The Fantasy Genre

Types of Speculative Fiction

High Fantasy - Epic scale, farmer-boy-discovers-he-is-Worlds-last-Hope. (Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Robert Jordan)
Game-Related - popular genre, with expansion of D&D, Star Wars and various other stories set in popular gaming worlds.
Heroic Fantasy - Hero against all odds- usually focuses on one main flawed character. (Elizabeth Moon, David Gemmell)
Contemporary Fantasy - Sometimes called Urban Fantasy. Features magical creatures in the everyday modern world. (Charles de Lint, Mercedes Lackey)
Historical Fantasy - magic set in the past, can be any era or age (Tim Powers, Margaret Ball)

Writers are constantly shifting and bending these categories- some peoples stories could fit into several of these. It is what keeps the genre fresh- and exciting.

Fiction Lengths

Some readers have written in asking what the definative lengths are for different types of fiction. As with everything, there are no hard and fast rules, but here is a guide.

Short Story: less than 7,500 words.
Novelette: at least 7,500 words but less than 17,500 words.
Novella: at least 17,500 words but less than 40,000 words.
Novel: 40,000 words or more.

Novel Publishers

There seem to be more and more publishers closing their submissions, and more and more only accepting from agents. But here's a list of ones that deal with fantasy/si fi.

Accepts unsolicted manuscripts

Ardwolf Press (small press) - Baen - DAW - Dragon Moon Press (small press) - Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publisher (small press)- Tor

Accepts only through agents

Aspect - Del Rey

E-Publishing

DiskUs - New Concepts Publishing - Writers Exchange Epublishing

This is by no means a complete list- for a more comprehensive look try Editors and Preditors- an excellent resource.

Wisdom from my first Fantasy/Sci Fi Convention

1. Practice reading your work from an outsiders point of view. It's difficult, but if you can look at it objectively and with as little emotional attachment as possible, problems and things that simply don't work will become more apparent.
2. To avoid the dreaded info dump syndrome, where you bore the reader with packing all your information into a dense couple of paragraphs, weave the information into the way the characters, act and talk, and slip them in small doses into any scene discription. A good way to help you do this, is to use the reader's cliches. Like mentioning crenallations or battlements will make them build an understanding that they are in a medieval time period.
3. In any begining cut straight to the chase- start them off well and they will be ready for the rest.
4. Sharing your writing can be more than frightening. You don't have to take everyone's opinion, but talking about it makes you think more about it. So think about joining a writing group.
5. (This is a good one for NZ writers) Don't go around thinking because your a New Zealander you can never get published. A good story is a good story, and editors don't choose them from where the author lives. In fact being from a small lesser known place might even help.
6. You can get published, and *not* have an agent, *not* have published short fiction before, and come from the slush pile (hey Tad Williams did)
7. Read outside your genre, learn from the masters no matter which genre they come from
8. Ideas are all around you- keep a note pad and note down the things- even little ones. Who knows what might come of it.