Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Why writing advice is

I was writing on my personal blog about Laura Miller's Salon article on "Reader advice," and ended up musing about how most of the writing advice I gave was either wrong, or I refused to follow it, or both. Luckily, there are wiser people than me giving advice, which is why I sought a collaborative project that can really help writers in this rapidly changing era. To fit the times, the book will be organic, so look for a cute little "V.2" for Version 2 and so on as it develops in the months and years ahead.

Because even good advice can get dated (see: Ribbons, typewriter--buy in bulk), the worst advice can be cut out and more timely advice introduced. For example, with ebook prices shooting all over the map, you will not get any sensible advice on royalties or contract clauses for them, because nobody knows. Like all free advice, it's worth what you pay for it. Take what you need and leave the rest. And pass it on.

Some outlets, such as Amazon, don't allow free downloads unless you're a major publisher swinging some sort of deal, so the download will be set at the lowest possible price in those outlets, with any revenues donated to First Book, a non-profit organization that buys books for disadvantaged children.

Set-up is simple right now, with three sections: Craft, Business, and Art. I'm not sure there's much else a writer needs to know, except to ignore everything and write.
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