Kristine Kathryn Rusch » On Writing
The Business Rusch: You Asked For My Opinion…
The Business Rusch: You Asked For My Opinion… Kristine Kathryn Rusch That soft repetitive thudding sound you hear as you log onto your favorite websites? That’s the sound of writers scurrying in a rush to weigh in with anger and fury over this week’s latest crisis. Actually, that’s not fair. The crisises have come so hard and fast this year that the anger and fury change direction every three or four days. Barnes & Noble might spin off the Nook division! (Anger and fury!) IPG has removed its books from Amazon! (Anger and fury!) PayPal says it won’t work with sites that sell certain kinds of erotica! (Anger and fury!) Never mind that most writers have no clue as to what’s really going on with these various business decisions. Someone told these writers that … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Competition
The Business Rusch: Competition Kristine Kathryn Rusch Just a few years ago, traditional publishers had a monopoly. They controlled the distribution of books. This meant that the publishers dictated terms to booksellers and they dictated terms to writers. What resulted was what happens whenever anyone controls a marketplace: lots of nasty business practices, lots of unfairness, and lots of take-it-or-leave-it ultimatums. Those of us who got our start in traditional publishing turned ourselves into strange pretzels as we tried to survive the craziness. We put up with behavior that we wouldn’t tolerate in our personal lives, closed our eyes to the damage that we couldn’t stop, and did our very best in a bad situation. Traditional publishers never got in trouble for their monopoly because they studiously avoided working in tandem—Random House did not … Read entire article »
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Surviving The Transition: How Writers Can Thrive In The New World Of Publishing
Last year, I wrote a series of posts on how writers of all stripes can survive the transition from the old world of publishing to the new world of publishing. I’ve updated the posts and compiled them into an e-book called Surviving The Transition: How Writers Can Thrive In The New World Of Publishing. This book is for established writers, new writers, writers who want to stay in traditional publishing, and writers who never want to join traditional publishing. Here’s the cover blurb: Most writers run their careers the same way they did in the 1990s. But publishing has changed so much since then that any writer who works on the old model will no longer make a living. In this short book, international bestselling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch shows you how to think … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Sneaky Growth
The Business Rusch: Sneaky Growth Kristine Kathryn Rusch My website crashed just over a week ago, through no fault of my own. My ISP had a catastrophic server meltdown that took more than 36 hours to fix. I had a startling realization in those 36 hours. This website has become an important part of my business. Now, to many of you, that’s a well, duh. You’ve been coming here faithfully every Thursday for nearly three years. Some of you come for the free fiction on Monday, and the novel excerpt that appears in the middle of the month, and the recommended reading list. Many of you show up every time I make a short post or put up an announcement. I appreciate that. I didn’t really realize, however, how big this website had grown until it … Read entire article »
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The Business Rusch: Writers, Venture Capitalists, & Barnum. Oh, My.
The Business Rusch: Writers, Venture Capitalists, & Barnum. Oh, My. Kristine Kathryn Rusch I have a magpie brain. I pluck information from various sources, store it in some nest in a back corner of my mind, and pull out the necessary pieces when the time comes. Last December, I did a lot of driving for the estate stuff, which meant I did a lot of listening to radio news, because I never plan to drive, so I never have an audio book handy. I heard an interview on All Things Considered with Nick Hanauer, one of the venture capitalists who was one of the first big investors in Amazon. The interview, like so many recently with extremely wealthy individuals, was political—talking about taxes, tax cuts, job creation, and the politics of all that. Note: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, On Writing
The Business Rusch: Readers
The Business Rusch: Readers Kristine Kathryn Rusch As we came into the new year, I evaluated—as I always do—the things I do as part of my business. My business, for those of you who don’t know, is writing. I have been a published writer since I was sixteen years old. I have made a living at writing since I was in my early twenties, first with nonfiction and then with fiction. Along the way, I’ve also owned two publishing companies, been an advisor to several more, and worked for half a dozen of them in some non-writing capacity. That doesn’t count the hundreds of publishing companies I have worked with as a writer. My writing is my career. I have made the majority of my living in traditional publishing. But I have also seen … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, On Writing
