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The Business Rusch: Scarcity and Abundance

The Business Rusch: Scarcity and Abundance Kristine Kathryn Rusch   For nearly two years now, I’ve been trying to find a succinct way to express how publishing is changing. So imagine my pleasure when I found the exact analogy that I wanted in John Seabrook’s New Yorker article, “Streaming Dreams,” about YouTube. A few years ago, YouTube decided to make some structural changes to reflect the changing marketplace. It wanted to add premium content, including streaming video. To make the transition, it hired Robert Kyncl who had worked for both Hollywood and web-based companies like Netflix. YouTube hired Kyncl to bridge the Silicon Valley culture of the web with the content-oriented culture of Hollywood.  Of the two cultures, Kyncl said, “Silicon Valley builds its bridges on abundance. Abundant bits of information floating out there, writing … Read entire article »

Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, 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

Free Fiction Monday: Cat Nap

Triwell doesn’t adopt strays. He is a stray, a man who has lost everything even though he has a house and an antiquarian bookstore in Seavy Village on the Oregon Coast. The cat adopted him. She’s a mystery, a mystery who lives with him, a mystery he will solve one summer in a surprising—and deadly—way.  “Cat Nap” by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is available (with a bonus story) for $2.99 on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and in other e-bookstores.  The free story will only be available for one week.  If you missed this one, click on the links above.  There’s another free story lurking somewhere around this site. Track it down, read, and enjoy. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »

Filed under: free fiction, Free Fiction Mondays

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

The Business Rusch: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

The Business Rusch: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Kristine Kathryn Rusch The quote in my title comes from Mark Twain’s autobiography.  Twain said: “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” The problem with Twain’s attribution, however, is that no scholar can find anything in Disraeli’s papers that even resembles it. (Yes, scholars have that kind of time on their hands.) The website twainquotes.com cites an 1895 article by Leonard H. Courtney in which the quote first appeared—or so everyone thinks. I find it hilarious that the source of this quote about statistics is almost impossible to track down. I also find it funny … Read entire article »

Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, 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

Free Fiction Monday: The Karnikov Card

Secret Master of Fandom and Private Detective Spade faces an impossible mission: He must save Celebcon Five from itself. The convention that’s trying to out Comic-con Comic-con has decided to make Dmitri Karnikov its guest of honor. Spade doesn’t want the mega-celebrity anywhere near a science fiction convention. When a celebrity of Karnikov’s wattage agrees to attend, something’s wrong. Then Spade’s mysterious friend Paladin reveals the secret to Karnikov’s attendance, and Spade must act quickly—or Celebcon Five might become a crime scene of the worst possible kind. “The Karnikov Card” by Shamus Award nominee Kristine Kathryn Rusch is available for $2.99 on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and in other e-bookstores. If you like “The Karnikov Card,” you might like the first Spade/Paladin adventure, “The Case of the Vanishing Boy” (Kindle, Nook, Smashwords), and … Read entire article »

Filed under: free fiction, Free Fiction Mondays