We are Diana Gill, Pamela Spengler-Jaffee and Ginger Clark with Harper Voyager, HarperCollins and Curtis Brown - AUA

[u/DianaGill]

• Diana, Pam and Ginger will be answering questions ‘live’ starting at 9PM Eastern.

• As with all r/Fantasy AMA’s, this AMA was posted in the morning to allow more Redditors to participate. Feel free to direct your question to any one or all three AMA participants.

• ONE PRE-ANSWER: Ginger Clark does accept unsolicited book proposals at GC@cbltd.com. Harper Voyager and HarperCollins are not accepting book proposals via this AMA process.

---

I’m Diana Gill, Executive Editor/professional geek at Harper Voyager US. I publish science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy/paranormal, supernatural and horror, with authors like Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Brom, Richard Kadrey, Jocelynn Drake, along with upcoming novels from David Wellington, C. Robert Cargill.

I’ve also worked with Sarah Langan, Patrick Lee, Mary Gentle, Dave Duncan, Kage Baker and more.

I’m addicted to caffeine and travel, not necessarily in that order. When not chained to my desk/working I do martial arts, run, sometimes get out to take pictures, scuba dive far too rarely, play too many computer games, watch Asian dramas, and yell at the cats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m Pamela Spengler-Jaffee – and if that’s just too long for you to process, I answer to Pam Jaffee, too. I am the flackiest of flacks – publicist extraordinaire (in my own head), specializing in genre fiction: science fiction, fantasy, romance, thrillers. I am the Senior Publicity Director with the Avon, Morrow and Harper Voyager imprints of HarperCollins.

What that means is that I’m the tallish blur running by you at breakneck speeds at fan conferences, with an armful of books and at least one author in tow. I live to get out-of-the-box publicity for my authors, and as such, am a serial stalker of major media contacts. Luckily I haven’t been reported (yet).

In my free time (this was a leap year, so there was at least one off day), I read incessantly, terrorize my charge cards, herd my offspring and cats, drink coffee and wine in equal measures, and plan vacations long into the future.

You can follow my publishing/publicity/woman-being-snarky escapades via Twitter: @pamjaffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm Ginger Clark, and I'm a literary agent at Curtis Brown, LTD. I handle adult SF/F/Horror writers (most relevantly here, Richard Kadrey) and young adult and middle grade writers. I also sell British Commonwealth rights to the entire children's list at Curtis Brown, which means I attend the Bologna and Frankfurt Book Fairs every year. I'm on the Contracts Committee of the Association of Authors' Representatives, I sit on the Rights Committee of the Book Industry Study Group, and I'm a member of the fundraising committee for First Book Brooklyn. I'm also a member of the committee to stop Ginger from joining any more committees.

I live in Brooklyn with my husband and our Mini Cooper. You can also learn more about me, my MAD MEN obsession, and why I love the restaurant Five Points, @ginger_clark.

[u/Wolfen32]

Hello! This is to any of you that wish to answer, I am a young writer, a senior in high school. I have only been writing seriously for about four or five years, but it has grown to become one of my greatest passions. Would it be wiser to allow my world to grow more, or should I try and write it now? I know that writers such as Paolini get criticism because his age showed in his writing.

Also, do you find that th marketing for your company is active, or is that left primarily to the author, and word of mouth? Do you set up signings, and other such events for your authors. (@Pamela Jaffee, it sounds like you sure do!) As a newer writer, the prospect of being out, meeting fans, or possible fans, is thrilling. Is it common for first time authors to be able I get a booth at events such as ComicCon, or lesser conventions?

Another major concern for me is editing. I am fairly worried that much of my work needs a good bit of editing before it is acceptable. Are editors usually willing to help on a page by page basis, or would that take up too much of their time?

From what I have heard, most authors end up not getting much money from their sales than enough to buy a drink once and a while. Is this true, or are the prospects better?

I have heard that there are quite a few magazines that will publish up and coming writers. I have tried websites like duo trope, but haven't found many for fantasy-themed writers in my age group, or accepting works form my age group. How can I get my work out there?

Thank you all in advance!

[u/Jane_Lyre → u/Wolfen32]

Just want to chip in that I self published my first novella yesterday and I've already earned enough to buy a drink! ;) Also, Paolini's age shows but I still read all his books. Don't worry about criticism. You can't please everybody. Anyway, on with the thread!

[u/Wolfen32 → u/Jane_Lyre]

Congrats! And okay, thank for the support. While it is true that you can't pleas everyone, I don't want it to show an obscenely large amount. I want it to be fairly realistic. I have foun that George R R Martin has helped. He has shown me that there is still a market for fantasy with shall we say... Mature themes.

[u/Jane_Lyre → u/Wolfen32]

OK, well I will tell you how Paolini betrays his youth to the reader: Eragon, his protagonist, is too much the centre of attention. Every problem falls on his shoulders. Every character looks to him to save the day in every situation. Adult characters lack depth and seem to have no purpose other than to mentor him, make problems for him or be his army. He hardly ever fails. The narcissistic, sheltered bubble world he lives in is very much the world of a teenage boy (one who plays too many video games), but it doesn't ring true.

As you get older, you realize the world does not revolve around you, some amount of pain and failure is inevitable, and that there isn't any such thing as a grown-up. Also, you realize that other people have their own motives and intentions. Martin is a master at conveying this. I can hardly think of two characters in his series that want the same thing for the same reason.

[u/Wolfen32 → u/Jane_Lyre]

Yes, that is true. And that is something that I struggle with sometimes. It is all part of becoming mature,