Acceptance!

Very happy to say that I just heard back from my editor on my recently delivered Spartacus manuscript. It's a go. He likes it and has officially accepted it!

There's still plenty of revising work to be done, but it's a big relief to get the confirmation that the book exists, and will be my next publication with Doubleday/Anchor. Book # 7 with them!

Oh, and I think it has a title now. It will likely be this:

The Risen: A Novel of Spartacus

Turmoil

In complete turmoil as we approach our moving day! We've been in moving mode for two weeks already, but tomorrow we head toward the final stages. It's picking up the rental van and stuffing it full of our bags, and then we drive to Glasgow on Wed for our very early flight on Thurs. There's way too much organizing going on.

Craziness.

But I don't feel I should neglect the old blog/Facebook, so today I offer the happy news that the fabulous UK publisher Gollancz has agreed to reboot the Wild Cards series in Britain! Seems they couldn't turn down GRRM! They'll be publishing the first three books later this year, and then jumping forward to continue with the newer books next year. So before long my characters may be slithering through the UK. I'm pleased about that.

More soon.

A Missing First Line

I've been crazy-busy this last week. Between moving out of Upper Park, staying with friends in Aberfeldy, saying goodbye to the wife and kids (who headed toward the Isle of Rum from a family meet-up), to driving up to Aberdeenshire to drop off our stuff and our pets with my sister-in-law (who then also headed to Rum), to driving in to Aberdeen and flying to London for Eastercon, to returning to Aberdeenshire, meeting up with the wife and kids (and everyone else that was on Rum), to driving down to Edinburgh and playing host to our neighbors from Massachusetts... well, it's been a bit hectic.

All throughout it, a batted emails back and forth about some very interesting new developments (more on those if anything comes of them, of course), and I kept reading student work.

I even tried to do some writing! (Not very successfully.)

I want to post at length about Eastercon, as it was a terrific con and I'm very glad I went. So, that post will come.

Right now, though, I want to mention another writer - Mary Robinette Kowal. She has a new novel out today, Glamour in Glass, and guess what? Somehow, at the last minute, the first line of the novel was cut out. Yikes. The book that's hitting shelves as I speak begins exactly one line after she intended. As horrible as that is, Mary has done an absolutely brilliant job of bouncing back from it.

Go check out all the creative things she's done. She's made someone's massive mistake into a wonderfully memorable launch. And talk about instant collector's items....

The Shadow Is In Play!

As of today, my middle grade novel - The Shadow Prince - is seeking a publisher.

Last week I got the last round of editorial suggestions from my agent and a couple of other readers at ICM. I penned responses where appropriate over the weekend, and yesterday I sent back my final manuscript. Sloan approved, and he's going to work with it.

We have a rather specific plan in place. I shouldn't blab too much about it, but certainly if it works out I'll let you know all about it.

Funny thing is that this - my first kid's book - is heading for consideration after more editorial input than any novel I've done so far. My wife and kids read it. Several beta readers (all former MFA students of mine) read it. My agent and at least three over people at ICM read it, and some folks at Curtis Brown (my UK agents) read a portion too. Mary Robinette Kowal read a little bit, as did my neighbor (an Egyptologist). Even my librarian read some! All gave feedback and helped shape the novel. I'm sure it's much stronger for it, and in the process I've learned a great deal about writing for kids.

Among other things, I've learned that I really, really enjoy it!

Will post here when I have good news...

Hines on Amazon Pricing

There's an informative post from Jim C. Hines regarding Amazon's control of self-published ebook titles. They changed his price without telling him, and with no explanation of why.

They can do that, you know...

You can read about his experience HERE.

A Person of Influence

I've just received something very nice. Words. Just words. But they are ones that mean quite a bit to me - for lots of reasons. I'm pleased to say that one of the Time Magazine's Most Influential People in the World has been kind enough to pen a few kind sentences about me.

No, it wasn't Mark Zuckerberg. Not Michelle Obama either. Michele Bachman... ah, no. And, alas, it wasn't Oprah.

It was his awesomeness himself: click HERE.

Stay with me...

Okay, so my publisher heard that he might be offering a blurb. They got excited and like instantly produced a new version of forthcoming massmarket cover. It looks like this: (Click on it and read George's "quote".)

Pretty nice, huh? If only I knew what the heck he was saying...

Fast forward to today, and I can offer you the actual endorsement George has very kindly offered me. The cool thing is that he starts it with the first thing he read of mine - that little novel about Carthage...

David Anthony Durham knocked me out with Pride of Carthage. He brought Hannibal, his brothers, and the Second Punic War to vivid, bloody life, and established himself as one of the bright new lights of historical fiction. He's doing great work in science fiction as well, as the Campbell Award voters attested when they elected him the best new writer in the field. His epic fantasies make him a triple threat.  No matter the genre, David Anthony Durham has serious chops. I can't wait to read whatever he writes next...

I am pleased and very grateful. My publisher has been jolted into a fury of activity. I can't really talk much about that, but judging from their reaction... George is a very influential person indeed.

Assassin Of What?

A while back I had a strange experience with a student. While reading her paper on some literary topic or another, I got the feeling that the words weren't hers. I took a few samples and googled them, and sure enough I found that she had copied them - probably from the same source it took me a minute to find. Not only that, she had taken whole paragraphs from lots of different sources. I kept finding them. An hour later... I was amazed at how much stuff she had cut and pasted - and from how many different sources she had stolen from. It must have taken hours to put it all together. She wasn't lazy! Why didn't she just write the thing herself?

When I confronted her on it, I got a different sort of surprise. I came away believing she was genuinely shocked to learn that cutting and pasting other people's ideas wasn't the same as writing similar ideas in her own words. She had spent all that time seeking out things she agreed with. When she found them she just kinda said, "Yeah, that's what I think!" and inserted them - without any attribution whatsoever. It was weird. It's like nobody had ever explained to her what writing an essay entailed.

I doubt that Q. R. Markham could even try to make the same claim in regards to his debut novel, Assassin of Secrets. Have you heard about this? The book was just published by Little Brown - a publisher I respect a lot - as part of a two-book deal. It entered the world with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was set to hit foreign markets too. Heralded as some awesome reboot of the spy/espionage genre, a "dazzling, deftly controlled debut that moves through familiar territory with wry sophistication."- (Kirkus)

Sounds good, yes? Only problem is that it appears to be a cut and paste job of massive proportions. Here's the Guardian's version of how it's unraveled. And here's a blog post that has side by side examples of texts from Markham's book and from the various originals. Take a look.

I don't take any pleasure in posting about this. I just find it so strange, so hard to understand, so inevitably headed for exposure and life-changing failure. Weird. Very weird. People seem to be rushing to buy his book on Amazon right now, even as the publisher pulls it and tries to get copies back. Was Markham caught making an awful mistake? Or is this the revelation of a hoax perpetrated on the publishing industry? I would say "on readers" as well, accept that it seems like in this case it's readers that caught the fraud.

What do you make of it?

Release Day

That's what today is. The Sacred Band slides into stores today. It's exists. It's alive! (At least, I hope it is.)

So what's that mean in the life of David Anthony Durham? What grand things do I have planned for today? Well, I'll tell you what I've done so far...

I've made omelets for the kids' breakfast.

I've walked the dog.

I've tried (and failed) to replace the fan belt on the car we're borrowing.

I've eaten leftover curry for lunch.

I've answered emails and mucked about with some interviews and essays.

It's now about time to walk the dog again...

Not very impressive, really. But what do I have in mind for later?

More of the same. That's how we roll around here. I'm in Scotland, an ocean away from where the book is pubbing. That's fine, though. My triplets are all grown up. They have to make their own way in the world.

That said, I hope that you include The Sacred Band in your plans for the day. If you're at all considering buying it... ah, please do. Go for it! What's the harm? What's the worst that could happen? And don't delay! Sales made this first week count a lot in terms of how/if my publisher invests in promoting the books in the weeks to come. So, if you're going to get the book eventually, considering making that eventually today!

I will be forever grateful if you do.

Oh, and I should mention that Suvudu.com has my Release Day Interview up HERE.

In Case You Missed It...

...there's been a bit of a firestorm recently revolving around the subject of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gender characters in YA fiction. What started this particular, um... discussion... off was that two authors, Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote a piece for the Genreville blog of Publishers Weekly, claiming that they had been told by a perspective agent that they should straighten a character's sexual orientation - or at least not disclose it. (Here's that post.)

This took off pretty fast on the internet, and shot into mainstream media quickly, as in this article in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

The two authors hadn't mentioned the agent by name, but she came out herself - Joanna Volpe - with a strongly worded denial of the claims, posted here at The Swivet.

Opinions and counter opinions have been flying ever since.

Occupation: Girl has a terrific summation of the whole situation, with lots of quotes from lots of voices. YA Highway also tackles it with a summation.

Just mentioning it...

Amazon Eyes E-Books for Prime Subscribers

Just a development of interest. Thought I'd mention it.

Article is HERE.

Library Journal

So, in actual fact this day sees me crating the dog and cat and heading for the airport, flying over night and then rolling out in London the next day, and then, hopefully, getting through customs etc without stress and starting a longish drive dead north to Scotland!

That's what I'm really doing today. But I'll pretend that I'm surfing the internet and that I've just come across this piece on the current (and future) state of SFF in Library Journal. It's got a lot of interesting info, and some tips on soon to be released titles - includes The Sacred Band, of course!

You could take a look HERE.

Acacia Portugal!

So, some good news from overseas! The Portuguese publisher Saida de Emergencia - who were already on board to publish The War With The Mein and The Other Lands - have just signed on for The Sacred Band: Book Three of the Acacia Trilogy, too! I'm thrilled. A publisher with gumption! With faith! Just jump in an buy all the books like you mean it! I couldn't be happier about it. (The same can't be said for all publishers, alas.)

The first Acacia comes out this month, and the rest will be spaced out reasonably, I imagine. Here's the cover, another revision of the first German cover:

It's funny the way they use GRRM's name on the front. Kinda makes it look like George wrote the blurb. He didn't. In fact, it's a quote from Library Journal comparing me to GRRM. Of course, I've got no problem with that at all...

A Ray Of Light

Gloom, gloom, gloom. There's so much to be gloomy about. As I'm packing up the house and readying for my move, I've been listening to NPR pretty much constantly. Shouldn't do that. It's great news, but... well, the news is rather grim and discouraging in lots of ways.

As a writer, publishing news has been pretty dismal the last few years as well. That's why I'm particularly pleased by this article in the New York Times: Publishing Gives Hints of Revival, Data Show. It seems publishing is on the mend, some of that rocky transition to e-books has been made, and - folks - things are looking up!

A quote from the article: “It shows that the industry as a whole is really healthy,” Ms. Raccah said. “That, I think, is exciting. You’re seeing an industry that is transforming itself.”

Good news. How about that?

Page Proofs!

Hey, here's another bit of proofing for me. And proof that The Sacred Band really is heading your way! I just received the first pass pages of the manuscript. These are the pages formatted as they will in the book. It's the real thing!

They look like this:



I put Maya to work on proofreading them. Such a keen eye she has. Together, we've actually found a typo! That's a start. There will likely be more that we don't catch, but oh well. This will go back to Doubleday in a few days, and they'll give it the once over again.

I'm please to say that the thing reads like a book. A real book. A conclusion to a trilogy! Yahoo!

I also just heard that galleys are on the way to me. That'll be something. To hold the book in hand. (In case you're wondering, the galleys are produced before the final final text. There will be small changes made in the final edition. It's one of the reasons, actually, that galleys are cool. They give a glimpse of the almost finished book.)

So, things roll on...

Map Proofs!

The other day the first draft of the map for The Sacred Band showed up from the artist. I like it. I was impressed by how easily he managed to change the scale to incorporate both more of the north and more of the Other Lands into it.

Fortunately, Sage was on hand to check the details and make small editorial suggestions...

I'd love to give you a closer look, but I think I have to keep it under wraps at the moment. The artist still has a lot of finishing touches to complete it. Nice to see things progressing!

So, My Next Book Will Be…

Yes, it’s official. I’ve come to terms with my publisher, Doubleday and Anchor Books, for a new book contract. I sold them on a proposal that - for one book, at least - returns me to straight historical fiction in the vein of Pride of Carthage. It seems I can’t help but be drawn to writing about enemies of Rome. In this case, my subject will be the slave rebellion lead by the gladiator Spartacus.

You might ask, “Spartacus: The Novel? Really?”

To which I’d say, “Yep.”

Honestly, I’d be interested in writing about this event for a long time. As with any terrific subject, writers and filmmakers have touched on the Spartacus story in various ways over the years. I hope to give my own spin on it, one that uses the full potential of a novel to capture both the large-scale drama of it and also create intimate fictional portraits that bring it to life. I’m itching to get back into the gritty, brutal, beautiful terrain on ancient Italia. I sense a long research trip coming up…

It’s early days yet and the actual writing is yet to be done, but here’s a bit of what I wrote in my proposal…

“Spartacus. You know the name, but how much do you really know about his rebellion? It’s great stuff, ripe two thousand years after the fact for a grand retelling. Spartacus was a gladiator that led a slave uprising that shook Rome between 73-71 BCE. He escaped his brutal imprisonment with a small band armed only with kitchen knives and simple weapons. Within a year, tens of thousands had broken their chains and joined him. For three years he ranged up and down the Italian peninsula, defeating every army Rome threw at him, winning allies and followers all the way. He was eventually defeated, but the reasons why have more to do with insurmountable odds and with the follies of others than with any mistakes on Spartacus’ part. There’s a reason his name and story has lived on. His is a terrific tale, and I’d like to tell it for our times.

Like Pride of Carthage, my Spartacus novel will be an epic about an inspired enemy of Rome, told through a variety of points of view that capture the complexity of the entire conflict. Like Hannibal, Spartacus commanded with panache and deadly skill, drawing a vast host of followers and racking up victory after victory in the process. And, like Hannibal, his actual exploits may be best brought to life with a rigorous historical novel, one that combines the amazing but incomplete historical record with a novelist’s embellishment.

Spartacus’ story has three components that convince me to embark on this journey. 1) A larger than life, mythic persona that’s rooted in a real life, personal story. 2) Panoramic battles that pit charismatic underdogs against a vastly powerful oppressor, complete with twists and turns of fate that match every inspired victory with hair-pulling betrayals to balance them. 3) A foundation in social, economic, political issues that continues to have resonance and relevance two millennia later.

Various groups have mythologized Spartacus in various ways over the years, but none of them have done it like I would. What I love about his story is how tangible the tension is between his personal objectives and the larger drama that his inspired actions put him at the center of. The inner conflict is evidenced in the historical record. On one hand he wanted nothing more than to flee the nightmare of gladiatorial slavery and return to his rugged, Thracian homeland (Bulgaria). On the other hand, he couldn’t escape the effects of his brilliant leadership. His oratory skills and personal charisma made him a magnet that drew thousands upon thousands to him, all of them looking for freedom, for justice, and for revenge...”

So that, friends, is a big part of what I’m going to be working on the coming year. Just between us, though, it’s not the only thing. I’ve got more than one thing cooking these days, and that has me very excited. I’ll report on more when I can...

Sales, Earnings Up at Random House

Interesting piece at Publishers Weekly. It looks like Random House has reported a total revenue rise of 6.1% last year, with a lot help coming from a 250% increase in e-book sales.

I'm just saying - I've never bought the argument that publishers are entirely missing out - or at war with - the ebook change to the landscape.

Details are HERE.

Oh, and yes, since I'm published by Doubleday that does make my books part of the Random House world. Wonder what they made from my ebooks...

The Editor Speaketh

I told you that I’d finished the manuscript. I showed you the cover. I pointed at the publication date. But I don’t think I’ve yet mentioned a final bit of business about The Sacred Band - namely, what my editor thought of the whole thing.

Well, he got back to me a little while ago, and I’m very pleased to say that we’re a go. He liked the book and its conclusion quite a bit. Here, I’ll let him speak for himself. He said, in part:

“I finished THE SACRED BAND last night with a great feeling of satisfaction. You really have delivered on that promise you made to us and to yourself years ago to produce an epic, multi-layered, literate, fully imagined alternative historical narrative, and all the plot strands are wrapped up in completely satisfying fashion. It was a long journey, certainly, but your strong writing kept my full attention throughout and I was never bored for a minute.”

So, that’s one guy’s take on it. I hope that, come October, lots more readers will find the book to their liking as well!

Publish Small?

Publishing is a good thing. Really, it is.

But I have felt myself wondering about what feels like a new variation on an old question lately. Namely, I’m seeing more and more folks - in many cases students I’ve been in contact with in various programs - publish works in online magazines that that I’ve never heard of, and that I’m not sure have much of a readership or hope for a lasting reputation. Now, the fact that I haven’t heard of a site doesn’t mean a thing. It could just mean that I’m lame, uncool, out of it. May be a great site, no doubt, with just the sort of readers the writers are looking for. I’m absolutely sure that’s the case sometimes. But I’m just as sure that it’s not the case other times.

I know some established authors that advise aspiring writers to write, revise, submit. Publish and move on to the next thing. I generally agree, but I also think that to that mantra one should add caveats, like 1) submit selectively after doing your homework about what publications might like your work and introduce you to the readers you really want to have, 2) know that you might need to return for a second or third or fourth round of revision to a story, even if you’ve also moved forward with other ones, and 3) remember that publishing isn’t the end of the game - it’s the start of it, and you’ll want to make sure that start is a strong one.

Please understand that I’m not talking about established sites/magazines with a core readership. There are lots of ways that publications with modest readerships are great places to be published. I’m talking about sites that have newly appeared and are hoping to find a readership - and looking to use your words to do it. I’ve heard students lament having “published” a story with a site that promptly vanished - taking the story and the rights to republish it with them into the netherworld. I’ve also seen some sites that seem to need content so desperately that quality is secondary. And I’ve heard people admit that they published something on a site that they personally had no interest in reading. Hmmm. Come on folks - if you don’t like a publication enough to read other stories published in it, why would you want to put your own work in it?

This all got me wondering if the plethora of places to publish is a good thing, or if it’s actually something of a pitfall that’s not ultimately going to benefit the writer. I have an opinion on this.

Before I get to it, though, I’d ask you to consider this post by Ann Leckie and the comments that follow it. I read this a while back, and it speaks directly to what I'm talking about. She lays some of the fundamental issues out and talks with a lot of clarity about them. And, as you’ll note from the fact that her discussion jumped off a John Scalzi-sponsored discussion about another related topic, this question has real significance in our changing publishing landscape. So go take a look and then come back.

Okay, you’re back? Very glad. So what do you think?

My short thoughts are that emerging writers should be mindful of where they publish, at least in terms of what their expectations are. I can see lots of reasons to enjoy engagement with an online community that's far from the mainstream and that's hitting an audience - however small - of like-minded readers (most of whom are probably aspiring writers themselves). That said, I also believe aspiring writers should be very careful where they publish for two reasons - one artistic and one career-oriented.

Artistically... Sorry say it, but being rejected and having to face what that means is a very important part of developing as a writer. It's got to happen. It should happen. Through the process of offering fiction and being turned down we grow more and more into who we are as writers. I'm not suggesting that every editor knows what's best or anything like that. That’s not the point. I believe that writers should face rejection no matter how brilliant they are. It's working and facing obstacles that pushes us to get better, to linger longer with our characters and themes, to grow a bit older, to find more effective ways to communicate. Or to decide that you’ve done it just right, and just need to find the right person to agree. Or… to face the fact that not every story needs to find a publisher; sometimes they should stay unpublished; that’s not always a bad thing.

I've listened to the news of publication success for some stories in the last few years with mixed emotions. On one hand, I'm happy if the writer is happy. On the other hand, I've also felt, "Oh, that's a shame. That story would've been really good after another revision." Instead of being locked in to a marginal publication, it might have found a home someplace that got it noticed by people with the capacity to move a career forward.

Oh, and that's where the career side of things kicks in. I agree completely with Ann's assessment that a history of small publications doesn't mean much to the people that remain in charge of publishing mainstream books. If you don’t care about those folks, fine. If your objective isn’t publication for the widest audience possible that’s fine too. There are lots of ways to enjoy your life as a writer. Small venues can be just the sort of thing to keep you going - and keep you happy. But if what you’re after is your own personal world domination… then I suggest that you be as careful with where you submit your work as you are with how you craft it.

The Sacred Amazon

It's happened. That landmark moment in any book's life these days. The Sacred Band is up on Amazon! I'm not sure when it appeared, but it looks like some kind folks have already bought a copy or two. Thank you. Much appreciated. There's more where those came from!

Although... well, you should remember that the pub date is officially October 4th. So, it's not really a purchase at this point. It's more a good faith indication that a purchase will happen nine months from now. Still, I'm pleased.

Now, if I could just get those editorial comments back from my editor I could make sure there will be a finished book to published that day...