Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Well, ConQuest 44, our local con, and the first SFF con I ever attended in 2010, is back this coming weekend and here is my tentative schedule: Friday 1600-1700: Building a Fantasy World [MOD] (Monarch) Bryan Thomas Schmidt [MOD], Patrick Rothfuss, Patricia C. Wrede, M.C. (Mary) Chambers, K.D. McEntire Saturday 1300-1325: Reading/Q&A/Autographs [MOD] (Regency) Bryan  [ Read More ]

NETWORKING AND PLATFORM BUILDING BASICS FOR WRITERS Instructor: Bryan Thomas Schmidt About Bryan: Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction including the novels The Worker Prince and The Returning, and the children’s books 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids (ebook only) and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter- Land Of Legends. His debut novel, The Worker  [ Read More ]

As an editor, I am surprised how many writers seem to struggle with manuscript formatting–either not doing it per guidelines, not making effort, etc. There are many reasons editors ask  for specific formatting. For example, when I turn manuscripts into publishers who use Adobe InDesign (a manuscript formatting software), there are sometimes issues with importing  [ Read More ]

Well, I’m a bad blogger. I have not been taking my own advice and keeping my regular blog days lately. I have a good excuse. I’ve been sick on and off for the past 10 days and I’m so busy with creative projects, it’s hard to think of blog topics that are fresh and worthy  [ Read More ]

There’s nothing quite as enlightening for a writer as editing other’s works. I’ve learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do from my freelance editing which has helped me grow as a writer. So here are 10 key tips I’ve learned for Editing Your Novel: 1) Preserve The Fresh Eye  [ Read More ]

Today, I officially announced the Table Of Contents for Beyond The Sun, my space colonist anthology and first Kickstarter venture, at SFSignal: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/01/toc-beyond-the-sun-edited-by-bryan-thomas-schmidt/ We wound up with typical attrition of 20-40% of writers not coming through with stories. Luckily I had some name writers who asked to contribute but weren’t on my original list so we  [ Read More ]

With apologies, I’m a day late getting my weekly Write Tip post up. At some point or another, all writers have to consider whether or not their manuscript could use an editor. For most pros, that’s not even a question. I’ve used editors on all novels since the beginning and all of them have brought  [ Read More ]

It’s a big week for me. Amidst making final choices of stories for my first Kickstarter Anthology: Beyond The Sun, and awaiting my first book contract from a major, I am launching, with Every Day Publishing, a Kickstarter for Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age. This anthology, headlined by Mike Resnick, A.C. Crispin,  [ Read More ]

One of the things you learn on the writing journey is the importance of word choice. Certain types of words have certain types of impacts on your story, not just in evoking emotions or images, but in setting the tone, creating the voice, world building, and more. Some words create intimacy and a feeling of  [ Read More ]

Well, I’m getting a slow start on blogging in 2013. In fact, I was so busy the last half of the year, it was hard to stick to even my steady schedule of two posts per week (Mondays and Thursdays). But 2012 ended with the sale of another children’s book and 3 anthologies to publishers,  [ Read More ]

Well, as many of you know, Fall 2009 through Fall 2011 were some tough times for me. Although it all ended on a high note with the release of The Worker Prince and mention by Barnes and Noble Book Club’s Paul Goat Allen in his Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases of 2011.  But 2012 has been  [ Read More ]

I get asked a lot these days for tips on how to sell stories, etc. One tip, I’ve never heard a lot is learn to write to word counts. But I’d go one further, learn to write low word counts. Why? If an editor gives you guidelines with a range of 3-8k, that doesn’t mean  [ Read More ]

Recently, I had a first,  when my humorous Science Fiction story, Duncan Derring & The Call Of The Lady Luck, was picked up by Triumph Over Tragedy, R.T. Kaelin’s brilliant project to raise funds for the Red Cross’ Hurricane Sandy. Featuring stories from the likes of Robert Silverberg, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, Elizabeth Bear  [ Read More ]

Writers, let’s let this be a write tip for this week, even though I’m not going to bother officially labelling and logo-ing it as such. There’s a writer I just rejected for an anthology I’m doing because he’s burned bridges all over town. How? By this kind of behavior here (my response, kinder than deserved  [ Read More ]

Here’s the scoop on my latest anthology project: Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age   Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt   A collection of best of stories from Ray Gun Revival’s multi-year run combined with new stories from headliners. Ray Gun Revival is all about space opera and golden age science fiction.  A  [ Read More ]

This week, I decided to cover something which is going to seem obvious to some but clearly isn’t: common mistakes to avoid in submitting your work. As a slush reader at Ray Gun Revival and now as anthology and zine editor, these are things I’ve seen again and again. And not just from novice writers, who  [ Read More ]

Well, I made the announcement several weeks ago that White Cat Publications has hired me to Edit a new semi-pro bi-annual science fiction magazine called Blue Shift. Well, I am now officially taking submissions and also I need slushreaders to help me sort through them. Full guidelines will be posted soon here. But, in the  [ Read More ]

Well, I’ve dreamed for years of full time writing and creative work, and at least for the past two months, I’ve been living that nicely. I’m grateful for this development. I had not had full time work since May 2010, when I was laid off. I have been on unemployment and food stamps and looking  [ Read More ]

In case you haven’t heard, I finalized a deal last week with Patrick Swenson for Fairwood Press to release Beyond The Sun next summer.  Going into their 13th year, Fairwood has released titles by authors such as Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Michael Bishop, Laura Anne Gilman, Daryl Gregory, Jay Lake, Ken Scholes, Jack Skillingstead, Louise Marley, Paul  [ Read More ]

Here’s a list of the projects I am currently working on for interested friends and for clients. Novels: The Exodus (Saga Of Davi Rhii Book 3), Science Fiction, On Chapter 9 of 12 expected. (Anticipated end date: December 1, 2012) Duneman (Dawning Age, Book 1) , Epic Fantasy, Awaiting 3rd/polish draft. (Anticipated start date: December  [ Read More ]

Okay, this post will make Patrick Hester very happy. Why? Patrick loves Scrivener. He might as well be a spokesperson, seriously! But for writers, this post should also make you happy, especially if you’re a pantser like me. In case anyone doesn’t know the terms, pantsers are those of us who, rather than outlining, prefer  [ Read More ]

I grew up a novel fan. I read tie-ins to my favorite TV shows and then tore into Silverberg, Asimov, Card and others. I read short fiction at school and on occasion in magazines but long form is where I spent most of my time and, as a result, where I tend to be most  [ Read More ]

Author/Editor Launches Kickstarter For Dream Anthology Kansas Author-editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt, whose debut novel, The Worker Prince, merited Honorable Mention from Barnes & Noble Book Club’s on their Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases of 2011, had a dream. “Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed about exploring the stars. What’s out there? What strange planets and  [ Read More ]

Friends, I need your help! Cause: To Help Fund My Beyond The Sun Anthology Kickstarter.  Items are books and DVDs from my personal collection. Most are in fairly good condition. New were bought full price and are marked, others are used. Either way, I am selling them at discounted prices. May be places you can find  [ Read More ]

Okay, this isn’t the usual steps process for sure, but I still think it’s appropriate for a write tip. A few months back I posted about the power of diligence quoting from a Steve Martin interview with Charlie Rose where the comedian/actor talked about how importance diligence has been to his success. Pretty much everyone  [ Read More ]

This is hard because I hate to potentially embarrass someone. But I was pretty shocked by this approach and really felt it worthy of blogging about so I am taking that risk. I am paraphrasing things as much as I can and, since it was done through a website and anonymous, I am not revealing  [ Read More ]

Recently I’ve been copyediting The Very Best Book Of Baby Names by Barbara Kay Turner, and it’s gotten me thinking a lot about naming characters.  Character naming is an important consideration for many reasons. One, you want memorable names which stick with readers for a long time. Two, you want names that are decipherable by  [ Read More ]

Although I am an editor myself,  my publisher rightly and smartly assigns me editors for my books.  The Founding Fathers built checks and balances into our government for a reason and, for similar reasons, they are invaluable in the editorial process. Bet you had no idea editing is so patriotic? Recently the editor who edits  [ Read More ]

In Spring 2010, I got the chance to pitch publisher David Rozansky of Flying Pen Press some anthology ideas I’d been developing and wound up hired to edit the next installment in the publisher’s long running Full Throttle Space Tales anthology series, Space Battles, which release last week, April 18. After three years now of  [ Read More ]

It’s common wisdom that writers make terrible self-editors, even those of us who edit for others on a regular basis professionally. It’s a natural thing given the passions at play. Writers get so close to their work that it’s easy to gloss over missed words, typos, etc. We know what we meant to say and  [ Read More ]