date: 2008-05-10 08:52 subject: HEIDI'S PICK SIX - WANDA C. KEESEY security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, heidi's pick six, lost in the mist, wanda c keesey

Lost in the Mist by W. C. Keesey
( See what Wanda has to say. )

date: 2008-05-02 15:26 subject: April Newsletter for Heidi Ruby Miller security: Public tags: field notes, heidi ruby miller, newsletter, southwestern pennsylvania

My April newsletter is finally finished, a few days late.

I've reformatted it and given it a new name Field Notes.

Here's an excerpt from the introductory letter for April's issue titled Pride of Place: Loving Where You Live:

Field Notes allows me to express the many facets of my life rather than limiting me to speculative fiction. The concept comes from my undergrad days studying anthropology and geography, as well as my love for traveling and adventure.

Each issue will revolve around a central theme, while still sharing news of my latest releases, appearances, and projects-in-progress. I'll also feature writerly friends and keep you up-to-date on my latest author interviews.

In this issue I look at Southwestern Pennsylvania as my home and playground. The natural beauty rivals only the historic and cultural richness of the area. From the mansions of Uniontown's millionaire coal baron days to Ohiopyle State Park's whitewater rapids and hiking trails, I continue to explore this region in all its forms, seeing it with the eyes of a former anthropologist, but the heart of a native. It is the best of both worlds.


If you'd like to receive a copy, please email me at heidirubymiller AT gmail DOT com.

I'll have more updates here a bit later.

Cheers,
Heidi

date: 2008-04-17 07:26 subject: HEIDI'S PICK SIX - ELIZABETH ZELVIN security: Public tags: elizabeth zelvin, heidi ruby miller, heidi's pick six

Elizabeth Zelvin
( See what Liz had to say. )

date: 2008-04-14 07:58 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - TAMMY SWOISH security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, hot scots castles and kilts, paths to publication, tammy swoish

Hot Scots, Castles, and Kilts by Tammy Swoish
( See how Tammy got her first novel published. )

date: 2008-04-07 07:52 subject: From The Authors Guild: Amazon Tightens Grip on Long Tail security: Public tags: amazon, booksurge, heidi ruby miller, ingram, lightning source, the authors guild

I got this message over the weekend in my email from The Authors Guild:

Last week Amazon announced that it would be requiring that all books that it sells that are produced through on-demand means be printed by BookSurge, their in-house on-demand printer/publisher. Amazon pitched this as a customer service matter, a means for more speedily delivering print-on-demand books and allowing for the bundling of shipments with other items purchased at the same time from Amazon. It also put a bit of an environmental spin on the move -- claiming less transportation fuel is used (this is unlikely, but that's another story) when all items are shipped directly from Amazon.

We, and many others, think something else is afoot. Ingram Industries' Lightning Source is currently the dominant printer for on-demand titles, and they appear to be quite efficient at their task. They ship on-demand titles shortly after they are ordered through Amazon directly to the customer. It's a nice business for Ingram, since they get a percentage of the sales and a printing fee for every on-demand book they ship. Amazon would be foolish not to covet that business.

What's the rub? Once Amazon owns the supply chain, it has effective control of much of the "long tail" of publishing -- the enormous number of titles that sell in low volumes but which, in aggregate, make a lot of money for the aggregator. Since Amazon has a firm grip on the retailing of these books (it's uneconomic for physical book stores to stock many of these titles), owning the supply chain would allow it to easily increase its profit margins on these books: it need only insist on buying at a deeper discount -- or it can choose to charge more for its printing of the books -- to increase its profits. Most publishers could do little but grumble and comply.

We suspect this maneuver by Amazon is far more about profit margin than it is about customer service or fossil fuels. The potential big losers (other than Ingram) if Amazon does impose greater discounts on the industry, are authors -- since many are paid for on-demand sales based on the publisher's gross revenues -- and publishers.

We're reviewing the antitrust and other legal implications of Amazon's bold move. If you have any information on this matter that you think could be helpful to us, please call us at (212) 563-5904 and ask for the legal services department, or send an e-mail to staff@authorsguild.org.


The Authors Guild, Heidi Ruby Miller, Amazon, Ingram, Lightning Source, BookSurge, POD, writing

Feel free to post or forward this message in its entirety.

date: 2008-04-04 07:40 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - MARY REED security: Public tags: eric mayer, heidi ruby miller, mary reed, paths to publication, seven for a secret

Seven for a Secret by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
( See how Mary and Eric got their John the Eunuch Mystery Series published. )

date: 2008-04-03 07:43 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - MICHAEL STANLEY security: Public tags: a carrion death, heidi ruby miller, michael sears, michael stanley, paths to publication, stanley trollip

A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley
( See how Michael and Stanley got their debut novel published. )

date: 2008-04-02 08:24 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - M. E. KEMP security: Public tags: death of a bawdy belle, heidi ruby miller, m. e. kemp, paths to publication

Death of a Bawdy Belle by M. E. Kemp
( Read about M. E.'s path to publication. )

date: 2008-04-01 11:54 subject: Seton Hill Stoker Winners security: Public tags: bram stoker awards, gary braunbeck, heidi ruby miller, michael a arnzen, seton hill writers

Congratulations to Seton Hill Writers Mike Arnzen and Gary Braunbeck who won Bram Stoker Awards this past weekend in the following categories:

Michael A. Arnzen - Fiction Collection for Proverbs for Monsters (tied with Peter Straub)

Gary A. Braunbeck - Long Fiction for "Afterward There Will Be a Hallway"
and
-Anthology for Five Strokes to Midnight with co-editor Hank Schwaeble


Bram Stoker Awards, Heidi Ruby Miller, Horror Writers Association, Michael A. Arnzen, Gary Braunbeck, horror, writing, author interviews, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-03-27 20:21 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - KEN RAND security: Public tags: fairy brewhaha at the lucky nickel saloo, heidi ruby miller, ken rand, paths to publication

Fairy BrewHaHa by Ken Rand
( Read how Ken got Fairy Brew Ha Ha published. )

date: 2008-03-19 10:43 subject: Seton Hill Writers on the Web security: Public tags: anne harris, heidi ruby miller, k. j. howe, laurie alice eakes, maria snyder, penny dawn, renae johnson, seton hill writers, steven piziks, tobias buckell

#1: Steven Piziks/Steven Harper (read Steven's PICK SIX here) guest blogs today at Anne Harris' Friskbiskit. (Read Anne's PICK SIX here.)

#2: Renae Johnson's story "Heavenly Bodies" was chosen for the Loose Id's March Madness Sweet Sixteen. Voting beings some time today.

#3: Penny Dawn (read Penny's PATH TO PUBLICATION here) is guest blogging at Amber Quill Press.

#4: Maria V. Snyder (read Maria's PATH TO PUBLICATION here) shares her recent listing on the New Times Bestseller List with K.J. Howe (read K. J.'s PICK SIX here) at Romance Bandits.

#5: Shelley Adina has a new site for her Spencer Academy series.

#6: Seton Hill alum Laurie Alice Eakes is making a guest appearance and having a book giveaway at Mary Lu Tyndall's blog The Cross and Cutlass.

#7: Tobias S. Buckell (read Toby's PICK SIX here) and Maria V. Snyder are part of 23 published writers blogging about the dreaded synopsis.
( Find the links to the other 21 blogs behind the cut. )

date: 2008-03-19 07:54 subject: A Meme to Take You Away - The Illustrated Version security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, meme, sandy lender, travel

I seldom do memes any more, probably because I limit myself to how much time I spend on the internet per day, but Sandy Lender (read her PICK SIX here) emailed me to say she'd tagged me for this one, so I took the time to have a little fun.
( If you're interested in my imaginative musings, follow the cut. )
Blogs Tagged by Heidi Ruby Miller:
Jason Jack Miller at jaguarpaddler
Crystal Miller at _dolphy_
Mary SanGiovanni at The Way Dead Girls Whisper
Christopher Paul Carey at cpcarey
K. Ceres Wright at dohlman

If you're not on the meme list of participants above but you want to get in on the game, that's cool. You can certainly do so. Just copy the list of questions and list of participating blogs into a post on your blog, type in your answers, and type in the list of folks you're inviting to participate. Let me know that you've joined in the game in the comment field here so I can check out your blog and add you to the scene.


meme, Heidi Ruby Miller, Sandy Lender, travel

date: 2008-03-18 07:54 subject: HEIDI'S PICK SIX - CYNTHIA OWENS security: Public tags: cynthia owens, heidi ruby miller, heidi's pick six

Cynthia Owens
( Meet Cynthia. )

date: 2008-03-17 10:15 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - MICHAEL LAIMO security: Public tags: fires rising, heidi ruby miller, michael laimo, paths to publication

Fires Rising by Michael Laimo
( Read about Michael's path to publication. )

date: 2008-03-15 10:35 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - LIANA LAVERENTZ security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, liana laverentz, paths to publication, thin ice

Thin Ice by Liana Laverentz
( See how Liana got published and won her EPPIE. )

date: 2008-03-14 07:31 subject: More Seton Hill Writers Updates security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, james morrow, kimberley opatka-metzgar, maria snyder, monica spence, nalo hopkinson, seton hill university, seton hill writers, toby buckell, writing popular fiction

#1: Fire Study, the third novel by Maria V. Snyder made the New York Times Best Sellers List for trade paperbacks.

#2: James Morrow's latest novel is out. He is currently touring with The Philosopher's Apprentice.

#3: Toby Buckell's second novel Ragamuffin is in the Fantasybookspot March Madness Tournament. Voting ends March 15 for Round 2.

#4: Monica Spence has a new website at http://monicaspence.web.officelive.com/default.aspx.

#5: Kimberley A. Opatka-Metzgar has a new project called Emma's Wetlands Adventures.

#6: Nalo Hoplinson's story "Soul Case" made it into Year's Best Fantasy 8 edited by Kathryn Cramer and David G. Hartwell.


Writing Popular Fiction, Heidi Ruby Miller, Maria V. Snyder, James Morrow, Tobias Buckell, Monica Spence, Kimberley Opatka-Metzgar, writing, Nalo Hopkinson, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-03-13 07:57 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - JIM C. HINES security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, jim c. hines, paths to publication

Goblin War by Jim C. Hines
( Find out how Jim got his goblin books published. )

date: 2008-03-10 08:44 subject: Romance Book Junction security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, romance book junction

I joined a great new site for romance readers and writers called Romance Book Junction.

It's growing quite quickly. Check it out.


Romance Book Junction, Heidi Ruby Miller

date: 2008-03-08 09:56 subject: Seton Hill Writers Updates security: Public tags: glenn garrabrant, heidi ruby miller, in your write mind retreat, k ceres wright, landry gaines, seton hill university, seton hill writers, tim esaias

#1: K. Ceres Wright's poem Doomed was nominated for the 2008 Science Fiction Poetry Association's Rhysling Award. Ceres also did a voiceover for the SF animated short Star Freighter: Dangerous Cargo.

#2: Timons Esaias is the special guest this Monday in the PennWriters Presents series.

#3: Glenn Garrabrant is modeling clothes for Five Tone Rock 'n Roll Boutique.

#4: Landry Gaines has a new website.

#5: Registration is now open for the 7th Annual In Your Write Mind Writing Popular Fiction Retreat. The conference is open to the public. Guests of honor this June are Ginjer Buchanan, Editor-in-Chief at Penguin Group, and best-selling author J. A. Konrath. Hope to see some of you there this summer!


Seton Hill University, Heidi Ruby Miller, Writing Popular Fiction, K. Ceres Wright, Timons Esaias, Glenn Garrabrant, Landry Gaines, writing, In Your Write Mind Retreat, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-03-07 09:04 subject: E-mail vs. Post Submissions security: Public tags: buckell 150, heidi ruby miller, submissions

Yesterday I caught up on submitting and querying my completed projects. I am way behind for 2008 - only 21 subs thusfar. I aim for the 'Buckell 150' each year.

While recording my new subs, I went back through to label the one-year non-responders. It was nice to see there were none for March; February only had two; but January had six. I noticed something else during the search back through all of these records: My ratio of email to post subs is 2 to 1. This would be closer to 3 to 1 if I took out all of the agent queries, partials, and fulls from last year.

I suppose it's because I subconsciously place markets into two categories: free, easy, and fast as opposed to paying for postage and traveling to the post office. For good or for bad, I put post-only markets at the bottom of my submissions list, sometimes never even getting to them before the project sells.

Anyone else follow this same electronic submission trend?


Heidi Ruby Miller, submissions, Buckell 150

date: 2008-03-05 06:47 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - VICKY BURKHOLDER security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, paths to publication, vicky burkholder

Danger on X-Y One by Vicky Burkholder
( Find out about Vicky's path to publication. )

date: 2008-03-04 07:41 subject: HEIDI'S PICK SIX - SHERYL NANTUS security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, heidi's pick six, sheryl nantus

Sheryl Nantus
( Read what Sheryl had to say. )

date: 2008-03-03 07:27 subject: Even More Seton Hill Writers News security: Public tags: christopher paul carey, heidi ruby miller, katherine ivy, maria v. snyder, penny dawn, seton hill writers, tobias buckell

#1: Katherine Ivy was interviewed at Cerridwen Press about her first novel Dishonorable Intentions. You can find her on LJ at kat_ivy.

#2: Penny Dawn has an interview at Novel Sisterhood about her latest book The Long Run. You can also find Penny at Shelfari.

#3: The Philip Jose Farmer collection Venus on the Half-Shell and Others, edited by Christopher Paul Carey is listed as a New and Notable Book in Locus Magazine.

#4: Tobias Buckell has an essay up at The Angry Black Woman.

#5: Maria V. Snyder guest blogged at The Story Siren about her newest novel Fire Study.


Seton Hill University, Heidi Ruby Miller, Katherine Ivy, Tobias Buckell, Penny Dawn, Maria V. Snyder, Christopher Paul Carey, writing, author interviews, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-02-29 13:23 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - MARIA V. SNYDER security: Public tags: fire study, heidi ruby miller, maria snyder, paths to publication

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
( Read about Maria's publishing story. )

date: 2008-02-26 09:43 subject: More Seton Hill Writers News security: Public tags: eye contact, heidi ruby miller, maria snyder, michael mehalek, nalo hopkinson, seton hill university, seton hill writers, tobias buckell

#1: Two Seton Hill Writers made it to the final ballot for the Nebulas. Congratulations to Tobias Buckell, author of Ragamuffin and Nalo Hopkinson, author of The New Moon's Arms.

#2: Michael Mehalek has a new flash story Tissue of Biblical Proportions up at The Write Way.

#3: Maria V. Snyder has posted her appearance schedule for the release of the third book in the Study Series, Fire Study.

#4: Congratulations to the 2006-2007 staff of Eye Contact, the literary-art magazine of Seton Hill University. They won a an ASPA Award for the Fall '06 - Spring '07 issue. Contributors included: Michael A. Arnzen, Jessica Braccio, Dante Ciolfi, Amanda Cochran, Lisa Cooper, Michael B. Diezmos, Melissa James Doll, Laura Fleming, Siena Frank, Shu-Hsin Kao, Karissa J. Kilgore, Marie Manski, Jason Jack Miller, Erin Mitchell, Rochelle Moore, Kim Pennesi, Adrea Peters, Juliann Picklo, Stephan Puff, Moira Richardson, Mike Rubino, Nora Thompson, and Erin Waite


Seton Hill University, Heidi Ruby Miller, Tobias Buckell, Nalo Hopkinson, Maria V. Snyder, Michael Mehalek, Eye Contact, writing, Nebulas, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-02-25 07:49 subject: PA Waypoints Features MOON PA Camping security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, jason jack miller, moon pennsylvania camping, pa waypoints

A new website by Doug Good is featuring our outdoor guide MOON Pennsylvania Camping.
MOON Pennsylvania Camping


PA Waypoints is compiling a database of waterfalls, overlooks, covered bridges, historical ruins, and geological formations within the beautiful state of Pennsylvania.


PA Waypoints, Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, Doug Good, MOON Pennsylvania Camping, waterfalls, Pennsylvania, covered bridges, overlooks, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-02-24 08:34 subject: Robot Knows in SCIFAIKUEST security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, poetry, robot knows, scifaikuest

My joined haiku 'Robot Knows' is in Issue 19 (February 2008) of SCIFAIKUEST.

Scifaikuest 19


SCIFAIKUEST, Heidi Ruby Miller, writing, poetry, Robot Knows, Seton Hill Writers

date: 2008-02-19 08:19 subject: Seton Hill Writers News security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, seton hill university, seton hill writers

#1: Three Seton Hill Writers have made it to the final ballot for the 2007 Bram Stoker Awards:
FIRST NOVEL - THE HOLLOWER by Mary SanGiovanni (Leisure Books)
LONG FICTION - AFTERWARD,THERE WILL BE A HALLWAY by Gary Braunbeck (Five Strokes to Midnight)
ANTHOLOGY - FIVE STROKES TO MIDNIGHT edited by Gary Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble (Haunted Pelican Press)
COLLECTION - PROVERBS FOR MONSTERS by Michael A. Arnzen (Dark Regions Press)

#2: Alum Rachael Pruitt's poem "Merlin" will be in Issue #12 of The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction.

#3: Alums Natalie and Matt Duvall have a new writers website The Write Way. There is also an accompanying MySpace.

#4: Alum Penny Dawn's story "The Bridge to Brighton" received a great review at Two Lips Review. The story is part of her newly released collection from Amber Quill titled The Long Run.

#5: Alum Lee Allen Howard has a new website.

#6: Current student Glenn Garrabrant's band The Psycho Kid will be performing a free concert at Tiger O'Stylies on Friday, February 22 in Berwyn, IL.


Seton Hill Writers, Heidi Ruby Miller, Mary SanGiovanni, Michael A. Arnzen, Gary Braunbeck, Penny Dawn, Rachael Pruitt, Glenn Garrabrant, Natalie Duvall, Matt Duvall, Seton Hill University

date: 2008-02-15 07:40 subject: My Poem for Lisa Randall security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, hidden dimensions, lisa randall, misplaced my keys, star line

I was excited to see physicist Lisa Randall on The Colbert Report a few days ago discussing her book about hidden dimensions.

Corey S. Powell's interview with Lisa in Discover magazine inspired me to write a poem called Misplaced My Keys, which is coming out soon in Star*Line. I loved that she had brains and beauty, showing it doesn't have to be one or the other.


Lisa Randall, Heidi Ruby Miller, The Colbert Report, Misplaced My Keys, Star*Line, poetry, hidden dimensions, writing

date: 2008-02-14 07:34 subject: PATHS TO PUBLICATION - PEG HERRING security: Public tags: heidi ruby miller, macbeth's niece, paths to publication, peg herring

MacBeth's Niece by Peg Herring
( Read about Peg's path to publication. )