Doshin: the Samurai Police

Many people express surprise upon hearing that many cities in Medieval Japan had organized police forces on patrol. During the samurai era, the Shogun and the Daimyo (essentially “warlord”) in command of lesser territories often employed samurai policemen to protect and patrol the streets. The medieval equivalent of the “beat cop” was called a doshin, and their supervisors (really “assistant magistrates”) were known as yoriki. The doshin served many functions, from general peacekeeping to dispute resolution and, when necessary, arresting criminals and bringing them before the magistrates for trial. Like modern policemen, doshin were generally overworked and under-appreciated. Other samurai

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The Importance of Writers’ Conferences

As autumn approaches, writers’ conference season continues apace. The “season” itself kicks off in May, with a range of conferences continuing through the summer and autumn seasons. If you write you should attend conferences – even if it’s only once a year (or even every other year, if your work isn’t finished yet). Every author understands the importance of conferences as a place for traditionally-published authors to meet editors, agents and peers – I met my agent at a conference, as did the majority of my represented friends and writing acquaintances. But what about new writers? And what about independents,

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On Pre-Release Marketing Mountain – Author Business Plans, Part 3

Welcome back to our continuing Wednesday series on Author Business Plans! If you missed Part 1 (the Overview) or Part 2 (Writing the Dreaded Synopsis) the links will take you there. Today we’re looking at Part 3 of the Author Business Plan: Preparing Marketing Strategies. The business plan section on Marketing Strategies normally has three sub-sections or components: pre-release marketing, release week (or “around release”), and marketing efforts after the “release publicity” push. We’ll look briefly at each in turn. Pre-release Marketing usually involves building a platform and making your presence known. Advertising about your book plays a role, but

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Fun With Thing 1

Thing 1 is an eight-inch female banded pipefish: I purchased her (along with her mate, Thing 2) about 18 months ago, shortly after cycling my 60 gallon marine aquarium and setting up the reef. Blending different species of sygnathids (the family to which seahorses and pipefish belong) can be a challenge, and mixing wild-caught and captive-bred specimens more challenging still because the captive-bred animals don’t possess the same resistances as their wild cousins (who may also introduce pathogens to a tank). Generally speaking, the crazy souls who decide to try it (present company included) introduce the wild-caught specimens first, give

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Shiny Dinglehoppers: Kimono-esque Verisimilitude

I’m a fan of verisimilitude in novels, particularly when it comes to historical detail. Although the plots and characters in my novels are (mostly) fictitious, I try to stick as close to “reality” as possible when it comes to “sets and costuming” – not only does this add realism to the work, it lets the reader experience a little slice of 16th century Kyoto. Many of my characters wear kimono, a traditional Japanese robe worn by both men and women (though with different cuts and styles for different genders). Kimono styles have changed considerably through the ages, so this was

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An Interview With Joanne Levy

Please help me welcome Joanne Levy, author of the recently-released SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE. (Bloomsbury, 2012) I first met Joanne through her posts at The Debutante Ball, and more recently met her personally when I was invited to join the Ball as part of the class of 2013. I’ve been looking forward to reading her novel, which seventh-grade medium Lilah Bloom who discovers she can hear ghosts after being struck by lightning. My copy is in the mail (along with a second one that Joanne was kind enough to sign for my niece!) and I’ll be reading it the moment

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All’s Fair in Love and War – But Not in Copyright Law

Today, I’m honored to introduce a guest post by fellow publishing attorney Kelley Way. Like me, Kelley practices intellectual property and publishing law here in California (though unlike me she handles litigation as well as transactional matters).  And, also like me, she’s a writer as well as an attorney. Kelley graciously agreed to guest-blog here once a month on publishing law, so this is the first of her monthly guest features on legal and publishing topics.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! So with that thanks, and no further ado, I’ll turn things over to Kelley!

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How to Write the Dreaded Synopsis (Author Business Plans, Part 2)*

Today we continue our ongoing series on author business plans (for independent and traditional authors) with a look at Section 2 of the Business Plan: Writing The Business Description. We’re skipping over the Executive Summary for now because it’s easiest to write that part when the other information is complete and in its place. We’ll come back to it in a few weeks, when we’ve taken a look at the other parts of the author’s business plan. Which brings us to Part 2: The Business Summary. In a one-book author business plan, the Business Summary is usually a synopsis of

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Shake it to the Left!

August 13 is official “International Left-Handers’ Day” – and as a left-handed person, I’m ready to celebrate! In every way except writing, I’m actually more ambidextrous – my father didn’t know how to throw a baseball left-handed, so he taught me to throw with my right. Ditto my golf and baseball swings. I draw a bow right-handed also, though when it comes to fencing and writing I’m left-handed all the way. You have no idea how long it took me to find a left-handed keyboard.* I’ve noticed a strangely large number of left-handed writers – not the majority, by any

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