I just checked my email and received an eblast from Tor.Com (one of my favorite publishers) which included the article below, which expands on my less-well-researched post from yesterday.
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Tag: publishing
Podcast Pickup
The stars have aligned recently in my personal universe allowing me to enjoy audio podcasts once again. Years ago, I used to listen to them via my laptop, a web site or perhaps my Palm Pilot (yeah, remember those)? I never owned an iPod but my children had a couple. I liked the concept, but for the most part I preferred listening to audiobooks (and still do for the most part).
I’m a Patreon supporter of an author (Kameron Hurley), who recently started producing podcasts on a monthly basis. Rather than download yet another application to my smartphone, I decided to use an existing installed app to listen to her podcasts. I downloaded the audio file and placed it in my audiobooks folder so that my Smart Audiobook Player app would pick it up automatically. It found the new file and I was able to listen to it through my Bluetooth headset and through my new car’s stereo system while commuting. I’ve listened to both episodes and enjoyed them both (although I do warn you that profanity is prolific). I even submitted a question for a future podcast to her. Kameron has made the podcasts available to everyone via her website at this URL: http://www.kameronhurley.com/podcast/
This listening experience reminded me that there are other podcasts to be discovered. I did some searches for best podcasts of the last couple of years for science fiction and fantasy. I found two that seemed to fit my bill: Sword and Laser and Wired’s Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (GGG). I subscribed to both of them and downloaded the most recent episodes to my Google Music app.
Writer’s Shift – L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
This time around it’s Modesitt’s thoughts on how the publishing industry has changed over the last forty years. Yes, he’s been cranking out great books since before my eldest son was born.
Over the past few years I’ve been asked how the field of writing has changed since I was first published, a question I suspect comes up because I’ve managed to stay published for a long enough time that I might have some perspective on any possible changes affecting writers, in particular. Some of the changes…
via Writers’ Shift — L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
Deconstructing Strong Female Characters
Over at Tor.com, Ilana Meyer offers up some great insights into writing characters of the female variety. Here’s some excerpts that resonated with me:
They should kick ass but have other talents; they shouldn’t necessarily kick ass because that’s been done to death; they should have agency; they should move the plot forward; they should be assertive but not obnoxious; they should hold positions of power; they shouldn’t be raped or die to give the hero incentive for his quest.
What I think is missing from some of these discussions is: writing a fully realized character of any gender requires one trait above all others, and that is empathy. When a female character goes off the rails, it is often because the author experienced a failure of imagination; while he could imagine all the emotions a man might feel in a similar situation—and Continue reading “Deconstructing Strong Female Characters”
Shared from WordPress
Grist for the Mill: What America’s Next Top Model Can Teach You About Publishing – http://www.kameronhurley.com/grist-for-the-mill-what-americas-next-top-model-can-teach-you-about-your-publishing-career/
Words of wisdom for young and old, models, actors and writers.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
The Current Economics of E-Books « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2015/01/16/the-current-economics-of-e-books/
For my aspiring and published author friends: observations on the ebook market by Modesitt
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Living in the Spirit Cover Reveal
Cover reveal for my uncle’s first book. Available now (a bit early) from some retailers.
Amazon said to play hardball in book contract talks with publishing house Hachette – The Washington Post
Quotes/Excerpts:
What makes the dispute between Amazon and Hachette different is that Amazon’s tactics have no obvious consumer benefit, a key antitrust consideration.
The group “deplores any attempt by any party that would seek to injure and punish innocent authors — and their innocent readers — in order to pursue its position in a business dispute. We believe that such actions are analogous to hostage-taking to extort concessions, and are just as indefensible.” — Gail Hochman, president of the Association of Authors’ Representatives
What kind of entity in a competitive market would willfully drive customers into the arms of its competitors unless it believes it doesn’t really have any competitors? Can you imagine Best Buy refusing to deliver for a period of weeks what’s available from its competitors? But Amazon behaves as though they’re the only game in town. And increasingly they are. It’s a head-scratcher why anyone with regulatory authority would tolerate it. If this is not an example of untoward power, I don’t know what is. — Scott Turow, a Hachette author and former president of the Authors Guild and a lawyer.
As a reader, I enjoy low prices but I don’t want prices so low that the authors finally decide it’s not worth it and quit writing.
“The Unrecognized Trajectory of Slow Burn Success” by Janny Wurts — A Dribble of Ink
Browsing an unknown book on the internet requires the foresight that it is there! More, public opinion shoves the book’s data right into your face: ratings, reviews, numbers – crowd opinion leads the barrage.
— Janny Wurts, “The Unrecognized Trajectory of Slow Burn Success”
via A Dribble of Ink blog
I loved learning something new about how Tolkien was ‘discovered.’ It’s always great to read anything written by Janny.
Surprise! I Have No Idea Your Book is Coming Out | Kameron Hurley
http://www.kameronhurley.com/surprise-i-have-no-idea-your-book-is-coming-out/
Remember that ground breaking shocking documentary from the 70s (or was it the 80s) where they took teenagers to prison and introduced them to the convicts? This blog post reminds me of that film. If you can ignore the language, the message is worth hearing.
I might be stretching the comparison a bit but just wanted you to know I don’t normally condone that much profanity by reblogging it.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon