There’s a nice post over at “The World in a Satin Bag” on the important things editors do. The emphasis is on fiction publishing, but most of it applies to non-fiction as well: Editors make you into a better writer. Emphasis on better. They don’t make you into the greatest writer ever, but they certainly… Continue reading Why Editors Matter
Category: Pop Culture
The Internet Is a Weird and Wonderful Place
Via somebody on a mailing list, Eric Whiteacre’s virtual choir: The post I got this from doesn’t contain any details, nor does it contain useful links to the making of this particular video, but looking around the top level of the blog it’s fairly clear that this was put together from a large number of… Continue reading The Internet Is a Weird and Wonderful Place
Great Moments in Targeted Advertising
We subscribe to Locus, the SF review and news magazine, and every month when it arrives, I flip through it quickly to look at the ads. This is a useful guide to what’s coming out from various publishers, but it’s also kind of fascinating to see how the different publishers market their stuff. In particular,… Continue reading Great Moments in Targeted Advertising
Generalists, Specialists, and the Slappable
There are at least as many ways to write really interesting essays as there are people writing really interesting essays, but for the most part, they break down into two broad types. There are the ones that completely change the way you look at some subject you thought you knew about, forcing you to change… Continue reading Generalists, Specialists, and the Slappable
Sportz Is Hurting America
Over at the Mid-Majority, Kyle Whelliston (formerly of espn.com) has a great essay on the “Sportz” phenomenon: Sports are great. Actual participation is awesome, but watching other people do sports can still be pretty good too. These days, people can watch sports anytime, anywhere and in whatever state of undress they choose. These are truly… Continue reading Sportz Is Hurting America
Obligatory Reaction to The Gathering Storm
No, this is not a reference to the National Academy of Sciences report from a few years ago. This has to do with the newest Wheel of Time book, because while I’m a long distance removed from my Usenet days, some habits die hard. If you haven’t read the previous eleven books, none of what… Continue reading Obligatory Reaction to The Gathering Storm
I Know They Show Beer Commercials in Hell
It’s fall, which means that the major American sports are all ramping up (baseball is in its brief period of being interesting, the NFL is nearing the middle of its season, the NBA has just gotten underway, which means that real basketball will start soon). This also means that the major advertisers have rolled out… Continue reading I Know They Show Beer Commercials in Hell
Rule 1 of Writing: Try Not to Sound Like a Doofus
Via somebody on Twitter, Copyblogger has a post titled “7 Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School,” which is, as you might guess, dedicated to provocatively contrarian advice about how to write, boldly challenging the received wisdom of English faculty: What is good writing? Ask an English teacher, and they’ll tell you good writing is… Continue reading Rule 1 of Writing: Try Not to Sound Like a Doofus
Book Poll
There’s a new release today that everyone’s talking about. A perfect topic for a poll: New Jordan book by Sanderson! Your reaction?(survey) Your opinion is important to us, so please choose carefully.
Quasi Poll: Phone Call from the Future
I’m kind of in a fog today, which I’m choosing to attribute to airport lag (it can’t be jet lag, because I didn’t change time zones, but you get some of the same disorientation from spending too much time in airports and on planes), because the other option is incipient flu (half a dozen students… Continue reading Quasi Poll: Phone Call from the Future