Mitchell Points Out the Limits of a Writing Cliche
Novelist David Mitchell was featured on the San Francisco Chronicle’s webpage and he pointed out the limitations inherent in one of writing’s most beloved sayings: “‘Write what you know’ will only get you so far,” Mitchell says. “You need to write what you can imagine, write what you can research about, write what you can…
continue readingIndustry Encouraged Self-Esteem Problems
On Thursday, I ranted a bit about snobby, ivory tower writers who think their colleagues should shun all appearances of commercial enterprise. That’s one factor in a complicated mix of issues that causes authors to limit themselves in their money making ventures. Another factor is how the industry encourages low self-esteem amongst writers. As aspiring…
continue readingOutdated, Stodgy, Ivory Tower Attitudes that Cripple Writers
Writers (including me) love to bemoan the current state of publishing, the small advances, the dwindling to non-existent marketing budgets, the lack of readers, the short attention spans of American readers, the influence of text messaging on language, and the dearth of suitably hip coffee shops to hang out in. In short, we complain about…
continue readingDouglas Coupland Launches Fashion Line
Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X, Microserfs and many others has launched a fashion line. According to published reports, the goal of the enterprise is to”‘”explore a new way of seeing Canada’ far removed from ‘birch bark and moose and Mounties’.” I recently asked how authors can make more money. Presumably, this fashion line isn’t…
continue readingTiming for the Next Round of LeBron Books?
NBA superstar LeBron James’s recent announcement that he would play for the Miami Heat next season brings (thankfully) a close to one of the biggest media maelstromstrom in sports history. So I’m wondering how long it will be before we see news of a “LeBron to the Heat” book sale. World soccer icon David Beckham’s…
continue reading