"A dozen years is a long time in the world of publishing. The market is more fragmented and competitive than ever, and overall readership is down. Finding a niche is the first challenge; inserting a book into that niche is the second."

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More quotes from: Lynn Abbey

• "A good editor-and I don't claim to be one-can deduce the ideal elements of a ..."
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• "Editors of invitation-only anthologies tend to be a secretive lot. We're looking for very specific ..."
• "Editors of open anthologies actively seek submissions from all comers, established and unknown. They are ..."
• "Every so often I'd be able to write a scene with greater flourish because I'd ..."
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• "For a good fiction writer-and that includes writers of SF and Fantasy-there is simply no ..."
• "For me, the rise and fall of the 1980s incarnation of TW was deeply personal ..."
• "For me, writing a short story is much, much harder than writing a novel. "
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• "Gamers, especially the game masters, who are the primary audience for any game box, want ..."
• "Getting the new anthologies up and running has had its share of unexpected pitfalls. I ..."
• "I always make sure I have an escape clause that allows me to pull my ..."
• "I can usually tell the difference between a short story idea and a novel-length one ..."
• "I construct timelines for each story and a master timeline for sequencing the stories in ..."
• "I do have a small collection of traditional SF ideas which I've never been able ..."
• "I do keep a small file of samples from not-yet-invited authors. The cold, cruel fact ..."
• "I don't have any signed contracts right now, but my agent's out there shaking the ..."
• "I don't so much think of myself a fantasy writer as a writer of histories ..."
• "I don't strive for perfect continuity, which is good, because I'd never achieve it. "
• "I guess it's good to be known for something. "
• "I have a problematic relationship with magic: when push comes to shove, I don't believe ..."
• "I have some history books that I come back to when I'm trying to debug ..."
• "I love writing Thieves' World, but I feel a responsibility, too, to the other authors. ..."
• "I think my prose reads as if English were my second language. By the time ..."
• "I was one of those rare and fortunate writers who did not go through an ..."
• "I went to Oklahoma to recover from a shattering divorce and I couldn't have found ..."
• "I wish I knew how to imagine a short story, because I rather like the ..."
• "I write sets of books, but I've also written a lot of orphans. "
• "I'm a writer first and an editor second... or maybe third or even fourth. Successful ..."

• "I'm always trolling for trivia. "
• "I'm currently working on my third book about Emma Merrigan, curse hunter and university librarian. "
• "I'm dense when it comes to discouragement. "
• "I'm no athlete and my piano lessons were going nowhere; I got good marks in ..."
• "I'm not constrained by being a genre writer. Any story I can imagine, I can ..."
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• "I've developed a reputation as someone who can turn a sow's ear into a silk ..."
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• "I've got two degrees in medieval history. "
• "I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels ..."
• "I've thought about writing in other genres, but my imagination just doesn't seem to lead ..."
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• "If I want to write SF, I'll have to write it under another name. "
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• "In my high-school sophomore English class, we were given that hoary old assignment: write a ..."
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• "In the last few years I've become more reliant on the Internet for research. I'm ..."
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• "It's been great to work cooperatively with a group of talented authors again, but the ..."
• "It's harder to get stand-alone material published, but it's worth the wait and effort, and ..."
• "It's only recently that the special effects industry has evolved enough to be able to ..."
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• "Magic works differently for every author who's written for the series. "
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• "My magic is always empirical-it can be analyzed and replicated. "
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• "Persistence pays and so does a willingness to follow directions. "
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