The sports world has been brewing with furor over bestselling author Jeff Pearlman’s new book Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton. Enraged by an excerpt in Sports Illustrated that painted the legendary Chicago Bears running back as beset with addictions, infidelities, and affairs, the sports nation rose up in ire against Pearlman. Most of [...]
Archive | Rants
If Only We Made the Money They Think We Make
Posted on 07 October 2011.
Posted in General, Rants2 Comments
Come One, Come All: Why Publishing is Drowning in Submissions
Posted on 22 September 2011.
Everyone involved with writing and publishing complains about the volume of submissions. Aspiring authors lament the astronomical numbers of competing submissions. Agents and editors constantly talk about how they’re inundated with proposals. And certainly every aspiring author has inwardly groaned every time Aunt Mildred talks about how she wants to write a book and how [...]
Posted in Featured Stories, Rants1 Comment
Industry Encouraged Self-Esteem Problems
Posted on 19 July 2010.
On Thursday, I ranted a bit about snobby, ivory tower writers who think their colleagues should shun all appearances of commercial enterprise. That’s one factor in a complicated mix of issues that causes authors to limit themselves in their money making ventures. Another factor is how the industry encourages low self-esteem amongst writers. As aspiring [...]
Outdated, Stodgy, Ivory Tower Attitudes that Cripple Writers
Posted on 15 July 2010.
Writers (including me) love to bemoan the current state of publishing, the small advances, the dwindling to non-existent marketing budgets, the lack of readers, the short attention spans of American readers, the influence of text messaging on language, and the dearth of suitably hip coffee shops to hang out in. In short, we complain about [...]
Posted in Rants4 Comments
Another Ho Hum: Surprise! The New York Times Hates Bret Easton Ellis
Posted on 01 July 2010.
It seems like every other day, someone in our bookish blogging world offers a theory for why major media book coverage is shrinking. Generally, these concepts involve the economy, the proliferation of blogs, the short attention spans of today’s consumers, and a few little green martians. But today, I’m going to offer another, admittedly outlandish, [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, Rants2 Comments
Ho Hum, Another Sports Coach Book
Posted on 29 June 2010.
I love sports. And I love books. And I’m fascinated by coaches. So I should love sports books by coaches, right? But I just don’t. Today’s yawner came with the news that New York Jets head football coach Rex Ryan is set to write a “nontraditional autobiography” that will be published by Doubleday next year. [...]
Posted in General, Rants0 Comments
Comma Overload
Posted on 03 March 2009.
Aspiring authors are frequently advised to read their target markets, try to discern editorial tastes, and learn from published writers. As useful as those tips can be, it is also infuriating when you read an article that defies belief. I was in doctor’s office recently and picked up the February 2009 issue of Conde Nast [...]
Posted in General, Rants3 Comments
Why Won’t a Publishing Book Work?
Posted on 23 February 2009.
Recently, the New York Observer wondered if there is any glamour left in publishing. The article generated a healthy amount of discussion amongst the book blogs and I didn’t initially think I had anything else to offer on the subject. But some of the ideas expressed in this article have really been festering away for [...]
Posted in General, Rants3 Comments
What Part of “Against the Law” Do You Not Understand?
Posted on 13 February 2009.
With New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez’s admission to taking performance enhancing drugs, the whole issue of steroids in baseball has entered mainstream discourse again this week. I’m not much of a baseball fan, and frankly, I’m tired of the whole affair. However, there’s one part of the steroid discussion that drives me absolutely crazy. Athletes, [...]
Posted in Rants3 Comments
More on the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Meltdown
Posted on 05 December 2008.
Galley Cat has featured frequent updates and additional information on the virtual collapse of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt during the week. Today, the Cat provides insight from a senior staffer who was among the 200 people laid off this week. “The adult trade division has been crippled to the extent that books in production cannot be [...]
Posted in General, Rants0 Comments
A Year of Doing What You’re Supposed to Do
Posted on 03 December 2008.
I enjoy these books where someone “does something.” Even when they do it for a specified period of time, which occasionally makes it seem more like just a way to get a book deal as opposed to actually exploring something important in their life. I like the work of AJ Jacobs, I enjoyed Pete Jordan’s [...]
Freelancer Collection Attempts
Posted on 12 November 2008.
Ed has an article about the difficulties collecting payment for freelance writing. In this case, it looks like it might work out well in the end. But the experience is still infuriating. The difficult economic times are putting a toll on everyone. But freelancers getting stiffed isn’t a recent phenomenon. Even during the good times, [...]
Posted in General, Rants0 Comments
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