SlushPile.net

I’ve receieved a number of emails lately inquiring about the validity of self-publishing. It’s a well-worn topic and my personal perspective isn’t much different than everyone else’s. In the right conditions, handled properly, with realistic attitudes, self-publishing can be a viable business decision for certain people. But I don’t believe in resorting to it just because you think the mainstream publishing industry is comprised of meanies [...]

Read the full story

  So the James Frey-inspired episode South Park premiered last night. And I was a bit underwhelmed. Although I will have to use Geraldo’s line about rocking the publishing industry. But other than that, I was just left saying, “ummmm, yeah.”

Read the full story

Man, when I was seventeen, I bagged groceries and worked at a video store. We weren’t quite as bad as the employees in Clerks but we did haze new staff members by making them watch I Spit On Your Grave at least five times. At the same age I was trying not to crush the [...]

Read the full story

What’s your limit on rejections? If you have a story that you really believe in, how many rejections do you pile up before you reel it in and put that story away for good? I’m still trying to decide on a couple of my pieces and I’m curious how Slushpile Nation handles it.

Read the full story

This has nothing to do with books, other than the fact it was written by the great Walter Kirn. But it is funny as hell. Kirn is concerned with the welfare of America’s most famous newborn. “If unborn children really had rights, the infant daughter of the actress Katie Holmes and the temporarily-humanoid immortal starseed [...]

Read the full story

  I saw my first soccer game of the 2006 MLS season on Saturday. The Columbus Crew tied the Chicago Fire 1-1 in what was a slightly boring game. However, it was great to witness the birth of a new soccer season and enjoy the fantastic weather. The game topped off a kick ass weekend, full of [...]

Read the full story

Or, get your Tivo ready, however you do that. I’m going to rely on my new-fangled laser disc machine to record me some primetime literary humor. Fresh off their bouts with Scientology and censorship, the boys at South Park are zeroing in on James Frey. Premiering Wednesday night at 10pm, “Towelie gets over his drug addition and writes a moving [...]

Read the full story

I’ve been on this plane for fifteen hours straight. That’s after getting up at 3am, flying to Atlanta, and waiting four hours for a delayed connection. I have never been able to sleep on planes, so I’ll admit to abusing Dramamine and Nyquil in an effort to get me through this trans-Atlantic trip. But it hasn’t [...]

Read the full story

Or maybe that should be hearse chasers. On Wednesday, March 22, the body of Selmer, TN preacher Matthew Winkler was discovered at his family’s home. His wife, Mary, confessed to killing her husband on Friday, March 24. On Friday, April 14, Publishers Weekly reported that St. Martin’s signed a book deal with Edgar-nominated author Diane [...]

Read the full story

  It’s easy for me to be suckered into buying books about writing and publishing. First of all, I wanna know about these things. Secondly, I can justify the expense by deluding myself into the belief I may find something worthwhile in their pages and I can discuss that nugget here on Slushpile.net. There are [...]

Read the full story

The copy of Stephen King’s Everything’s Eventual has been claimed. Keep an eye out for more freebies in the future!

Read the full story

  In my ongoing effort to clean up the Slushpile.net shelves of duplicate books, I’m giving away a free copy of Stephen King’s Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales. It’s a mass market paperback, in great condition, and contains stories that were originally published in The New Yorker, Psychos, and others. It also contains Riding the [...]

Read the full story