With the rise of indie authors and the closure of bookshops, piracy is an easy scapegoat for publishing’s woes. The community of SF writers has reason to dislike digital copying, or “piracy” as it’s commonly labelled in the tabloid press. Genre writers exist, by and large, in the publishing mid-list, where mediocre sales might seem most easilyContinue reading “Piracy is the least of publishing’s many problems”
Category Archives: Writing & Publishing
The DOs and DO NOTs of getting your book reviewed
Writing a regular column for The Guardian on weird books, I get asked by writers of all kinds to read their latest tome. And sometimes that question becomes “how do I get my book reviewed?” In the age of social media and the internet the book review is a much different beast than it onceContinue reading “The DOs and DO NOTs of getting your book reviewed”
Henry Miller on Art
“Art is only a means to life, to the life more abundant.” Henry Miller Discuss
Give Up The Day Job & Don’t Have A Backup Plan
The first mistake we all make is telling people – friends, family, lovers – that we want to be writers. We all do it. And we all get the same advice… …don’t give up the day job. …have a backup plan. And because those people love us, we listen to the advice. That’s our secondContinue reading “Give Up The Day Job & Don’t Have A Backup Plan”
Do writers write?
Because sometimes conversations about writing devolve in to carping about who is or is not a writer, some people find it necessary to draw a definitional line in the sand. The most common, and common sense, is that “writers write”. So if you want to be a writer, you write. If you want to know ifContinue reading “Do writers write?”
The answers to 4 questions
Today I reached 4444 followers on Twitter. I wish I could claim to have barely noticed noticed, but I do have a sneaky peak at my follower count at least a few times a week. I *almost* reached this milestone around a month ago, hitting 4443, close, but no cigar. To celebrate I promised toContinue reading “The answers to 4 questions”
Your Government vs. Your Tech Provider
We might be facing the most largest tectonic shift in the power structures in the modern era since World War One finally ended the old empires of Europe. But this isn’t a conflict between the interests of nation states. It’s a power struggle over you, and the question of to who you owe your primaryContinue reading “Your Government vs. Your Tech Provider”
Why stories compel the human soul
Stories don’t just distract us. Walk in to the average home and see how many ways we give ourselves to escape in to stories. Break down the 24 hours of the day and see how many of them we spend immersed in fictional worlds. Stories are a compulsion. For some, an addiction. If politicians everContinue reading “Why stories compel the human soul”
All the faith h…
All the faith he had had had had no effect on his life. This makes me very angry. Anon. Via Ayn Harrison.
All our genres be broken
Take a look at this marvellous think piece by Gareth L Powell on the problems with defining science fiction by its Golden Age origins. (I should add that the Golden Age isn’t the origin of science fiction any more than McDonalds was the origin of the burger. It’s just the moment it got reduced inContinue reading “All our genres be broken”
How difficult is it to write a good book?
Here’s an interesting experiment you can replicate if you ever have a class of creative writing students. I’ve tried it a number of times. Give the students a set of writing samples. Have them sort through the samples and categorise them as “good” or “not good”. Regardless of the level of experience of the students,Continue reading “How difficult is it to write a good book?”
Had. Or, why do we accept sub-standard prose?
So. For a series of odd reasons now forgotten I was reading the opening passage of Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey on Amazon, which lead me to comment on the annoying use of the word ‘had’ and various contractions based upon it (she’d, who’d etc) that the author employs. I don’t often dissectContinue reading “Had. Or, why do we accept sub-standard prose?”
Damien Walter 