Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

But Still No Social Security

By •

We have seen the future, and it is exactly as you suspect. Yes, too much traffic, too little time, and far too much Internet for anyone to ever read. Also, in the future, there will be more writers than ever before. Hopefully, unlike our evil spammers (still stupid), they will all know that there is no “d” in interesting. For those looking for a thumbnail review of the future, we can help: it is Cory Doctorow. Hmm, somehow that’s not as comforting as it should be. Paid Content, 2048: How do writers get paid for their work in the (very […]

Square Pegs

The Confession

By •

We failed. We started strong, wrote regularly, felt confident, and, despite best intentions, fell prey to the most evil of holidays: the long weekend. It started with a sojourn in the kitchen to cook. Then we drove long hours to the mother’s house. Wherein we supervised such important activities as mashing potatoes (this requires much input and suggestion, not to mention intense debate between the butter and salt people). Then there were more long hours in returning home. One cannot write while negotiating heavy traffic. Okay, that’s not necessarily true — but we were also dealing with a full moon.

Square Pegs

On Reclaiming Storytelling

By •

The first of these objections assumes the novel is a vulnerable form, easily manipulated and destabilised. That assumption is hardly borne out by its tumultuous 400-year history. The final objection, that it is no longer as easy to hoodwink readers as it used to be, is simply a slur on our grandparents. And a further obfuscation has grown up: the notion that there is a difference between novelists and storytellers. The assumption here is that the novelist is a creature of form and language, while the storyteller is occupied with the lesser act of narrative. There are several possible rebuttals

Quote of the Week

Paradigms: Not An Author’s Best Friend

By •

Sarah has an interesting post (and subsequent discussion) at the Idiosyncratic Mind on the effects of globalization when it comes to breaking into new international markets. She starts with a message from Lindsey Davis, who has lost her U.S.-based published. Davis indicates it’s due to sales via Amazon.com UK that resulted in her publisher’s reluctance to continue distributing her; Sarah builds on this idea while backbloggers look at other reasons behind a publisher dropping an author. As always, we fall firmly in the wishy-washy crowd. Fans who buy the UK version of Davis’s book via Amazon rather than waiting for

Square Pegs

#128,631, Come On Down

By •

Those who have been paying attention know that Jill’s book will be released in mere days*. It is the culmination of much hard work and many discussions (voice, IM, email, drives across states we didn’t know existed), and, like any good author, Jill is obsessing about things we don’t fully understand. Not that we’d ever admit this to her — when she discusses sales rankings, we make noises that imply we get it, but we have no clue. What should be a simple popularity contest (ie, based on the actual number of books sold, day in and day out) is

Tools and Craft

‘Tis The Season

By •

This past weekend, we engaged in the most painful of tasks (no, not trying to fit into our jeans after overindulging)…the semi-annual book purge. We have spent years trying to add more elasticity to the walls so they’ll expand as more stuff enters the house. As it turns out, wood is not much on expanding on command, and plaster simply scoffs at the idea of working any harder than it has to. So it is that the books must go — we believe there is real science to be done in determining how we can be on a book diet

Square Pegs

And A Happy Tryptophan Coma To All

By •

We are headed north for the day. The husband has made CDs for the trip (Camper van Beethoven, Robyn Hitchcock, Luna, and Elvis…apparently he wants us to sing while we drive). He’s also made a rather intriguing DVD gift for the sister — it’s entitled “Music”. We can only guess what that means. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday and manage to delegate dishwashing to others. One of the things we are especially thankful for this year if the fact that so many of you read the blog (and keep coming back). And those who play in the

Square Pegs

Even Navel Gazing Requires Perspective

By •

We admit it: we wanted to be a child prodigy. When that didn’t work out (due to a minor disconnect between fantasizing and doing), we entered what some like to call the Real World. Now, anyone who’s spent any time in the Real World knows it is quite different from other worlds (College World, Family World, First Job With Lots of Partying World). Real World comes with things like taxes and messy decisions and disillusionment. It also, helpfully, comes with optimism and perspective. We often wonder how someone who is in their mere twenties (a child!) can write with any

Tools and Craft

Ethics, The Touchy-Feely Approach

By •

If you’ve been writing for any length of time, you have realized a sad truth: it’s not necessarily a great get rich scheme. Freelancing, particularly, requires tossing a lot of balls up in the air and hoping one or two of them land on a rent check. It is common for freelancers to repurpose their work — why waste all that lovely research and effort? So, on one level it should make sense that a blogger would, uh, repurpose her work, or, as it appears in this case, create competing content for two sites. Yes, that’s what bothers us. It’s

Books/Mags/Blogs

Agenting: The New Editing

By •

Paul Bresnick struck out on his own not too long ago after various stops at the editorial desk, dot-com world, music writing, and agenting with others. The agenting was especially alluring because it allowed him to fulfill his first desire: editing. “By the end of my career as a trade editor, I felt that I was spending most of my time working for the marketing department as opposed to being an editor.” Being the pragmatic sort of agency, Bresnick is looking for a wide range of works, except genre fiction. We imagine this level of pragmatism is forthcoming. We loved

Agents
Scroll to Top