S.C. Butler's Blog, page 6

Sam-Who-Likes-Some-Things - Hobson's Choice

Chicks in chainmail and soubrettes with swords just don't do it for me any more. I'll take a 19th c. spinster who can do sums any time. She takes on her tradesman father, marries one of his workingmen, and gets her sisters settled into the bargain. If you can get past Charles Laughton hamming it up as a drunk, this is a very funny flick.

Preliminary Boskone Schedule

Boskone this weekend. In Boston, of course. I'm still trying to think of any bad books I love, since mostly I don't ike good books either.

Friday 9pm More on the Business of Writing
S. C. Butler (M)
Elaine Isaak
Melinda Snodgrass
Ian Tregillis
Last year we did this program item, and people enjoyed it so much
that we're doing it again! Find out what the writer needs to know
and do to become (financially) successful (or, at least
...

Sam-Who-Likes-Some-Things - Throes of Democracy

Boy, do I. Best book I've read in a long time, fiction or non-fiction. Throes of Democracy is the second book in Walter A. McDougall's projected multivolume history of the US. The first, Freedon Just Around the Corner, took us from the European arrival in North America to Jackson's election in 1828. The current volume continues the narrative to Rutherford B. Hayes's disputed election in 1876. (And you thought 2000 was bad.)

The books are smetimes glib to a fault. They are surveys of...

I Guess We Can Add Truthiness to Their List of Crimes

MacMillan's books are still not up at Amazon.

Some Final Thoughts on AmazonFail

A friend at one of the other Big Six Publishing Conglomerates says her firm is proposing the same pricing to Amazon and is not sure why MacMillan was singled out.

I think more than a few readers are going to take Amazon's side because of the lower pricing Amazon proposed. Many readers don't care whether an author makes a living - American consumers want what they want as cheaply as possible, whether it's books or golf balls. There's a reason media started referring to American citizens as...

Sam-Who-Likes-Some-Things - Kage Baker

So sad to hear she's gone. Her cleverness, her fluid style, and above all the good humor of her books, will be missed. A wonderful writer.

Who Needs Publishers?

A theory about AmazonFail. If you examine what Amazon is trying to accomplish from their point of view, why do they even need publishers? Why not just open the Kindle directly to authors - give the authors then entire 30% that Amazon is paying the publishers now. 30% on a $9.99 book is not that much lower than 15% on $28 hardcover, and if you move more of the cheaper book it could be much more. Plus Amazon could take a page from Harlequin and open the Kindle to anyone - in fact, they...

Only a Pawn in Their Game

Apparently Amazon and Macmillan are having it out (Tor, my publisher, is a subsidiary of Macmillan) over ebook pricing. Amazon is currently not selling ANY books published by ANY division of Macmillan except through third party sellers. suricattus has a good post about it.

Oy.

My City Is Dead, My Country Is Too

So Obama caved on trying terrorists in NY. Why? Because it was too inconvenient and too expensive.

We never are going to achieve anything if that's always our excuse.

New York Subways = Steampunk

Why not? They were basically built at the right time (1890-1910). They look like it too, except for the trains. But once upon a time there were wicker seats and leather straps to hang onto (hence the Straphangers organization).

An antique.