Publishing || Get it out there.

There are many 'universes' (detailed fictional environments) currently established. From the commercial franchises of Star Trek and Star Wars to the individually developed universes of authors such as Peter F Hamilton (Nights Dawn), Isaac Asimov (Foundation) and Robert A. Heinlein (Future History). Generally these universes have a high barrier of entry (legally and monetarily in the case of the franchises and being compared to the original authors in the case of the others). Is there a need (or desire) for an open universe, developed by a group of like minded authors and shared in a similar way to open source software?

Guess who had another rejection letter last night? It was extremely encouraging, of course =) I find rejection letters very hard to interpret - when they tell you it wasn't what they were looking for, does that mean they hate it? And surely they couldn't care less when they wish you the best of luck?

I found this page which talks about reading rejection letters creatively, and how you can take the comments more than one way. I wondered what experience other people have had with rejection letters, and what were their best and worse?

So you want to get published, eh? Anonymous, a.k.a. Roger Allen, has the definitive guide on how to get your story noticed in today's tough publishing climate.

Why do bookstores separate books the way they do?

I know, it's to make books easier to find. But why, then, is Michael Crighton's science fiction filed in with the mainstream books, or Lord of the Rings expected to be in the literature section instead of fantasy where it belongs?