REVIEWS by SULLYDOG
THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO
PUBLISHING SCIENCE FICTION
by Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder
REVIEWS by SULLYDOG
THE
COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO
PUBLISHING
SCIENCE FICTION
by
Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder
We get a lot of nice remarks about our guidelines.
They've been passed around the net a bit, and somebody over at
Aphelion once said they were the Most Brutal Guidelines they'd ever
see--but they meant it in a nice way. We do think they're helpful, if
you use them, although it seems many of our potential contributors
have yet to give them a look, judging from the number of manuscripts
we receive that clearly violate those guidelines. (Those are the
manuscripts that Sullydog rejects without a second glance. A word to
the wise is sufficient.)
But when you get right down to it, those guidelines are really just a
page and a half of Sullydog ranting. For somethinge substantial, you
can try one of the many fine books available on the art of writing,
submitting and publishing sf. And you could do a lot worse than this
offering by Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder, two of the genre's
rising stars.
I love this book! It's fun, eminently readable, and
packed with info. Following the usual format of Complete
Idiots/For Dummies books, it's peppered with little themed boxes--Factoids,
Danger! Danger!, and Infodump--containing particularly
important scoop, and each chapter is neatly summarized with its own
little box, The Least You Need to Know. So one way to read the
book is to just flip through and look at the boxes. But you'll also
want to read it cover to cover, as Doctorow and Schroeder take you
from a quick overview of our genre, on to brainstorming, plotting,
characteization, formatting, submitting, publication, promotion,
contracts, taxes, writing habits--everything. Unless
you're already a well-established pro, there's something for you
here. If you want to write for NeverWorlds--or anybody
else--then you want this book. Get it.
Sullydog approves.
