Fan mail

Someone e-mailed this to me a short while ago:

Just wanted to let you know you suck. You suck as a person. If I ran into you on the streets I would punch you in the face. I would punch you again just to do it.

Love it. I don’t even know what I did. I’m going to assume my article about pirating at LitReactor, which if you haven’t seen yet, maybe go check it out? I was just hoping to inspire some intelligent discussion, but hey, it’s the internet. Things happen.

Lesson learned though: Don’t put your personal e-mail on your webpage kids! Then crazy people will threaten to punch you, anonymously.

I need an HTML form…

Adventures In Self-Publishing, Part 1: Why I’m Doing It, And Also Zombies

My new column at LitReactor just went live: Adventures In Self-Publishing, Part 1: Why I’m Doing It, And Also Zombies.

The gist: I took a break from the novel I’m writing and accidentally wrote a zombie novella. Since procuring a traditional publishing deal on a novella is essentially nil, I’m going to self-publish and see what happens. (Probable outcome: Become a billionaire).

Read the full column here…

Recent columns I wrote!

Here’s a thing I’m not good at: Updating my blog. I haven’t done much of note lately, but I do have some columns to share from LitReactor.

I asked whether Kickstarter is a viable tool for writers (the answer is: Yes, mostly). I asked if where a person lived could make them a better writer (the consensus seems to be: No). I wrote a slightly negative review of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy (and was called a ‘faggot’ in the very first comment). And we kicked off the August flash fiction competition with velociraptors. We’ve got some good entries, already.

Also, I’ve got a project coming up very soon that I’m going to be self-publishing. More on that soon!

Go see ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’

Last night I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild, which is a movie, and also completely and utterly amazing. I’m still in awe, just thinking about it. I’m not even going to tell you about it; this is one of those things that would be great if you could go into it pure.

It’s currently in limited release but supposed to be opening wider tomorrow, I think. The official website could probably be of some help there. If this is playing anywhere near you, for real, drop what you’re doing and go see it.

There’s a million reasons to see this movie. The stirring soundtrack, the badass little star Quvenzhané Wallis, the stunning poetic imagery, the compact-yet-expansive storytelling. But the most important reason is to support good art.

So many movies that hit theaters are dreck. It was nice to see something brilliant and beautiful and original. We need more stories like this. Vote with your dollar; pay to see a movie that isn’t stupid.

‘Self-Publishing in the Digital Age’

I know we’re getting down to the wire with this, considering this kicks off, technically, in 20 minutes, but LitReactor is holding a very groovy class: Self-Publishing in the Digital Age with Joseph Nassise.

It’s funny–the digital publishing imprint for which I work has more than 300 books for sale, another 200 on the way, and no end in sight. And yet, I do not know a single thing about formatting and uploading an eBook. So I’m looking forward to actually figuring this out.

The plan is: I’m writing a novella, which I’d like to publish alongside the book I’m writing (for which I’m seeking a traditional publishing deal). Novellas are perfectly suited for self-publishing (as publishers aren’t enthusiastic about picking them up from new writers).

I have to finish the books, of course, but, you know, details.

So, anyway, if you’ve ever been interested in this kind of thing, check out the class. There are still a few seats left.