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I think I’ve chosen a side in the Amazon / Apple conflict
It looks like Amazon is getting into a bit of a price war with Overstock. And it looks like this could be very bad for authors and publishers, both in the short-term an as part of a larger trend. A...
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Miro-update Short Fiction Market Workshop
Had a great time at Michael’s short fiction market workshop today at The Book Store. Full post tomorrow when I’ve had a chance to go over my notes.
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Short Story Market Workshop
Back on Sunday I went to a workshop on the short story market hosted by Michael Matheson. Matheson is a short story author and is also one of the editors at Apex Magazine, an online magazine for...
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No, EBooks aren’t dying
Earlier this week, Rough Type posted this chart and the lit parts of the internet went up into the perennial debate over e vs paper. And certainly it’s a pretty doomish looking chart. You see a peek...
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Poll: Should I do the 3-day novel contest?
I recently found out that I hadn’t (yet again) missed the 3-day novel contest. For those who aren’t familiar with this contest, it’s a $50 entry fee and then you write a novel, at least 100 manuscript...
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Marketing Categories: The Genre Question
I read an article from Quill and Quire today that talked about a new marketing category that has evolved – new adult fiction. It described how an author had trouble selling her book because it featured...
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The agony of the moment before you edit
I just got my edits back from my publisher. Actually I got them a few days ago but my email idiotically mistook one of the most important emails I’ve ever got as spam. Yeah, gonna be fixing my spam...
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Looks like I wasn’t the only person having that sort of an evening yesterday
I found this article on Chuck Wendig’s blog (seriously, go read it) and it perfectly encapsulates my evening last night too. So, moment of truth, we all need editors. There’s no shame in that....
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Antagonists and Villains
Ouyang Feng from the Legend of the Condor Heroes is a pretty obvious villain – his nickname is the Western Poison – but even so it’s his believable motivations and fundamental humanity that make him...
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Abercrombie, Martin and Magic-Light Fantasy
I’m going to put this up here now, I might include spoilers for A Song of Ice and Fire in this post. Stop reading now if that bothers you. There will be spoilers in the very next paragraph. The last...
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Yeah, well neither has Shakespeare (Ad Astra roundup)
I haven’t written here for a while because, to be honest, I haven’t had anything to write about. Sorry. But there was this convention that I got back from yesterday and I’ve been digesting it in my...
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Three Approaches to the New Weird: Vandermeer, Barron and Ligotti
Weird fiction has always been something I enjoyed reading. I discovered Poe shortly after Stoker, and from him moved on to Lovecraft, Derelith and their ilk before settling into reading mainstream...
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Ye Olde Blog Hop
Mutation you say? Last Friday, Adam Shaftoe tagged me in a Blog Hop. Basically it’s like a chain letter for writers but with the added benefit of mutation (sweet, sweet mutation). In a nutshell, each...
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Amazon, Books and Bubbles
According to Melville House the investment luster is wearing off of the never-make-a-profit elephant in the room of publishing, Amazon. The thing with Amazon is that it made a decision early on to...
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May the Fourth be With You – But also some hard truths
There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the Star Wars casting announcement recently. Adam Shaftoe has an excellent take on the issue over at Page of Reviews, and for something a little...
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Yes, Racism is Still a Problem in SFF
I’m feeling pretty ill today – a weekend long bout of insomnia culminated in me not getting a wink of sleep pretty much at all last night and I’m in a foul mood. As such, fair warning, but there’s...
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What he said
I’ve been banging my head against a bit of a wall in some fandom related discussions for the last few days. Was planning on writing yet another longish piece about prejudicial behaviour and why it...
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Did Disney Listen?
Starwars.com reported today that Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie have been added to the cast of Episode VII. If they wanted to quell concerns regarding the dearth of people of colour and women...
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99 little bugs in the code
99 little bugs. Take one down, patch it around… 127 little bugs in the code. I really hope it doesn’t go that way. I just sent off the latest draft of the Black Trillium to my editor. There are few...
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No, Amazon isn’t doing the world any favours
A rebuttal to Matthew Yglesias I haven’t written here in a while. That’s largely for three reasons. 1) My wife was pregnant and I was spending a lot of time just figuring out how to Dad. That process...
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