Lots of shinies...

Today started off with Copyright in the 21st Century, although it was more a discussion of copyright, with examples, than the future of copyright. Cory Doctorow, Patrick Nielson Hayden, Andrew Adams, Ian Nichols and Bill Sutton were as bracing as a shot of espresso in their discourse.

I now have a list of books to hunt down following The best SF novels you have never read; whether I can find them, well, I’ll be haunting the second-hand bookstores. Authors like Kevin Brockmeyer, Peter Watts, Raphael Carter and Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair.

Then it was on to How To Pitch (without the option to pitch anything, so there went that plan). Penguin editor, Ginjer Buchanan, Agent John Berlyne, Simon Spanton from Gollancz and writer Rowena Cory Daniels laid it all out in the simplest terms possible. It was nice to know exactly how to pitch and that I’m on the right track. All I have to do is hunt down the submission requirements.

I met up with Emeraldfin (from Pecked By Ducks fame) and Drama Duck *waves* and we took ourselves off to The writer and the audience: online interaction and public personae. With social networking, I figured it was important to differentiate between public profile and private life – and to avoid one leaking into the other. Who knew Peter V Brett was an introvert? I can totally relate.

The final event we went to was Writing in Trilogies with Trudi Canavan, Fiona MacIntosh, Russell Fitzpatrick and Glenda Larke. Of interest was the difference between agent/editors in Australia and the US/UK markets and what they want from new authors – and the reasons why. For example, if you can write a trilogy, here in Australia, it’s considered a good thing because it shows consistency and that, as a writer, you’re capable of finishing what you start. In the northern hemisphere, you’ve got to sell the first book before the next two are considered – which I imagine makes the job of getting published that much harder.

A most instructive day. Even had a bit of a one-on-one chat with Ginjer Buchanan - although I think she wanted to be left in peace since she was on her lonesome. No badgering on my behalf, I just asked how she liked Australia.

Oh, and my tip for today: always make sure the lid on your takeaway coffee is secure.