The Price of Freedom

It's happened before, of course. Three-quarters of the way into a book, it suddenly appears to me as a huge, lifeless pile of words. The ending is not credible. The characters won't talk to me. I should probably give up even trying to write. The difference is, in earlier times there were constraints that forced... Continue Reading →

Are you really sure?

One of the most frequent comments you’ll hear when you ask someone why they want to sign a traditional publishing contract has to do with the “services” they get from a publisher. Next to distribution to bookstores, probably the most often quoted reason authors want a publisher is so they have an editor. They trust... Continue Reading →

Topic Round-up

Wow, the New Year has gotten off with a bang -- or, perhaps more accurately, the sound of air slowly leaking out of a balloon. Traditional publishing basically shuts down during the holidays. So there isn't much coming out of the ivory towers to discuss. But that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Just the... Continue Reading →

Cranky Writer is, well, cranky

When I went to bed last night, I knew exactly (kind of, sort of) what I was going to write about this morning. It was a toss-up between a post on some comments about the cover of Black Tide Rising, an anthology based on John Ringo's  series of books, and a response to an article... Continue Reading →

Are you the gatekeeper?

Recently, I've seen a spate of articles and comments on various social media sites extolling the necessity of being traditionally published before you venture into the world of indie publishing. After all, these posts contend, how can you tell if you really are good enough if you don't first make it through the gatekeepers of... Continue Reading →

Where’s the Money, Pt. 2

Yesterday over at According to Hoyt, Sarah kindly posted a guest blog by yours truly asking "Where's the Money?". The post came out of reading Jim Hines' annual reporting of what he made as an author and the results of he 2014 Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest Survey. I won't rehash that blog other than... Continue Reading →

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