Kotzwinkle’s Premonitions
The recent literary scandals sent me scurrying to the Slushpile.net library. Fraudulent identities and plagiarized words… someone spoofed this very situation. So I pulled down William Kotzwinkle’s hilarious 1996 novel The Bear Went Over the Mountain. A decade ago, this writer satirized the publishing industry with a plot that, at the time, required a massive suspension…
continue readingHow to Win a Famous Card Game
I’m almost scared to post this, because if you even think the word “poker” while typing on a website, then the bots pick it up and spam floods in promising quick tips and online gambling opportunities. Some of them even promise to help fix your flops in the bedroom while teaching you how to handle the flop in a card…
continue readingThanks for the Discussion
Last week’s post about Why People Hate Self-Published Authors generated more email than any other item on Slushpile.net. We also had a good number of comments from a variety of opinions on the subject. Many people offered well-argued opinions both for and against self-publishing. My own take remains that there is not a single thing…
continue readingWhy People Hate Self-Published Authors
I’ve?receieved a number of emails lately?inquiring about?the validity of self-publishing. It’s a?well-worn topic and my personal perspective?isn’t much different than?everyone else’s.?In the right conditions, handled properly, with?realistic attitudes,?self-publishing can be a viable business decision for certain people. But I don’t believe in resorting to it just because you think the?mainstream publishing industry is comprised of?meanies…
continue readingUmmmmm…
So the James Frey-inspired episode South Park premiered last night. And I was a bit underwhelmed. Although I will have to use Geraldo’s line about rocking the publishing industry. But other than that, I was just left saying, “ummmm, yeah.”
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