s not going to be jovial.

Now Stephen King and I diverge on this next point. He says that you should only use “he said/she said” dialogue attribution, but I think it’s okay to get spicier with your verbs. What is most important is that you disambiguate without becoming tedious.

Surely, though, I’ve belabored the problems of overstatement enough. What do you all think?

For more from Alex White check out The Gearbox.

Voice talent Jeffrey Kafer, featured in a Raise a Racket interview in Episode 19 and who will appear in a next season BTR-PR show, offered some solid advice for authors planning to record a book with mulitiple characters played by themselves.

“No doubt in your book, you have characters that appear in the beginning and then disappear only to reappear later. So how do you remember the voice you did? Do you try and dig up the chapter where you recorded it to give it a listen? If you do, you should be applauded for making sure you get the same characterization. However, this is a painfully tedious way to do it.

Ok, smart guy, what’s a better way?

When you first record that character, simply copy the dialog into a new audio file. How much you copy is up to you to keep as a reference for later use. Then save the file as the character name “Bob Jones.wav” or whatever. Keep it in your project folder. As the book progresses, you’ll have filenames for every character that you can reference immediately to refresh your memory.

Voila! You’ve saved much time and headache and you’ll keep your characters consistent.”

Evo has one reminder as well. As you plan voices for the characters, remember that some voices are more tiring than others. He says

“Figure out your approach to the character before you start the book. Start with the characters that have the most dialoge and record a sample of them as Jeffery says above. Make sure none of them are much of a challenge for you, since you’ll probably be using that voice a lot.

Then work your way down to the other characters, again, saving each narration file as a refresher for later on. If you have really nifty voice trick you want to try, but it kills your vocal chords, save it for a character who doesn’t talk a lot.”

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of insight into the workings of a podcast novel. Let us know if you’d like more tips.

The Gearbox: From TV Guide with Love

I love writers and podcasters. I’m addicted to their aspirations. Being around folks with such lofty dreams energizes me beyond almost anything else- caffiene, D&D, and yes, even bacon. That’s why I really enjoy speaking to them about who they are, what they do, and most importantly, what they write.

You’d be amazed how many of them cannot tell me.

Let me start out by saying that writing plot synopses for brevity is difficult and people try. They really do. I have the utmost respect for writers, so please do not think I am poking fun, but I need to provide an example of what I usually hear. This is something I just made up, not related to anyone’s story in particular.

Well, there’s this guy who can manipulate matter, and it’s the future. And in the future, there are these other races, the elves, the aliens and the cat people. And anyway, this guy who can manipulate matter was made in a genetics lab by fusing all of the other races’ DNA together. So now he has the power of transmutation- to convert any item to another item of the same molecular weight. Because he has this power, the government wants him for experimentation, but the cat people think he is a religious incarnation of their god, Felina, so they want to protect him. And all along the way, he goes about collecting allies until he is ready to lead the elves, aliens and cat people in a rebellion against the human empires. Fun ensues.

Great. By this time, I have forgotten what we started talking about in the first place. This problem extends into podcast promos, as well. Folks will go well into the 2-3 minute mark just telling me their backstory or introducing all of their characters. That’s very informative and all, but I don’t think it’s what an audience wants. What I think an audience wants is an easily-digested nugget of cool. I hold fast to my belief that a podcast promo should be no longer than 30 seconds to 1 minute.

I have a formula for writing log lines, and it works like a charm. I don’t know if this is the formula that the pros use, but it’s certainly the way I tackle a difficult plot. I’d like to share it with you, and have you put it to the test on your own work. Try it at your next party when you describe your book, and just see if people’s eyes light up with recognition. My formula is simple, it’s easy, and it will sell your story to the uninitiated.

There are 3 sentences in a log line. That’s it. They are as follows: The Carry, The Crossover and The Complication. Fairly simple stuff. You’ll see them defined below.

1) The Carry

The Carry is what carries (go figure) us into the world of your story. This is where you describe to us the everyday world of your hero and the things he/she does with her time. That isn’t to say that you say, “John Hero woke up and peed before brushing his teeth and going to work.” That is, unless you’re being ironic. Then you might say that. I don’t know.

The “normal world” of your hero is still fraught with some kind of conflict. Try to capture that. Maybe he or she is a secret agent. Maybe your hero just wants to be liked by the pretty girl behind the counter at the local bakery. Maybe your hero suffers from leukemia and starts out with only months to live. Let’s take the example from the top and formulate our Carry.

“John Hero’s life changed forever the day he learned he could convert anything into marshmallows.”

Short, sweet, and to the point. It captures that John has a power, and that power is marshmallic transmutation. It’s a real thing, I swear.

2) The Crossover

The Crossover literally refers to the events that precipitate your crossing into the second act of the story. In the Star Wars (Joseph Campbell) formula, this would be the moment that Luke discovers the burned bodies of Beru and Owen. This is when the hero learns that he/she can’t go back to his/her mild-mannered life of secret-agenting or bakery-lusting. I need to come up with better verbs.

You want to capture the core conflict of the story in this line, and at the same time, reveal the nemesis for bonus points. Of course, you can disregard the nemesis reveal if you’re writing some kind of murder mystery. In that instance, you tell us who died, as that is your first act turning point. Here’s the John Hero Crossover:

“However, when mysterious agents show up to kidnap John, he uncovers a mysterious past of genetic manipulation and government treachery.”

A murder mystery line might read more like, “But when a body turns up at the International Butler Convention, the police find themselves too baffled to solve the mystery!”

3) The Complication

The complication is the way that your Crossover causes the story to unfold. It’s the extra oomph that a reader/listener/viewer might not have expected, and it’s the paramount selling point. There are a lot of stories out there, but this is the third element that makes yours unique.

In Star Wars, this would be Luke’s Jedi powers and religion. In Hamlet, this might be represented by the prince’s slow descent into insanity. Without the Complication, your story is just a basic tale of cause and effect. This is the randomizing element that makes it both unpredictable and interesting.

Let’s write a Complication for the story above.

“With the aid of the mysterious Nya-meow Cat Folk, Smith must now embark upon the greatest journey of his life- one that will take him from the sinister labs, to the churches of the Cat Pope, and to the stars beyond!”

You can also finish this with sentence with another: a call to action like, “Find out on The Gearheart!” (But only an idiot would have a title like that.)

–

You can find more from Alex at The Gearbox