Angry Robot Round II: Epic Fantasy

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kalevin

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Thanks for the link, sgf. I submitted mine at the very last minute on the 30th. I think it's going to be awhile. ;)

Alright, I'll just admit it. I have the angst. I check my email every twenty minutes. Everything I have that's polished is out at some market or another, and there's a lot of waiting going on. I'm trying to work on any next project that will prove distracting. I think I may have failed my Meta Ethics final yesterday, as I spent the entire 2 hours worrying over whether an email had come in and I couldn't look at it.

Of course, if AR loves my book then I won't have to worry so much about my Meta Ethics final, right?

Vicious cycle, this whole waiting business. I'm going to go find myself a fainting couch and a dirty martini. ;) Who wants to join me?
 

Tasha

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Good luck to everyone who is submitting. Didn't finish any of the books I'm working on in time but there is always next time! :)

Hope there is loads of requests for fulls coming everyones way! =^.^=
 

sgf

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Well, Kalevin, judging by the total number of submissions, and assuming the editors strictly go by the order the submissions were received, by the time I get my response, there shouldn't be more than 30-40 submissions left until yours gets reviewed.

Until then, I do believe dirty martinis are a known cure for angst fatigue. I think it's something in the olive juice.

Hope your exam went well-- never heard of meta ethics but it sounds interesting.
 

Anne Lyle

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Of course, if AR loves my book then I won't have to worry so much about my Meta Ethics final, right?

Ah, the optimism of the young! You can join me on my yacht when you get the acceptance...</sarcasm>

Doesn't detract from the awesomeness of getting published, though. The money is just icing on the cake right now :)
 

Debeucci

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Wait....i don't get the sarcasm. Didn't you buy a yacht with your advance, Anne? I was going to go with a 90 footer but went with a G4 instead. Meh, it was either that or some arabian horses.
 

kalevin

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I meant more that it proves someone is willing to pay me for this whole writing thing, therefore my mother is wrong and I can give up my back-up career of going into Ethics and Public Policy.

Wait. You mean I won't make any money doing that, either? Drat.

(Meta Ethics was 12 weeks of arguing over whether or not such a thing as moral tuth-value exists and can be assigned to any person's particular action [such as giving to charity]; it was, in short, boring. And required by my major.)

*abandons ethics, sets up the bar*
 
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Debeucci

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I'd actually find a discussion about moral truth value quite stimulating. Sure beats market trading aggregation technologies
 

lauralam

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I really enjoyed my ethics class when I took it at uni.

But yeah, you won't be able to quit your day job, but it's a nice bit of secondary income and the first step in a possible career.
 

Dreambrewer

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Wouldn't that depend where the writer is based on? Plenty of countries out there where even 200$ per month is a large amount of money.
 

Ian Isaro

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Dreambrewer said:
Wouldn't that depend where the writer is based on? Plenty of countries out there where even 200$ per month is a large amount of money.
I think it's a safe bet that the majority of people dreaming of writing genre fiction live in a country with a relatively high cost of living, but it's nice to get a reference. 200 USD is 300 000 TSH, aka "more money than almost everyone I know gets per month."

It's nice sometimes, in that mediocre ebook sales are still meaningful to me. But with low cost of living comes poor internet and limited ability to market. It also never fun to hear people say things like covers costing "only 50 dollars."

Anyway, back to lurking since my manuscript wasn't ready for submission.
 

Debeucci

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I've always had this idea to take my savings and move to a distant low cost land like vietnam or panama, and live like a recluse, surfing by day and writing books by night.
 

Anne Lyle

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It's nice sometimes, in that mediocre ebook sales are still meaningful to me. But with low cost of living comes poor internet and limited ability to market. It also never fun to hear people say things like covers costing "only 50 dollars."

However they're talking about the going rate in countries where $50 is not much - maybe you could get art much cheaper from a local artist? In any case, that's not an issue with a commercial contract - the publisher pays for pretty much everything. Though as you say, self-promo is going to be a lot harder with poor internet and fewer opportunities to network in person (e.g. at major conventions).
 

kalevin

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I've always had this idea to take my savings and move to a distant low cost land like vietnam or panama, and live like a recluse, surfing by day and writing books by night.

My other half would like us to move to Costa Rica, where he can sit and watch monkeys all day long. But he's an anthropologist like that. ;) Me, I just dream of paying off my school loans (I'm at about $10K, so I don't think that's out of reach).

Going back a little in the conversation here: I really liked my intro to ethics course, but I think the instructor I had for meta ethics ruined things for me. On the other hand, loved the course on international justice that I took this quarter. Lots of neat little story nuggets came out of that class. I'm taking a class on Libertarianism over the summer, which I suspect will result in some hermity, anti-Leviathan character types skulking about.

So anyways. What are we all doing to beat the nerves? How's the waiting game going for everyone?

*stocks the bar with sandwiches*
 

AndreaGS

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Mmmm, sandwiches.

I submitted at night on the first day, so I'm suffering from some nerves. OTOH, not expecting much - I'm rewriting the first 1/3 to tighten the plot. I think it has some structural issues.

Keeping busy helps, I think. I'm doing the rewrites, finishing the rough draft of another manuscript, writing notes for the next, and writing/submitting short stories. And there's that pesky day job, of course.

Now y'all have me dreaming about moving to Thailand or Costa Rica. Ah, the lands of cheap food, warm weather, and lower cost of living!

How's everyone else doing?
 

Debeucci

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I spent 10 days in Costa Rica once for New Years. White water rafted, slept a few days in the jungle, went a mile long zip line, etc...best vacation ever. Water so warm it was almost too warm. Cheap place, friendly people. Though it's getting a bit too first world touristy. Supposedly, Panama is the new Costa Rica. I'd love to retire there though.
 

Ian Isaro

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Debeucci said:
I've always had this idea to take my savings and move to a distant low cost land like vietnam or panama, and live like a recluse, surfing by day and writing books by night.
I can't say whether that would be a good idea or not, but one place you should consider is South Korea. From what I've heard, it has a relatively low cost of living combined with a decent standard of living.

Anne Lyle said:
In any case, that's not an issue with a commercial contract - the publisher pays for pretty much everything.
Right, I kind of slid between commercial contracts and self-publishing without being clear.
 

Debeucci

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I would hardly consider South Korea low cost living. It is lower than say the US or UK, but not in the "Going to live off 2 bucks a day for the rest of m life cheap" category like other places.

Besides, I probably want to live where there isn't a crazy dude 20 miles north with an itchy trigger finger on some badly made missiles.
 

lauralam

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They really are. Fantastically nice, tech and media-savvy, and really committed to their authors. I feel like I'm in great hands with them. :)
 

Ian Isaro

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Okay, last offtopic post from me. Hopefully it's been a bit of a distraction for everyone waiting on an answer.

Debeucci said:
I would hardly consider South Korea low cost living. It is lower than say the US or UK, but not in the "Going to live off 2 bucks a day for the rest of m life cheap" category like other places.
It depends on the location, of course, and not wanting to live near North Korea is perfectly legitimate. But I actually had the $2/day cost in mind as well - I know two people in South Korea who say they're surprisingly comfortable on $50/month salaries.

It occurs to me that by "surfing" you probably meant the ocean, not the internet. Part of the reason I bothered mentioning SK was because internet is so fast there, but if you're looking for a reclusive surfing lifestyle it's not that great of a choice.
 

Eliza C

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Just thought I'd say hi and chime in that I'm waiting with the rest of you. I've been checking Duotrope daily and have seen no rejections listed yet. From the AR site, it looks like 10-12 weeks might be a good estimate to start hearing back on subs, but now I'll be checking in here as well.
 

JRVogt

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Bumped into this discussion. Heya all! Congrats to those who've received positive responses from AR so far. Sorry to hear, JJ. Was really hoping for you.

Sent in mine the day subs opened and haven't heard anything back either way so far. You'd think we'd get used to waiting after a while.
 

jjdebenedictis

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Bumped into this discussion. Heya all! Congrats to those who've received positive responses from AR so far. Sorry to hear, JJ. Was really hoping for you.

Sent in mine the day subs opened and haven't heard anything back either way so far. You'd think we'd get used to waiting after a while.
Thanks Josh. I've still got my fingers crossed for you! Hopefully they've set yours in their "Ooh, exciting! Must show the other editors this one" pile. :)
 

Eliza C

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Hmm, since my first post here I've had time to read back beyond the current page and see that some folks have already heard back. Well, that makes me more anxious than I was before...

Congrats to any who have had a full ms. requested and condolences to those who have already received rejections.
 
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