Readers may remember the news breaking earlier this year about the author Chuck Palahniuk being robbed of several million dollars worth of royalties by his agency. Palahnuik was not the only victim of the agency's bookkeeper. That agency has filed for Chapter 7 protection, because the bookkeeper skimmed royalties from Palahnuik, Edward Gorey's Estate, and... Continue Reading →
But I Pay all my Bills on Time!
Yes, but what happens when your publisher doesn't? Medallion Press has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. That means it is going away, never to be seen again. What about the publishing rights of the authors currently under contract? Read the Passive Guy's comments and discussion. Short version - they are gone to whoever buys Medallion's... Continue Reading →
What do you want?
As I was preparing for today's post, I cam across a couple of things I thought I'd share. The first is a perfect example of one of the problems facing traditional publishing today. The second is a post about why it's a great time -- sort of -- to go indie. Both are, in my opinion,... Continue Reading →
Give me my advance back!
The other day, someone asked me if publishers ever ask for their advances back. After all, there have to have been times when a publisher has signed a contract with an author and that author failed to deliver. I told the person asking that yes, publishers do sometimes ask for their money back. But the... Continue Reading →
The Balkan Pie
(Dave wasn't able to get WordPress to cooperate this morning. So he sent this to me and asked me to post it for him -- Amanda) I’ve always said that unity and broadness in sf/fantasy were a net positive for the very people doing their best to narrow and Balkanize it. This post comes out... Continue Reading →
Summer of the Lab Rat
Lab Rat The Real World is not a laboratory. Unfortunately. If it were, we could control for single variables. Trying various things in marketing ebooks is a case to point. My best sales period (tripled my monthly average) was immediately after: (1) Last year's Labor Day Sale, organized within this group, which had very few... Continue Reading →
Some thoughts, some promo
After the usual suspects came up empty when I asked for blog topics last night, I found myself wondering just what to write about today. It would be easy enough to do a riff on the "outrage" over Neil Gaiman's Clarion tweet. But that's been done by better folks than me (waves at Brad). I... Continue Reading →
When is an indie doing well?
I was going to write about the latest payout numbers from the Kindle Unlimited Program today -- and I will get to it shortly -- but a member of my critique group asked a question Sunday that had me sit back and think. Several weeks before, instead of our regular meeting, we held a mini-workshop.... Continue Reading →
And Panic Ensues
Eight days ago, Amazon announced a change to their Kindle Unlimited Program. For those who aren't familiar with KU, it is a two-pronged program. For readers who pay $9.99 per month, you can borrow e-books enrolled in the KU program. This also includes a number of audio books as well. There is no time limit... Continue Reading →
A word of warning
It has been awhile since we've had to do a post about what to be on the lookout for when it comes to publishers. But I came across a link to a publisher -- and I use that term loosely -- last night that made me think it might be time to do just such... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 