I used to train radio news announcers. I trained them how to read live and on air, a skill I learned myself while still in college. In 2021, I took a voiceover class from an impressive-as-hell studio here in Las Vegas, with the full intention that I would somehow get my books into audio. I had hoped to hire a voice actor or two, or […]
Business Musings: The Year in Review Part 3: Bestsellers
In my Pocket Reader app, I stored a September article from BBC News as much for the article’s title as its content. That title? “When Is A Bestseller Not Necessarily A Bestseller?” I think that’s been the burning question in publishing for the past ten years. Bestsellers haven’t entirely lost their meaning, but they’re not relevant the way that they were twenty years ago. Back […]
Business Musings: Events Versus Urgency
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog titled “Searching For A Sense of Urgency.” As usual, I uploaded that post to my Patreon page early, and received quite a few comments on it. Two were posted to Patreon for the other supporters to see, and one of those comments got me thinking. The long post, “Searching For a Sense of Urgency,” focuses on the […]
Diving News!
For the second time in my career, I’m honored to have a full novel in Asimov’s SF Magazine. This novel, The Court Martial of the Renegat Renegades, won’t be published as a standalone until June of 2023. However, you can read it in Asimov’s in two parts. The first part has just appeared, and you can read an excerpt here. I’m so excited about this […]
Business Musings: The Final Brandon Sanderson Post
Well, Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter is one for the record books. It became the highest grossing Kickstarter about a month before his Kickstarter closed. And then it continued to make money, finally ending at $41.7 million. Brandon himself estimates that when this is all said and done, and every one of 185,341 backers have received their books and swag, he will get roughly a high-end novel […]
Business Musings: What The…?
I toyed with a lot of titles for this post, most of which would have insulted those of you who have followed my blog posts for a long time and know what I’m about to say. I don’t want to insult you people. And then there are the others, the ones for whom this post is intended. There’s a lot I could say, but let’s […]
Business Musings: Brandon’s Kickstarter
The conversation started about 10 hours after Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter went live. That’s when the press noticed that a writer made millions in the space of a few hours—without the help of any major publishing house. Brandon’s own fans are doing this. I’m writing this post about 3 days after the Kickstarter went live. Sometime in the last 24 hours, this Kickstarter campaign became the […]
Business Musings: The Kickstarted Game Changer (Part Three) (Licensing/Copyright/Contracts)
So, I’ve just spent the past two blog posts talking Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter as a game changer in the publishing industry. I know that my posts inspired a few of you to take our free class titled “Kickstarter Best Practices for Writers.” I also know that many of you looked at my posts and mentally bookmarked them for the future, thinking this Kickstarter—and this changed […]
Business Musings: The Kickstarted Game Changer (Part Two)
For decades publishing has been a stagnated industry, relying on fifty- and sixty-year-old methods to sell books. Most of the practices within the industry are also at least fifty or sixty years old. Sure, the industry has made some modifications to accommodate innovation, like the ebook, but those are minor tweaks. Those tweaks do not take into account the actual changes in the world. What […]
Business Musings: The Kickstarted Game Changer (Part One)
First, a bit of history. In April of 2009, Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler started Kickstarter, a crowd-funding platform aimed at helping creatives of all types fund projects that—back in the day—couldn’t be funded through the normal arts venue. The concept is a fairly simple one. A person puts a project on Kickstarter for a limited period of time, asks for a certain […]
to preorder the newest Diving novel!
Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Novel
Spade and Paladin find themselves snowed in at a remote sf convention, with a killer on the loose! Get your copy here.
Get Early Copies of the Thursday Business Blog and More!
Rethinking The Writing Business
The Newest Diving Novel!
Winner of the Asimov's Readers Choice Award 2023! The Court-Martial of The Renegat Renegades, a standalone novel in the Diving Universe, is available now. Get your copy at your favorite store or buy the ebook direct by clicking this link.
All the licensing blogs in one volume. Learn how to think about your writing business in a way that will enable you to work smarter, not harder. Get yours here.
