I’ve reviewed my fair share of sci-fi genre novels. I started right here on this blog…eek!..about 8 years ago. Not long after that I began doing reviews for The Fix. I began blogging and reviewing for The Guardian waaaaay back in the historic mists of 2008. And I’ve contributed book reviews here and there toContinue reading “Genre needs a lot more cruel and nasty reviews”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Can sci-fi ever not be political?
When is a giant lizard not a giant lizard? When it’s a metaphor for the might of the military-industrial complex. Audiences turning up for the latest cinematic incarnation of Godzilla have expressed some disappointment that much of the battling kaiju action was kept off screen. In its place director Gareth Edwards makes the smart decisionContinue reading “Can sci-fi ever not be political?”
A modest proposal to combat Amazon (oh and piracy)
My last post on Amazon for a little while, I promise. As previously noted Amazon have cornered the digital marketplace for ebooks, which has the potential to mean the end of booksellers and publishers as we know them. Once Amazon have destroyed the industry infrastructure, there is little doubt they will bring down the 70%Continue reading “A modest proposal to combat Amazon (oh and piracy)”
Why Author Earnings makes sense
Hugh Howey and his team have published the latest Author Earnings update. And the story, as with all previous updates, is that self-published authors (working primarily through the Amazon Kindle marketplace) are doing very nicely thank you. In fact, much better than debut authors published by the Big 5. The data and methodology used toContinue reading “Why Author Earnings makes sense”
Amazon is not a bookseller, and why that matters for writers
Technology behemoth Amazon is in the firing line of publishers, authors and the combined might of the literary world again today. Like the ultimate alpha predator Godzilla on a rampage across Tokyo, Amazon crushes a little bit more of the publishing industry just by moving. And it’s about as worried by the protests of writers asContinue reading “Amazon is not a bookseller, and why that matters for writers”
Only a creator culture can save us
We’re trying to rebuild a failed consumer culture. We need to make a new creator culture instead. Published in Culture – A Reader for Writers, editor John Mauk, Oxford University Press. I arrived in Leicester in the late ‘90s as a student, a year after losing my mother to cancer. Having little support, I workedContinue reading “Only a creator culture can save us”
We DO need diverse books.
Watching the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag scrolling up the screen on Twitter. Hundreds and thousands of people a minute adding their voice to the conversation on diversity in writing. We need diverse books, writers, characters and more. I needed to see this today. The genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy that I enjoy reading and write inContinue reading “We DO need diverse books.”
Superhero teams. Proof positive that women are at most 25% of the human population
For most of my life I’ve been led to believe by statistics that women represented some 50% of the human population. Scientific people have suggested that the ratio of male to female births is around 106 boys to 100 girls, but scientific people also argue about this ratio. External factors like gender-control and gendercide furtherContinue reading “Superhero teams. Proof positive that women are at most 25% of the human population”
A Nebula award shortlist that makes me feel good about SF
The Nebula award shortlists have just been announced by the Science Fiction Writers of America. And they are excellent. Focusing on Best Novel… We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood) The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review) Fire with Fire, Charles E. Gannon (Baen) Hild,Continue reading “A Nebula award shortlist that makes me feel good about SF”
Welcome to viral book selling
UPDATE: sadly Baboon Fart Story reached #9 on the narrower >General bestseller list, selling a mere 21 copies before being pulled by amazon. But still an interesting example of a book catching some viral publicity. Today a book called Baboon Fart Story climbed to #9 on the Amazon bestseller list. The book featured the wordContinue reading “Welcome to viral book selling”
You are not going to improve the world
Human beings are largely engaged in wasting enormous amounts of psychic energy in attempting to do things that are quite impossible. All sensible people therefore begin in life with two fundamental suppositions. You are not going to improve the world. And you are not going to improve your self. You are just what you are.Continue reading “You are not going to improve the world”
The Principle of Digital Abundance – thoughts on author earnings
Hugh Howey has caused a brand new stir in the writing and publishing world with the Author Earnings report. If you don’t know, Howey is one of the most significant breakout “indie authors” of recent years. Now he’s disrupting the industry in a much more direct way with Author Earnings. Both Amazon and the BigContinue reading “The Principle of Digital Abundance – thoughts on author earnings”
Damien Walter 