Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Freelancer’s Survival Guide
The Business Rusch: How To Make Traditional Publishing Writer Friendly
The Business Rusch: How To Make Traditional Publishing Writer-Friendly Kristine Kathryn Rusch A few weeks ago, Sebastian Marshall raised eyebrows throughout the writing community by writing an open letter to Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster. Marshall identifies himself on his blog as a former entrepreneur who wants to become “the most skilled strategist of our era.” He freelances, and sold S&S his first book in December of 2010 for a $65,000 advance. The book—which is a business book—had a due date of July 1, 2011. The contract called for payments in three increments. A third on signing, a third on acceptance, a third on publication, but no later than a year after acceptance. Standard stuff. For those of you who aren’t familiar with publishing, this isn’t a large advance, especially considering the … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: The Writer’s Guide To Evaluating A Traditional Publishing Company
The Business Rusch: The Writer’s Guide To Evaluating A Traditional Publishing Company Kristine Kathryn Rusch About once a week, I get an e-mail from someone asking me to recommend a traditional publisher for them. I can’t, not because I don’t believe in traditional publishing, but because I have no idea what that person wants in a publisher, what that person is currently writing, and what’s going on within all the different traditional publishing houses. That ain’t my job. My job is to manage my own career, and to know the things relevant to the writer that I am. Nothing more. I also get letters asking me about my experiences with the various traditional publishers. Sometimes I can answer those letters. Sometimes I can’t, usually because my experiences are more than two years old, and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Giving Up On Yourself
I am in the process of adding some chapters to the Freelancer’s Guide, and updating a few others. This one has bothered me for nearly a year now, so I’m happy to redo it. Here’s the revised chapter that will go into the second edition of The Freelancer’s Survival Guide. Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Giving Up On Yourself Kristine Kathryn Rusch Amazing the difference eighteen months make. I first wrote the posts entitled “Giving Up On Yourself (Parts One and Two)” in June of 2010. But as we head into 2012, I realize that some of what I wrote is out of date. I’ve revised this section and it will eventually go into the second edition of the Freelancer’s Survival Guide. The core information is the same but the outdated information is now gone. I initially … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
The Business Rusch: Playing To Win
The Business Rusch: Playing To Win Kristine Kathryn Rusch I keep teasing my husband, saying he should write a how-to book called Think and Grow Thin. Seriously. Because that’s how this man loses weight. He lost 40 pounds this year on the Think and Grow Thin method. He sets his mind to losing weight, and voila! he does it. Of course, there’s some effort involved. He says the book should be titled Eat Less and Exercise More. But that’s not as sexy as Think and Grow Thin. Besides, my title is an accurate reflection of what he does. He thinks about every bite he puts in his mouth and then he loses weight. Because he’s focused on it. That title could probably be modified for anything: Think and Grow Rich (Didn’t Napoleon Hill … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
The Business Rusch: Comparisons
The Business Rusch: Comparisons Kristine Kathryn Rusch I have spent a lot of time with other writers in the past three months, and I have seen this scenario over and over and over again: Writers are talking about indie publishing e-books at a dinner or a lunch or over drinks. A newer writer, maybe one with little or no name recognition, mentions that his e-books are selling anywhere from one to ten per day on just one e-book site, like Kindle. Professional writers glare, cross their arms, or turn away. Some of the professionals will say later, bitterly, that they’re not putting much effort into the indie e-book market because “it doesn’t pay off for them” or because their readers “don’t buy e-books.” “The only writers who succeed,” one established writer of long-standing said … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
The Business Rusch: Deal Breakers Continued
The Business Rusch: Deal Breakers Continued Kristine Kathryn Rusch Before we get too deep into this week’s blog post, let me point you to a few things that came up in the last few days. Last week, I recommended that all writers, even those with an agent, hire an intellectual properties attorney to vet new contracts. Most agents do not have a law degree, and many agencies—even the big ones—do not have a lawyer on staff. Agents cannot give legal advice (that’s called practicing law without a license, and it’s, um, illegal), although they do make recommendations based on custom, etc. The problem is that the industry has changed so rapidly that most agents have no idea what the new contract clause in traditional publishing contracts mean, and the agents certainly don’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
