Read This While I Write That

I know I'm late on my follow-up to "Storyline vs. Plot" that I posted the other week. I'm very much aware of my tardiness, and I very much apologize for not getting post #2 done. Holiday cooking, deadlines, all that. With luck, I will be able to get my thoughts organized enough to post the second part by the end of the holiday weekend.

In the mean-time, here's a mini-list of some Smart Things:

Nathan Bransford gives a Top 10 list about some of the "myths" people are ascribing to e-books. I haven't exactly figured out where I come down on the fence about the supposed inevitability of e-books, or whether they are good or bad or just plain confusing for authors or publishers or readers (a bit of all three at times, I suspect.) Mr. Bransford has some good points about the benefits of the electric beasties in general; however, I feel obliged to call foul on answer #8 re. e-books and water/sand/travel. His tongue-in-cheek solution aside, if I lose/ruin my paper book in a general sense, I am out somewhere between $7 and $30; if I lose or ruin an e-reader, I'm out a lot more. That isn't an iron-clad argument against them, but giving a one-off solution like his to a very real concern only speaks to one of the more serious questions people have about e-readers that has yet to be adequately addressed.

Tying in to the whole Harlequin brouhaha, Pimp My Novel gives a nice overview of why a person should or should not consider self-publishing their book. And, if you haven't read enough the subject lately, Agent Kristin has more on Harelquin putting their foot in it with regards to agents and other publishers, as well this bit on how an agent is more than just a convenient way to get your manuscript across the transom.

And lastly, we return to Nathan Bransford for a back of the napkin breakdown of the economics of a best-seller. (This is a follow-up on a link Kelly posted last week about Lynn Viehl's royalty statement.) Turns out the money isn't as good on the the other end of the publishing stick as we were initially led to believe, either.

Hope this helps get you through the holiday weekend. Safe travels for those who are going to be out, and a good rest of the week for those readers outside the U.S. who aren't going to be gorging on turkey tomorrow. Do a lap or two around the track for me, will you? I'm sure it'll help the universal karmic balance somehow....