2022 - 01/2022 Meeting

Page Created: 01/08/22. Last Updated: 01/13/22.

MARY FAN

ONLINE

Website: https://www.maryfan.com/

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mfanwriter

Pinterst: https://www.pinterest.com/astralcolt/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AstralColt

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/astralcolt

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Fan/e/B00BKT4AJW

SELECTED TITLES

Novels:

.....Stronger Than a Bronze Dragon (standalone)

.....Jane Colt Trilogy

...............Artificial Absolutes

...............Synthetic Illusions

...............Virtual Shadows

.....Swept Away Trilogy

...............Starswept

...............Wayward Stars

...............Seize the Stars

.....Flynn Nightsider

...............Flynn Nightsider & the Edge of Evil

...............A Girl Called Firedragon (collection)

.....The Fated Stars

...............Tell Me My Name (novella)

...............Let Me Fly Free (novella)

...............Windborn

Editor

.....Bad Ass Moms

.....Brave New Girls (co-editor)

...............Tech & Tinker

...............Gals & Gizmos

...............Heroines Who Hack

...............Science & Scheme

...............Girls & Gadgets

Meeting Date: January 8, 2022.

Meeting Site: Zoom Video Conference.

Attendance: 39.

Meeting Program: Talk, Q & A with Author / Editor

Notes:

The Virtual Dinner Run was attended by club members Gary Calhoun, Philip De Parto, Clif Flynt, Anthony Pawlak, John Upton and Moshe Yuda, as well as regulars Gary Frank and Louis Kessler. Topics discussed included computer security, military aircraft, landing on a aircraft carrier, Tom Corbitt, and movies. Some participants were present only briefly.

Newsletter Account:

The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2022 Philip J De Parto:

Notes for Newsletter Account:

STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON

.....Wrote in 2017

.....Set in a steampunk world ~ 1800 in an analog of the Ching Dynasty

.....Wanted this book to be traditionally published

.....Queried & landed an agent

.....Worked on rewrite with agent for 8 months before submitting to publisher

.....An editor wanted to acquire the book but was vetoed by marketing department

.....Sent new book to agent who hated it

.....Pitched two ideas, wrote 50 pages of each, agent hated both, so they parted ways

.....Landed new agent through Twitter pitch session

.....Purchased by editor Lori Nolls of Page Street Press

.....Traditional publishing is like going on vacation, you write the book and they handle cover, editing, etc.

Her work as a Financial Services Marketer has influenced the marketing end of her self-published books,

Writes full character bios for the main characters in her books.

Has never taken a writing class

Is a plotter

Uses Scrivener. Showed Scrivener on Share Screen.

Writes evenings. Takes a break between when she comes home and when she starts writing

Brave New Girls anthologies came out in 2015, and 2017 - 2020. Now on covid break

Bad Ass Mom anthology is from Crazy 8 Press

Writes mostly YA because it is more fun

Childhood - College

.....Both parents had Phd

.....Was academic brat, moving from place to place depending on where they were teaching

.....Was in Hong Kong for year at 12. Wrote bad first novel, but she got it done

.....Grew up mostly in NJ as dad got hired by Princeton. Went to Princeton. Music Major.

.....Spent 6 years writing songs

Writing Process

.....Does messy first draft

.....Fixes things in second draft

.....Sends it to Beta readers

.....1 or 2 rewrites based on their feedback

.....Starts submitting when she is sick of book

Query Process

.....3 paragraph query letter

.....1 page synopsis

First Job

.....Bejing

,,,,,Didn't know anyone, so she came home from work & wrote Artificial Absolutes, first novel which sold

Book

.....Found footage

.....Systemic Crate

.....Cryptid Crate

.....Mantis Man

Marketing

.....Philcon was first convention

.....Does 6 - 7 conventions / year

.....Hired companies specializing in online marketing who deal with influencers

.....Used FaceBook Ads, but their prices keep rising

.....Instagram ads

......Instaram tours

......Tried to do a newsletter, but it wasn't for her and she gave it up

......Tik Tok / Book Tok very popular with young people

Sings in NYC Master Voices Choir

Jane Colt Trilogy (Artificial Absolutes, etc)

.....First two books through Red Adept Publishing

.....Third book was self-pubbed, but used same editor, etc as earlier books

.....Red Adept was having problems

Plotting Series

.....Meticulous for first book

.....Looser plot - just ideas - for following books

Brave New Girls

.....Co editior with Paige Daniels

.....What if we published a series of books where girls weren't the the supporting characters

.....Self pubbed

.....Sales revenues go to Society of Women Engineers

Recent nonfiction reading:

.....The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber & David Wengrow

.....The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele & David M Perry

Submitted to a couple of dozen literary agents, then started hitting the small presses