Sime~Gen Perspectives Newsletter

DECEMBER 2006

Contents:

*HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~ FROM JEAN LORRAH
*ANNOUNCING THE ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S CHAT - January 1, 2007
*SIMECENTER NEWS
*HELP WANTED ~ SIMECENTER
*BORDERLANDS UPDATE
*Announcing SciFiFantaClub
*Baen Books Free to Disabled Readers
*NEW REVIEWS
*SCI FI STUDIO MAGAZINE
*REREADABLE BOOKS
*NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS
*HELP WANTED
*PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
*ADVICE FOR PROMOTING YOUR BOOK OR WEBSITE
*AVAILABLE RELEASES
*SITES TO REMEMBER
*SUBSCRIPTION AND CONTACT INFORMATION

**COPYRIGHT NOTICE**

*****HAPPY HOLIDAYS

"Thank you to all our visitors to simegen.com for the past year, and best wishes for a happy holiday season. Jacqueline and I have had a very busy year, culminating in new contracts on old books--many of our works will be coming back into print in 2007 through the Amazon/Booksurge/Wildside/Borgo Press project. First word we have is that the three NESSIE children's books that I wrote with Lois Wickstrom will be among the first to come out. As I got BLOOD WILL TELL in very soon after Lois gave them the copy for the NESSIE books, that will probably be next. Watch this newsletter for announcements as each of our books becomes available.

"On the Sime~Gen front the news is not so good. After Meisha Merlin missed yet another publication date last June for a book already two years overdue, we regretfully withdrew the rights to the series from that company and are now in search of a new publisher.

"But on a more positive note, Jacqueline, Lois, and I have taken an excellent course in screenwriting and are all working on scripts! No, it's not crazy to change media at our age--the midlist has moved from the page to the screen. Far more films are now released every month than books, because all sorts of new outlets for films have opened and are opening--studio productions, indy productions, direct-to-DVD, podcasting, direct downloads, TV movies on ever-increasing numbers of cable channels--THAT is where the opportunity for writers has gone, and that is where we are going, too. We have the advantage of already knowing how to construct plots and characters, so all we have to learn is how to think cinematically. Not that that is easy, you understand!

"The ultimate goal, of course, is to bring Sime~Gen to the screen, but unfortunately we can't start with that because, if it is done right, S~G is too alien to Hollywood's way of thinking. BUT, if any or all of us can get a successful film or two out there (success in Hollywood terms means the movie brings in more money than it cost to make), then we may be able to get a studio, a fairly flush indy, or the Sci-Fi Channel (it obviously has to be someone with the money to do the special effects right) to take an interest.

"So no, we are in no way abandoning Sime~Gen. We are looking for a new publisher for the books, and we are seeking new outlets for S~G material. We have to evolve with the technology or we will be left in the dust.

"So let's face the Year's Turning with hope for new success! May you all enjoy the fruits of your labors, and have a healthy and Happy New Year! Jean Lorrah"

******

**** ANNOUNCING THE ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S CHAT JANUARY 1, 2007

Including combined information from Jacqueline, and Karen:

This is your chance to talk real-time to Jean and me -- I try to come early and stay late, January 1, 2007.

And it's your chance to vote awards for people at simegen.com who have been especially helpful to you. We announce the stock awards, but then all in attendance get a chance to nominate and vote for other awards. Karen has a list of our Awards -- frankly I always forget!

You can see brief definitions of all the awards at http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/chats/chat2006_chat2.html#awards . In many cases, more detailed explanations of these awards, with lists of previous winners, can be found on the main Awards page . You can see these by following links from the one-liner page, above.

We (theoretically; we're always lagging on this) post the list of awards because it forms the major part of the history of this domain. I feel it's important to keep track of our major contributors.

So anyone who's on our lists or deals with us in any way is more than welcome to sit in, nominate, vote, and chat.

We run it in two simultaneous IRC chatrooms -- so you can split your screen in half. One screen is moderated during the business meeting so the log is easier to clean up. The other screen is just chatter. Then both "rooms" are opened so everyone can talk to each other and just party.

For those that don't have the mIRC (or equivalent) software, there is an entry point for you via the web page of http://www.simegen.com/techtools/chat/ .

We use the "rooms" #sgchat for the business meeting and #sgtalk for "side talk." Those who attended last year using mIRC or equivalent, your settings are unchanged.

The New Year's Chat will be 4pm EST, 3pm CST, 2pm MST, 1pm PST. For those not in North America, please use the Worldclock website http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ to calculate the time that is right for you.

The edited and cleaned text of the meeting is put online as soon as possible. Previous chat logs can be found at http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/chats/ . if you want to take a look.

Karen will gladly help OFF LIST to get you connected to the chat.... the access information will NOT be posted to any of the lists for security reasons. Some help, though perhaps not quite current, is also found on http://www.simegen.com/techtools/ where tutorials can be found.

Karen will be on AIM prior to the chat and will do what she can to help everyone who wants to attend, "get connected."

****** SIMECENTER NEWS

This is the final edition of SimeCenter for 2006, which is the year we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, the original series. In honor of this anniversary, two of our SimeCenter authors sent in stories influenced by the world-altering Star Trek phenomenon...one more obviously so than the other.

   "Who is Margaret? What is She?" by Celia A. Leaman (from a book by the same name, containing F/SF stories)

   "Meanwhile" by Penny Cusick & Michelle Levigne (which refers back to a 'Spockanalia' fanzine story "Visit to a Wierd Planet" by Jean Lorrah)

The accompanying artwork is:

   "The Messenger" by Michael Cox (evoking Christmas rather than Trek), and

   "Moontain" by G.B. Chew (good ole', wonderful science fiction)

These highly enjoyable works were donated in support of Salvation Army and their continuing aid to communities and individuals. Visit their holiday donation page at https://secure3.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USN-2006Christmas .

When you donate to this worthy organization, be sure to tell them you were referred by SimeCenter .

Send your comments, questions, etc., to the address below.

Happy Holidays from SimeCenter,
Kaires Tevesu
[Be sure to mention 'SimeCenter' in the subject line. This EMail address gets a lot of spam.]

Expect the new Simecenter pages to be available Wednesday night (December 27) or Thursday morning...along with the long-awaited recipe for Ancient Egyptian Soda Pop.

******

****** HELP WANTED -- SIMECENTER

Friends, Simes, Tecton citizens: I've been maintaining the SimeCenter for five years, as of this month. I'd like to hand it off to a worthy successor...or at least start training an assistant.

It's not a hard task. We have a good backlog of stories and art that have been donated. There are HTML templates for all the code elements that get changed each month, and a WORK file on the domain to test the changes before they go live.

Maybe you don't want to take over. That's okay. Want to learn to program in HTML? and how to upload and test pages on the web? I could use the help.

It's a good way to start off a career as a webwright. (I had never even SEEN HTML when I started. If I can do it, anyone who is basically comfortable with a computer can do it.) Working on SimeCenter will give you valuable experience, that you can put in your resume.

If you even vaguely think you are interested...let's talk.
Kaires Tevesu
SimeCenter Gatemaster
http://www.simegen.com/simecenter/ or you may write to Simegen@simegen.com for more details.

******

******BORDERLANDS UPDATE

Part 20 This one is called "Healing the World" (which you can also read as "Tikkun Olam" if you are so minded). It follows the adventures of Kat and Nick after they reach Gumgeeville: they find a place to stay and some work to do until they're back in touch by their naztehrhai. Nick also takes a side-trip to Hannard's Ford.

Sidebar episodes feature the Moonbean Cafe and our three college students, a view into Norrin Radd's disjunction camp, and an interesting discussion at Householding Teiu. http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/fans/bev/boom/index.html#part.20

The index is as always at http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/fans/bev/boom/index.html . Share and enjoy!

******

**** Announcing SciFiFantaClub

IN MEMORIUM - Gene Rodenberry, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, Mark Lenard, and Jane Wyatt. SciFiFantaclub is dedicated to the memory of these legends, who gave the world "Star Trek," "Bones," "Scotty," "Sarek," and "Amanda" respectively.

AND

To all the authors, past and present, whose books and stories I have enjoyed throughout my life, SciFiFantaClub is offered as a token of my esteem.

All writers, artists, and fans are welcome: pro and non-pro, published or not. The theme of this website is not fixed on one particular author or group of stories, but to encourage and help Club members to learn to build SciFi/Fantasy "worlds" of their own.

We are actively seeking new members, and the Club is free to join. If you wish to join, e-mail me, Midge Baker, at midge@scififantaclub, or use the link on our Homepage.

The Official SciFiFantaClub URLs are:
Club Homepage
Members Blog
Our Forum

SciFiFantaClub is hosted by Simegen.com. We are proud of our Simegen association. As a courtesy to the members of the Simegen Lists, we offer you the use of Our Forum.

Please visit. We hope you'll be pleasantly surprised.

************

*****Baen Books Free to Disabled Readers

Posted to our lists by Jacqueline: Subject: [sfwa-news] Baen Books Free to Disabled Readers

" Baen Books , a publisher of science fiction, will provide its books to fans who are blind, paralysed, or dyslexic, or are amputees, in electronic form free of charge, effective immediately."

Also, "If you'd like to volunteer to help ReadAssist, please contact them at their website."

Posted 11/14/2006; see full article at https://www.webscription.net/news.aspx?showarticle=2 .

**************

******NEW REVIEWS

MAIL ORDER BRIDE by Barri Bryan

CHARADE by Barri Bryan

WHISKEY SHOTS, VOLUME 3 by Linda L. Lattimer

THE MAN WHO MELTED by Jack Dann

******

******SCI FI STUDIO MAGAZINE

Here's the ISSUE ONE of a new online magazine -- with an interview with Jacqueline. The picture is from Trekkies2 --

http://scifi-studios.com/magazine/magcover1.htm http://scifi-studios.com/magazine/ is the index page. http://www.scifi-studios.com/magazine/content/view/75/26/ is the article itself.

Sci-Fi Studios runs an online operation for those seriously interested in breaking into TV writing and producing, and they're having measurable success.

More background about this interview was posted by Jacqueline Lichtenberg on http://www.aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/ .

******

******REREADABLE BOOKS

ReReadable Books column by Jacqueline Lichtenberg has been posted.

The books to be reviewed for the January 2007 column are now on the 2007 index page, so you may see what will be reviewed in November and December 2006 plus January 2007.

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2006/ and http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2007/

******

******NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS

A SIME~GEN postage stamp is now available to order on cafe press. It can be used just as you would use a a regular postage stamp. Be the first on YOUR block to have them!

We've got a new page for Cafe Press items from our artists and authors. Now you can get t-shirts, greeting cards, clocks, mugs, and other great stuff with work from your favorite artists. You can even buy books about Nessie, the Orange Forest Rabbit and The Reluctant Spy that aren't available anywhere else.

http://simegen.com/marketplace/cafepress/

is a direct link to all our items and merchandise stores. Use of this page will give the domain extra income.

If there is an item that you wish to see that isn't offered, just write Lois at lois@lochness-monster.com and she'll get it ready for you to order.

Think about magnificent, hand-crafted Starred-Cross Jewelry for your holiday giving: http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/jewelry/ .

The image comes in four designs:
- silver & enamel brooch *
- silver & gold brooch
- silver & gold outline pendant
- small silver pin
(The first three are 1-1/2" square; the pin is about half that size.)

* Enamel can be almost any color - think Householding colors! How do you describe the color you want? Try http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colornames.asp .

Follow the link to the artist's own page for ordering: http://www.wormgeardesigns.com/simegen.php . The artist who created these items apologizes for not replying to some early queries.

Apparently, the 'Shopping Cart' was sending notices to an obsolete mailbox, and he didn't receive them until very recently.

He says the page still has some problems, but at least the notification works, and ordered items will be created and shipped within a few days, by First Class mail.

Any questions or comments go to Kaires Tevesu. (Please mention 'starred-cross jewelry' in the subject line, because that address gets a _lot_ of spam.)

******

******HELP WANTED

The spotlights section of Simegen.com currently needs interviewers, spotlight posting personnel, an assistant spotlights gatemaster, and a keygifts store manager. We are also requesting an Assistant Reviews Co-coordinator - duties include covering when other staff are unable to perform tasks. We are almost finished revamping our reviews section and expect activity to be at a constant high level. We're looking for a versatile quick learner able to put in some time daily. Pluses are: A good command of the English language (syntax, grammar, punctuation, in that order), some computer experience or ability to learn, and an interest in books. Direct all inquiries to simegen@simegen.com.

******

******PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

We have had to withdraw the entire Sime~Gen project from Meisha Merlin for a wide range of reasons. They missed several deadlines for publication of TO KISS OR TO KILL and showed no signs of intention to get it out any time in the foreseeable future. That stalled everything else. It was very disappointing.

So we are now actively in search of another publisher.

THE UNITY TRILOGY should continue to be available for some time -- they have the right to dispose of all stock in the Meisha Merlin warehouse.

******

*****ADVICE FOR PROMOTING YOUR BOOK OR WEBSITE

A new year is dawning, and you are probably taking stock of your success as a writer in 2006.

Imagine for a moment that it's a year from now. The ebook that you published just twelve months ago is an EPPIE finalist, and has been riding high for months with four-star reviews on all the review sites. It has also remained on the best-seller list on the site where it is sold. You have even received enough in royalties to pay for all the promotion you have done for your book.

Have you ever dreamed of being the person described above? Of course you have--but which part of that scenario is hardest for the experienced writer to imagine? Sadly, ebook authors are more likely to win an award than make more money in royalties than they spend promotingtheir books.

It's a fact of writing life today that the author must promote his or her own books, whether ebooks or tree books. That fact is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

But promotion is expensive. Some reviewers accept ebooks as email attachments, but others want print copy, requiring the author to pay for print copies, as well as postage to send the books to the reviewers.

While it's not too difficult to get free web space, you then have to either hire a designer or design your site yourself. And of course your website is just like your book: no one will visit it unless you advertise it.

Which brings us to the cost of advertising: a website, banner ads on other people's websites, bookmarks, flyers, prizes for contests you run on your site. It quickly adds up.

Think what it would be like if you could stretch your advertising budget so you could continue to advertise each of your books for a full year.

There is a way: text ads.

Link exchanges are of course your best deal, because they are free. However, a link exchange is not actually a text ad, because it doesn't promote your book. It just tells visitors to the exchange site that your site also exists.

But many websites and newsletters offer actual text ads for your book at very low cost, frequently as low as $5 per month. You're a writer, so your appeal is to readers--right? And your particular skill is with words--right? You don't have to beg, barter, or buy a text ad, as you might a banner or web page, and if you're not satisfied with your first attempt, you can change it yourself until you are happy with it.

There are four rules for creating a great text ad:

1. THE SHORTER THE BETTER. Try to keep the description of your book or promotion on your website to as few words as you can manage. The idea is to get your audience to CLICK on your hotlink. There they will find further details.

2. HOOK your audience with what Hollywood calls a high concept. The idea is to put together something familiar and comfortable that your audience already knows they like, with a new twist to pique their curiosity. Another alternative is to put together two ideas that may both be familiar, but never before juxtaposed with one another. Would you be interested in a book described as "Dracula meets Desperate Housewives"? How about "Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gains robot"? Use your imagination to find the wildest way to describe your book, yet be truthful to its content.

3. TEST YOUR LINKS! Your ad won't do you much good if when people click on your hotlinks, they just get error messages. DON'T USE TOO MANY HOTLINKS. Many advertising venues limit you to one or two--and they are actually doing you a favor. Readers who want to investigate the book you have described in such an intriguing way now want a more detailed look at it--they don't want to be taken away to descriptions of three OTHER books. Or if they want to enter your contest, they don't want to be taken to the Amazon page for your book instead. Generally, the two hotlinks in your text ad should be one to your own web page, and the other to the best place to purchase your book.

4. LINK TO THE RIGHT PAGE. If you are running a contest or promotion on your website, don't take readers to your top page and make them hunt around for more links to take them to that contest or promotion. Use the actual page where the contest or promotion is to be found as your hotlink. The same rule goes for selling your book directly. If you have separate pages on your website for each of your books, link to the actual page for that book. The same thing goes for the link to where they can purchase it. Link as directly to the sales page for your book as you possibly can, so you don't send people to a page where they may choose to buy some other book instead.

So now you've made your great text ad. I'll bet that feels pretty good. But where are you going to put it, besides as your email signature?

Do you see text ads in the newsletters you receive? Find out how much they cost! For example, check out the New Year's Special Sime~Gen Inc. is running: 40% off the usual rates for text ads in six different newsletters: http://www.simegen.com/agreements/NewYear'sSpecial.html .

******

******AVAILABLE RELEASES

~ the Omnibus reprint of Jean Lorrah's SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING is #1 in the reprint program.

~ Trade Paperback edition of DREAMSPY from BenBella Books and you can order on Amazon and some other places.

Read the comments here .

~ SAVAGE EMPIRE: PROPHECIES is #2 in Jean Lorrah's and Winston Howlett's omnibus reprint of the Savage Empire series.

Still Available in Trade Paperback, SIME~GEN: THE UNITY TRILOGY .

******

***** Sites to Remember *****

Author spotlights

Chats

Romance articles

Reviews of books by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Reviews

Shopping

Sound files of Jacqueline Lichtenberg pronouncing Sime~Gen vocabulary words can be found at http://www.simegen.com/jl/nivetsoundfiles/index.html .

To sign up for classes, go to http://www.simegen.com/school/SchoolForms.html .

To volunteer, go to http://www.simegen.com/agreements/helpwanted.html for the latest openings.

******

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To contact editor for any reason, please e-mail Lisa Saunders at simegen@simegen.com.

*Please Note all material posted on Official Virtual Tecton is copyright © by Sime~Gen Inc. and all rights are reserved. To get your Sime~Gen(tm) material sanctioned for web posting or to get permission to repost from official materials, e-mail ambrovzeor@aol.comor contact simegen@simegen.com. Sime~Gen (tm) is the trademark of a fictional universe copyright © by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.