The Business of Writing SF&F Seminar

What do the series Wheel of Time, Runelords, 1632, and Dune have in common? They are all authors will who lead the 2012 Superstars Writing Seminar!

What did Brandon Sanderson, Dave Farland, Eric Flint, and Kevin J. Anderson and other bestselling authors like Sherrilyn Kenyon, Rebecca Moesta, and Tracy Hickman share? Not writing tips per se’ – and participants did not spend three days writing stories or learning how to plot or world build. I attended last year's seminar and learned about the business of becoming a professional sci fi/fantasy author. These authors shared the secrets and truths, including how to read a contract, myths about Hollywood deals, what advances and royalties particularly for new authors typically are, what editors are looking for, what you as an author need to do to promote your book, the importance of finishing that manuscript and editing it, the balancing act with family, and just how important it is to treat your fans right – and much more.

These authors are all New York Times Best Selling authors with tens of millions of books in print and really know the business. Participants at this year’s seminar, which was the second annual seminar and held in Salt Lake City, got to know the authors not simply as lecturers , but in a way, as wizard with their apprentices and journeymen. We got to know each other and ask them in depths, and even chat with them about our issues as writers and get their advice. There was even an add-on exclusive dinner offered, which gave me and four others the opportunity to sit with and learn from, in our case, Brandon Sanderson, asking questions about his thoughts on New York publishers, ebooks, and, how he ended being invited to finish Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series. It didn’t hurt that we were all core fan of the series, either!

So, if you are really serious about becoming a professional sci fi/fantasy author, you should consider attending this top flight business of writing Superstars Writing Seminar (www.Superstarswritingseminar.com). This is an annual seminar and the next is planned for April 2012 in Las Vegas. Hope to see you there!

About the author
Mage is a member of the Writing.com's Coffee Shop of the Fantasy Society, The Red Dragon Inn, and the Sci-Fi Writers Guild. He is the Creative Consultant of Highmage’s Plight, here on WDC. His story Isaac in a Bind appeared in an anthology (April 2011). His first short story posted on Writing.com, Good Breeding, appeared in Spectacular Speculations August issue. Highmage’s Plight appeared in Separate WorldsDecember bi-monthly issue and was serialized through October 2011. Four of his short stories that appeared in Separate Worlds are planned for an anthology by the ezine to come out by March 2012. To learn more about the novel and its interactive nature, offering readers the opportunity to become involved in the creative process, visit www.dhr2believe.net.