"The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroeder

[Michael Colton]

As usual, I am not sure if I have posted in the correct place. Feel free to move it.

Has anyone read The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction by Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder? Someone has sent it to me and I was wondering what people thought about it. Doctorow and Schroeder are well-respected in SF, but all the same I have heard people warn about books on writing versus just trying to develop on your own.

Here are some of the blurbs on the back cover advertising what it is about:

The different techniques of short stories vs. novels.

Whose universe is it, anyway? Finding the balance between "science" and "fiction."

Character building - why it's important and how to do it.

Shopping for the right market - your best bets for publication.

A breakdown of sci fi and fantasy genres and subgenres.

The basics on becoming a science fiction writer and how to get started.

Publishing how-tos - from putting your manuscript together to getting it picked up.​

I was just wondering if anyone has read it and if so what they thought. And if you have not read it, what your general thoughts are on this sort of guidebook for writers. And just for context, I am about as brand new as you can possibly get to writing fiction.

 

[HareBrain]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

Personally, I think "how to" books are only useful when you already have enough experience to be able to say "yeah, that makes sense now I think about it", or "pah, these people are fools!". (Then again, I'd say the same about critiques.) Leave it too long, you risk wasting a lot of time getting into bad habits or making mistakes that with hindsight seem obvious; go for advice too soon, and you risk hampering your ability to tell what works for you, and quite possibly hampering the development of your own voice.

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

go for advice too soon, and you risk hampering your ability to tell what works for you, and quite possibly hampering the development of your own voice.

This was my initial concern. Both Doctorow and Schroeder have very specific styles of writing (from what I hear, both of them are piled on my desk in my to-read pile - starting Ventus tonight) and I was wondering if reading guides from them might be a setback for someone as new as myself.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

Does Cory Doctorow know about this stuff? I've only read his FOSS rants.

 

[HareBrain]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

It's not so much about differences in style, just the fact that you might restrict your freedom before you even know what it is you want to be free to do. Writing, in my opinion, should be all about *play*, at least at first. Few things restrict play like the looming presence of a teacher.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

I think 'how to' books are really useful when you're a novice and don't know what you're doing so much as later on, when you've got a bit of experience. The one I had when I started was Brian Stableford's "How to write SF" book, which was a great jumping off point.

I particularly remember his line, "a little bit of purple prose every now and again isn't a bad thing."

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

Does Cory Doctorow know about this stuff? I've only read his FOSS rants.

Yes: Cory Doctorow - Summary Bibliography

I have yet to read his fiction, though I have them on my list. I have heard good things.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

And if you have not read it, what your general thoughts are on this sort of guidebook for writers.

Read it - the worse you can do is disagree with some of their points. But if anything they says spurs you on the right direction in any way, then it's more than worth it.

I've always been a big fan of "writing" books, not least because I struck out too long on my own with no idea what I was doing, and now value any deeper understanding of writing tools, and how to use them more effectively.

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

Read it - the worse you can do is disagree with some of their points. But if anything they says spurs you on the right direction in any way, then it's more than worth it.

I've always been a big fan of "writing" books, not least because I struck out too long on my own with no idea what I was doing, and now value any deeper understanding of writing tools, and how to use them more effectively.

Does it focus on hard science fiction because of Schroeder, or does it do a decent job of staying away from specific subgenres?

After reading comments in this thread, I am thinking of reading through it but skipping the publishing bits since I am so far away from such a thing.

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

I think 'how to' books are really useful when you're a novice and don't know what you're doing so much as later on, when you've got a bit of experience. The one I had when I started was Brian Stableford's "How to write SF" book, which was a great jumping off point.

I particularly remember his line, "a little bit of purple prose every now and again isn't a bad thing."

This is sort of my hope for the book after it was sent to me - a 'jumping off point.' I am one of those people that is always concerned I am developing bad habits that will be hard to break later, as that very thing happened to me in my non-fiction writing. It took an incredible amount of energy to reverse those habits.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

It depends what you mean by bad habits. They say you should never use adverbs, but, occasionally, interestingly and suitably, they are okay.

 

[tinkerdan]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

The only bad habit in writing, is to not write.

Personally I'd be more comfortable if it was the The Complete Guide to Publishing Science Fiction for Idiots.

Anyway if you have nothing to publish yet then it probably would be taking you away from your writing.

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

It depends what you mean by bad habits. They say you should never use adverbs, but, occasionally, interestingly and suitably, they are okay.

I just meant anything that became a habit which would have to be changed later on, since I am so new to fiction writing. An example from my non-fiction writing: it is never okay in my field to use contractions. There is quite literally no exception to the rule. So if one develops the habit to do so, it must be broken and can be quite awkward and painful to do so down the line.

 

[Michael Colton]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

The only bad habit in writing, is to not write.

Personally I'd be more comfortable if it was the The Complete Guide to Publishing Science Fiction for Idiots.

Anyway if you have nothing to publish yet then it probably would be taking you away from your writing.

I have been told the opposite of your first sentence by many people, that there are many bad habits that you can develop. Either way, I can easily read the writing tips section of the book and skip past the publishing bits for the moment.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

The only bad habit in writing, is to not write.

Oh, dear -- my biggest struggle!

Personally I'd be more comfortable if it was the The Complete Guide to Publishing Science Fiction for Idiots.

Yes, we really don't need any more science fiction by complete idiots.

 

[J Riff]

Re: "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Publishing Science Fiction" by Doctorow and Schroe

I have this, but like an idjut haven't read it yet. There's bound to be a couple worthwhile sentences or tips or summat so will give it a scan.