Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Freelancer’s Survival Guide
Recommended Reading List March 2011
I read a lot of anthologies in March, most of which I will not recommend. I’ve been searching for a certain type of writer, because one of my favorites has repeatedly failed me, and I’d like to replace him with a similar book. I’ve been reading the anthologies cover to cover, forcing myself into some stories I wouldn’t normally read (usually by very popular authors), trying to see if I haven’t given them enough of a chance. Sometimes I haven’t, and I revise what I think of them to the positive. Often, though, I realize they’re just not to my taste. The other thing I’ve realized is that a lot of published short stories have no point. Oh, they have an adventure and something happens, but it’s not very interesting. … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Sea Changes
The Business Rusch: Sea Changes Kristine Kathryn Rusch A lot of readers have commented on my blog posts of the past two weeks. For those of you who missed this while on spring break or family holiday, I wrote about some discrepancies I found in royalty statements. I checked with other writers and publishing professionals and discovered that these discrepancies weren’t unusual. I wrote about that the first week. The second week, I updated everyone on the progress made on the royalty statement front. My blog design tracks the most-read posts. If you look at the first page of my website, you’ll see that last week’s post is number one, with the previous week’s as number two. Thousands of people have read these two posts. Most have not contacted me directly, although … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Royalty Statements
The Business Rusch: Royalty Statements Kristine Kathryn Rusch Imagine this: Pretend you run a very large business. The business has a lot of built-in problems, things not easily fixed. You’re aware of the problems and are trying to solve them. A decade ago, you actually had hope you could solve them. It will simply take time, you thought, but back then, your business was a leisurely business. Back then, you had no idea that the word “leisure” would leave your vocabulary and never return. In that decade, your business has changed dramatically. Your corporate masters sold out to large conglomerates, so now you can no longer point to your small but steady profit as normal for your industry. The conglomerate doesn’t care. All the conglomerate cares about is quarterly profits, which should rise … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Trust Me
The Business Rusch: Trust Me Kristine Kathryn Rusch Last week, I declared The Changing Times in Publishing series finished primarily so I could stop using that subheader in my posts. The times continue to change, and I’m going to stick with the topic for a while. I had hoped to make The Changing Times in Publishing another book, like The Freelancer’s Survival Guide, but so many of the changes are happening so quickly that even if I release the book as an e-book—after I’ve organized everything, edited it, had someone else edit it, copy edit it, and put it up (a month’s work, minimum)—a goodly portion of the information in the posts might need updating. I’ve had a few publishers ask me for parts of the book, and I’m even hesitant to … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Even More Writer Survival Skills (Changing Times Part 20)
The Business Rusch: Even More Writer Survival Skills (Changing Times Part Twenty) Kristine Kathryn Rusch This past week also saw a lot of changes in the publishing industry, most of which I did not have time to process. Also, I’m not sure if these changes are simply steps along a path leading in a direction we don’t entirely understand yet or if these changes are significant. I’m going to list a couple of them and let you decide. First, Random House decided to join the other publishers in a pricing structure called “the agency model.” Essentially, what this means is that the publisher sets the price, period. This was what the big fight between Amazon and Macmillan was about last year, and Amazon caved with a petty reaction in its Kindle … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Beginning Writers Again–Sort Of (Changing Times Part 17)
The Business Rusch: Beginning Writers Again—Sort of (Changing Times Part Seventeen) Kristine Kathryn Rusch Wow. The changes keep coming, dozens in the space of a week. I have watched this kind of change from the outside for years in other industries, studied it in my history classes, continue to read about it in my history books. I know that paradigm shifts are hard on everyone involved, and I’ve often wondered what it feels like to be in the middle of one. Would I know? Would I take action? Would I take the right action? Well, I’m discovering the answers to those questions right now because of the rapid change in publishing. I do know that the shift is happening, and am rather startled at the long time professionals who are trying exceedingly hard … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
