July 26, 2008 @ 11:02 am
There was a bit of a brouhaha earlier this week over a blog posting Michael Cisco made regarding Prime Books. Some people believe an author is not supposed to be discussing these kinds of things publicly. But then, how are other writers, especially those just starting out, supposed to know which publishers they should work with, and which ones they shouldn’t? Especially if your experience was a bad one, why shouldn’t you be allowed to talk about it? It’s not like the writer is a former Area 51 employee who has signed a non-disclosure agreement on penalty of life imprisonment or death. The question of whether or not it’s “bad form” to post about these things is going to differ based on who you ask. Some other writers have already weighed in with comments and experiences of their own:
Prime Books (Sean Wallace) responds
Paul G. Tremblay, a very fine writer, posted a response that also included advice on dealing with publishers in general, along with some good information on contracts and print-on-demand.
Unrelated, but here are some other interesting links:
Winners announced in the 14th ChiZine/Leisure Short Story Contest
Thomas F. Monteleone on finding time to write
In other news, I’ve recently been tasked to photograph a friend’s wedding in a few weeks. Although I like to think of myself as a decent photographer, this is something I almost never do. In fact, I’ve only done it once, for Kat’s older sister, and although the pictures turned out well and the newlyweds were happy with them, it was a stressful experience because I was constantly worried about screwing up.
Still, I’m pretty excited because it will be a low-key wedding on a farm full of barn cats. I suggested to the couple that they need not hired waiters to truck around food; they merely have to tie platters to the backs of the cats and have them circulate around. Cheaper and cuter. Kat and I went to scope out the farm last night. Here’s a pic:
I also finished the re-write of that story I mentioned earlier this week. I’ll be sending it off to my readers later today, and then back to the magazine to see if I can win them over this time.
Oh, and in closing, I was thinking of The Dark Knight again the other day, specifically a line from the Joker when he crashes the “group therapy session” held by the various mob groups. “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” Although he is speaking in reference to killing the Batman, I thought his words also applied to the debate among writers regarding non-paying markets.
Of course, the Joker’s a psychopathic murderer, but still…
