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Mar 12

7 Comments

I Aten’t Ded … Again

The first thing you need to know is I’m alive. I know that might not seem particularly relevant, but last week’s fiction was written a couple weeks earlier, and by the time it went live here, I’d already woke up feeling rather poor. When I got in to see a doc on … Thursday? It was in time to find out I’d developed bronchitis, and I should get a chest x-ray, “just in case.” Well, case happened, and I got a phone call that even letting me know I’d also contracted pneumonia. “Just a small spot in the middle of your right lung,” not that I could really tell. Kinda ouchy, actually. Fortunately, good meds are good, and I can breathe again.
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Mar 12

34 Comments

Reality vs Perception

This isn’t the post I planned on writing this morning. But there are times when you have to throw plans out the window and adapt. This is one of those times and you can blame Sarah for lighting the fire. You see, she left me a message after I turned off the computer last night that started the wheels turning. Then I read the comments to Dave’s post and the idea took hold. So welcome to the latest installment of “Reality vs Perception” or “How We Still Deceive Ourselves About Publishing”. Read more

Mar 11

62 Comments

Financial exclusion

Chuckle. You know those delightful situations where some twit sets out to insult you, and falls over their own ignorance? Calls you stupendous under the mistaken impression that it is a fancy word for stupid and will make them look so superior? Or howls how racist you are for describing a payment as niggardly? Or claims that describing Chinese Communists by the US State Dept shortening of ‘Chicom’ is ‘racist’?

One of the fans sent me a hilarious puppy-kicker comment about Mad Genius Club — MGC, which any analysis of past posts would show is where a bunch of writers of various ages, stages, sexes, ethnicities, national origins, differing social and political views and backgrounds all coming together to help and support their fellow writers. To help people with the profession of writing.

The profession of writing.

Not the hobby, or self-fulfilment, or getting in touch with your inner self, or getting in touch with your outer self, or virtue signaling, or artistic merit, of writing. Read more

Mar 10

23 Comments

Second-Order Consequences and stories

What is a second-order consequence? Well, a first-order consequence is the immediate consequence of a decision, usually the desired outcome. The second-order consequences are the ones that are separated by time and space from the first order, and if you’re not thinking things through, are usually “Unintended consequences.” And, to be fair, even if you think things through, it’s impossible to account for how everything interacts – so there are always unintended consequences, though they may be years or decades down the road, and classified as third and fourth-order consequences…

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Mar 9

23 Comments

Story Arc, Marvel Movies, and Human Wave

So on release day, my kids dragged me to watch Captain Marvel. It wasn’t a hard drag, as overall I’ve enjoyed the Avengers movie arc. I have not seen all of the movies, have definitely not watched all of the TV series spin-off, but I’ve seen enough to be Team Cap all the way, and to appreciate the Human Wave story underlying the series as a whole. My takeaway from Captain Marvel? Human Wave. If you’ve enjoyed the previous movies, you should go see it.

That being said, while my review on my blog was about the movie, the message, and the massive missing the point the actress who tried to torpedo the movie was guilty of, this blog post is about storytelling. Read more

Mar 8

12 Comments

What did I tell you?

Earlier this morning, I put up an article titled “Starting a discussion on the future of independent publishing“.  In it, I said (bold print is my emphasis):

In the sense that indie authors provide content that aggregators like Amazon can use to drive traffic to their channels, we have a certain amount of “job security” – but that will last only as long as the traffic we bring to those channels justifies their investment in a hospitable environment for us. I submit that if Amazon, or any other major sales “channel”, decides that it can derive a more profitable return on investment by reallocating what it spends on us to something or someone else, it will do so in a skinny minute.

It was an eerily prophetic statement.  Bloomberg reports:  “Amazon Suppliers Panic Amid Purge Aimed at Boosting Profits“.

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Mar 8

19 Comments

Starting a discussion on the future of independent publishing

As regular readers will know, I try to focus on the business of independent writing and publishing, rather than the creative side.  There are two reasons.  First, there are plenty of good creative-focus articles and sites out there:  and second, there aren’t enough focusing on the fact that writing is, essentially, a business for all of us except those who are doing it as a hobby – and I don’t think there are many of those here.

Be that as it may, I’ve been noodling over the state of the industry for a while now.  I’m seeing a stratification emerge, and I think it’s going to affect how we work as independent authors and publishers.  I’d like to put my (admittedly incomplete) thoughts out there, and ask for your input in Comments as to how you see things.  You may figure I’m completely wrong, or partly right, or whatever.  That’s fine.  I’m trying to get a discussion going, so we can all learn from it.

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