Kristine Kathryn Rusch » On Writing
Another Mid-Week Business Update
A couple of weeks ago, I got excoriated by writers who didn’t agree with me about the whole PayPal thing being a business issue and not a censorship issue. In that post, I told writers to learn business and to fight something they disagree with on a business level. In last week’s surprise mid-week business update, I pointed out that Mark Coker of Smashwords–an excellent businessman–was doing just that: he was fighting business to business with PayPal to stop their new practice against certain types of erotica. Well, because Mark Coker knew what he was doing, because he fought this from a business perspective, he won. Here’s the link from a news article (in a paper that didn’t normally cover Smashwords before. More good work. This all got noticed). He got a boost a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, On Writing
Recommended Reading List: February 2012
February went by much too fast. I got a lot of reading done, but not as much as I expected. I was (and still am) on an urban fantasy kick. I’m finding that most of what I read is predictable and easy to skim, even series that I read all the way through. I’m not recommending most of it, sadly, because while it is giving me brain candy, I can barely remember what I read. I also read a lot of student manuscripts, most of which were excellent. If the students let me know when and where the manuscripts that I liked are published, I’ll let you know in future lists. However, everything I’ve listed below are things that I can remember and have greatly enjoyed. So here’s what I read in … Read entire article »
Filed under: featured, free nonfiction, On Writing, Recommended Reading
Strange Divisions & Alien Territories
Keith Brooke has done a tremendous job of editing Strange Divisions & Alien Territories: The Sub-genres of Science Fiction. This is a very readable, extremely entertaining textbook for the college level, aimed at sf classes and writers. I’ve just started reading it, and it’s wonderful. I’m learning stuff, and having a good time along the way. Keith asked working sf writers to contribute essays, which is why this book is so well done. He asked me to contribute a piece on alternate history. I had fun writing it. I got to reread some favorite books. The only problem is the price. It’s a British book, and a textbook at that, so it’s got a hefty U.S. price tag. Still, you might want to get it and share it with your writerly friends. You can … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News, featured, On Writing
A Couple Mid-Week Updates: A Business Post
As I prepare for this week’s blog, I feel the need to address a couple of things that I will not write about on Thursday. First, I got a lot of hate mail and vile comments last week for my blog post, all because I told people to learn business, understand the issues they’re complaining about, and then, if those issues matter to them, to take action. Well, apparently a lot of folks seem to think writing on another writer’s blog is action. It isn’t. It’s a waste of phosphors. Fortunately, Mark Coker of Smashwords.com doesn’t think that writing on someone else’s blog is action. He has been taking very strong action on the PayPal mess for the past few weeks. He blogs about it on the Smashwords site, but more importantly, he … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, On Writing
