Pluralistic: Linkty Dumpty (15 July 2023)


Today's links

  • Linkty Dumpty: Things I thought about when I was supposed to be on holidays.
  • This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
  • Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: Dumping links like Galileo dumped the orange (20 May 2023)


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Pluralistic: 12 Sep 2022 Spotify is a ripoff, a Spotify exclusive


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Pluralistic: 07 Sep 2022 We published an Audible Exclusive about the monopolistic abuses of Audible


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Reasonable Agreement

On the Crapification of Literary Contracts

Two swordsmen cross blades while standing on the pages of an open book, an inkpot between them. The swords are antique pen-nibs.

I don’t want to pretend that freelance writing contracts were ever great, but in the 34 years since I sold my first short story — at 17 — I’ve observed firsthand how manifestly unfair contractual terms have become standard, and worse, non-negotiable.

I started selling to magazines back in 1980s, which were the the dawn of corporate publishing consolidation. Magazines changed owners frequently as they were snapped up by new owners who, in turn, merged or bought out their competitors (thank Ronald Reagan for neutering antitrust and allowing these mergers to be waved through).

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Pluralistic: 28 Apr 2022


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Pluralistic: 18 Apr 2022


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Pluralistic: 26 Nov 2021


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Pluralistic: 07 Oct 2021


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Ignore Career Advice From Established Writers

We don’t know anything about breaking into today’s market

Screengrab of Judith Merril introducing Doctor Who on TVOntario, in the 1970s.

“Breaking In,” is my latest column for Locus Magazine; it’s both the story of how I broke into science fiction, and an explanation of why there’s so little to learn from that story.

When I was trying to sell my first stories, I obsessively sought career advice and memoirs from established writers. I sat in on countless science fiction convention panels in which bestselling writers explained how they’d butter up long-dead editors to sell to long-defunct publications.

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