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Messages - Piotr1600

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16
Author Craft / Re: Cool words
« on: May 18, 2011, 02:36:45 PM »
perambulation
palaver
pipsqueak
sussurus  & (especially for me!) sussuration
ablution


Quote from: Dina on May 18, 2011, 04:22:17 AM
Oh, it is ok, I admit that.
I should also have said "You are 100% correct" - I was just being my silly self... :)



17
Author Craft / Re: Cool words
« on: May 18, 2011, 04:20:32 AM »
puerile
recidivism / recidivist
milquetoast
homunculus
Brobdingnagian


Quote from: Dina on May 18, 2011, 03:57:12 AM
btw, a coprolite is any fossilized dung, not just from dinosaurs.
But... but... but I like my story better - 'cause it involves dinosaurs!  ;D


18
Author Craft / Re: Cool words
« on: May 11, 2011, 12:51:09 AM »
I'm trying to remember which airport has a "recombobulating zone" right after you pass thru security... Milwaukee? Green Bay? It always makes me laugh...


coprolite - fossilized dinosaur doo. Also always good for a smile.

19
Author Craft / Re: Cool words
« on: May 08, 2011, 02:41:58 PM »
bathysmal - an abysmal sea. (Fitting for fish-men and/or Deep Ones. And Dagon.)

20
Author Craft / Re: Fighting with keys--how would it work?
« on: May 04, 2011, 02:48:08 PM »
Surprise can also be a huge factor in the whole focus thing.

Quite awhile back I posted that I've had four serious encounters with dangerous criminals.
In my case, two were complete surprises, and are pretty blurry. Best summed up with "And then it was over!"
The other two were not really true surprises, and are quite clearly recalled.

21
Author Craft / Re: Advice on Describing Government and/or Public Safety locations?
« on: April 12, 2011, 10:03:51 PM »
If your story has a "neutral-to-positive" portrayal of the police, call 'em up and ask for a tour.
Or ask to speak to their public affairs officer.
Or hell, even the Chief - worst case s/he will point you to the right people.
If your town has a "media coordinator" or "Film coordinator" or some such title - and even small/medium sized towns do these days - contact them and let *them* do the arrangements. That's more or less their job.

Tell them you're writing a story and you need some 'expert advice' to make it feel authentic.
And that you're giving credit in the book/story etc.

As long as you're not doing a hatchet-job of some kind, the police in my area are *amazingly* helpful with questions about how stuff works, procedures, and fun things like volunteer ride-alongs. (Which are *very* educational, in oh-so-many ways.)



22
Calendar Event Discussion / Re: Jim and Pat Rothfuss Guest Blog at Borders' Babel Clash
« on: March 28, 2011, 10:19:07 PM »
Quote from: whingnut on March 28, 2011, 08:33:05 PM
only on special occasions it's cheese for day to day wear. 

But on special occasions... (May be NSFW)
http://blogs.citypages.com/food/food_porn/

23
Author Craft / Re: The 99 Cent Ebook
« on: March 12, 2011, 10:57:31 PM »
Thank you veddy muchly Starbeam!
That was an enjoyable &  interesting article. She made one serious factual error, and a couple of odd (to me!) assumptions, but in all some very good points.
I shall have to chew on it some more...

24
Author Craft / Re: The 99 Cent Ebook
« on: March 11, 2011, 09:43:48 PM »
Quote from: Starbeam on March 10, 2011, 01:43:40 PM
I've actually read somewhere that the comparison to the music business is not really the best, and the comparison that should be made is to the changes in television.  If I think about it at lunch time, I'll try to find the link to the blog.
Awesome - I'd like to read that, if for no other reason to see what their reasoning is.

25
Author Craft / Re: The 99 Cent Ebook
« on: March 10, 2011, 04:39:07 AM »
Quote from: Shecky on March 10, 2011, 04:33:49 AM
E-business being what it is, whole industries are in flux and will only accelerate their changes as we move forward. So what applies today may not apply tomorrow, as what applied yesterday most definitely does NOT apply as much today. The point was that a lot of people are making off-the-cuff assumptions about the industry that are, simply put, off base.
Yup.

(Interestingly, regarding the parallels in the music industry side vs the book side is there is a huge divergence in concert tours. While never intended to be *unprofitable* in the past, they are now very much intended to be *really* profitable. I sort of wish there were a corresponding book model...)


26
Author Craft / Re: The 99 Cent Ebook
« on: March 10, 2011, 04:09:22 AM »
meg_evonne started a thread about the changing face of publishing that is pretty interesting:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24658.0.html

One of the things that will probably have to be differentiated  is ePub by a major house, versus ePub by a house in the middle sizes, versus small pub (bordering on vanity type publishing or the ebook equivalent)...

As you get smaller, the houses generally have less capability... This is actually following  pretty closely with what the music industry has done over the last decade or so.

Artist/Writer Development - gone
Advances - reduced (and constrained)
Editors - reduced or eliminated in favor of self-editing.
Marketing - reduced unless there is some known market
Advertising - reduced/eliminated

And as you look at reducing (or eliminating) those overhead costs, you begin to look at the ability to sell the final product for *much* reduced price and still maintain good dollar volumes, and profit margins...

Not disagreeing with the numbers you've posted Shecky, but that model is now, and will continue to be, under severe competitive pressure. Especially as the overall epub business reaches a nominal operating model of its own.  And eliminating overhead is *always* an approved method (even if it is done poorly, or in a shortsighted way.)

27
Author Craft / Re: Future of publishing? Konrath mentioned in Nathan Bransford blog
« on: March 09, 2011, 04:37:07 PM »
In the mid- to long-term, I can easily see the paper and e-markets inverting.
Especially if many other authors soon manage to start making serious money in e-press.

There will *always* be at least some demand for print books. As works of the printers art, appreciated for the sensory experience if nothing else.

But, if you want to look at whats going to happen in publishing, I think that the music industry is a potentially *very* accurate model of things to come.
The industry has changed very considerably even in the last 10 years, much less the past 50.

28
Calendar Event Discussion / Re: Where would YOU like Jim to appear?
« on: February 25, 2011, 06:40:11 AM »
Here's why:
York = England so: New York = New England

Simple no?   ::)   ;D
Yet another example of logic being a way to go wrong with confidence...

29
Author Craft / Re: Fallen Fantasists
« on: February 21, 2011, 06:09:44 PM »
"There's no accounting for taste - or lack of it."  (Don't know anything about the origin of that quote except that my grandmother was *very* fond of it. :) )

I don't care for novels at *either* extreme, myself. But I admit to enjoyment in inverse proportion to however depressing/tragic/sad the story ends.
I've read 'em. In multiple genres, because the nihilism isn't just a factor in fantasy - it figures prominently across IMO all genres.
With a few rare, incredibly well written, exceptions - the ones at the far ends of the spectrum don't go on my bookshelves and get re-read time and again.

But I want *you* to read whatever trips your trigger!

30
DF Reference Collection / Re: Questions Specifically for Jim, Part 3
« on: February 14, 2011, 06:29:26 AM »
How long was Bianca in Chicago prior to running into Harry?

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