Mark Charan Newton

Don’t get me started on the evils of vanity publishing, or we could be here all night. Okay, just something new then:
A new company recently emerged on the publishing scene, offering writers the chance to buy and sell book endorsements. Aimed at self-published authors, Blurbings LLC traffics in “blurbs,” the often hyperbolic declamations on book [...]

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Another interesting one.
Is he gay? I can’t remember
This one in particular wasn’t. Methinks I need less sexually ambiguous characters.
Broken Social Scene, “I’m Still Your Fag”:
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Some guy writes in the Guardian about the value of literary agents.

Aspiring writers are frequently told that the quickest route to getting published is via an agent. Having been on the books of two, neither of whom got my book on the shelves, and then secured a contract with a publisher myself, I wonder [...]

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Interesting piece in the New York Times about authors and their cover designers.
Most authors have no control over their book covers… But some writers, by virtue of either their renown or contractual caveat, not only get to accept or reject designs, but also chose the designer. Although rare, prolonged designer/author relationships contribute personality to an [...]

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Dedicated to my luggage.
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That sneaky Aidan has tagged me on this latest meme based on Movies of SF Novels:
Copy the list below.
Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.
Italicize the that you’ve watched. (I’ve not done this, since I’m not sure how I do both bold and italics right now…)
Tag 5 people to perpetuate [...]

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Back from Worldcon, even if my luggage isn’t quite… Anyway, far too much to say about the event. Denver is a great city, the convention was so much fun, and I really enjoyed catching up with so many people. And drinking. Lots of gin and tonics. The Hugo Awards weren’t quite how I’d have [...]

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I’m a vegetarian, but even I can appreciate this alarm clock.
WHAT: An alarm clock that wakes you up with the smell and sizzle of cooking bacon…
HOW: A frozen strip of bacon is placed in Wake n’ Bacon the night before. Because there is a 10 minute cooking time, the clock is set to go off [...]

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I’m heading to Worldcon in Denver on Tuesday, so this might be the last posting for a week or so. Here’s little laid-back flying-into-the-sun kind of music.
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