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Tag: Representation

Brian and the cover of “Almost Perfect.”
Almost Perfect Except . . .

Almost Perfect Except . . .

By Brian Katcher Brian Katcher is a writer whom one of our usual bloggers, Jan S. Gephardt, met at the science fiction convention Archon 44 (He’s also spotlighted in Jan’s Authors of Archon 44 post). He told this story during a panel discussion in which they both participated. She asked him to share it with our audience, because it demonstrates an issue we also face. The Weird Blog and Artdog Adventures support diversity and representation. As a pair of older,…

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A high viewpoint looks down on the formidable gates of a stronghold, where a small, armored figure has pushed the gates partway open.
“We can’t market this”

“We can’t market this”

By Jan S. Gephardt “We can’t market this” is a reason for rejection that I’ve heard for decades. It says “your book/story doesn’t fit into our pre-made boxes.” Innovation is sometimes the stuff of new bestsellers, although I’d argue that a book’s worth isn’t always or only revealed by its sales figures. But it admittedly is much harder to sell square pegs when your marketing is solely designed to appeal to round holes. Gatekeepers The literary world is famously full…

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