This week’s links highlight the 2011 Locust Awards (including Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker), author pitfalls such as not having easily accessible contact info on your site and agent advice from Deidre Knight of the Knight Agency.

It’s strange how many author sites I still find that are hard to navigate and nearly impossible to find any contact info for. I know some writers value their anonymity and other writers have the troublesome situation of being Stephen King and don’t want fans emailing them a thousand short stories about killer kitchen appliances. But for those of us who aren’t Stephen King and are seeking interaction, networking and feedback from our social media outlets, one wonders why you would set up a site if there was no established form of communication.

Also, because I can’t compile a set of links without throwing in a seemingly irrelevant one, I included Marc Maron’s podcast that I’ve started listening to where he interviews comedians (Conan O’Brien, Robin Williams, Louis C.K., Patton Oswalt, Aziz Ansari, Amy Poehler, etc) in his garage, creating some genuine and candid moments.

– Winners: 2011 Locus Awards (sfsignal)

– New Cool Bundle: Write Your Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel (guidetoliteraryagents)

– The Bizarre Musical Instruments Behind Classic Sci-fi Movie Sounds (io9)

– A Pet Peeve About Authors With Hard-To-Find Contact Info (atfmb)

– Harlan Ellison To Be Elected Into Hall Of Fame (cnn)

– Agent Advice From Deidre Knight Of The Knight Agency (guidetoliteraryagents)

– AV Club Reviews The Quantum Thief (avclub)

– Robocalypse May Well Be The Summer’s Best Movie – In Book Form (io9)

– Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast Interviewing Comedians (wtfpod)