Editors/Agents: What would you like writers to stop doing?

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, I attended Westercon 66 at the Hilton Arden West Hotel in Sacramento. I participated in three group panels, and one solo panel, which is the primary focus of this blog post.

First, just for the sake of posterity, I'd like to list the three group panels on which I participated, with a special nod to my fellow panelists who helped make the respective panels enjoyable as well as educational (for me as well as the audience).

July 5, 11:15:00, Sonoma conference room

The Pain & Joy of Self Publishing

Self-publishing allows the author to retain total creative control, but means they forgo the benefits of being with a major label. Our panel discusses the benefits and drawbacks of self-publishing and how to compensate for not having an editor and publishing house.

Panelists: M. Todd Gallowglas (M); Valerie Frankel; Marty Halpern; Emerian Rich; Karen Sandler; Jean Marie Stine.

July 6, 11:15:00, Sonoma conference room

Secrets of Publishing

Nearly every SF/fantasy author has been published by a smaller press at some point in their careers. It is also known for publishing new authors, midlist authors, short story collections, and other "odd" books typically rejected by the big New York publishers. Our panelists represent a spectrum of publications, and can "tell

all."

Panelists: David Maxine (M); Marty Halpern; Jacob Weisman.

[Note: I was under the impression that the "tell all" part of this panel was for the panelists to share some of their "publishing secrets" with the audience. Unfortunately, though I had come prepared with plenty of secrets, this was not the case. Instead, the discussion concerned copyright, distribution, etc. -- and I left with all of my "secrets" intact. Maybe next time....]

July 6, 12:30:00, Folsom conference room

Publishing Options: Traditional vs On-Demand and Self-Publishing

The days of needing your own printing press are long gone. With modern publishing methods you can print one copy or 1 million. Our panelists will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the various publishing options.

Panelists: Ben Yalow (M); Kelley Eskridge; Marty Halpern; Phyllis Kalbach; Emerian Rich; Jean Marie Stine.

So these were the three group panels in which I participated. I've been on a number of similar panels over the course of the past few years, at Baycon, Fogcon, Convolution, and Westercon, but since the industry -- and technology -- change so rapidly, and the panelists differ from con to con, there is always an opportunity for the audience (and me as well) to learn something new or, at least, to learn how the industry has changed.

And here are the details for my solo panel:

July 6, 3:00:00 Merlot conference room

Ask The Editor

Join Marty Halpern for "Ask the Editor." Bring your general editing questions or specific editing questions. You may also bring a copy of your own work for demo editing.

Marty Halpern (M)

Fortunately, no one in the audience had brought manuscript pages to be demo-edited; I say "fortunately" because the projection system and flip chart that Westercon programming had promised to provide me were never delivered (which, in my overall experience at a number of Bay Area cons in recent years, is fairly typical; if you really need a projection system, flip chart, etc., bring your own).

Following my lengthy introduction and some general chatting with the audience, I asked for questions -- and Effie Seiberg posed the following: "What would you like writers to start doing?" and "What would like writers to stop doing?"

These were actually very good questions, and the first part -- What I would like writers to start doing -- was easily answered: spell check your work! I'm not talking about spelling errors like "their," "they're," and "there." I'm talking about blatant spelling errors that even Microsoft's lousy spell checker would catch. Not to spell check your work is, in my humble editorial opinion, nothing but pure laziness. Blatant spelling errors in a manuscript will easily turn off a potential agent, editor, or publisher, because it shows a lack of respect for your own work (and their time).

Of course, once I had given the "spell check" response, a second thought immediately came to mind: style sheet. I've previously written about style sheets in December 2010, in February 2011, and again in January 2012. As I've mentioned at least once in those three blog posts, in my near fifteen years as an editor, only two authors have ever provided me with a style sheet: Michael A. Stackpole and Mark Teppo. Style sheets should become a matter of habit for every author, for novels especially, but for short stories, too. I would argue that a detailed style sheet will eliminate a number of questions and mark-ups on the author's manuscript, thus making the editor's job easier and, in turn, the author's job when the manuscript is returned.

As to the second half of Effie's question: What would I like writers to stop doing? -- though I thought for a brief moment, nothing really came to mind then -- and nothing has come to mind since. I'm not a stickler for formatting guidelines, or grammar rules, as long as the author is consistent throughout the manuscript. So I guess I could add a third point to the "What I would like writers to start doing": be consistent.

Which brings me to the audience participation part of this blog post: If you are an agent, an editor, and/or a publisher, what would you like writers to stop doing?

To Every Thing There Is a Season....

On Saturday, July 1, 1989, I drove nearly 400 miles -- with my wife and young daughter in tow -- in order to meet Leo and Diane Dillon. They were appearing that weekend at Westercon 42, at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

The Dillons weren't the artist guests of honor, but somehow I had learned they would be in attendance at the convention. (Remember, there was no online "social media" then like there is now.) According to Tom Whitmore [more on Tom in a bit], the Dillons tended to turn down GOH invites, but they were in the middle of a book tour, and managed to squeeze in some convention time into their hectic schedule. Regardless of how I heard the Dillons were planning to be at the convention, I was planning to be there, too.

Nebula and Hugo awards for Best Novel

Upon arriving in Anaheim on Saturday, July 1, we stayed at my parents' house [the house, alas, that I finally sold in April] as they lived only a mile or so from the hotel. And while my wife and daughter spent time that weekend with my family, I made my way to the Marriott and Westercon 42.

In addition to my family and a couple pieces of luggage, I had also brought with me two fairly large boxes (printer paper boxes) of books that I had hoped to have Leo and Diane Dillon sign. Among the approximately 50 or so books were all 36 original Ace Science Fiction Specials, edited by the late Terry Carr, in which the Dillons had done the cover art.¹ Obviously this was back in the days of my book collecting mania. I still have these books -- and probably about three thousand more -- I just don't worry about getting them signed any longer. (That is, unless the book is one that I edited and/or the author is a personal friend.)

To successfully get all of my books signed, I needed some dedicated time with the Dillons. So, I approached Tom Whitmore, who was on the Westercon 42 staff, and asked for his assistance. Tom was one of the three founding partners of the Other Change of Hobbit bookstore in Berkeley; I knew Tom from spending far too much time (and undoubtedly far too much money) at that particular bookstore during the mid-to-late '80s and '90s.

Leo and Diane Dillon were presenting a slide show of their work in the afternoon, I believe it was on Sunday, July 2; following the slide show presentation, Tom graciously escorted the Dillons and me to a smaller room where we could have some private time -- and, in fact, Tom even remained by the door to ensure we were not interrupted.

But before all the signing was the Dillons' slide show presentation. I have this vague (after 23 years!) memory of the event, and truly wish that a recording of the Dillons' commentary was available. They showed slide after slide, discussing the particular technique used with each one: wood block prints, batik (or some similar process), various mixed media; and the occasional hassles they had with art directors, deadlines, and such. How Leo fell asleep while painting late one night and Diane picked up right where he had left off... How each piece they did was a collaboration of ideas and skills: what they themselves referred to as the "Third Artist." They touched on -- but didn't dwell upon -- some of the difficulties they encountered in the late '50s and '60s as an interracial couple.

Tom Whitmore also reminded me that it was this slide show that the Dillons presented an unfinished cover for The Last Unicorn. I don't recall the full story (i.e. how the cover came to be, and then remained unfinished), but Tom informed Connor Freff Cochran -- Peter S. Beagle's agent, co-producer, publisher, etc. -- about the unfinished piece; Connor then contacted the Dillons and had them finish the piece for a reprint edition of the book.

Conjuring Norman Sperling at Westercon

I attended Westercon 64 in San Jose, California, over the July 4th holiday weekend; the convention was held at the classy Fairmont Hotel in downtown SJ.¹

I was assigned to five panels, and though all the panels went well (despite the lack of necessary equipment at one panel and two panelist no-shows at another), I was a bit disappointed in the attendance, and not just at the panels, but during the overall con as well. The dealers room seemed nearly empty during each of my visits; I saw very few people throughout the weekend that I knew, and there wasn't much of a "bar-con" going on either. Of course, a band played in the bar area Saturday and Sunday nights, which made it near impossible to hold any kind of conversation without shouting, even to the person sitting next to you.

And though I participated in all five of these panels, there is only one that I wish to mention -- my first panel on Saturday morning, July 2, which ran from 10:00AM until 11:30AM in the Regency Ballroom 2. Here's the official description, along with the names of the other panelists:

Fantasy Houses with SF Furniture in Them

If there's magic in it, the book is fantasy, right? But what if the magical power is on tap like water and you pay a monthly bill to the city magic utility, as in Walter John Williams' Metropolitan? What if magic is described, studied, and practiced in the language of physics and software, as in Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives? Is this a new genre, a hybrid genre, or still just fantasy?

Panelists: Chaz Brenchley, Paul Carlson, Lisa Goldstein, Marty Halpern, and Deborah Ross (Moderator).

Since I had acquired and edited Charles Stross's The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue for Golden Gryphon Press, and had worked on the third novel in the series, The Fuller Memorandum, for Ace Books, this seemed like an ideal panel for me. [Note: If you care to indulge, I've written a lengthy blog post about my work on these three Stross novels.] But, as it turned out, it wasn't an easy panel. For such a panel, one feels the need to define "fantasy" and "science fiction" in order to determine the room (environment) and the type of furniture, so to speak. And, of course, a discussion of this nature can go round and round and round. But it was still an enjoyable panel discussion, at least for me. And I had an opportunity to meet three panelists for the first time -- Chaz, Paul, and Deborah -- and re-meet, as it were, Lisa Goldstein, whose wonderful new novel The Uncertain Places, I proofed and copyedited for Tachyon Publications.

But I have another reason for sharing this event with you.