|
Bhodi posted:A lot of it is just alluded to and teased at in the prince of thorns series, but in red queen they spell out what exactly happened. I thought it was a nice little touch, since I went in blind as well. The gradual reveal was done well, IMO. Same, I read Red Queen's war first Im glad I did, because they're just so much better than Thorn Also, I thought it was a different series with a similar The Prince of X title
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 00:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 20:23 |
|
|
coyo7e posted:I'd say it always has been a "dying earth" world. In the Red Queen trilogy (and it was also mentioned in the first or second Thorns novel, haven't read the third yet) iirc, it's made fairly clear that everything is getting worse rather than better - presumably because of a Large Hadron Collider or thermonuclear war, which apparently broke the bonds of reality and thus peoples' imaginations began to create bullywugs and bugbears etc, with no way to repair anything. I especially liked Loki in the Red Queen trilogy, iirc he was a scientist who accidentally became immortal because others believed he was Loki We're having a semantic disagreement here; I consider Dying Earth to be a fantastically far time in the future where any vestiges of the modern day are buried deep, the planet has seen the rise and fall of many intervening civilisations, there's magic like phenomenae that may have science bases, and the clock on the sun or planet is palpably running down (albeit it doesn't have to be anything like an immediate threat). So by that definition the Broken Empire trilogy doesn't qualify, it's just too close to the modern day. The blurb to the new book made me think it might be closer to the definition though Neurosis fucked around with this message at 02:35 on May 1, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 02:33
|
|
|
Neurosis posted:i notice the mark lawrence new book synopsis on goodreads refers to a 'dying sun' - has he stepped foot into the dying earth subgenre? this piqued my interest, though i've gotta admit the first two paragraphs of the summary were throwing up bright red flags; 'Sweet Mercy hones its novices' skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist'. I picked it up because I figured I should read a Mark Lawrence book for once and it had good ratings. I'm like 85-90% done and having a hard time finishing it because basically jack poo poo has happened that the main character has had any agency over.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 14:38
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:I'd say it always has been a "dying earth" world. In the Red Queen trilogy (and it was also mentioned in the first or second Thorns novel, haven't read the third yet) iirc, it's made fairly clear that everything is getting worse rather than better - presumably because of a Large Hadron Collider or thermonuclear war, which apparently broke the bonds of reality and thus peoples' imaginations began to create bullywugs and bugbears etc, with no way to repair anything. I especially liked Loki in the Red Queen trilogy, iirc he was a scientist who accidentally became immortal because others believed he was Loki That seems more like "post apocalyptic" (or "post post apocalyptic") than "dying earth".
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 14:52
|
|
|
I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! WARLORD is the first of an already-planned four part series based on a three year long Dungeons & Dragons game I ran, and emphasizes badass action as much as character growth and introspection. There's everything you could want from an epic fantasy series in there, dragons, samurai, dinosaurs, devils, fireballs, giant tombs, crazy evil wasp people, a magician who looks like David Blaine but is actually a person-sized dog, a dwarf that smokes weed, EVERYTHING! The story itself is basically about coming to grips with maturity and responsibility, told in the backdrop of lots of things exploding and bleeding everywhere. For May Day the ebook is free, so if you want to check it out, I'd really appreciate it!
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 16:59
|
|
|
Forum accident posted:I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! Why self-published? Also, metal fans are if anything avid fantasy readers.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 17:12
|
|
|
sorry I only read epic fantasies that feature purple monkey dishwashers. What's with the lone review on the amazon page? looks like it was written by a bot.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 17:13
|
|
|
Forum accident posted:I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! oh.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 17:38
|
|
|
Forum accident posted:I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! I read bad books for fun and I'm still not touching this. Still probably better than the last vanity published book I ended up jumping on to save my comrades. It featured the awe inspiring battle cry "BONSAI!"
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 17:54
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:Why self-published? I gave myself a year to try to get it published traditionally and didn't have any luck with it. Also I figured, do something new. Koburn posted:sorry I only read epic fantasies that feature purple monkey dishwashers. What's with the lone review on the amazon page? looks like it was written by a bot. Even worse, it was my mom.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 17:52
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:Why self-published? The majority of the books I read are self-published now-a-days, but that's probably because 99.9% of all books to come out are self-published. At least it feels that way going though the weekly releases on the kindle store. I flipped though the look inside and it's a no for me as well. Feels like maybe you are 1/2 way though your million words, keep writing. ShinsoBEAM! fucked around with this message at 18:14 on May 1, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 18:12
|
|
|
Forum accident posted:I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! It's cool you've written a novel. Congratulations. I'm perfectly sincere here, I know it's a lot of work and it's nice to see people do something more than watch TV these days. But here's the first line of your Amazon description: quote:Mugen Genshi was born as an Evitan, a human who’s inner glow meant he has a great destiny in front of him. You have to learn to write. E: try the Creative Convention subforum. I'm the Book Barn IK. Feel free to PM me or email bookbarnsecretsanta@gmail.com if I can help you with anything. Safety Biscuits fucked around with this message at 18:27 on May 1, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 18:24
|
|
|
ShinsoBEAM! posted:The majority of the books I read are self-published now-a-days, but that's probably because 99.9% of all books to come out are self-published. At least it feels that way going though the weekly releases on the kindle store. I flipped though the look inside and it's a no for me as well. Feels like maybe you are 1/2 way though your million words, keep writing. Self-published means that an editor took a look at someone's work and found it lacking. Considering the amount of crap that actually passes through the published work needle-hole I am perfectly happy avoiding self-published authors.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 18:35
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:
Yeah that sentence did it for me too.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 18:40
|
|
|
Yeah I looked through the preview as well and I can say that you are in sore need an editor. Way too much meaningless description that doesn't add anything of value. Throwing words at a page to see what sticks is fine for a rough draft, but you need to edit your work thoroughly afterwards to make sure you get rid of all the chaff. Additionally, there is nothing wrong with the word said for dialog. Especially when using it lets you avoid things like: "Ah, yes." Stumbled the prince.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 18:42
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:Self-published means that an editor took a look at someone's work and found it lacking. Considering the amount of crap that actually passes through the published work needle-hole I am perfectly happy avoiding self-published authors. It doesn't necessarily mean that; there's plenty of authors who go there first-- and there's lots of reasons why editors for give perfectly good work a pass. A tiny fraction of submitted work gets accepted; they turn down a lot of good things in addition to turning down things that the author admits to shopping around for a year and yet apparently never thinks to proofread.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 19:16
|
|
|
JuniperCake posted:Additionally, there is nothing wrong with the word said for dialog. Especially when using it lets you avoid things like: "Ah, yes." Stumbled the prince. If memory serves it's de rigeur to use "said", unless you're deliberately making a Swifty for humorous effect.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 19:17
|
|
|
neongrey posted:It doesn't necessarily mean that; there's plenty of authors who go there first-- and there's lots of reasons why editors for give perfectly good work a pass. A tiny fraction of submitted work gets accepted; they turn down a lot of good things in addition to turning down things that the author admits to shopping around for a year and yet apparently never thinks to proofread. Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Tor, "Slushkiller" posted:Unless you’re a senior editor with intern-like beings below you on the food chain who open and process the slush for you to look at—a splendid luxury!—a substantial fraction of your time is going to go into opening the packages, logging in the name, title, agent/no agent, genre, and date rejected, and then repackaging the rejected manuscript with a form rejection letter and a copy of the Tor Submission Guidelines.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 19:44
|
|
|
Yeah, I mean that is the big difference, selfpub moves the slush pile in front of the reader instead for an editor. And not wanting to read slush rejects is a valid reason for not picking up a selfpub book, and the sales blurb is about the same amount as most slush readers would read. And about all that should be read of this book in question because lol yikes. But editors turn down good books and they accept crap books and I think we have plenty of examples in this very thread of the latter. An acquisitions editor signing off on a book is not an inherent stamp of quality. I am not defending selfpub so much as saying that acquisitions editors are by no means a marker of quality once you get past the jackasses who don't proofread and still expect goons to buy their book. neongrey fucked around with this message at 19:54 on May 1, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 19:51
|
|
|
Jedit posted:If memory serves it's de rigeur to use "said", unless you're deliberately making a Swifty for humorous effect.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 19:55
|
|
|
neongrey posted:An acquisitions editor signing off on a book is not an inherent stamp of quality. I can count the "new" authors (started in the last 10 years) I enjoy that started out with an official publisher on one hand. Meanwhile there are countless that started self-published and the majority of my reads last year were self-published works.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 20:06
|
|
|
ShinsoBEAM! posted:I can count the "new" authors (started in the last 10 years) I enjoy that started out with an official publisher on one hand. Meanwhile there are countless that started self-published and the majority of my reads last year were self-published works. I assume this is because when you're reading Chuck Tingle you only have one hand free to count with
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 20:09
|
|
|
I generally find that the signal-to-noise ratio with self-published books is way too loving low for it to be worth my time. I'm happy to read self-published books that have been vouched for by people whose taste I trust, but going through self-pubs on my own? gently caress that. I did the free month of Kindle Unlimited and came out with the conclusion that Unlimited is basically paying $10/month to go through a slush pile. That aside, my feedback on that book is that the name "Mugen Genshi" immediately makes me think "This guy watches way too much anime" and that counts pretty heavily against the book from the start. Even without the "who's/whose" mixup and the randomly capitalized Devils, that name alone will probably get you a no-go from me. Especially when it's combined with names like "Volgna" and "Hexzik". None of those work for me and that immediately turns me off of the book.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 20:32
|
|
|
Khizan posted:I generally find that the signal-to-noise ratio with self-published books is way too loving low for it to be worth my time. I'm happy to read self-published books that have been vouched for by people whose taste I trust, but going through self-pubs on my own? gently caress that. I did the free month of Kindle Unlimited and came out with the conclusion that Unlimited is basically paying $10/month to go through a slush pile. My only experience with self-pubs so far is when this very thread recommended Empire of the Worm. Boy, was that ever a bad call.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 20:47
|
|
|
Solitair posted:My only experience with self-pubs so far is when this very thread recommended Empire of the Worm. Boy, was that ever a bad call. 3.74 on Goodreads and only 35 ratings, yeah that's not a good sign.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 21:28
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:
Yeah, I need to add that to the NEW RULE I just put up like last week about posting your self-published stuff.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 23:30
|
|
|
What is weed dwarf 's name?
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 00:45
|
|
|
darthbob88 posted:I'd hesitate to say "always use said", but yeah, "said" is reliable, invisible, and generally the best option. Just don't overuse adverbs other than "said", and be prepared to justify any you do use. I don't write much dialogue in my fiction, but I have always been fond of authors who simply put a bit of description in between quoted clauses, i.e. "Blah blah," Foo stroked his neckbeard thoughtfully. "Furthermore blah." Accomplishes the goal of letting the reader know who is speaking without having to use adverbs, and is much less intrusive on the reading consciousness, IMO. Also gives you a chance to slide in some action that you might need to get across without necessarily having to give it much emphasis.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 01:26
|
|
|
If self-published people actually paid for the services of a copy editor I'd be more inclined to give their poo poo a chance. With a major house, while it may not be good, it'll at least likely be readable.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 02:02
|
|
|
Solitair posted:My only experience with self-pubs so far is when this very thread recommended Empire of the Worm. Boy, was that ever a bad call. Well how bad can that-- In the glorious empire of Qazradan -- Okay, yeah. Joking aside, though, it's 2017. I'm kinda befuddled by people (not you, people in general, I'm just springboarding off this to soapbox) who still think self-pub means "failed to get a big-five contract." More and more writers aren't even trying, because it's becoming more and more evident that the big five treat writers like dogshit. So yeah, we're in this spot where anyone who can self-pub glances up-thread does, when they obviously shouldn't yet, but it's also a serious choice anyone trying to do this for a living has to wrestle with.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 02:06
|
|
|
Forum accident posted:I'm a new author and I just self-published my first epic fantasy novel, The Warlord's Crown, and since I'm brand new to this I have no idea how to get the word out! I want to preserve this post forever like a mosquito in amber
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 02:23
|
|
|
all these people talking down at the guy did anyone actually read it yet? maybe its awesome. I would, but I don't know how to download mobi from amazon
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 03:00
|
|
|
I was thinking of the same post, nice one. Hieronymous Alloy posted:I assume this is because when you're reading Chuck Tingle you only have one hand free to count with Lol Doorknob Slobber posted:all these people talking down at the guy did anyone actually read it yet? maybe its awesome. I would, but I don't know how to download mobi from amazon The sentence I quoted is bad enough that there's no need to. Sorry, Forum accident.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 03:21
|
|
|
Doorknob Slobber posted:all these people talking down at the guy did anyone actually read it yet? maybe its awesome. I would, but I don't know how to download mobi from amazon
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 03:29
|
|
|
God I'd kill for Amazon to let me filter out the self-published stuff.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 04:22
|
|
|
CaptainScraps posted:God I'd kill for Amazon to let me filter out the self-published stuff. Amazon makes a bigger cut off those books so it'll never happen
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 04:51
|
|
|
Jim Hines does a survey of authors every year to get an idea of how income works for authors. It's interesting stuff. http://www.jimchines.com/2017/02/2016-novelist-income-results-1/ The basic gist is that, in 2016, there wasn't a huge difference in the incomes of full-time writers that self-publish versus those that have contracts with major publishers, until you get into the seven-figure area, in which case all of the respondents there were with big publishers. And that makes sense, because at that level you can dictate favorable terms in contracts and it's in the publisher's best interest to market your books, which frees up a lot of time for the author. This is tangential to the discussion at hand, but I found it interesting and figured I'd share.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 05:34
|
|
|
CaptainScraps posted:God I'd kill for Amazon to let me filter out the self-published stuff. You can tell for any given book. If it's "Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC" it's self-published. ...but yeah, can't find a way to filter it other than by ignoring individual books.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 05:38
|
|
|
Doorknob Slobber posted:all these people talking down at the guy did anyone actually read it yet? maybe its awesome. I would, but I don't know how to download mobi from amazon There is a preview that has the first few chapters.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 06:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 20:23 |
|
|
I bought it for £0.00 because I don't have Kindle Unlimited. I pressed the thing to send it to my phone, but haven't opened the kindle app today and tbh probably won't, I prefer ibooks for reading things and I'm already reading a book, so I don't know if it'll ever download or not. still think I wasted my time, but the review was funny I also read the occasional bit of good and cool self-published stuff, and quite a bit of mediocre self-published stuff. The stuff with solid (non-goodreads) recommendations behind it is worth trying. 90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 06:41 on May 2, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 06:38
|
|
