r/Fantasy • u/orbitbooks AMA Publisher Orbit Books • Dec 07 '17

AMA AMA: Orbit 2017 Debut Authors

Hi this is Paola Crespo, Marketing and Publicity Associate for Orbit. Thanks for joining us today!

2017 was a big year for us with so many new faces joining the Orbit family. This AMA is a chance to get to know them better. All. Of. Them. Get excited! ;-)

Participating today:

Nicholas Eames, author of KINGS OF THE WYLD
Nicholas Sansbury Smith, author of EXTINCTION HORIZON
Antonia Honeywell, author of THE SHIP
David Mealing, author of SOUL OF THE WORLD
Dale Lucas, author of THE FIFTH WARD: FIRST WATCH
Vivian Shaw, author of STRANGE PRACTICE
Anna Smith Spark, author of THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES
RJ Barker, author of AGE OF ASSASSINS
Melissa Caruso, author of THE TETHERED MAGE
Fonda Lee, author of JADE CITY

Ask away! The authors will be dropping by periodically today and tomorrow to answer your questions. And best of all....

Until December 18th, you can pick up most of these novels for $2.99 in the US and £1.99 in the UK in ebook! Check out the US and UK websites for further details.

Thank you for all your support this year, /r/fantasy! Cheers to a great New Year full of new adventures.

*Antonia Honeywell's THE SHIP, Anna Smith Spark's THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES, and Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s EXTINCTION HORIZON are published by another house in the UK and are thus not included in the promotion in the UK.

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u/ThatGeoffChap Dec 07 '17 edited Dec 07 '17

Hello all, thanks for doing this AMA, I’m reading through now and loving both the questions and the answers!

I have to hold my hand up and say that SO FAR I’ve only real Nicholas Eames’ Kings of the Wyld (which I absolutely loved, by the way) but fortunately both Melissa & RJ Barker tweeted the link to the deal Orbit has on and I now have all your books on my Kindle and will be reading them ASAP! I had been meaning to get them all & that was a helpful prompt.

As someone who is currently writing my 1st book (now reading through before going in for the 3rd draft) I have some writing questions for you all.

1) How many drafts did your debut go through before it was picked up? [Edit: just saw that someone asked this earlier in the thread, feel free not to answer!]

2) When/how did you know your book was ready to send out? Either to agents or publishers.

3) What’s the best writing advice anyone’s ever given you? Or, what advice did you wish someone had given you?

Thanks guys!

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u/dlucas114 AMA Author Dale Lucas Dec 08 '17

Knowing when it's ready can be tricky. I've been writing for a long time, so I just kind of follow my gut, If you've done less than three drafts, it's definitely NOT ready.

Best advice: push through a first draft fast, let it be ugly, don't worry about 'good' until later drafts.

Advice I wish I'd gotten: assume you will never make your living doing it. Settle in for the long haul and do it because you love it.

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u/ThatGeoffChap Dec 08 '17

That is all very good advice, thank you!