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"One of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." — Library Journal

 

"His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think." — Robert J. Sawyer, award-winning author

 

"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice." — Charles de Lint, award-winning author

spacer Hi! Thanks for visiting. I'm an award-winning Canadian author of fantasy, SF, horror, supernatural, and the ever popular "undefinable", with over a hundred story sales in thirty countries and twenty-five languages around the world.

I have won Canada's Aurora Award for speculative fiction three times (most recently in 2013), and have been a finalist for the international John W. Campbell Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, the CBC Bookies award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane. I've been an Aurora finalist nineteen times and have several honourable mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror. My book length works include:

  • THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD (Lucky Bat Books, 2013) – Urban fantasy novel
  • CHIMERASCOPE (ChiZine, 2010) – Collection – Finalist for the Sunburst Award, Aurora Award, and CBC Bookies Award
  • IMPOSSIBILIA (PS Publishing, 2008) – Collection – Finalist for the Aurora Award
  • LA DANSE DES ESPRITS (Dreampress, 2011) – Collection – Finalist for France's Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane

A complete list of my published fiction is available here along with my complete award history, reviews of my work, and some selected interviews.

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Playing the Short Game now available on all Amazon sites

Douglas Smith - Mon, 2014/09/29 - 12:40pm

spacer I'm happy to announce that my new writer's guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, is now available at Amazon in all geographies, both the trade paperback and ebook editions. Full buying links for all retailers are listed here.  

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Playing the Short Game makes a Recommended Reading list

Douglas Smith - Mon, 2014/09/29 - 11:25am

The multiple award-winning author and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, gives a shout-out to my new writer's guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, in her August 2014 Recommended Reading List.

Here's what Kris had to say about the book, for which she wrote the introduction:

I don’t always plug books that I’ve written introductions for ... I might like them, but I might not love them enough to recommend to you.

 

Doug wrote an indispensible book for those of us who love to write short fiction. He includes indie publishing, and a lot of traditional publishing tips. ... [Doug is] one of the best short story writers in the business, and one of the best at the business of short story writing. I learned a few things from this book, and sometimes I think I’ve seen it all.

 

So, if you have any interest in writing short fiction, or you’re already making a living a short fiction, take a peek at this book. It’s wonderful.

Thanks, Kris!

If you'd like to pick up a copy of the book, it's available from my bookstore and at all major retailers. A description of the book's contents along with full buying links can be found here.

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Last week to save on preorder price for new book

Douglas Smith - Mon, 2014/08/25 - 12:23pm

Just a reminder to any short story writers who follow this blog that the pre-order period for my new "how to" book, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction will end Aug 31. So if you're interested in the book and would like to save some money when buying it, now is the time to order. Pre-order links are here.

And if you'd like to save even more--on this title and all of my books--subscribe to my mailing list. You get a free ebook for joining, plus I offer the lowest discounts on all of my new books to my subscribers. More info here.

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And while we're talking about writing courses...

Douglas Smith - Mon, 2014/08/18 - 2:38pm

I also wanted to mention and recommend two courses that novelist, short story writer, and editor Nina Munteanu is teaching in the fall in Toronto:

Creating Science Fiction (George Brown College)

Learn about what is involved in writing science fiction and getting it published. Explore the essential tools used in this genre (including world building, research and plot approaches), and work toward a publishable original work by learning to generate and follow through with premise, idea and theme.

SF Writing Master Class (University of Toronto)

This 12-week workshop-style course will provide extensive opportunity to develop your in-progress science fiction novel and to gain a deeper understanding of world-building, dramatization of premise, and integration of character with setting, theme and plot.

I hope you'll check these out as well as my course. Nina will help you improve your craft of writing, and I will help you sell what you write.

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My "How to Market & Sell Short Fiction" course open for registration

Douglas Smith - Mon, 2014/08/18 - 1:15pm

A reminder that I’ll be teaching a course this fall at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. The course is called "Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction." It's part of the certificate program that the U of T offers in their Creative Writing program, but it's a stand-alone course as well, and you don't need to be working towards the certificate.

The course is based on the popular blog series that I did in 2012-2013 for Amazing Stories. My upcoming book, also titled Playing the Short Game, to be released Sept. 1, will form the textbook for the course. 

If you write short fiction, this course will teach you how to sell more of what you write and to do it consistently, as well as teach you how to use your short fiction to build a career as a writer.

The course will be taught at UofT's downtown St. George campus, and will run for ten weeks on Wednesdays, from October 1 to December 3. Registration is now open:

Registration link for the course

Even if you aren't interested, if you know of a short story writer in the Toronto area who might be interested, please feel free to forward this information to them.

Course Description

A wealth of courses and books exist to teach you how to write stories. But what happens when you've finished writing? Do you know how to sell what you've written?

In this course, you will learn everything you need to know to sell your short stories to professional markets and to build a career as a short fiction writer.

The Fundamentals: The different types of writers. The benefits of short fiction. Rights and licensing.

Selling Your Stories: Knowing when it's ready. Choosing markets. Submitting stories. Avoiding mistakes. How editors select stories. Dealing with rejections. When to give up on a story.

After a Sale: Contracts. Working with editors. What your first sale means. Dealing with reviews.

A Writer's Magic Bakery: Selling reprints. Foreign markets. Audio markets. Selling a collection. The indie option.

Becoming Established: Leveraging your stories. Discoverability and promotion. Career progression in short fiction.

~~~

I guarantee that this course will give you the knowledge and tools you need to fully understand the business side of being a short fiction writer. I hope to see you this fall.

And here again is the registration link:

Registration link for the course

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New German Short Fiction Market: Pulpcore

Douglas Smith - Wed, 2014/08/13 - 2:44pm

I just added an entry on my Foreign Market List for a new short fiction market in Germany, called Pulpcore. They take stories in English from 2,000 to 6,000 words and translate to German at no cost. They also take email submissions. They pay $20 per story, which isn't great, but since you'll already have sold the story in English (you know that, right? If not, read this), then it's found money and another country that can discover your work. Check out their entry on the FML here. Happy submitting!

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An Italian "Symphony"

Douglas Smith - Sun, 2014/08/10 - 1:48pm

spacer No, not Mendelssohn's 4th (didn't know I had culture, did you?). My short SF story, "Symphony," will appear in an upcoming "SF and Music" issue of the Italian magazine, Quasar, likely this fall.

Earlier this year, Quasar published my Aurora-winning story, "The Walker of the Shifting Borderland," and I'm thrilled to be appearing in the magazine for the second time. This will be my fifth publication in Italian.

"Symphony" first appeared in the Canadian literary magazine, Prairie Fire, in 1999, where it won second prize in the magazine's SF contest to commemorate Canadian SF writer, A. E. van Vogt. The story was a finalist for the Aurora Award in 2000.

If you'd like to read "Symphony," it's included in my collection Chimerascope and is also available as a stand-alone ebook.

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Announcing a New Book: Playing the Short Game

Douglas Smith - Fri, 2014/08/01 - 1:43pm

spacer I am thrilled to announce that I have a new book coming out in September, my first non-fiction project. 

If you follow this blog, you'll remember that I wrote a 32-part blog series for Amazing Stories from 2012-2013 aimed at helping writers learn how to best market and sell their short fiction. I have now repackaged those posts into a book titled Playing the Short Game: How to Market Sell Short Fiction.

The book is completely updated and reorganized, with new material not in the blog series, plus an introduction from multi-genre, multi-award winning writer and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Here's an extract from Kris's intro:

Douglas Smith is the best person to write this book. ... He’s one of the few people who has probably published more short fiction than I have, and in more countries, and more high-paying markets. He loves the short story as much as I do, and he’s good at writing them.

 

He’s just as good at the business side of the profession. He knows more about marketing short stories to other countries than I do. He understands how to manage short fiction contracts very well. He’s up-to-date on 21st century publishing practices, and he has a toughness that the best business people need.

 

We short story writers have needed a book like this for decades. I’m glad Doug decided to write it. Read and reread this volume. Because you’ll learn something each time you do. And take Doug’s advice. It’s spectacular.

 

Don’t take my word for it. Turn the page and dive in. By the time you’re done, I’ll wager you’ll be recommending this book to your writer friends—just like I have.

 

—Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Thanks, Kris!

Playing the Short Game will be coming out this September, but you can pre-order it now at a reduced price from select sites listed below.

Now, here's a summary of what the book covers.

About the Book

Take your first step to becoming a professional short fiction writer—Buy this book!

In an engaging and conversational style, award-winning author Douglas Smith teaches you how to market and sell short stories—and much, much more:

The Fundamentals: The different types of writers. The benefits of short fiction. Rights and licensing.

Selling Your Stories: Knowing when it's ready. Choosing markets. Submitting stories. Avoiding mistakes. How editors select stories. Dealing with rejections. When to give up on a story.

After a Sale: Contracts. Working with editors. What your first sale means. Dealing with reviews.

A Writer's Magic Bakery: Selling reprints. Foreign markets. Audio markets. Selling a collection. The indie option.

Becoming Established: Leveraging your stories. Discoverability and promotion. Career progression in short fiction.

Buying Links

The book will be released in both ebook and print editions in September 2014, but you can pre-order your copy now at the reduced prices shown below.

Ebook (Pre-order now):

For the month of August, you can pre-order the ebook edition at the reduced price of $7.99 (reg price $9.99): 

  • All formats:  My bookstore
  • Epub:  Kobo  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Apple  |  Chapters Indigo  |  Smashwords

 

Trade paperback (Pre-order now):

For the month of August, you can pre-order the print edition from my bookstore at the reduced price of $17.99 (reg price $19.99): 

  • My bookstore

 

Trade paperback – autographed & personalized (Pre-order now):

For the month of August, you can pre-order a personalized and autographed print edition from my bookstore at the reduced price of $24.99 (reg price $29.99): 

  • My bookstore

 

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FML update: New Russian market "Kosmoport"

Douglas Smith - Sun, 2014/07/27 - 1:13pm

I've added a new market to the Foreign Market List. Kosmoport is a new Russian magazine. I'm still tracking down some details, but you can check it out on the FML here. If your Russian is better than mine (or better than the Google translation), I'd appreciate it if you can glean any more info from their website than I could, especially regarding their maximum length for submissions.

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