Plenty of now famous writers have self-published in the past. But that was the past. The markets for both self-published and traditionally published books are now so glutted that some (good) books inevitably go unnoticed. The same is not necessarily true for music and film and visual art. These art forms can be appreciated by …
I’ve linked to Tony Long, The Luddite, before. And I’ve posted about The Cult of the Amateur, too. Here’s Mr. Long on The Cult of the Amateur. It’s a classic: OK, so the internet opens up the avenue of mass communication to everyone. So you get the blogs, be they good, bad or indifferent. You …
Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises should get an award for efficiency in the generally inefficient field of literary submissions. Many agencies use a form letter (stuffed in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided by the author). Ms. Amster, or, more likely, her assistant, did one better: she wrote “Thanks, but not for us. Best of luck.” at …
This guy apparently believes the internet is ruining out culture (via Wired.com). The site is for a new book, The Cult of the Amateur, by Andrew Keen. That’s the big debate: is the Internet improving our cultural output, or is it ruining it? By cultural output, I mean journalism, films, books, politics, music, etc. The …
Apparently, according to this New York Times article on the 2007 Book Expo America, all is not well in the world of bookselling. Authors are giving away their books online for free: “Giving an author’s book away for nothing on the Web as a way to market books seems a mirage to me,” Ms. Brown …
Three days after I sent out my batch of ten queries, first-class postage went up two cents. So, all my SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) had $0.39 stamps on them. So far, I’ve received three replies, and the agencies have graciously added the $0.02 postage. How is it possible that this rate change snuck up …
