Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Freelancer’s Survival Guide
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 »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
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
The Business Rusch: Bad Decisions and the Midlist Writer (Changing Times Part 15)
The Business Rusch: Bad Decisions and The Midlist Writer (Changing Times Part Fifteen) Kristine Kathryn Rusch Last week, I ended my blog with this happy thought: “Looking in my crystal ball, I worry that the writers who will get scammed, who will lose actual fortunes, won’t be the beginners or the bestsellers. It’ll be the established midlist writer.” As I sat down to write on Wednesday morning, after a trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee which involved a lot of discussions with writers plus a ton of e-mail/questions/reading when I returned, I realized that I needed to change this week’s topic just a tad. I had planned to call this segment “Scams and the Midlist Writer,” but really, seriously, the problems that midlist writers will have—are having if the truth be told—go beyond scams. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
The Business Rusch: Writers-The Overview (Changing Times Part Seven)
The Business Rusch: Writers—The Overview (Changing Times Part Seven) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I’ll be honest with you: I would not have started this series on the changes in the publishing industry if I had known how much bizarre e-mail it would generate for me. I hadn’t realized that I had entered an area that for some writers incites a fervor that borders on religious. I have been a reporter, historian, and a fiction writer my entire life. I think the impulses that led me to those three fields have been exactly the same: I believe that once people have information, they will use that information to improve their lives. That’s the impetus behind my Freelancer’s Survival Guide which you can still get for free on this website even though I have finished it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing








