My guess is that in these parts we have at least one more good winter storm in store. But make no mistake, February has waned late and with its passing winter nears its end. In warmer climes the snow drops are already blooming. Heck, you go far enough south and the flowers never stopped blooming. But in these parts the first buds are just starting to poke out of the ground, hinting at springs nearing arrival.
I don’t even know if the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter. Personally, I don’t put much stock in that fellow. I prefer my own prognostications.
Too Long, Didn’t Read
Troy Blackford has written a piece on the phenomenon of “TL;DR” otherwise known as “Too Long; Didn’t Read.” It covers the short attention span of readers, and the need to capture their attention, respect, and (most importantly) imagination. He makes some very good points.
A writer can’t (or shouldn’t) blame the reader for the poor quality of his writing. With that being said, I think the tendency of readers to brush so much off with “TL;DR” says something poorly about many readers today. People have become habitualized to quick and thoughtless entertainment. If it is going to take effort, thought, and not instantly and superficially gratify, then too bad, it’s “TL;DR.” Most of what I consider worth reading, in a meaningful sense, would be discarded by the measure of “TL;DR.”
As a reader are you too hasty in dismissing writing that does not instantly amuse you?
Serialized Book
Serialized books are as old as the hills, to use the familiar saw. Charles Dickens was doing it back in the day and it was quite popular in his time (and made him a good deal of money). In more recent times serialization as an initial form of publication fell out of favour, but it may be making a comeback.
Tor publishing has long been on the forefront of the digital era of book publishing. Some years ago they allowed Cory Doctorow to release his first novel (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom) for free online with a creative commons license while publishing it with them. In 2012 they made all of their ebooks DRM free. These are book radical moves for the traditional publishing world, but very smart.
Their most recent effort is (you guessed it!) to serialize a novel in ebook form. For this they are teaming up with their author John Scalzi. More here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/02/scalzis-the-human-division-gets-serialized-and-serious-about-experimentation/ Admittedly this isn’t quite so radical. It is an attempt to make more money. The radical part is that they are releasing the serialized ebook before the hardcover release. Most publishers are extremely resistant to releasing an ebook prior the the hardcover.
How Writer’s Write
I came across this interesting series over at thedailybeast.com called “How I Write.” In this weekly column a writer is interviewed about, well, how they write, and a little bit more. It is interesting, and–for a writer–also encouraging. I read and think, “Hey, they sound just like me. They have the same struggles and stupid problems with writing.” Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/features/how-i-write.html
Galley Cat
For those who want to keep up on the news in the publishing world–there are a lot of websites you could follow. One would be galley cat: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/ If you are looking for employment in the Publishing field, they also make note of job openings. Interestingly, they have also created a self-published best-seller list. The latest of that: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/sandi-lynn-rises-on-self-published-bestsellers-list_b65956
Library Thing
I am now on Library Thing! Check out my page at: http://www.librarything.com/profile/RundyPurdy Not that this is the purpose of the website, but it strikes me as a useful too for author’s to stalk their fans. You didn’t here that from me, but not a minute on the website and I search for my books–then, “Oooh, there are two people who have a copy of my book! I wonder who they are!” Rest assured, LibraryThing advises authors to not friend and message every person who owns their book.
Next week I will set up my account with Shelfari or Goodreads. I wonder which. Stay tuned!